Trans person former Labour candidate Heather Herbert has been charged for disgusting comments about Ann Widdecombe

Galaxy

It was/ is all about manipulation of language and I think an attempt at control. If you can convince a society that men are women then you can convince them of anything. It has been astounding to watch.

A friend of mine who is really into conspiracy theories says exactly the same thing.
She believes it's deliberate, in terms of "how far can we push people to believe the unbelievable"

Seemingly ‘very’ MissA however I think the scales are slowly falling frim people’s eyes …

Lads of my boys age certainly don't embrace the whole concept - maybe just this area, possibly to do with socioeconomic factors, but they aren't having any of it!

Wonder what their teachers are telling them?

A boy was awarded "girl of the year", as an example.
I suppose teachers have to follow the rules and regulations regarding these things.

Crikey. They start young with this pandering.

Maybe my faith in people is misplaced but I believe the majority of people don't fall for this lie that people can change sex.

I think the general public have been hijacked into accepting this nonsense for far too long. Worried about being ‘cancelled’ if in the public eye by these very strident activists. The NHS isn’t helping either with the ubiquitous
their/them pronouns.

The tail has wagged the dog for too long now in my opinion .

Yes that’s a succinct summary Lemomjam.

For some reason AI has t included the concerns about the immediate and possible long term harm of chemically induced feeding, which should be a major concern of everybody, not just LaLeche.

Trustees could see a future when LaLeche ( and hence its responsible trustees) would be sued for harm done.As well as ideologically nobody wanted to put themselves in that future position.

Very sensible I think. The NHS should be bracing itself for a host of future trans claims relating to trans treatments.

The vast majority chemical and medications involve some risk of harm.

Clinicians usually discuss such risks and the patient then agrees to treatment with informed consent.

I suspect there would be a greater litigation risk if the pharmaceutical provider failed to include the attendant risks in the written information that is made available for prescriber, e.g in MIMs for example.

Babies being ‘chest fed’ have no choice.
It could be a timebomb waiting to go off.

Imagine growing up with that knowledge.
How many on here would be happy about it?

While it is true that medications often involve risk, an adult can accept those risks.
Inducing lactation in men by chemical means, the risk of harm is to another person, i.e. the baby that is being fed that liquid.
The baby, who cannot consent, is the person at risk.

LemonJam

The vast majority chemical and medications involve some risk of harm.

Clinicians usually discuss such risks and the patient then agrees to treatment with informed consent.

I suspect there would be a greater litigation risk if the pharmaceutical provider failed to include the attendant risks in the written information that is made available for prescriber, e.g in MIMs for example.

Yes but it’s practice to weigh the risks against the benefits for the patient and the informed. consent comes from the patient.

The litigation will come (potentially) from those who were fed wth chemicals as babies when they could not have given consent.

The danger to LaLeche would be in their active encouragement and support in this.

No babies have a choice over how they are fed.

I am not aware and google tells me- there are no known civil lawsuits in which a person has successfully sued for toxic substances being ingested via human milk. Legal actions involving adverse consequences form ingested toxins are heavily focussed on manufactured babies food or commercial formulas- all of which carry risks.

We've all heard of mother's who were * prescribed substances. when pregnant* eg, thalidomide when pregnant but were not warned that this medication could cause birth defects and litigation followed. It's the lack of warning and lack of informed consent that provided the basis for litigation.

I didn’t know about this, sounds bad.
At the end of the day she was an elderly lady that was murdered.

According to AI- For transgender mothers, chestfeeding the baby poses virually no direct medical risk to the baby provided strict clinical supervision is maintained. However, there are specific, manageable challenges associated with chestfeeding as a transgender parent:

1 Potential for Malnutrition
Insufficient Milk Supply Transgender women who induce lactation and transmasculine individuals who have undergone breast reduction or mastectomy (top surgery) may not produce a full, exclusive milk supply.
Risk to Baby If the baby is not taking in enough calories and nutrients, they are at risk of failure to thrive or dehydration.
Solution: It is highly recommended to use a Supplemental Nursing System (SNS) or bottle-feed formula/donor milk after nursing to ensure the baby's caloric needs are fully met.

2 Medications Used to Induce Lactation
Hormone Transfers Transgender women often use hormone regimens - like oestrogen, progesterone ( ie hormones as in the contraceptive pill ) or anti-androgens- and medications like domperidone to induce lactation. Traces of these substances can pass into breastmilk.
Risk to Baby Some medications carry minor risks or side effects for the infant.
Solution Discuss all induced lactation protocols with a medical professional so they can recommend the safest medications and dosages.

3 Surgical Complications - Top Surgery
Duct Damage Trans masculine individuals who have had top surgery may have severed milk ducts or reduced mammary tissue.
Risk to Baby There are no direct medical risks to the baby from post-surgery tissue, but it may cause latching difficulties due to less soft tissue, which can be a source of stress during feeding.

