There were valuable allies speaking on the Cass review in Parliament, and we should celebrate their bravery. Their points were ignored.
Kirsten Oswald, speaking for the SNP, said decisions on health should be made by clinicians, not politicians, called for additional funding for trans health, and asked about a conversion therapy ban.
Dawn Butler, Labour, asked why Dr Dame Hilary Cass ignored 100 studies. Victoria Atkins, Secretary of State “for” health and social care, denied there was any flaw in Cass’s report. Butler asked if Atkins would commit to the funding needed to help young people? Atkins would not say. Marsha de Cordova also asked about resources for mental health.
Christine Jardine, LibDem, asked about the long waiting lists. Atkins said something useful- “People were just put on drugs and expected to get on with it.” Of course that is false about puberty blockers and cross sex hormones, PB/CSH, but it is true about depression and other mental illness. However, Atkins would not commit the funds. Lloyd Russell-Moyle also asked about waiting lists, and longitudinal studies.
Ben Bradshaw asked Atkins to confirm she does not think being trans is an ideology. Atkins used the word “ideology” for medical treatment for trans people, and pledged to “root it out” of the NHS; for regulators to “crack down” on it; but said adults should be free to live our lives transgender. That does not mean she believes trans women might use women’s services. Atkins used the word “ideology” to condemn trans treatment and trans inclusion five times.
Emma Hardy referred to Rishi Sunak’s foul joke about trans people. Atkins used the question to scaremonger about trans inclusion and attack the Labour Party. If I wanted to descend to Sunak’s level, I would point out an anagram of his name, Hi Risk Anus.
Kim Johnson said Cass’s recommendations had been misinterpreted when people stranded on the waiting lists for GIDS and waiting for adult services suddenly lost their place on the waiting lists because transitional services for 17-25 year olds were recommended, even though such services were not in place. Some actually had appointments cancelled. Caroline Nokes, chair of the Women and Equalities Committee, Conservative, also asked about 17-25. Could there be an interim service? Atkins said she would work on this issue.
Stella Creasey spoke up for the trans children who had been waiting for GIDS and now did not know what might happen. Atkins implied they might be referred to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, CAMHS, though that has huge delays and would not treat for trans.
Zarah Sultana spoke of the huge rise in transphobic hate crime, and asked Atkins to acknowledge trans rights are human rights. Atkins didn’t. Stephen Farry, Alliance, pointed out that rise in transphobia and commented the Council of Europe said LGBT rights in Britain were alongside Russia, Hungary and Turkey. Atkins claimed to want to benefit the trans community. Sadly, that was belied by her speech.
Chi Onwurah, Labour, spoke of the toxicity of the debate and asked Atkins to commit to collecting the necessary evidence. That would require at least some children to get PB. Let us celebrate these brief points of light in a dark debate.
Atkins, in her initial statement, started by claiming “fashionable cultural values have overtaken evidence, safety and biological reality. This must now stop”. This is a far-reaching attack on all trans acceptance and inclusion. She called the idea that gender transition would benefit trans children a “myth”. She scaremongered about the increase in referrals, though the numbers, 5000 in a year, are tiny among 14.5m children and smaller than the proportion of trans people in the general population. In contrast to Cass’s figures- only a quarter referred to endocrinology, and not all of them treated- Atkins claimed nearly all referred were “put on an irreversible path”. She then thanked all those who “raised the alarm” and opposed trans treatment, and detransitioners, ignoring the far greater number who transition happily. She called that treatment “a culture of secrecy and ideology”. She said private prescribers of PB/CSH could be committing an offence, and get struck off. Though the General Medical Council should be independent, she has demanded they force all doctors to implement Cass findings. She suggested AFAB adolescents decided they were trans because they feared being women, having watched violent pornography.
Retrospectively, she demanded that the NHS data of trans people treated since 2009 should be used to establish the value of trans treatment. I am sure that would show the great value of trans treatment; but trans people’s privacy matters. Streeting wanted adult gender clinics “accountable” for refusing to provide the data, which belonged to their patients and not to them.
Wes Streeting, for Labour, was little better than Atkins. Flaws in Cass’s report are coming to light daily, but he ignored them, calling it academically rigorous. He “paid tribute” to trans-denialist “whistleblowers”, who had been wrongfully “silenced” before. He equated the huge number of happy trans people calling their treatment “lifesaving” with the tiny minority of detransitioners who asked how others could let their treatment happen. He called PB/CSH for trans children a “scandal”, and welcomed the NHS stopping their prescription, which he falsely claimed had been “routine”. He too wanted legal regulation to stop private prescription.
Having alongside Cass ignored all the peer-reviewed, truly academically rigorous papers showing PB/CSH benefits trans children, he hypocritically said going forward child health should be led by evidence.
Conservatives used the Statement to spew their hatred of trans, and the false victimhood of the trans-denialists. Though it’s always good when haters share good news: a Tory said a school in Rother Valley is raising funds for Mermaids. Atkins said Mermaids should be excluded from all public institutions.
Nick Fletcher, Con, Britain’s stupidest MP, wanted all trans allies to be prosecuted. He wanted them “quaking in their boots”. Atkins called this “powerful”. Lia Nici called the medical treatment of trans children “grooming”. She wanted doctors placed on the sex offenders list. Atkins thanked her. Richard Fuller, Con, only wanted those doctors struck off. Atkins used the equally threatening words “held to account”.
These people are completely obsessed with us. Why can’t they see our humanity, and lay off?
The Commons statement was read out in the House of Lords.
Allies included the LibDem, Lorely Burt and Natalie Bennett for the Greens. Lorely Burt used the Stonewall response to point out that the children should receive holistic care rather than be shunted out to a gender service. The report does not recommend rolling back access or claim PB/CSH are dangerous, just call for more evidence. Claiming trans children are “s imply confused gay people, unhappy teenagers, or that it is all the fault of social media, is all too simplistic”. She challenged Atkins’ falsehood that GIDS “almost always” put children on PB/CSH: in fact, the figure was one patient in six. She condemned the toxic culture war.
Unfortunately, Dianne Hayter, Labour, poured scorn on Burt for using Stonewall’s briefing. She boasted of having been at the Conversion Therapy Practitioners’ conference (not their words) at the Royal College of General Practitioners.
Gillian Merron for Labour gave false equivalence to the majority of transitioners and the minority of detransitioners, and called for “accountability” of adult gender services for failing to share their patients’ private data. She paid tribute to “Whistleblowers” who got GIDS shut down, and demanded that private prescribers be prevented from providing PBs. She also said various moany things about the NHS not being funded- perhaps she has not heard Rachel Reeves refusing to increase tax.
Chief extremist was Anthony Young, Labour, who spoke ridiculous falsehoods about “thousands of lives wrecked by indiscriminate use of PBs”. He called trans people and our allies “a cult”.
Cross-bencher Ruth Deech claimed it was impossible for a child under 16 to give informed consent to PBs.
Natalie Bennett called out Atkins’ “triumphalist, dogmatic” tone, and failure to acknowledge the agency and lived experience of young people. Trans kids “should not have to live in a hostile society”.
Unfortunately, trans people do.
Clare Flourish 