The pains mistakes and foibles of growing up are sometimes taken too literally, and there's a contingent of dubious people ready to interfere with the natural development of a growing child, sometimes long before they have gained their majority.

Thankfully Britain is shwoing signs of pulling back from the more hideous side of this, Tavistock clinic recently closing and i'm sure i read somewhere that puberty blockers and some other forms of mutilation were going to be banned for youngsters.

I'll be the first to cheer when they ban grown men dressed as women from prancing about in full drag reading stories to small children, i bet they don't have these performances at Muslim faith schools, they wouldn't stand for it and i don't blame them one bit.

secs education is one thing, at an appropriate age.

I'm worried where this will all end if some common sense doesn't soon start to make a reappearance, they're now relabelling those with *filthy predilictions* as minor attracted persons, shades of the days of PIE anyone?

** the correct word we all know is more than likely on the swear filter here

Apparently the whole news story about a girl who self-identified as a cat is untrue. Simply, it didn't happen.

A conversation between some schoolgirls and a teacher was recorded, posted on TikTok, where it went viral and was then picked up by the right-wing press, after which it was given respectability by being repeated elsewhere and even (!) politicians accepted it without question.

The cat bit can be traced to a hypothetical situation posed in the conversation, using the words "how can you identify as a cat when you're a girl?"

A lesson to us all, especially on this website of late, about the need to avoid being naive when it comes to repeating or quoting news reports. Just because it's on the internet (social media, tabloid newspapers etc. etc.) doesn't make it true.

This reminds me of the time I had a date witn a girl who identified as a wheelie bin.

I couldn't remember if I was to take her out on Tuesday or Wednesday.