News you need, the perspective you won’t find anywhere else. The trans community’s guide to UK news, media and politics and our place in it.

The Trans Agenda

[22 December 2024]

From the start of 2025, the Trans Agenda will be going live early for subscribers. I’ll also be opening up the comments for subscribers at all levels, so make sure you sign up. It’s free but every paid subscription helps me pay for access to the papers and look for stories.

Follow me on Bluesky – @HLeeHurley.substack.com

Just a quick note that this will be the last Trans Agenda of the year as I take next week off. I’ll eventually round up the clips for next week when I’m back so we don’t have any gaps in the data, but, for now, thank you everyone who has supported and shared The Trans Agenda this year.

Although it hasn’t even been going for a full year, it has grown much bigger than I expected.

Enjoy the holidays if you’re celebrating and enjoy the peace if you’re not.

Thanks again!

UK & IRELAND NEWS

Labour affirms protections for trans people in single-sex spaces

  • Labour‘s decision to uphold existing equality law on single-sex spaces, including protections for transgender people, has predictably sparked backlash from anti-trans groups. The Office for Equality and Opportunity found that most public bodies correctly interpret Equality Act guidance, allowing transgender people to access facilities that align with their gender identity. While it acknowledged some instances of misinterpretation, the department concluded that these were due to confusion, not a need to amend the legislation.


    Obsessives, including senior Tory MP Claire Coutinho and Maya Forstater, accused Labour of betraying women, despite no evidence that the law endangers anyone.

Transgender woman wins transfer to female prison after court case

  • Michelle James, a 63-year-old transgender woman, successfully secured a transfer from Maghaberry Prison to Hydebank Wood in Northern Ireland after a High Court ruling. The court found that the Department of Justice lacked a clear policy for handling transgender prisoners, consenting to the transfer as a result.

    James, a retired chef, was initially remanded on charges of threatening to kill her neighbour, stemming from an incident where she allegedly expressed frustration over ongoing bullying, including being referred to by her dead name. She denied directly threatening the complainant and stated she called the police “in desperation.”

    Following the court case, James was granted bail under strict conditions, including no contact with the alleged victim. Her solicitor highlighted the “policy vacuum” regarding transgender individuals in custody, urging immediate action to address the issue for fair treatment.

MOJ clarify rules for trans prisoners

  • In a letter to Mammies for Trans Rights, they wrote, “Thank you for your recent correspondence of 04 December seeking clarification about transgender people in prisons. I have outlined our current process with a focus on the areas you highlighted.


    “All transgender individuals must have their rights respected and be managed in accordance with the law. Their gender identity must be acknowledged, and efforts should be made to ensure access to gender-appropriate services, facilities, and items.


    “Allocation decisions should be based on all available evidence to balance risks and promote the safety of all individuals in custodial settings and approved premises, including an assessment of risks presented to and by transgender individuals.


    “Upon entering custody, a local case board will be set up for a transgender individual, ensuring a confidential discussion on issues like allocation, searches, and clothing.


    “Initial allocation should be made according to legal gender. There is a presumption against transgender women being allocated to the women’s estate if they have a history of violent and/or sexual offences or retain birth genitalia – but exemptions to this assumption can be granted where they are assessed as posing no risk to other prisoners by a multidisciplinary risk assessment panel, and where a Minister approves this exemption.


    “All transgender prisoners, regardless of the estate they are located in, will be allocated a single cell, given separate access to showers, and cells will be locked at night.


    “Staff are expected to treat all prisoners with dignity and respect, and any harassment or abuse would be addressed through disciplinary processes.


    “For access to the full ‘The Care and Management of Prisoners Who Are Transgender’ policy framework, please visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-care-and-management-of-individuals-who-are-transgender.    ”

CPS revised guidance on deception and gender leaves important questions unanswered [CPS][Alex Sharpe]

  • Recent changes to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) guidance on deception and gender have sparked concerns about how it affects transgender people, especially in cases involving consent.

    Two key legal issues remain unresolved as highlighted by Alex Sharpe, a Professor at University of Warwick:

    • What counts as deception? It’s unclear whether deception must specifically involve someone’s “gender identity” or if it could also include their “gender history.” This distinction matters, especially for transgender people.

    • Does non-disclosure count as deception? In the past, the CPS indicated that simply not disclosing one’s gender history wasn’t enough for prosecution. However, the new guidance suggests that non-disclosure could count as deception in certain cases, such as when someone knows or suspects this information is important to their partner. The exact circumstances under which this applies are still unclear.


    I would highly recommend reading Sharpe’s thread, linked above, for a better understanding of the matter.

Ban on puberty blockers for trans youth in the UK condemned as harmful and discriminatory [ILGA]

  • Leading organisations have criticised the UK government‘s decision to ban private prescriptions of puberty blockers for trans youth, effectively making the treatment inaccessible. With no NHS trans-specific healthcare for minors and waiting lists exceeding six years, this ban is seen as deeply political, disregarding established medical expertise and international guidelines.

    Puberty blockers, widely regarded as safe and reversible, allow trans youth to delay puberty while exploring their gender identity. Advocates, including ILGA-Europe and WPATH, highlight the proven mental health benefits of these treatments, which reduce depression and suicidality among trans youth. They argue the ban perpetuates misinformation and discriminatory policies targeting a vulnerable population.

    The ban has sparked further concerns about the erosion of trans rights and increased risks of harm for trans youth, who face heightened mental health struggles without access to affirming care. Calls are growing for policymakers to reverse the decision and ensure trans youth receive evidence-based, compassionate healthcare free from political agendas.

    Meanwhile, a ‘source’ close to Wes Streeting, that was probably Wes Streeting, told the Sunday Telegraph this weekend, “No amount of pressure will see him put politics before patient safety” despite that being exactly what he has done as Health Secretary.

Carmarthenshire Winter Pride cancelled after legal threats from GCs and the Free Speech Union [Carmarthenshire Winter Pride]

  • After threats from Toby Young’s Free Speech Union, Carmarthenshire Winter Pride was cancelled rather than give into them. The FSU argued that excluding a person with Gender Critical Beliefs would violate the Equality Act 2010, a threat that is obviously nonsense. Organisers were told they must provide assurances that no one would be excluded from this or future events based on legally protected beliefs, something they have no requirement to do.

    The event team stated that allowing the individual to attend would conflict with the wishes of staff, volunteers, and performers who felt uncomfortable with their presence. Lacking the resources to engage in legal proceedings, CETMA, the organising body, chose to cancel the event to focus on community support efforts like food parcels and mental health initiatives.

    The organisers expressed regret over the decision and thanked supporters and contributors for their understanding.

    Toby Young, meanwhile, will be put in the House of Lords in the New Year’s Honours list.

Debrett’s advises using preferred pronouns this Christmas [Telegraph]

  • Debrett’s, the renowned British etiquette authority, has recommended that Christmas hosts use their guests’ preferred pronouns to accommodate gender-diverse individuals. Liz Wyse, editor at Debrett’s, encouraged hosts to lead by example, advising against reprimanding elderly relatives for accidental slip-ups. The guidance, which was asked for by The Telegraph, aims to promote inclusivity during gatherings while avoiding unnecessary tension at the dinner table – the exact opposite of what The Telegraph wanted.

Enoch Burke freed with daily fine warning [Irish Independent]

  • Enoch Burke, the anti-trans teacher dismissed for refusing to use a transgender student’s pronouns, has been freed from jail but faces a €1,400 daily fine if he violates an injunction barring him from Wilson’s Hospital School. The High Court criticised Burke for exploiting his imprisonment as martyrdom. Despite unpaid fines of €193,000, the court urged him to reconsider his stance. The school fears further disruptions when it reopens in January.

AROUND THE WORLD

Italy follows UK lead on puberty blockers [Il Foglio Quotidiano]

  • Italy has moved to restrict the use of puberty blockers for minors, adopting a framework akin to the English model. The National Bioethics Committee (CNB), wrongly citing insufficient scientific evidence on the long-term risks and efficacy of triptorelin, has mandated that its prescription be confined to controlled clinical trials overseen by the Ministry of Health. Exceptions outside trials will require exhaustive documentation, multidisciplinary review, and evidence that all alternative therapies, including psychological and psychiatric interventions (conversion therapy), have failed.

    This decision signals a sharp shift from Italy’s prior system, where off-label use of triptorelin was authorised under the National Health Service. Patients currently undergoing treatment may continue, but all decisions must be rigorously justified and data submitted to a new national registry. The CNB highlighted fabricated ethical concerns with no basis in reality, repeating the lie that puberty blockers make it more likely a person will transition as if that is some sort of side-effect. They also claim that it is a ‘challenge’ to obtain meaningful informed consent from minors.

    The recommendation passed overwhelmingly with some calling for near-total prohibition, others framing the decision as a call for stronger evidence rather than outright rejection. Implementation now falls to the Ministry of Health and the Italian Drug Agency (AIFA), marking a pivotal turn in Italy’s handling of gender dysphoria in minors representing the growing global attack on trans healthcare.

New Zealand – Public consultation on use of puberty blockers announced [Otago Daily News, The Conversation]

  • New Zealand‘s government is consulting on regulating puberty blockers, but GP Rona Carroll warns such decisions must remain clinical, not political. Backed by major medical bodies, puberty blockers are proven safe and prevent future distress in trans youth by pausing unwanted puberty. Carroll argues the move risks misinformation influencing outcomes and highlights the global harm caused by restricting gender-affirming care, which is linked to increased suicide attempts among trans youth. Inequitable access would hurt families and go against established best practices.

