Transgender support charity Mermaids has been attacked for supporting a mother and her child who experienced gender dysphoria.

In a transphobic piece released by the Daily Mail yesterday, the charity and support group Mermaids were criticised for supporting a child with a case of gender dysphoria.

The right wing paper reported that the children’s charity had ‘meddled’ in a dispute concerning a five year old child.

The child’s mother had been allowing him to wear a female uniform to school. The father believes his child is ‘confused’ by this.

He said: “The school, at the beginning, were quite firm with his ex-wife. But then she started getting Mermaids involved. The school backed down completely.”

He said the child’s school has been ‘bullied’ by Mermaids into supporting the mother’s wish that he should wear a dress.

The father also believes that Mermaids would ‘accuse authorities and social workers of discrimination’ if they were to become involved, the Daily Mail reported.

The mother confirmed Mermaids called the school on her behalf, and that social services had investigated her ex-husband’s complaints and found nothing wrong.

Mermaids was named the PinkNews community group of the year. Formed in 1995 as a support group, Mermaids now works to advocates for and support transgender children and their families.

The charity works to raise awareness about gender issues amongst professionals and the general public, campaigning for the recognition of gender dysphoria in young people and lobbying for improvements in professional services.

A spokesperson for Stonewall said: “Transphobic rhetoric concerning young people and their families is toxic and damaging, and unfortunately it still very much exists.

“This makes it even more important that we all stand by the side of trans people as allies.

As an ally to the trans organisation Mermaids, we were deeply shocked to see such unjust and harmful vitriol printed about it in the press this morning.

“Without Mermaids, many young trans people and their families would feel lost and unsure of the help that is available to them. We have the utmost respect for its staff who continue to work tirelessly to ensure services are available for those that need it.”

The charity came under scrutiny last week by a number of media outlets in a similar case.