Mermaids Faces Watchdog Probe Over Children apos;s Chest-flattening Binders

He may not have shown his face before, but he's certainly faced some controversy, including a cheating accusation in 2020 involving speedruns. It's a long and complex issue that has a whole website devoted to it, if you're in need of more details.

It's-a here! The first trailer for The Super Mario Bros. Movie dropped during a Nintendo Direct presentation on Thursday. The trailer had its simultaneous premiere at New York Comic Con, which runs Thursday to Sunday.

He stalled and joked around, hiding under a blanket and a smiley-faced mask, eventually dropping the mask about a minute and 17 seconds in to reveal a dark-haired young man, who introduced himself as Clay, without giving a last name.

Dream makes YouTube videos and streams on Twitch and is best known for his Minecraft videos. His multiple YouTube channels have millions of subscribers, with 30.4 million subscribing to his main channel. He won YouTube's Streamy award for gaming in 2020 and 2021. 

Popular YouTuber Dream has been a household name among gamers for years -- but they never knew what he looked like. Until Sunday, when he revealed his face in a long-awaited video that earned more than 1 million views in under 45 minutes.

On chest binding, they told MailOnline: 'Some trans masculine, non-binary and gender diverse people experience bodily dysphoria, as a result of their chest, and binding, for some, helps alleviate that distress.

Aside from Pratt, the all-star cast includes Charlie Day as Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy as Peach, Jack Black as Bowser, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong and Keegan-Michael Key as Toad. Martinet will also have a surprise role.

'We'll make an assessment from [the CCTV] but, obviously, we're on the back foot from the beginning because we didn't have the initial complaint at the time it occurred, which would have been my preference,' he said. 

The newspaper also said the charity's online help centre tells children who present themselves as young as 13 and 14 that hormone-blocking drugs are safe and 'totally reversible' - a claim which is refuted by experts as there is little evidence of the long-term impact of the powerful drugs.

The Leeds-based charity is headed up by Susie Green, a former IT consultant who has served as CEO since 2016, took her own child to Thailand aged 16 for genital surgery as the minimum age in the UK is 18.

Black also made a surprise in-person appearance at the New York Comic Con panel on Thursday, where he threw a cool spiky shell backpack to a lucky member of the crowd. He recalled playing the original 1981 Donkey Kong at the Mini Mart in Culver City, California, and called Bowser one of the greatest video game villains of all time.

Fans were eager to hear Pratt's Mario voice, especially because co-producer Chris Meledandri said he won't use the exaggerated Italian accent made famous by video game voice actor Charles Martinet. We won't ruin it for you. Watch the trailer.

Fellow campaigner, Maya Forstater, who won legal protection for having 'gender-critical' views back in 2019, said on Twitter that the practice by Mermaids was 'not OK' and that the 'organisation should not be in schools' and 'should be investigated by the charity commission'. 

Stephanie Davies-Arai, the founder and director of Transgender Trend, a campaign group, told the Telegraph: 'This is a great safeguarding concern, because breast binding is basically a form of self-harm.'

The Charity Commission has confirmed they are 'assessing' concerns raised about Mermaids after an investigation also led to claims they were giving out medical advice on puberty blockers without the relevant training.

A spokesman for the Charity Commission said: 'In general, allegations involving vulnerable young people are serious in nature and our guidance is clear - safeguarding should be a core priority for all charities and trustees.

A 2008 NHS England publication noted breast binders should only be used for short periods of time because they 'may cause back problems' and can distort breast tissue, which could affect any future surgery to remove the breasts.

A 2017 study led by Sarah Peitzmeier of the University of Michigan and published in the journal Culture, Health and Sexuality, observed almost 9 in 10 people experienced at least one negative effect from binding, and 8 out of 10 felt that it was important to discuss binding with a healthcare provider.

The campaigner added that an 'investigation into Mermaids is long overdue', a sentiment echoed by Miriam Cates, Tory MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge who called the findings 'huge safeguarding red flags'.

Meanwhile, pkvgames Wagamama is currently running a similar fundraiser, according to its website which states 25p from every power juice sold will be donated to Mermaids along with 20 per cent of its profits from their bespoke menu. 

'Mermaids takes a harm reduction position with the understanding that providing a young person with a binder and comprehensive safety guidelines from an experienced member of staff is preferable to the likely alternative of unsafe practices and/or continued or increasing dysphoria.