    Medical calls for GPs, not MPs New Zealand is consulting the public on regulations for puberty blockers, but this should be a medical decision not a political one, Rona Campbell writes. Otago Daily Times17 Dec 2024 PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES THE growing politicisation and rise in misinformation about the use of puberty blockers for genderaffirming healthcare has resulted in bans and restrictions internationally. New Zealand’s government has tasked the Ministry of Health with consulting the public on whether additional safety measures or regulations should be put in place for puberty blockers. I argue it is inappropriate to open a public consultation on a healthcare issue when disinformation about transgender people has been well documented, especially as there appear to be no measures to prevent malicious or misleading survey responses. Medical decisions should be guided by scientific or clinical concerns and remain free from political interference. Banning or restricting access to puberty blockers would go against bestpractice recommendations from major medical bodies — including the Endocrine Society, the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, the American Psychiatric Association and the American Psychological Association — and likely cause harm to young people. Puberty blockers are medications which can be used to delay the onset of puberty. In genderaffirming healthcare, they may be prescribed when a young person experiences gender incongruence and accompanying distress with their body. Gender incongruence is when a person’s gender and their assigned sex do not match. By pausing the physical changes of puberty, a young person with gender incongruence can get on with their adolescence. They can be free from the fear of potentially unwanted irreversible changes occurring to their body. When they are older, they may decide to stop the puberty blocker and let puberty resume as it would have done. The age range for the start of puberty is wide and people who have used puberty blockers will recommence puberty within this range. Some may choose to take hormone therapy to develop physical changes which match their experienced gender. This step is a separate decision with different healthcare input and consent. The same medications are used for other health issues including precocious (early) puberty, menstrual disorders and prostate cancer. This has given health professionals decades of experience in using these medications. There are no concerns around the reversibility or safety of these medications when they are used in these other situations. The Ministry of Health published an evidence brief last month which found a low risk of physical harm from using puberty blockers. It also highlighted the limitations in the quality of the evidence of benefits. The highest quality of evidence is a randomised controlled trial, where one group is given an intervention while the other is not. In these trials neither the researchers nor the participants know who is in which group. But Medical poser . . . Puberty blockers are purely a GP’s concern. puberty blockers result in obvious differences, meaning this is not a feasible research option. There are other ethical considerations and methodological limitations with designing randomised trials in this context. There is a need for further research, but restricting access to this care to those enrolled in clinical trials would be coercive and unethical. No other area of paediatric medicine is held to this standard. However, the evidence brief did not consider the harm of not using puberty blockers, the lack of evidence for any alternative treatments or the lack of harm when using these medications in other medical contexts. Puberty blockers delay the onset of puberty, but don’t necessarily result in a measurable effect at the time they are taken. The main impact is seen when people are older. The physical effects of a puberty that does not match a person’s gender can have serious negative consequences for transgender adults. In my role as a GP, I regularly hear from transgender adults (who have not had puberty blockers) struggling with distress related to bodily changes which occurred during puberty. I have met people who don’t speak because their deep voice causes others to make incorrect assumptions about their gender. Some harm themselves or avoid leaving the house because of the distress caused by their breasts. Others seek costly surgical treatments. This is when the benefits of maintaining equitable access to puberty blockers for those who need them become obvious. People are seeking hormones, surgery and mental health support for changes which could have been prevented by using puberty blockers when they were younger. The ministry’s position statement recommends that puberty blockers are prescribed by health professionals who have expertise in this area, with input from interdisciplinary colleagues. In my experience this describes how puberty blockers are being prescribed in New Zealand at present. Clinicians are already cautious in their prescribing. They work with multidisciplinary input to best support the young person and their family. They recognise the importance of mental health and family support for young people. However, access to this bestpractice care varies throughout the country. This should be properly resourced to ensure access to quality care wherever young people live. We have seen the distress caused by banning gender affirming care overseas. A recent study estimated that antitransgender laws in the US were linked to an increase in suicide attempts among transgender young people. The New Zealand government’s intention to explore regulations of puberty blocker prescriptions has not been seen in any other area of healthcare. Restrictions leading to inequitable access to this care would go against bestpractice recommendations. The people who would suffer are young people and their families. — theconversation.com Sir Peter Snell, born today in 1938. Article Name:Medical calls for GPs, not MPs Publication:Otago Daily Times Start Page:9 End Page:9

India – Supreme Court seeks Centre’s response on women’s safety laws [Deccan Chronicle]

  • The Supreme Court agreed to examine a public interest litigation (PIL) advocating for the establishment of nationwide guidelines to safeguard women, children, and transgender people. A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan issued notices to relevant central ministries and government agencies, directing them to respond. The matter has been scheduled for hearing in January 2025.

Police document transgender workers in Phuket nightlife area [Bangkok Post]

  • Phuket police have begun profiling transgender people working along Bangla Road, a bustling nightlife area near Patong Beach, to ‘enhance public safety’. According to Pol Col Chalermchai Hernsawat, chief of Patong police, the initiative “aims to reduce tourist-related fights while encouraging locals to act as informants for crime prevention” reports the Bangkok Post. The registration process, which started earlier this week, is said to be part of broader efforts to prevent crime in an area known for its entertainment venues, restaurants, and hotels because, as everybody knows, only trans people do crime.

Ghana’s Supreme Court dismisses challenges to anti-LGBT bill [BBC]

  • Ghana’s Supreme Court rejected two challenges to a bill imposing up to three years in prison for identifying as LGBT and five years for supporting LGBT groups. Critics, including the UN, call it one of Africa’s harshest anti-LGBT laws.

    President Nana Akufo-Addo delayed signing the bill, but opposition leader John Mahama supports it. The court ruled it couldn’t act until the president signs the bill into law, despite fears of increased violence and human rights violations.

Suspect charged in murder of Alabama transgender teenager Cameron Thompson [Chattanooga Times Free Press]

  • Cameron Thompson, an 18-year-old Black transgender woman, was fatally shot in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, with authorities charging a minor suspect as an adult. Police believe the suspect and Thompson knew each other and are investigating potential motives linked to Thompson’s social media posts about the suspect. Thompson’s mother, Nikki Matthews-Cunningham, described the killing as a hate crime, highlighting Alabama’s lack of legal protections for transgender people under hate crime statutes. Thompson, who had dreams of attending college and moving to New York, is remembered as intelligent and vibrant. Advocates, including the Human Rights Campaign, have called for a thorough investigation and justice for her family.

Senate passes Pentagon policy bill amid transgender care controversy [The Boston Globe]

  • The US Senate passed the $895.2 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on Wednesday in an 85-14 vote, despite backlash over an amendment barring federal funds from covering transgender medical care for children of military personnel. House Speaker Mike Johnson’s provision, criticised as discriminatory by some Democrats but supported by others, sparked rare opposition to the traditionally bipartisan defence bill. While some Senate Democrats, led by Tammy Baldwin, opposed the measure, others emphasised the bill’s importance in funding troop pay raises, military quality of life, and defences against China. The bill now heads to President Biden, who is expected to sign it.

White House abandons rule on transgender athletes ahead of Trump’s return [Kent County Daily Times]

  • The Biden administration has withdrawn a proposed regulation aimed at protecting transgender student-athletes under Title IX, citing ongoing litigation and extensive public feedback. The rule, which sought to prevent outright bans on transgender athletes while allowing restrictions for specific reasons like fairness and injury risks, faced criticism from both sides of the ‘debate’.


    Conservatives     have pledged to pursue bans on transgender athletes, with Trump campaigning on promises to “keep men out of women’s sports.” Legal challenges against Biden’s broader Title IX protections, which remain stalled in 26 states, underscore the hostile landscape surrounding transgender rights in education and sports.


    The move is being framed as a ‘strategic retreat’, ensuring that any future policy changes by the incoming administration must begin anew, delaying their implementation.

SPORT

Van Leuven: ‘Terrible’ to be trans in sport

  • Noa-Lynn van Leuven, the first transgender player to compete in the World Darts Championship, says it is “terrible” to be trans in sport. Van Leuven, who lost in the first round to Kevin Doets, highlighted ongoing challenges for trans athletes, particularly hate from some competitors. “The PDC have been really supportive,” the 28-year-old said. “It is great to see what they are doing. If you look at other sports, it’s easy to ban trans people. Or if you have gone through puberty in the UK you can’t play anything. It’s terrible.

    “One of the most important things is to be just you and do whatever you want. It’s terrible, why can’t people just be themselves?”

MEDIA

Non-activist Stephen Fry attacks Stonewall’s ‘nonsensical’ trans stance

  • Stephen Fry, who has never been known for campaigning for LGBTQ+ rights, has publicly criticised Stonewall‘s pro-trans policies, calling them “nonsensical” during an appearance on the Triggernometry podcast. Fry attacked its policy of defending trans rights, particularly its stance on transition for trans youth and claims about lesbian dating preferences as his slide down the rabbit hole continues to pick up pace.

    Fry’s comments come the same week he was photographed at an event with GC Richard Dawkins, GC Douglas Murray and accused sexual abuser, Lawrence M. Krauss.