4 Chest Binding Risks
Blocked Ducts Trans masculine parents who continue to bind their chests while lactating significantly increase their risk of developing mastitis (a painful, infectious inflammation of the breast tissue).
Risk to Baby While mastitis itself does not harm the baby, it can drastically decrease milk supply and make feeding painful, causing the baby to get less milk.

Thus the risks of formula feed may surpass the risks and reduce the benefits of human milk even in transgender parent.

FriedGreenTomatoes2

“Chest fed”
Give me strength.

... that was my initial reaction too.

We do not have to accommodate this.

Trans activists appear to believe 'anything you can do I can do better' - particularly trans women activists who, on occasion, have been heard to say - to a biological woman - "I'm more of a woman than you will ever be".

I fully accept that mentally and emotionally men and women may not relate to their biological sex and feel uncomfortable corseted in the sex-stereotypes of either, In fact, I think that is quite normal, people do not want to be constrained or restrained by society's dictates. But that still does not alter the fact of biology.

It's breast-feeding.

There are recognised immediate effects on babies of substances used to promote breastfeeding - drowsiness being the most docmented. Other are digestive, runny, unusually smelly stools.

Nobody knows what effect a permanent drowsiness in the early months will have on brain development. It’s a concern since the baby is neither receiving a normal amount of wakeful stimulation nor responding to stimulation in an alert way.

Nor, as we become increasingly aware of the function of gut bacteria in overall health what effect these hormones will have on long term development of those systems.

There’s simply no research or date for anyone to be able to condemn or reassure. I don’t believe other drugs would be allowed to be used like this with no stable shed research or trials.

I believe, as did former members of LaLeche, that it is a ticking time bomb. It has been put into place to satisfy the wishes of trans adults with no regard to the babies.

Personally I find it hard to accept that a loving parent would put their baby at risk in this way,

People seeking advice need to know that LaLeche is not impartial and will only provide advice with a particular ideological view, not an verbally picture for consideration.

Chest feeding is relatively new, I'd think, so any detrimental effects won't come to light for some years.

If "chestfeeding" is referring to women who wish to be regarded as men (transmen) I think that is fine, because they are the baby's mother, and are biological women.

It is the wish by a man (transwomen) to feed a baby that the man has not given birth to by taking drugs to induce lactation, that I find concerning because it is not about what is best for the baby, but about what the man (transwoman) wishes to do.

Getting back to the op, it looks like the Free Speech Union may be helping Heather Herbert.

Only if he joins the FSU. And I doubt he would do that.
I am glad people are standing up for free speech even when they are completely opposed to the speech concerned but at the risk of sounding like a broken record it might be wise to hear the details of the charges first.

Taken from Unherd press article:

Lucy Connolly*the free speech campaigner who was jailed in 2024 for a social media post, is saying that *those who defended her should also defend the University of Aberdeen employee arrested for derogatory online comments following the death of Ann Widdecombe.

Heather Herbert, a web developer and trans activist, has reportedly been charged with malicious communications after describing Widdecombe’s killing as “good news” and expressing hope it had been “extremely painful” and that the former Conservative MP had “screamed in agony”. A murder investigation is underway after Widdecombe was killed in her home last week, in what police believe was a “targeted attack”.
Herbert’s arrest prompted comparisons on social media to the case of Connolly, who was convicted of inciting racial hatred in the wake of the nationwide riots which followed the Southport murders in the summer of 2024. Connolly had posted on X, calling for mass deportations now and writing set fire to all the fucking [migrant] hotels full of the bastards for all I care She was later prosecuted and sentenced to 31 months in prison before being released after serving just under half of her sentence.

Speaking exclusively to UnHerd, in response to whether she thought her online supporters should also defend Herbert, she replied Well, yes, because we want free speech. You can’t defend what she said any more than you can defend what I said, but you can defend the fact that we do have free speech, allegedly, in the UK

Farage called for global support to defend Connolly’s right to free speech in 2024 when she was convicted. I wonder what he feels about HH’s online comments.

Ilovecheese

If "chestfeeding" is referring to women who wish to be regarded as men (transmen) I think that is fine, because they are the baby's mother, and are biological women.

It is the wish by a man (transwomen) to feed a baby that the man has not given birth to by taking drugs to induce lactation, that I find concerning because it is not about what is best for the baby, but about what the man (transwoman) wishes to do.

Getting back to the op, it looks like the Free Speech Union may be helping Heather Herbert.

Which poses the question, why if a woman was transitioning to man and presumably wishes to live their life as a man, would they undergo one of the most defining states that pertains to being female, to become pregnant and give birth. As such, a transman if they haven't had their breasts removed and depending on what drugs they've taken may still be able to breastfeed which is again completely natural for a woman Unlike chestfeeding which is unnatural if the person is still a biological male. Yes very concerning who knows how the composition of what they're feeding the baby will affect it in later life. I mean can't they just use formula like the women who don't wish to breastfeed do such a convoluted exercise to satisfy something that's entirely synthetic and quite warped.