Breastfeeding conference at Galway hotel cancelled over 'kink' speaker

The conference, which was set for the Ardilaun Hotel in October, has been axed by the venue over safeguarding issues after the inclusion of a speaker who promotes the discussion around ‘male lactation’ and has previously talked about it as a “kink” for people also.

The speaker in question is Jacob Engelsman, who has advocated for the inclusion of men who identify as women in these support groups and who describes the inclusion of male lactation discussions as “inclusive parenting”.

Breastfeeding support volunteer, former midwife and Director of The Countess Sorcha Nic Lochlainn stressed that “child safeguarding must always be prioritised”.

The Countess is a voluntary, human rights group advocating for women and girls in Ireland.

Sorcha said: “Engelsman has delivered talks at a fetish conference on ‘Lactation for Kinksters.’ In his book ‘Lactation for the rest of us’, he suggested that some men may seek to induce lactation to experience ‘gender euphoria’ or for reasons including ‘curiosity, fun, or sexual gratification’.

“Any man who would associate infant feeding with sexual gratification should raise a red flag. Anyone who centres adult desires above infant wellbeing should raise a red flag. Anyone who ignores concerns in favour of ideology should raise a red flag.”

When contacted by Ms Nic Lochlainn, the ALCI said Engelsman’s work highlighted the need for LGBT inclusion, something which she said was “wholly inadequate and undermines the need to safeguard”.

She continued: “This is not about a disagreement on gender. The whole conference has now been cancelled from the Ardilaun hotel. The ALCI says this is for ‘health and safety reasons’.

“Whose health and whose safety they do not say. Not the babies they serve it seems. Those who support this man cry cancel culture.

“It is not ‘cancel culture’ when children are at risk. The Ardilaun made the correct decision on this. It remains to be seen if this conference will be held elsewhere, and if Engelsman will be presenting. We will be watching closely.”

Responding to queries, the HSE said the conference is “in line with equality legislation and inclusion strategies” and cited studies showing the growing number of babies born in diverse family structures.

CEO and Founder of The Countess, Laoise de Brún said that babies are not props and that the ACLI’s decision to give Engelsman a platform is “deplorable”.

She said: “Irish equality law protects people from discrimination. It does not create a right to chemically induce a secretion from a male body, call it breastfeeding, and put an infant on that nipple so an adult man can ‘feel like a mother,’ or for ‘curiosity, fun, or sexual gratification.’

“A man taking drugs to grow breast tissue and then pumping for ‘curiosity, fun or sexual gratification’ is doing something else. Presenting it as ‘lactation support for gender-diverse families’ does not change the facts.

“Once a baby is used for an adult’s identity or arousal, you have left the realm of healthcare.

She finished strongly by saying: “Babies are not props. This is fetish and it’s being promoted by the Association of Lactation Consultants of Ireland.”