Disney/Pixar remove trans character [Guardian Australia]

  • Disney has removed dialogue referencing a transgender character’s identity in Pixar’s upcoming animated series Win or Lose, sparking criticism from advocates and the actor involved. Chanel Stewart, an 18-year-old trans actor who voices the character, expressed being “very disheartened” by Disney’s decision to change the character into a cisgender girl, calling it a missed opportunity for representation.

    The series, which debuts on Disney+ in February, initially intended to feature a transgender teenager as part of its story about a mixed-gender softball team. Disney explained the change, stating they wanted to allow parents to discuss certain topics with their children “on their own terms and timeline.” Stewart, who auditioned for the role in 2020, said she was excited to bring an authentic portrayal of a transgender teenager to screens, aiming to empower other trans youth.

    The move has drawn criticism, with Stewart’s mother, Keisha, noting that erasing such representation is “another setback for the LGBTQ community.”

Has Metro gone to the dark side?

  • Metro has been a supportive publication when it comes to trans people. They have paid many to write for them and, from what I’ve seen, refused to engage in the so-called culture wars. That’s why I found myself surprised to see them publishing an article headlined “Judy Murray wants ‘bigger and stronger’ transgender athletes out of women’s sports” last week. Worse, still, she was platformed uncritically and unchallenged. This was content you expect from the Mail or the Telegraph, not Metro.

    Thankfully, this piece sits in contrast to all the others on their ‘transgender’ page. Written by Liam Grace, who joined the outlet in 2022, it also stands out amidst his other content (all football) which doesn’t seem to care much about any social issues. Given that, I’m willing to accept this has slipped through due to ignorance, but I will now be monitoring them more closely moving forward.

The National (Scotland) support trans people

Wrong people listened to on puberty blockers ban The National (Scotland)17 Dec 2024Steph Paton Trans people are spoken about but not to by the mainstream press IN indefinitely extending the ban on puberty blockers for trans young people, Labour have enacted the first piece of anti-LGBT legislation to come from Westminster in 36 years. And like the ban on teaching of LGBTQ+ identities enacted in 1988, it is grounded in little more than a moral panic that harms young people. Health Secretary Wes Streeting claims that the decision to extend the Conservative Party’s ban on something which is a reversible and safe means to give young people the time and space to decide what is right for them was taken after receiving expert advice. But the Government’s own consultation process tells another story. If, as the Government’s proponents are so quick to say, we must take the heat out of the so-called transgender debate, the route to doing so must surely be through expert opinion and by listening to the experiences of young trans people themselves. Yet skipping through the list of names invited to respond to the Government’s targeted consultation on the indefinite ban, a number of chosen invitees are objectively the last people who should be near such a consultation – anti-trans organisations, conversion therapy advocates and groups with ties to far-right American evangelism. The list of groups and organisations invited to take part included charity the LGB Alliance, which was labelled by the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) as a hate group in 2022. GPAHE – which was formed by two former members of the respected US Southern Poverty Law Center – highlighted the LGB Alliance among other groups such as the Official Proud Boys Ireland and the Iona Institute as setting out to “demean, harass, and inspire violence against people based on their identity traits”. The Government also invited the Bayswater Support Group to respond – a favourite go-to of the far right that pushes conversion therapy and advocates abuse toward trans youth “for their own good”. Posts from parents in the group have detailed how they faced being reported by a school counsellor because “my [child] is fearful living in our home, we have refused to buy certain [boys’] clothes and we restrained [them]”. Another Bayswater committee member admitted that her trans child was now living in accommodation for LGBTQ+ abuse survivors, describing it as “a church for the gender faithful”. Yet despite soliciting opinions from hate groups and organisations with no practical experience in delivering health services for the transgender community, you may be surprised to learn that the final result of the consultation still opposed the introduction of a permanent ban on puberty blockers to the tune of 59% against, and just 27% in support. So who exactly is Streeting listening to on this issue? Even the much-flaunted Cass Review – itself currently being ripped to shreds the world over by medical experts – never recommended anything as foul as the path that Streeting ultimately chose to take. As on any issue around trans people in Britain, our perspective is almost entirely missing in the mainstream press; always spoken about, but never so much to. Streeting might frame this intervention in the language of hard truths and doing it for the good of the kids (much like the parents of the Bayswater Support Group do) but speak with those affected by the ban, and they will tell you exactly where Streeting can put his faux sympathies. TRANS Kids Deserve Better (TKDB), a group of trans youths, released a statement following the indefinite ban announcement, and while occupying the space outside Streeting’s constituency office. They said: “We know that there’s no truth that this decision was made on the basis of our safety. If he was concerned about our safety, or actually took the time to listen to us, he would be making decisions that would allow us to move through the world in the ways we want to be seen and as we are.” Even Labour’s LGBT affiliate group explicitly blocked the sole trans committee member from having input into the organisation’s response to the ban, which ultimately was an exercise in handwringing and little else. Those with lived experience of being trans, those who have accessed and benefitted from puberty blockers, are sidelined in service to rhetoric that undermines the Young trans people have no faith in the health system – or the Labour Party autonomy of young people and the concept of Gillick competence itself. This ban is openly discriminatory. It targets only transgender youth, and not young cisgender people who can still readily be prescribed these “dangerous” and “untested” drugs. And the tiny handful of genderquestioning young people already prescribed puberty blockers will be able to continue accessing them. All of which raises the question of just how dangerous the Government believes these drugs to actually be while they continue to use them elsewhere. The reality is that young people looking to access healthcare as a trans person were already effectively banned from doing so, not by anything as crass as Streeting’s politically motivated ban but by the simple fact that NHS waiting times for access to trans healthcare are so astronomical – they effectively lock people out already. Quite the contrast to the bizarre belief that people are being “rushed” through transition or are pressured into doing so. In a sense, Streeting is just institutionalising a ban that was effectively already in place. Young trans people have no faith in the healthcare system for that reason and more. Nor do they have any faith in the Labour Party to listen to them, or treat them with the dignity they deserve. Speak to a young trans person, and they’ll tell you that themselves. Article Name:Wrong people listened to on puberty blockers ban Publication:The National (Scotland) Author:Steph Paton Start Page:19 End Page:19

Guardian Australia defends trans people

  • This article was in the Guardian’s Australian edition on Wednesday. There was nothing similar in the UK edition.

Why aren’t more politicians condemning Nancy Mace’s vicious anti-trans stunts? The Guardian Australia18 Dec 2024Jay Saper Photograph: Nathan Howard/Reuters ‘When cruel injustice becomes enshrined in law by politicians fueled by hate the only conscionable response is to dissent.’ Representative Nancy Mace is proudly embracing her George Wallace moment. It’s time for dissent. When Vivian Malone and James Hood enrolled at the University of Alabama in 1963, Governor Wallace traveled to Tuscaloosa to stand defiantly in the doorway of the Foster Auditorium. In tailored suit and tie, the white southern governor, whom Dr Martin Luther King once called “perhaps the most dangerous racist in America today”, prevented the two Black students from attending class. Wallace’s Stand in the Schoolhouse Door upheld the impassioned promise he made while delivering his inaugural address: “Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever”. Mace has clearly studied this history and chosen to side with its least savory character. When Sarah McBride became the first out transgender woman elected to Congress this past November, Mace swiftly introduced a House resolution to ban McBride from using the bathroom. This legislation, which has farreaching implications, might as well be known as Mace’s Stand in the Bathroom Door. When cruel injustice becomes enshrined in law by politicians fueled by hate the only conscionable response is to dissent. Yet, in the face of escalating anti-trans rhetoric and legislation on Capitol Hill, Democrats have remained eerily silent. That is why, in a commitment to affirm the basic human dignity and respect all people deserve, I helped lead a group of trans women, non-binary people, and cis allies in holding a sitin in a women’s bathroom in Congress. Holding a banner that read “Flush Bathroom Bigotry”, we openly disobeyed House policy and defied Mace and House speaker Mike Johnson’s hate. We are inspired by the long and proud tradition of everyday people coming together to confront injustice – people willing to take a risk to uphold a vision for the future we deserve, from the 1960 sit-in at a Woolworth lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, that helped to catalyze the Black Freedom Movement, to the 1966 sip-in at Julius’ Bar in New York City that helped to ignite the movement for queer liberation. We held these histories in our hearts as we raised our voices together: “Democrats grow a spine, trans lives are on the line.” Capitol police tightened handcuffs around our wrists and hauled 15 of us off to jail. Mace followed along to the US Capitol police headquarters. With a megaphone magnifying her hate, she hurled anti-trans slurs at us while we sat locked in our cells. So far, only a single member of Congress, the representative Maxwell Frost, has condemned her abhorrent hate speech. In Montgomery, Alabama, 100 miles south-east of where Wallace made his infamous Stand in the Schoolhouse Door, is the National Memorial for Peace and Justice. Jars full of soil collected from the trees where white mobs lynched Black people commemorate one of the most gruesome chapters of this country’s history. The white vigilantes, who took it upon themselves to terrorize and murder the Black people whom this memorial honors, commonly justified their heinous acts by claiming, like Mace, that they were “protecting” women, who invariably were cis and white. Racism’s pernicious construction – that is to say, false imagination – of Black people as inherently posing a threat to white women has excused egregious acts of racist violence. Mace adopts a similar logic to the southern segregationists she cosplays as while advancing her own viciously anti-trans hate. By suggesting trans women inherently pose a threat to the safety of cis women, she justifies all acts of violence committed against us, both physical and political. Mace seems proud of this brutality. To her, our bodies are to be dismembered and placed as a present under the Christmas tree of cis salvation. Mace’s infatuation with hawking grotesque anti-trans merchandise harkens back to the despicable racist tradition of selling souvenirs that celebrated lynchings. Those who have intimate experience from their daily lives of surviving with resilience in the face of this country’s deeply racist roots, which also underpin the current blossoming of trans misogyny, can show us how to advocate for dignity for all that leaves nobody behind. Members of Congress should listen to and follow the leadership of Black trans women like Raquel Willis, cofounder of the Gender Liberation Movement, with whom I organized the bathroom sit-in, and the legendary Miss Major, who supported our action. Lawmakers should raise their voices in dissent when their colleagues unabashedly attack us with slurs, misgender us, slander those we love and incite violence by dishonoring our dignity. Mace urged Capitol police to charge Raquel, our dear friend Chelsea Manning, and me with sex crimes for simply exercising our basic right to use a bathroom. Nobody in power on Capitol Hill objected. As trans women, we cannot afford to accept indifference in the face of such hostility to our community. We need you to join us in crying out. Without dissent, hate festers with impunity. Jay Saper is an organizer of the bathroom sit-in in Congress led by Gender Liberation Movement Article Name:Why aren’t more politicians condemning Nancy Mace’s vicious anti-trans stunts? Publication:The Guardian Australia Author:Jay Saper Start Page:45 End Page:45

