An opponent of the transgender movement has publicised a core advisory document forming the basis for ‘trans’ activist strategy while bypassing democratic debate.
Graham Linehan, co-creator of the beloved sitcom Father Ted, published a summary of Only Adults? Good Practices in Legal Gender Recognition for Youth, which first appeared in November 2019 to coincide with Transgender Awareness Week. It was first put together by law firm Dentons, the Thomson Reuters Foundation, and IGLYO (a network of 96 youth organisations across the Council of Europe region). If the so-called ‘Dentons Document’ sounds unfamiliar, this is entirely in keeping with its emphasis on ‘transitioning’ children—away from the spotlight of public scrutiny and electoral accountability.
The authors despise what they call “misinterpretation,” i.e. the process by which the public hears about a proposed law and forms an opinion on it—an approach is said to have influenced the slogan “no debate,” especially among English-speaking transactivists.
For instance, the manual advises framing incoming ‘pro-trans’ legislation as, in the document’s own phrase, “the right side of history” is described as a key communication approach. The authors suggest it makes it more difficult for senior colleagues to openly oppose such proposals.
Onlining these and other manipulative techniques, Linehan shows how the report—intended to be “a powerful tool for activists and NGOs” pushing to ‘transition’ youth Europewide—became the foundation for much of the policy which followed.
Even by the time of publication, Only Adults? had surveyed eight European ‘trans’ legal frameworks, condemning Denmark, France, Ireland, Portugal and the United Kingdom, while claiming “good practice” victories in Norway, Malta, and Belgium—implying these ‘wins’ occurred behind the backs of citizens
Linehan is particularly of Dentons, the 20,000-strong law firm which co-produced this strategic advice for a transnational activist network on how to push child-focussed legal changes through national legislatures without a popular mandate. Following a brief public backlash in 2019, the company scrubbed evidence of its involvement from its own website. Nevertheless, the toxic legacy of Only Adults?/the Dentons Document lives on in the strategy of much contemporary ‘trans’ activism.
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