'It's not okay to play out sexual fetish': MP calls for age limit on family event hosted by trans artist with 'nappy fetish'

22 February 2023, 11:51

Miriam Cates: It's 'odd' anybody would defend a Trans cartoonist with a nappy fetish with children

MP Miriam Cates has critcised Sheffield City Council for planning to host family friendly event hosted by trans artist with 'diaper fetish'.

The event is due to take place on the 27th of February at Sheffield Central Library and is listed for "teens, adults and families."

Following concern from members of the public, Miriam Cates, Conservative MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge has called for the event to be cancelled or for an age limit of 18 to be imposed but Sheffield City Council has refused to impose restrictions on the event.

The artist, Sophie Labelle, who is behind the webcomic 'Assigned Male' will be speaking about her new book 'The Best of Assigned Male', as well as "her art and activism, her artistic process, building community through art and growing up trans."

Labelle came under scrutiny last year after she was connected to accounts where she posted 'diaper fetish art', which showed baby animal characters modelling in diapers, onesies, and behaving like toddlers

Labelle has also used images of real babies as reference points for the art.

Speaking to Nick Ferrari at Breakfast on LBC, Miriam said: "I do think it's odd that we're having to have this discussion and that anybody is defending the idea of a grown adult with a publicly expressed sexual fetish being allowed to read to children but that said we clearly do need to have this discussion because some people, including the council, are defending it."

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She added: "I think the British public are very tolerant of what people get up to in private and no one's interested in policing what goes on in people's bedrooms and in private but it's not okay to play out sexual fetish in public where children are involved."

She went on to say: "This is a publicly funded learning space with safeguarding requirements and even the most basic safeguarding checks would throw up red flags, this person would not be allowed in a school for example and I think the issue is less about the comics, although personally I don't think it's right to tell children they can be born in the wrong body but its more about this public fetish behaviour."

"Safeguarding isn't really about whether or not someone's been convicted of an offence it's about saying could this person be a risk to children and if so we air on the side of caution and Sheffield City Council are definitely not airing on the side of caution and I think they should be."

Nick said: "Surely the answer is if they want to do this put in whatever your local theatre is, charge a few pounds for entry and then you make a decision, you don't have young person being sent in possibly not really understanding or necessarily being that engaged in the whole subject."

Miriam said: "Exactly, put an age limit on it ... put an 18 rating on it and make it clear that this is not suitable for children so families don't turn up expecting this to be a family show, which it has been advertised as and find that their three, four, five year old is being exposed to potentially sexualising material."

Responding to comments from a member of Sheffield City Council, Richard Williams, who said "Sheffield is a diverse and inclusive city Nick said: "I have to put it to you, is this possibly you campaigning against diversity and inclusivity?"

She responded by saying: "We need to focus on safeguarding and what's suitable for adults and what's suitable for adults to discuss and do is not necessarily suitable for children and that is the basis of safeguarding. Safeguarding is not about equality, diversity and inclusion it's about protecting children from risk."

"Safeguarding isn't necessarily about saying something terrible is definitely going to happen to children it's about saying could there possibly be a risk."

She continued: "Think about this from a child's point of view, we know that tragically about one in six children in our country faces sexual abuse, what does it say to a child that it's okay for somebody who has confessed to using a photo of a real child in the creation of an image to satisfy sexual arousal. What does that say to children who are being abused?"

She added: "I think that's wrong and we should not be exposing children to that, nothing to do with equality, diversity and inclusion it's about protecting children and that's our first responsibility as adults."

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