While this one was in the Guardian Australia on Thursday but nowhere to be seen in the UK edition

‘Very disheartened’: trans actor speaks out as Disney changes her Pixar character to be cisgender The Guardian Australia19 Dec 2024Sian Cain Photograph: PIXAR Win or Lose, Pixar’s first-ever original long-form animated series. The upcoming show was set to feature a transgender character voiced by Chanel Stewart, but the character will now be cisgender after Disney removed dialogue referring to her gender identity. An upcoming Pixar animated television series will no longer include a transgender teenager after Disney removed dialogue that referenced the character’s gender identity. Win or Lose, which will begin on Disney+ in February, follows different members of a young mixed gender softball team, the Pickles, in the lead up to their championship game. Voices in the show include comedian Will Forte as the team’s coach, Dan. The Hollywood Reporter was the first to reveal that several lines of dialogue that referenced the transgender character’s identity had been removed. In a statement, Disney confirmed the change, saying: “When it comes to animated content for a younger audience, we recognize that many parents would prefer to discuss certain subjects with their children on their own terms and timeline.” A source close to the show told the Hollywood Reporter the studio decided months ago to change the gender identity of the character, whose name has yet to be revealed. Chanel Stewart, the 18-year-old transgender actor who voices the character, said she was “very disheartened” by Disney’s decision. “From the moment I got the script, I was excited to share my journey to help empower other trans youth. I knew this would be a very important conversation. Trans stories matter, and they deserve to be heard,” she told Deadline. She confirmed Disney had told her that her character is still “heavily” in the show, but she “would now be a cis girl, a straight cis girl”. Stewart applied for the role in 2020 after seeing a social media post about Pixar’s search for a transgender girl to voice a transgender teenager for the series. “The thought of authentically portraying a transgender teenage girl made me really happy,” she told Deadline. “I wanted to make this for transgender kids like me.” Her mother, Keisha, told Deadline: “There may be some parents out there who are not ready to have that conversation, but this is the world that we live in and everyone should be represented. Everyone deserves to be recognised. And it felt like it was just another setback for the LGBTQ community, because it’s very hard on transgender teenagers … transgender people, period.” Disney declined to comment further on the matter. Disney has come under fire before for its handling of LGBTQ+ characters, the presence of whom can affect their ability to sell films and TV in countries that ban or censor LGBTQ+ content. The company’s handling of Florida’s “don’t say gay” bill also resulted in its ties to the US political establishment and the lack of LGBTQ+ representation in its films coming under scrutiny. In 2022, the Pixar film Lightyear sparked controversy for including two women briefly kissing, while Disney Animation’s Strange World featured an openly gay lead character but flopped at the box office. Disney also cut a lesbian kiss from a Star Wars film in order to get a lower age rating in Singapore. Article Name:‘Very disheartened’: trans actor speaks out as Disney changes her Pixar character to be cisgender Publication:The Guardian Australia Author:Sian Cain Start Page:13 End Page:13

Lucy Rock has been appointed as the first female editor of the Observer in more than a century as part of an announcement that confirmed the sale of the title to Tortoise Media [Guardian]

Squid Game 2 to feature trans character

  • According to the Korea Times, “Hyun-ju (Park Sunghoon) is a former special forces soldier and a transgender woman. She joins the games because she needs money for her gender-affirming surgery. She is strong, decisive and a natural leader who breaks down stereotypes and inspires others.” Although the character will be played by a cis man, it seems that the director did try to find a trans woman to play her. “When we researched in Korea, there are close to no actors that are openly trans, let alone openly gay, because unfortunately in the Korean society currently the LGBTQ community is rather still marginalised and more neglected, which is heartbreaking … It was near impossible to find someone who we could cast authentically,” Hwang Dong-hyuk said. It is not clear if he was asked why he didn’t opt to cast a cis woman, instead.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

LGBT Jubilee event removed from Vatican calendar without explanation [La Regione]

  • The LGBT Jubilee, initially scheduled for September 6, 2025, as part of the official Holy Year calendar, has been removed from the list of events on the Vatican‘s website. The event was to be organised by The Tent of Jonathan, an Italian organisation focused on LGBT+ pastoral care. Currently, the link to the calendar shared by the association leads to a blank page. While two other events remain listed for that date, the LGBT-focused Jubilee is absent.

    “We haven’t been informed, and no one has provided an explanation,” said Innocenzo Pontillo, president of The Tent of Jonathan. Pontillo, who had been coordinating the Jubilee for LGBT+ Catholics, expressed confusion and disappointment over the Vatican’s decision to exclude the event from its official calendar.

SHORTS

  • Yvette Cooper, the UK’s Home Secretary, attended a far-right youth event in Italy alongside Italian interior minister, Matteo Piandetosi, to discuss anti-refugee measures.

  • Anti-trans former MP, Thangam Debbonaire, who was trounced at the General Election by the pro-trans Green leader, Carla Denyer, will be put in the House of Lords by Labour in the New Year’s Honours list.

  • Sue Gray will also be put in the House of Lords. According to Kemi Badenoch, Gray previously tried to get her to drop her opposition to self-ID in Scotland.

  • Moira Deeming has been awarded $300,000 in damages after being called a Nazi sympathiser following an appearance at a KJK rally in Australia, which neo-Nazis attended [The Chronicle, Monday]

  • Police chiefs have called for an overhaul of the recording of non-crime hate incidents, warning that it has become an “impediment” to officers doing their job. More than 13,200 hate incidents were recorded in the 12 months to June, according to figures from 45 of Britain’s 48 police forces [Times, Monday]

  • New Zealand scraps all research funding for the social sciences and humanities because it’s not like we’re living in an era of unethical psycho techbros who could have done with a few humanities courses. [Science]

  • Graham Linehan: I’m leaving Britain [The Spectator]

WHAT’S ON IN PARLIAMENT

Parliament is in recess. It will return 6 January 2025.

MUST READ

Imagining a world in which trans kids are free to be themselves, by Vic Parsons [Vogue]

  • Vic Parsons examines the UK government’s permanent puberty blocker ban, exposing its discriminatory impact on trans youth. Despite political rhetoric framing the decision as protective, the ban restricts life-enhancing care for trans kids while allowing the same treatments for others. It also highlights that trans children need societal acceptance, equitable healthcare, and freedom from oppressive norms, not political scapegoating.

THE PAPERS

As the year comes to a close, this week started off slowly. On Tuesday, The Telegraph even published a small piece with Noa-Lyn van Leuven in which they did not include a single GC counter.

Alas, it was not to last.

By the end of the week, we’d had 25 articles (the same as last week) with the Telegraph publishing 14 of them on their own. The Guardian/Observer had one (a straight report on van Leuven at the darts), while the Mail and the Times had five each.

So far this month, The Telegraph has accounted for 57% of all articles published about trans people. As the year has drawn on, it has picked up a larger share of the anti-trans content and this is the first time, since I’ve been tracking it all, that they have broken the 50% mark.

While the month – and the year – are not quite finished, the Mail are showing the largest drop. In May, when I started, they published 30 articles, accounting for just over 25%. At this point in December, that has dropped to 11 and under 15%.

The Times’ output has remained somewhat steady throughout the year in terms of percentage, from 28% in May to 22% in December, it never went above 31% (July) nor below 20 (September).

It’s a similar picture with the Guardian, although in November they only accounted for 2%, some distance from their year high 13% in August, or the 7% they sit at for December with just over a week left of the month.

Quoted or mentioned this week:

  • Court-adjudicated non-expert, Helen Joyce from Sex Matters, on how IPSO need to rewrite their guidelines because they ruled the Spectator shouldn’t have called a trans woman a ‘man’.

  • Stephanie Davies-Arai of Transgender Trend on Anne Health

  • Sex Matters’ Helen Joyce and Maya Forstater on the Equality Act

  • LGB Alliance’s Kate Barker on Gender-fluid Visibility Week

  • Helen Joyce (again) calling ‘special identities’ “endless tripe”

How many trans people were quoted or got a byline? 1 (Noa-Lynn van Leuven)

Spotted or know something you think I should include in the Trans Agenda?

