Charity Commission opens formal inquiry into Mermaids trans charity

Charity Commission launches an inquiry into controversial transgender children’s charity Mermaids

• Formal inquiry has been launched into the transgender charity, Mermaids 
• Charity Commission says its probe was triggered by ‘newly identified issues’ 
• Watchdog had already opened a regulatory compliance case just months ago
• Comes as chief executive of controversial children’s charity sensationally quit

The Charity Commission has opened a formal inquiry into transgender children’s charity Mermaids after identifying concerns about its leadership.

The watchdog said its probe had been triggered by ‘newly identified issues’ regarding the youth organisation’s ‘governance and management’. 

Mermaids has been mired in controversy for months, with its chief executive sensationally quitting just last week and its actions sparking the ire of women’s rights campaigners such as JK Rowling.

The organisation also faced backlash after promoting potentially dangerous ‘chest-binding’ for children, now the subject of a watchdog probe, and trying to have the LGB Alliance struck off as a charity.

Susie Green, a former IT consultant with no medical training, resigned as Mermaids CEO after six years in November

Opened on 28 November under section 46 of the Charities Act 2011, the inquiry will investigate whether Mermaids’ governance is appropriate in relation to the activities the charity carries out. 

The Charity Commission had already opened a regulatory compliance case into the charity in September after safeguarding concerns were raised.

The commission said on Friday that Mermaids’ response to the initial compliance case ‘has not provided the necessary reassurance or satisfied the commission at this stage’.

It added: ‘The regulator will seek to determine whether the charity’s governance is appropriate in relation to the activities the charity carries out, which involve vulnerable children and young people, as well as their families.’

It comes after former chief executive Susie Green quietly stepped down from Mermaids last month. 

The move was announced in a statement on the charity’s website, but no explanation was given about what was behind the decision.

Mermaids said a interim CEO would be appointed. 

Transgender charity Mermaids has been mired in controversy for months and was recently criticised by JK Rowling

It is understood that Ms Green’s departure was preceded by the commission of a third-party report into the charity by Mermaids, reports the Times.

In a statement on its website, Mermaids said it commissioned an independent external report to carry out a ‘frank and honest’ appraisal of its internal culture earlier this year.

The report is said to have highlighted ‘a number of significant challenges’ for the charity.

‘We know we must do better and we are absolutely committed to doing so, and will be implementing the report’s recommendations as a priority,’ Mermaids added.

‘The charity has an unwavering commitment to safeguarding which is, and always will be, our top priority.

‘We will continue to cooperate fully, openly and with complete transparency with the Charity Commission as its inquiry gets under way.’

The organisation also faced backlash after promoting potentially dangerous ‘chest-binding’ (pictured above), which can flatten and constrict the breasts, for children 

Earlier this year, a trustee of the transgender children’s charity sensationally quit after it emerged he had spoken at an ‘academic’ conference hosted by an organisation that promotes services to paedophiles.

Dr Jacob Breslow, who at the time was a PhD student in gender research at the London School of Economics, presented his research at an event in Baltimore for the American-based B4U-ACT in 2011.

B4U-ACT lists its aims as supporting and promoting ‘a science-informed understanding about people in our communities with an attraction to children or adolescents’ on its own website.

Dr Breslow’s presentation, titled Sexual Alignment: Critiquing Sexual Orientation, The Pedophile, and the DSM V, appears to criticise societal understanding of paedophiles. 

It comes after Susie Green quit her role as Mermaids chief executive last month. 

Ms Green had been the organisation’s first member of staff. The Leeds-based charity, which also has an office in London, has about 44 staff members and 110 volunteers.

Mermaids was founded in 1995 and staffed by volunteers until 2016. 

Earlier this year, Harry Potter author JK Rowling led the backlash against celebrities and organisations who had publicly backed the charity without doing their ‘due diligence’ as other critics called for an official probe into their practices.

In 2019, Prince Harry met with Mermaids CEO Susie Green to discuss highlighting their ‘important’ work after the Royal Foundation invited them to join its efforts to tackle mental health issues.

At the time, Green branded the support from the Duke of Sussex as ‘hugely beneficial’.

The Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex also called Mermaids an ‘important organisation’.

In June 2020, the charity published a blog post praising support from Harry Potter star Emma Watson after the actor publicly tweeted that she donated money to Mermaids. 

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