Understand the LGBTQIA+ news: Books that seek to suppress children's gender identity, widely available in UK's libraries

Last week, Sex Matters lost permission to bring a case against Hampstead Ponds. Nine in ten of the swimming ponds’ membership said that Trans+ inclusion was welcome, and a core part of its cultural fibre.

The self-proclaimed gender-critical organisation, which spouts harmful anti-trans rhetoric, raised more than £64,000 to get an outcome that saw them lose even permission to bring a case to court. Arguments were never heard; the judge said their action was "premature" and "unhelpful".

We're asking for just a fraction of that amount - to expose the lies, misinformation and dark money fuelling this movement's agenda.

We've hit 25% of our crowdfunding goal one week into our month-long pledge drive - which means we're on track. It also means we need your help to get us over the finishing line.

This week, we're focusing on our first of three pledges, to raise funds for a:

• Ringfenced investigation fund: We'll track and expose anti-Trans+ organisations, lobbying and influence networks behind anti-LGBTQIA+ and gender-critical, transphobic campaigns and uncover even more Trans+ healthcare failures in the UK.

And that's why we're publishing the next in a series of three investigative pieces in our Under Pressure series, looking at how Trans+ youth are being targeted in the UK.

Today, thanks to a tip-off from a QueerAF reader last year, we conclude a months-long investigation to reveal that books that espouse 'desistance' –a method which coaches parents to guide their Trans+ children 'back' to a cisgender identity – is available for free to nearly every parent in the UK through the public library system.

We found 'When Kids Say Their Trans', written by a cohort of campaigners who believe that being Trans+ can be reversed, in 58 libraries.

We also found another pernicious book, aimed at psychiatrists, that says gender identity is an 'ideology', in a government department's library. As a result of the QueerAF investigation, we understand the book has been removed from the department's library, pending an investigation.

In the past year, our investigations have set the news agenda - and have been used to set the tone of debate in parliamentary debates about Trans+ rights.

But we've been doing that work, in a hostile environment, where it is increasingly difficult to fund, publish and get hold of balanced, nuanced journalism about LGBTQIA+ lives. 

Censorship of queer lives is rising, all over the world - from rules that will ban face masks at events like Pride, to algorithms filtering out our stories, and worse, AI slop that fuels division with misinformation. 

That’s why we’re crowdfunding: to protect access to journalism that fights back. But we can’t do this alone. Support us now 👇

Help us expose the anti-trans machine, uncover Trans+ healthcare inequalities, work with a dedicated Trans+ journalist and produce a queer joy digest so you can see where we're winning and, crucially, how - support QueerAF's annual crowdfunder now.

Understand the LGBTQIA+ headlines and keep track of the latest queer content and perspectives. The QueerAF newsletter is written by Jamie Wareham and a different queer creative each week.

💬 This week:

• UK Libraries: A months-long investigation by QueerAF has led to a government department removing a book that espouses gender identity is an ideology from their library, amid news that 58 public libraries in the UK contain books which encourage parents to get their children to detransition.
• Data: Two big research studies out this week paint critical pictures about Trans+ lives, contrary to the misinformation that is spouted by anti-trans voices. We explore the peer-reviewed research.
• We've Always Been Here: Another look at the new free resource we've produced for Trans+ History Week. This week, Nisreen Fox looks at the pre-colonial community of third-gendered Mudoko Dako people in Uganda.

Skip the doomscrolling and support queer creatives instead. We are QueerAF – and so are you.

Exclusive: 58 UK public libraries have parenting books encouraging ‘desistance’ and detransitioning

TL:DR: An anti-trans book that encourages ‘desistance’, the practice of ‘reverting back to a cisgender identity’, is available in 58 public libraries in the UK, a QueerAF investigation has uncovered. The book encourages parents to put children in anti-affirmation medical and educational spaces, and to cut off loved ones who support their child's transition. Meanwhile, a government library has removed a book encouraging psychiatrists to work on the basis that Trans+ children are being “indoctrinated”, pending an investigation - by Stella Rogers