THE PAPERS Monday 16 December – Sunday 22 December

Monday Total: 0

Tuesday Total: 2

The Guardian [0]
The Times [0]
Daily Mail [0]
Telegraph [2]
Judge me only on my darts, says first transgender player The Daily Telegraph17 Dec 2024By Ben Rumsby Ready for big stage: Noa-lynn van Leuven was among the crowd watching at Alexandra Palace yesterday The PDC World Championship’s first transgender player says she does not want the milestone to define her tournament debut. Noa-lynn van Leuven claimed one of two women’s spots at Alexandra Palace in October after transitioning three years ago. That was five months after former BDO Women’s Championship finalist Deta Hedman pulled out of a match against the 28-year-old claiming being forced to play someone born male would have an adverse effect on her mental health. Van Leuven, who will face Kevin Doets in the World Championship first round today, said: “It’s going to be a big achievement for me and for my kind of people. But I guess I just want to be Noa. I just want to play darts and not always [have] to talk about the fact I’m also transgender. “I’m a darts player and I’m terribly good at it. But I guess it’s a big thing and I’m also the first Dutchwoman to play on the Alexandra Palace stage. If I look back, like a year, I wouldn’t even think about going to Ally Pally. Maybe to watch as a fan, but not to play. And I’m on that stage. “It’s a big achievement for me. I worked my a-- off for it the whole year. And I think, the last half-year, I actually thought, ‘OK, I might actually reach Ally Pally if I continue this form’.” Van Leuven claiming a femaledesignated spot at darts’ flagship event has been a point of contention within a sport in which disciplinary action has been threatened against those who refuse to play trans opponents. In October, Van Leuven told Dutch website nu.nl: “There are a lot of conservative, toxic b-----s on the women’s tour. They see me as a threat.” Van Leuven travelled to London yesterday morning after working a double shift over the weekend as a junior sous chef. Although she is planning on entering the PDC Qualifying School next month to earn a tour card, she does not envisage ever leaving the kitchen. “I don’t mind working in the kitchen, and I think it’s one of my hobbies,” she said. “I’ve got two major hobbies. One of them is darts, and one of them is cooking. So I made both of them my job. “So, I’m not sure if I will ever go full-time on the darts. For now, I enjoy my time in the kitchen.” Article Name:Judge me only on my darts, says first transgender player Publication:The Daily Telegraph Author:By Ben Rumsby Start Page:11 End Page:11
Axe misleading gender rules, women tell Ipso The Daily Telegraph17 Dec 2024By Craig Simpson FEMINIST campaigners have called for the press regulator to scrap “misleading” gender identity guidelines. Last week, the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso) ruled that an article describing a trans author as a “man pretending to be a woman” amounted to discrimination. The watchdog was accused of having a “chilling effect” on free speech following the ruling about The Spectator article, which had included the description of trans author Juno Dawson as part of a wider piece about Nicola Sturgeon, the former first minister of Scotland. Campaigners with the women’s rights group Sex Matters are now calling for Ipso guidelines for reporting gender identity issues to be scrapped in favour of rules “based on reality”. Guidelines advise journalists “not to make pejorative or prejudicial reference to an individual’s sex or gender identity”, and should “consider whether information about an individual’s gender identity is relevant to an article”. In reference to court reporting, it states that “journalists and editors should be aware of self-identification”, and should consider the pronouns being used by court officials and witnesses. Helen Joyce, co-founder of Sex Matters, believes editors should ignore Ipso if the regulator does not review its guidelines. She said: “We’re calling for Ipso to withdraw its 2024 ‘Sex and gender identity guidance’. “It needs to replace it with something that is based on reality – there are two sexes, people can’t change sex and often people’s sex is relevant in reporting. The guidance as it stands contravenes the Editors’ Code, the first clause of which is accuracy, sides with violent male criminals and against female victims and forces media outlets to mislead their audience.” Article Name:Axe misleading gender rules, women tell Ipso Publication:The Daily Telegraph Author:By Craig Simpson Start Page:12 End Page:12

