Note of sanity in gender debacle
IT MIGHT be 400 pages long and taken four years to complete, but the central message of the Cass Report couldn’t be simpler: a generation of children have been criminally let down by the both the NHS and the government – and regrettably the media appears to have been bullied into a silent failure as well.
Over a little more than a decade, some of our most vulnerable young people were in effect fed onto a conveyor belt that delivered them into the hands of clinicians who, on too many occasions, handed out drugs – powerful enough to weaken bones, stunt growth and cause depression – as if they were Smarties.
This is not for a moment seeking to deny that there are children out there who are in genuine need of the best help possible, both emotional and physical.
And that must indeed be provided, as the report authored by leading consultant paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass confirmed.
But, you only have to study the numbers for a few seconds before huge doubts emerge.
The Gender Identity Development Service (Gids), set up at the Tavistock Clinic in 1989, initially saw fewer than ten children a year, of whom only a fraction were referred for hormone treatment. Roll forward 20 years, to 2009, and the number had grown marginally to under 50. But incredibly, by 2021-22, the number had soared to 5,000 young people – with an average age of 14.
Where was the questioning over how such a rare condition had mushroomed to that number? Having once been the majority of the patients, boys were suddenly replaced by girls, but as the report states no research was done to discover why. And autism was far more prevalent in that group, but again that appears to have been blithely dismissed.
Also, did it never occur to any of these supposed professionals that just about every one of us hates some part of ourselves as we enter our teens and approach puberty. Have you honestly ever encountered any teens of that age who are entirely happy with their body?
Meanwhile, puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, which can masculinise or feminise your appearance, were prescribed despite “remarkably weak evidence,” according to Dr Cass. It’s fair therefore to ask how this was allowed to go on for so long, and again Dr Cass pulls no punches. “There are few other areas of healthcare where professionals are so afraid to discuss their views openly, where people are vilified on social media and where name calling echoes the worst bullying behaviour.”
You need only look at the appalling way JK Rowling and Father Ted creator Graham Linehan were treated for airing their legitimate views. And credit to the Harry Potter author for making plain she won’t forget the actors she’s pictured with above, and helped make millionaires, who then turned on her.
Again, no one is denying some people need all the help that can be provided.
But it’s also worth noting the high percentage of patients who are now seeking to reverse the treatment. In a survey of 237 “detransitioners” as they are known, some 70 per cent said their gender dysphoria was down to other causes, but they were chivvied along to modify their perfectly healthy bodies or to imagine they should live as the other sex.
Cowed by threats of young people taking their lives, polarised debate and hounding and vile name calling on the sometimes open sewer that is social media, main stream media – with a few notable exceptions – allowed itself to be bullied into criminal neglect of the story.
This report, hailed as “devastating” and “a landmark,” has to be the point at which reckless and incompetent practice ceases for good.
After all, isn’t the key part of the Hippocratic oath, “First, do no harm”.
‘Professionals afraid to discuss views openly’