Wednesday Total: 4

The Guardian [1]
Van Leuven feels the love before defeat by Doets The Guardian18 Dec 2024Jonathan Liew Alexandra Palace Noa-Lynn van Leuven won the first set but lost out to Kevin Doets From every corner of the West Hall, from the stands to the table seats, came a ringing of boos. Up on the stage Noa-Lynn van Leuven held her head high. Tried to maintain her focus amid the cacophony of derision and disdain being flung her way by the crowd. Now, before your favourite patriotic news outlet gets too excited, this was no act of protest, or prejudice, or cruelty. Van Leuven was simply paying the public penalty that awaits all players when they start a leg with two 180s and then miss the seventh dart of an attempted nine-dart finish. Just a normal thing that happens all the time, and is really no big deal. As, in a way, is van Leuven’s very presence at Alexandra Palace this year. And taken out of context, the sight of the world No 144 losing to the world No 51, Kevin Doets, in the first round would scarcely merit much comment outside of the Netherlands, from where both players hail. But then, you have the context. That context being death threats on a daily basis. Vicious messages on social media. Even now, the Professional Darts Corporation has to switch off comments every time it posts about her on X. But the 28-yearold from Heemskerk has long since accustomed herself to the savage gaze. “It’s just a great game,” she said in the wake of her defeat. “I love the game. I just want to play darts. And anyone who’s being terrible about me, it says more about them.” Van Leuven will not stop. This has been a breakthrough year for her, a year of prodigious improvement, with landmark victories against men on the Challenge Tour added to multiple wins in the Women’s Series, a debut Grand Slam appearance, and here the scent of an almighty shock. She took the first set, and would have averaged over 90 but for a farcical leg in the second. Doets eventually clinched it in 33 darts after a fiesta of missed doubles, and it proved a pivotal moment. From potentially throwing for a 2-0 lead, Doets swept to a 3-1 win and a second-round meeting with Michael Smith. As for Van Leuven, she will go to Q-School next month in an attempt to win a professional tour card for the first time. But from every corner, the crowd warmed to her. They roared her on to the stage, roared the 180s, roared her off the stage again. “To be fair, I was expecting a lot of bad behaviour from the crowd today,” Doets said. “But I don’t think I heard a single boo for her. I like that.” And it has been from within darts that Van Leuven has found some of her strongest support. Fellow players like Fallon Sherrock, Luke Humphries and Michael van Gerwen have stood up for her. Non-darts people often find this solidarity surprising. But then this has always been a sport where everyone is welcome. Where it doesn’t matter where you come from. All that matters is the three darts in your hand, and the magic bottled up in them. Sherrock knows that better than anyone, having so memorably reached the last 32 here on her debut appearance five years ago, before going to the quarter-finals of the Grand Slam in 2021. But the magic is summoned a little more rarely these days. On her fifth appearance in the Palace, she was beaten 3-2 by Ryan Meikle in a scruffy game. The lefthanded Meikle will become Luke Littler’s first opponent at this tournament, and unless he shows significant improvement his chances are slim to nil. We also got the biggest shock of the tournament so far, as the World Grand Prix champion Mike De Decker was bundled out by Luke Woodhouse. De Decker has been on a stunning autumn streak and might have expected a shot at the Premier League next year. That feels a more remote prospect now after a meek performance under the bright lights, even if Woodhouse was one of the toughest draws he could have got. In the final game of the evening, Peter Wright sneaked through a bruising encounter against the hotly tipped Wesley Plaisier to set up a third-round tie against the in-form Jermaine Wattimena. Plaisier missed eight darts to win the second set, two to win the fourth, 20 in total, outscored Wright in the averages by four points. That said: the last time Wright survived an early scare like this, back in 2020, he won the tournament. Article Name:Van Leuven feels the love before defeat by Doets Publication:The Guardian Author:Jonathan Liew Alexandra Palace Start Page:35 End Page:35
The Times [1]
Sherrock misses out on Littler clash while trans player also loses Darts Elgan Alderman Van Leuven Next image › Noa-Lynn van Leuven, the first transgender darts player to compete at the PDC World Championship, lost 3-1 to Kevin Doets in the first round at Alexandra Palace before Fallon Sherrock was unable to book a bumper clash with Luke Littler. Sherrock, 30, the first woman to win a match at this event in 2020, lost 3-2 against Ryan Meikle, who will face the 17-year-old superstar on Saturday night in the second round. Littler will be the overwhelming favourite to beat the 28- year-old barber from Ipswich, especially if the world No 62 replicates his three-dart average of 83.53 from this opening victory. Three ton-plus checkouts were flashes of his ability. In the afternoon session Van Leuven won the first set but Doets commanded the rest of the match after both struggled with their doubles in a comical third leg of the second set, which Doets finally took in 33 darts. In the final set Van Leuven threw six perfect darts but was unable to complete a nine-darter, and Doets quickly finished the contest with a final average of 88.13, compared with 87.02 for Van Leuven, who outscored him by six 180s to three. The 28-year-old chef from the Netherlands received a warm reception from the crowd. “I didn’t expect the crowd to be really terrible,” Van Leuven said. “I hope they were with me [in giving support]. I guess they were with me. They just want to see good darts.” Van Leuven made her debut in the Women’s Series two years ago after passing eligibility tests, having started to transition as a teenager. PDC regulations stipulate that a transgender player may participate in women’s events if their testosterone is below a certain level for 12 months and if they are listed as female on their passport. “We took legal advice and we took some ideas from policy that other sports bodies have put in place,” Matthew Porter, the PDC chief executive, said last month. “We came up with a policy that we believe to be fair. We respect the fact that not everybody agrees with that and we accept that it’s not a unanimously accepted position.” Darts contrasts with other sports that have kept transgender athletes out of women’s competitions. “It’s terrible for trans people at the moment to play any sport,” Van Leuven said. “The eyes would be on me because it’s a hot topic. If we look at trans people in sports in general, they’re the victim. Why can’t we just play anything we want? I don’t get it. “The PDC have been really supportive towards me, towards anyone. They stand behind their own rules. That’s how it is right now.” Van Leuven and Sherrock made it to Alexandra Palace via the PDC Women’s Series. However, Beau Greaves, who earned her place by winning the Women’s World Matchplay, opted to prioritise the WDF Women’s World Championship, as women are not allowed to compete in both events. Sherrock knocked out Ted Evetts and Mensur Suljovic en route to the third round in 2020, earning herself the nickname Queen of the Palace. She has not won a match here since that sequence and has failed in every attempt to secure a PDC tour card through Q-School.
Daily Mail [2]
But I grew up and realised I’d made a terrible mistake I was under the illusion it was possible to change sex, and I thought I would never want children or change my mind about living as a man. Daily Mail18 Dec 2024by Barbara McMahon AS A GIRL, AGED 15 TRANSITIONING AT 17 Vulnerable: Prisha thought switching gender was the answer Prisha was 17 when she transitioned to become a boy – and 24 when she became a woman again. Now, making history by taking the medical professionals who encouraged her to court, she gives an extraordinary interview PRISHA Mosley can spend hours gazing at her six-month-old son, marvelling at how he’s beginning to reach for objects, sit up with support and make babbling sounds. The first-time mother says her favourite moments are when the baby wakes up in the early morning and they snuggle in bed. These occasions are precious but full of regret for the 26 year old, who has been left with permanent health problems after transitioning from female to male as a troubled teen, only to decide she’d made a mistake and reverse course a few years later. Having undergone a double mastectomy at the age of just 18, she is unable to hug her baby properly and breastfeeding, of course, is out of the question. ‘He looks for milk and it’s not there,’ she sighs. ‘My chest is numb and covered in scars and lumps so it’s not soft and pillowy, like it should be for a baby. ‘I can feel him against my neck, shoulders and stomach, but it’s like there’s a big hole where my chest should be, because there’s no sensation there.’ Prisha is one of a rising number of young people who believe they were failed by medical professionals and fast-tracked into changing gender without being made fully aware of the consequences. It’s an issue, of course, that’s becoming increasingly fraught in the UK, with the Government announcing an indefinite ban on puberty blockers for children last week, saying they present ‘an unacceptable safety risk for children and young people under 18 years without significant additional safeguards’. Prisha’s case is remarkably similar to that of Keira Bell, one of the most prominent former patients of the UK’s Gender Identity Development Service at the Tavistock Institute in north London. AFTER detransitioning from a boy back to being a girl, Bell described her treatment as ‘experimental at best, destructive at worst’. Her legal challenge against the Tavistock, which ran the clinic, over whether children under 16 considering gender treatment are mature enough to give informed consent for puberty blockers, was initially won in the High Court before being defeated in the Court of Appeal. In the first lawsuit of its kind to proceed to court in the US, Prisha is suing the medical professionals she claims pushed gender-change as the solution to her mental health problems. ‘It was sold as this wonderful thing that would take away all the distress I was feeling,’ Prisha says. ‘But it didn’t help at all. It made me feel worse and I’m left with a lot of shame, guilt and anger.’ We’re meeting via Zoom at Prisha’s home in the small college town of Big Rapids, Michigan. With her dyed red hair and fashionable spectacles, she looks just like any young mum. The body that she says is disfigured is hidden in a big, woollen sweater. Prisha, who also has a five-yearold stepdaughter with her boyfriend, doesn’t want to reveal her son’s name because of the threats she’s received since becoming an activist against gender-affirming care for minors and launching her legal case. ‘Every day I’m told that I’ve got the blood of children who need to transition on my hands,’ she says. ‘People threaten to take away my child, report me to child protection services, say they are going to “trans” him – all kinds of awful stuff. ‘My phone number has been posted online without my consent. I’ve been threatened online by people I know, who are in my town, and I can’t go to certain places or take my children to certain places.’ This remarkably self-assured young woman says she tries to ignore the torrent of vilification because she believes other vulnerable and confused teenagers should know about the risks of making medical decisions to try to change sex. ‘I was under the misconception that it was possible to change sex, and I thought I would never want children or change my mind about living as a man,’ she says. ‘But I grew up and realised I’d made a terrible mistake.’ By her own admission, Prisha was a troubled teen, who suffered from anorexia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety and suicidal thoughts during her childhood in North Carolina. At 14 she was sexually assaulted, became pregnant and suffered a miscarriage. At 15, she thought she would be better off being a boy. She recalls: ‘I wasn’t good at being a girl. I thought I was ugly and fat and not like the girly girls you see on TV or in the movies. ‘I thought a lot of the trauma I experienced didn’t happen to boys and they were stronger and tougher and had easier lives.’ In her vulnerable state, she says she was targeted by trans activists who entered a pro-anorexia internet chatroom that she belonged to. ‘I was being told by these activists that my misery was because my body was fighting to be a boy. ‘I was a child, and I believed it. I thought: “My body’s not just horrible, it’s entirely wrong. All my problems are because I’m really a boy.”’ She started using the name Charlie online and at 16 ‘threw a bit of a fit’ about having periods to the nutritionist treating her anorexia. She said she felt she was a boy trapped in a girl’s body. Almost immediately, she says, she was put in touch with a gender therapist who said Prisha was suffering from gender dysphoria. She was prescribed injections that would stop her from menstruating and, at 17, Prisha started testosterone. It led to her growing body and facial hair and developing larger muscles. HER parents did not want their daughter to have treatment but were manipulated into agreeing to it, she claims. ‘My parents never thought I was a boy or that I’d been born in the wrong body, but they did know they had a child who was unhappy and had talked about suicide. ‘They were basically asked: “Do you want a dead daughter or a living son?” So they went along with it,’ she says. While still a child, she was also given forms to change her name, her sex on her birth certificate and her social security number and, aged 18, at her request, she had a bi-lateral mastectomy. One of Prisha’s biggest regrets is that, looking back, everything was so rushed. ‘They call it a lifesaving issue because you’re going to kill yourself. ‘That’s why you are medicalised so fast, and the treatment is so extreme,’ she says, referring to gender-affirming care. ‘I wasn’t well. I was unstable. I’d been seeing therapists for years for my mental health struggles and suddenly, because one day I changed from saying I hated myself and I was fat to saying I thought I was a boy, all my symptoms were put into a single category of gender dysphoria.’ Parents are being left out of these life-changing situations, she points out. ‘They’re painted as abusers because they don’t want their child to undergo this extreme medicalisation. I’m in contact today with parents who have taken their kids to hospital because they are cutting themselves, or the kid says they are transgender and they’ve been removed by child protection services and the parents haven’t seen them since.’ For a few years, Prisha believed she had done the right thing, and she moved into LGBTQ+ accommodation in Florida. But doubts began to creep in and it’s sad to hear Prisha describe how it began to dawn on her that gender-affirming care was, in her case, a mistake. ‘I remember the hope I got when I thought I was going to magically transform into a boy who would never be hurt again. I thought I would pretty much become a new person . . . all that optimism. ‘I’d fully bought the lie that I was going to become this whole new person, with all my problems behind me. But my problems were still there and I was feeling worse.’ She wanted her feminine body back and secretly stopped taking testosterone. In October 2022 she went back to living as a woman, having found happiness with a ‘kind and empathetic man’. Having thought she was infertile, she unexpectedly became pregnant. While she was grateful, carrying her son was not easy, she says. She is one of the first wave of detransitioners to experience motherhood and faced myriad health problems, while also feeling isolated and alone. ‘It was a high-risk pregnancy and the whole time I was worrying if the baby would be healthy because of all the cross-sex hormones I’d been taking,’ Prisha says. She suffered severe nausea: ‘My doctor said women get morning sickness because of the sudden influx of progesterone, and it was severe for me because I was already so low on all the female hormones I needed.’ OTHER complications ensued, including the fact that her hormonal balance, post-transition, caused the baby to be big while her uterus was small. ‘Because I didn’t finish puberty before I started taking testosterone, my hip bones were too small so there wasn’t a lot of room for the baby to grow. It was painful every time he moved. ‘I was also having problems with incontinence before becoming pregnant and had to go off the medication I was taking, so that got worse. And I couldn’t have a natural delivery – it wasn’t a choice I could make.’ Prisha’s son was born healthy by Caesarean section, but more problems arose. ‘I produced milk that was trapped in my chest with no way to reach my nipples because they had been severed, reshaped and reattached to my chest in the wrong spot so it could look like a boy’s chest. It was the worst pain I’ve ever had in my life,’ she shudders. Thankfully, her baby is thriving, but Prisha says she still has health problems because of detransitioning, including chronic pain. ‘The muscles on my neck and shoulders are big and disproportionate, and they burn all the time, like electric shocks. ‘My female frame’s not designed to carry giant muscles at the top and nothing at the bottom,’ she says. ‘I have to take medications because my pancreas is messed up, I’m insulin-resistant and I’ve got polycystic ovary syndrome because of the years of taking testosterone.’ She also suffers from vaginal atrophy, a condition that happens when the body has low oestrogen levels and the vaginal walls become thinner, drier and more fragile, making sexual intercourse difficult. ‘It’s not just vaginal atrophy – it’s pelvic and uterine and bladder too,’ she says. Another regret is that her voice has changed. ‘I was told by doctors that I would still be able to sing. Instead, I have pain. I can’t raise my voice or scream. My singing voice is gone, and that’s painful for me,’ she says. ‘My voice isn’t just deeper, my larynx doesn’t fit within my thickened vocal cords properly.’ She has raised money for breast reconstruction and takes oestrogen and progesterone. She has also undergone laser hair removal therapy. ‘I’ve still got hair on my chest, which I hate, but I had to stop treatment temporarily because laser therapy is so expensive,’ she says. As an advocate for limits on gender-affirming care, Prisha’s story has been met with both sympathy and criticism in the US. She has become a voice for detransitioners while others see her as a threat to transgender rights. She is currently an ambassador for the conservative think-tank Independent Women’s Forum and has testified at state legislatures across the US about the consequences of gender-affirming care. In July 2023, she sued the doctors, therapists and clinics in North Carolina that convinced her to transition as a teenage girl to a boy, even after she was diagnosed with various mental health disorders. Hers is the first case that will go before a judge and the healthcare professionals involved in the suit will face charges of civil conspiracy and fraud. They deny the charges. ‘This is the first substantive ruling we are aware of in which a court has held that a detransitioner’s case against her health care professionals is legally viable,’ Prisha’s lawyer Josh Payne said in a statement after the ruling earlier this year. ‘We are honoured to represent Prisha as she pursues justice for herself and her family and tries to prevent what happened to her from happening to others.’ DESPITE her many health problems, Prisha is clearly revelling in motherhood. Many women generously donated breast milk for her baby in his early days and now he is on formula and starting solids. ‘I’d like to have more children, but I’d need surgery so I don’t face the agony of what happened with trapped milk again,’ she says. ‘Transition was like putting a mask on and sometimes I think that I haven’t been able to take that mask off, that I’m locked in this cage with lasting health problems that keep me from being fully present in the world. ‘But I’m determined to speak out and alert other teenagers to the possibility of regret. I feel like I was an experiment and gender ideology has robbed me of my health in the future.’ Article Name:But I grew up and realised I’d made a terrible mistake Publication:Daily Mail Author:by Barbara McMahon Start Page:22 End Page:22
Suing for £90,000, the Lib Dem hopeful barred over gender row T-shirt Daily Mail18 Dec 2024Daily Mail Reporter A FORMER Lib Dem parliamentary candidate who says she was labelled a ‘far-Right bigot’ for wearing a gender-critical T-shirt is suing the party for £90,000. Natalie Bird claims she was already a victim of a campaign of complaints from activist party members when, days after winning her candidature in 2018, she wore the top with the slogan ‘Woman: Adult Human Female’ to a meeting. Domestic abuse survivor Ms Bird was suspended and barred from standing as an MP. The single mum, a candidate in Wakefield, sued for discrimination, with senior Liberal Democrats Mark Pack and Alison Rouse, as representatives of the membership, ‘conceding the claim’ earlier this year. Now Ms Bird is asking Judge Karen Walden-Smith to award her £90,000 for ‘injury to feelings’ for breach of her membership contract and of her rights under the Equality Act 2010. Barrister Emma Walker told Central London County Court that Ms Bird was subjected to ‘silencing, intimidation and bullying’ due to her beliefs, and that the party had ‘effectively condoned’ harassment. Ms Walker said her client is ‘passionate’ about safe spaces for women and was called an ‘illiberal TERF’ (trans exclusionary radical feminist) – a derogatory description of those with gender-critical views. For the party membership, barrister Nathan Roberts said liability was admitted when Ms Bird was claiming only £10,000, adding there was ‘no good reason’ for her to demand more. The case continues. Article Name:Suing for £90,000, the Lib Dem hopeful barred over gender row T-shirt Publication:Daily Mail Author:Daily Mail Reporter Start Page:26 End Page:26
Telegraph [0]

Thursday Total: 6

The Guardian [0]
The Times [1]
Here’s to an athlete who deserves all her medals Janice Turner - Notebook Keely Hodgkinson, unusually for a female British athlete, brims with self-belief. She isn’t diffident or falsely modest but has the contender swagger of a heavyweight boxer. She knows she’s box office, and beautiful too, taking her gold medal lap of honour at the Paris Olympics in a crown. And why the hell not: athletics is a mayfly career so she’s enjoying the designer clothes, the car sponsorship and now Sports Personality of the Year. Unlike most athletes, she actually has one. The women’s 800m record also illustrates the fragile fairness of female sport. The fastest time ever was by the Czech Jarmila Kratochvílová in 1983, followed by the Soviet Nadezhda Olizarenko in 1980, both suspected dopers. Whereas, Hodgkinson notes with amusement, the first thing she had to do after winning gold was pee while an official watched closely to see the liquid was coming out of her. Fourthfastest was Caster Semenya who has said “my internal testicles make me no less a woman” and took gold in the 2016 Rio Olympics, when silver and bronze were also won by genetically male athletes with DSDs (differences of sexual development). Watching Seb Coe run out on to the track to congratulate Keely, I thought how much she owed him. If the head of World Athletics hadn’t changed the rules in 2023, at least asking DSD males to reduce their testosterone (Semenya refused), this prestige event might never have been won by a female again. Let’s hope Hodgkinson, currently sixth fastest, breaks that world record and Coe is made head of the IOC.
Daily Mail [2]
Trans ‘lady of manor’ sues the NHS over third gender operation Daily Mail19 Dec 2024Daily Mail Reporter A MILLIONAIRE trans ‘lady of the manor’ is suing the NHS after it ‘forced her overseas’ for a third gender realignment operation and then refused to give treatment following the ‘botched’ surgery. Samantha Kane, who dubbed herself Lady Carbisdale in 2022 after buying a castle in Scotland, is thought to be the only person in Britain to have changed gender three times. After surgery in 1997 to become Samantha, she changed back to a man named Charles in 2004 before having a third surgery to become a woman again in 2018. Ms Kane, pictured, alleges doctors at University College London Hospital NHS Foundation Trust refused to treat her twice – in 2017 when she asked for the operation and after undergoing the procedure in Serbia. Now the wealthy former barrister, 64, is suing the trust for £162,000, claiming: ‘The negligence of them not treating me has caused the botched surgery.’ She also claims it amounted to discrimination and a breach of her human rights. Ms Kane added she has been battling constant pain since undergoing the procedure which left her with ‘infected’ surgical devices inside her body. Representing herself at a short pre-trial hearing last week, she claims UCLH medics told her to return to Serbia to get the treatment she needed, subjecting her to ‘unnecessary pain for three years’ until UCLH medics agreed to help in 2021. Sam Burrett, for the NHS trust, said they are fighting the claim. A full trial is set to take place in 2026. Article Name:Trans ‘lady of manor’ sues the NHS over third gender operation Publication:Daily Mail Author:Daily Mail Reporter Start Page:11 End Page:11
Labour’s safe space U-turn a ‘kick in teeth’ for women Daily Mail19 Dec 2024By Martin Beckford Policy Editor LABOUR has been accused of betraying women by insisting that there is no need to change the law to protect single-sex spaces. Before the election, Sir Keir Starmer had insisted ‘biological women’s spaces need to be protected’ – and that men who legally change sex by obtaining a Gender Recognition Certificate didn’t have the right to enter female-only spaces. But the Office for Equality and Opportunity yesterday dismissed fears that many public bodies are wrongly allowing people to use toilets, changing rooms and domestic abuse refuges based on their self-identified gender rather than biological sex. It said that the majority of 404 cases raised by concerned members of the public – after a call for evidence issued by the previous Tory administration – were correctly interpreting Equality Act guidance. The department admitted that some organisations were allowing transgender people to access single-sex spaces that matched their self-identified gender – but added that they were not claiming it was required by law. It also acknowledged that 10 per cent of the guidance it studied was misinterpreting equality law, but said this just showed ‘confusion or a lack of awareness’ rather than a need to change the legislation – as the Conservatives and women’s rights’ groups had demanded. Last night, senior Tory MP Claire Coutinho said: ‘This work was started by Kemi Badenoch when she was Minister for Equalities. It will be a kick in the teeth for all the women who ‘This is an utter betrayal’ thought Labour would protect single-sex spaces. Another broken promise.’ Meanwhile, Maya Forstater, of campaign group Sex Matters, agreed Labour equalities ministers Anneliese Dodds and Bridget Phillipson had delivered a ‘lazy kick in the teeth to women’. ‘This is an utter betrayal of women’, she said, asking: ‘How can you stand against male violence against women while giving away female-only spaces to any man who wants to walk in?’ Her colleague Helen Joyce added: ‘I’m so angry about this. Sometimes, governments break manifesto promises because they decide they’re too expensive. Sometimes because they realise they can’t be kept. But this time, it’s just outright betrayal.’ It comes days after a paediatrician claimed Labour and Green MPs who oppose a ban on puberty blockers on the basis it discriminates against those with gender dysphoria have a ‘misunderstanding’ of medical evidence. Baroness Cass told The Times: ‘It’s not based on discrimination.’ Article Name:Labour’s safe space U-turn a ‘kick in teeth’ for women Publication:Daily Mail Author:By Martin Beckford Policy Editor Start Page:22 End Page:22
Telegraph [3]
Trans laird sues NHS for refusing third sex change Lady Samantha Kane taking legal action after undergoing ‘botched’ operation in Serbia The Daily Telegraph19 Dec 2024By Daniel Sanderson SCOTTISH CORRESPONDENT A TRANSGENDER laird is suing the NHS after it refused to carry out a third sex change surgery. Samantha Kane, who was born male and now styles herself as Lady Carbisdale after buying a £5 million Scottish castle, is thought to be the only person in Britain to have changed gender three times. Ms Kane, who was born male, had surgery in 1997 to become Samantha, before having it reversed and taking on the identity of Charles Kane in 2004. She claims doctors at University College London Hospital NHS Foundation Trust then refused a request for a third surgery to revert to a woman in 2017, leading Ms Kane to have a private procedure in Serbia in 2018, which was allegedly “botched”. Ms Kane, a trained engineer, barrister and business tycoon, alleges that the NHS then refused treatment again after the Serbian procedure allegedly resulted in “infected” surgical devices being left inside her body, which she said caused agony lasting three years. UCLH medics finally agreed to help in 2021, Ms Kane said. In the legal claim, the 64-year-old said the refusal to provide treatment relating to the third gender reassignment amounted to negligence, discrimination and a breach of human rights. Representing herself at a short pretrial hearing last week, Ms Kane told High Court judge Deputy Master Ruth Fine that she was suing UCLH partly because of the “negligence of causing me to seek surgery in Serbia rather than here”. Criticising the NHS trust as in effect being responsible for the “botched Serbian op”, she told the judge: “The negligence of them not treating me has caused the botched surgery. It was negligent of the defendant not to treat me in 2017. “The defendants are the only people who are qualified to provide this treatment in the UK. “They treat everybody else, then discriminated against me.” The second part of the claim relates to an allegation that UCLH medics refused to help correct the “botched “operation, telling Ms Kane to return to Serbia to get help there instead. She added: “They left me in pain for three years before offering me treatment. They subjected me to unnecessary pain for three years.” Ms Kane had complained of “chronic left groin and genital area pain”, the court heard. “They were the people qualified to treat me and they refused. This was discrimination against me because I had made a [previous] complaint,” she claimed, telling the judge that it was “foreseeable” that she would go to Serbia after being refused an NHS operation. The court heard that Ms Kane is claiming £162,000, according to the schedule of loss, but told the judge that the case was not so much about the money, “but more about achieving justice”. Sam Burrett, for the NHS trust, told the judge that they would fight the claim. ‘They were the people qualified to treat me and they refused. This is discrimination against me’ A full trial is set to take place at a later date. In 2000, Ms Kane, then Sam Hashimi, spearheaded a Saudi Arabian attempt to buy Sheffield United Football Club. She dubbed herself Lady Carbisdale in 2022 after buying Carbisdale Castle, a 19-bedroom clifftop Scottish castle near Ardgay in Sutherland. In 2024, the property was valued at £5 million. Earlier this year, Ms Kane announced plans to sell the castle, claiming that the rural community was “not ready” to accept someone who had changed their gender. She said in September: “I really have been quite hurt by comments on my gender identity, so now I think it just needs someone, for a better word, ‘normal’ to take over.” “It is such a special place but I did suffer some prejudice and I think probably the Highlands is not ready for a transgender owner of the castle. “It needs someone else to protect its future.” Article Name:Trans laird sues NHS for refusing third sex change Publication:The Daily Telegraph Author:By Daniel Sanderson SCOTTISH CORRESPONDENT Start Page:8 End Page:8
Labour accused of U-turn over single-sex spaces for females The Daily Telegraph19 Dec 2024By Fiona Parker and Michael Searles TRANSGENDER women can use some single-sex spaces intended for females, the Government has said. Sir Keir Starmer previously said it was very important to “protect femaleonly spaces” in a debate with Rishi Sunak during the election campaign. But Labour has been accused of breaking that pledge after releasing a response on a consultation, which confirmed that public and private bodies can write policies that allow transgender women into female-only places. The Women and Equalities Unit indicated that such a circumstance would be legally acceptable under the Equality Act 2010, as long as the organisation did not “incorrectly” claim that the Equality Act obliged it to do so. Branding the response “deeply worrying”, Claire Coutinho, the shadow minister for women, told The Telegraph that this was “yet another promise” that Labour had “broken to the electorate”. The row centres around a consultation that was launched by Kemi Badenoch, the then minister for women and equalities, in May. This was launched because of concern about trans women, who are born male, accessing women’s lavatories and other single-sex spaces. The call for input was made to “understand how public bodies and organisations which advise public and private organisations” may be “misinterpreting the law on providing single-sex spaces”. Mrs Badenoch requested examples of guidance that suggested that people had a legal right to access single-sex spaces and services, according to their self-identified gender. Under the Equality Act, organisations can exclude trans people from single-sex spaces where such a decision would be deemed a “proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim”. This could be for reasons of privacy, decency and to prevent trauma. Yet, although the call for input closed in June, the Government only provided a response this week. A government spokesman said: “This Government is absolutely steadfast in its commitment to protecting single-sex spaces which are protected in the Equality Act. We are taking action to give all providers assurances about the rights protected by the Act.” Article Name:Labour accused of U-turn over single-sex spaces for females Publication:The Daily Telegraph Author:By Fiona Parker and Michael Searles Start Page:8 End Page:8
We’re winning the trans war. Let’s not start playing the victim card The Daily Telegraph19 Dec 2024JEMIMA LEWIS They say the trans wars are over. In 2024, common sense came surging back, with the publication of the Cass review, Wes Streeting’s ban on prescribing puberty blockers to children, and a series of legal victories upholding the right of women to believe in biological sex. Trans-rights activists have been the least successful “progressive” campaigners in modern history. They have managed to reverse the trajectory of public opinion: only 30 per cent of British adults now believe you should be able to change the sex registered on your birth certificate, compared with 53 per cent in 2019. The rise of Right-wing populism, in America and elsewhere, is in part a reaction against the hectoring piety of the social justice warriors. People really don’t like being told what to think, especially about something as basic as biology. In trying to impose their own feelings-based ideology onto a sceptical public, trans rights campaigners have created anger and alienation where once there was chiefly polite indifference. The danger now, for gender-critical feminists, will be maintaining their long and admirable composure, even in the face of victory. The temptations of triumphalism are strong, not least because feminists have suffered real-world consequences for defending their beliefs. Natalie Bird, a would-be Lib Dem candidate, sued her own party for discrimination after being barred from standing as MP for Wakefield. She had been accused of bigotry after wearing a T-shirt with the slogan: “Woman: Adult Human Female”. The Lib Dems have admitted culpability, but Bird is not satisfied. She has gone back to court, demanding £90,000 for “injured feelings”. She’s playing them at their own game, you see. I can’t blame her, but I wish she wouldn’t. The rhetoric of victimhood belongs to the other side. To the victors, only the sweet sanity of being right. Who is this handsome blonde in cricket whites, smirking sexily at us from a sun-tinted background of copper clouds? He looks just like the 1980s heart-throb Maxwell Caulfield. But why would Nigel Farage, Elon Musk and Nick Candy all be grinning in front of a portrait of the star of Grease 2? Painted in 1989, for Donald Trump to install in the newly acquired Mar-a-lago, The Visionary is a portrait in the classical mould. By which I mean, absurdly flattering. The artist, Ralph Wolfe Cowan, was proud of his ability to refine his subjects’ features, douse them in celestial light, and present them to the world as they would prefer to see themselves. “Nobody ever dislikes my portraits,” was his boast. Once, that was the business model of every portrait painter. The history of British art, especially, is one of professional sycophancy. After the Reformation, when the market for religious art collapsed, artists relied on the patronage of the landed gentry. But flattery – especially the flattery of powerful men – is out of fashion. The portraiture of high art now favours lumpen, mottled flesh and smeared, anguished faces. To pay someone to make you look better than you are, and then to hang this false testimony in your home, suggests a failing of both taste and character. I once had a brief romance with a man who commissioned a gorgeous, Trump-like portrait of himself. He hung it at the end of the bed, so that every time I woke up I was confronted by the lounging Adonis he either believed or wished himself to be. Which is why the romance was brief. Article Name:We’re winning the trans war. Let’s not start playing the victim card Publication:The Daily Telegraph Author:JEMIMA LEWIS Start Page:18 End Page:18

Friday Total: 4

The Guardian [0]
The Times [2]
Parents given a say in trans treatment Jonathan Ames - Legal Editor Children cannot make their own decisions regarding gender reassignment treatment because their parents have a role to play, senior judges have ruled. In a decision that left the mother of a 16-year-old “feeling hopeful for my daughter’s future”, the Court of Appeal said that decisions over the possibility of future treatment could be reviewed by a judge. The teenager and the child’s father had argued that decisions concerning cross-sex hormone treatment should be left to the child alone. Yesterday the three appeal judges overturned a decision in the High Court that had rejected the mother’s argument that judicial and parental oversight should be allowed. Responding to the decision — which was given by Sir Geoffrey Vos, the Master of the Rolls, the most senior civil law judge in the country — the mother, who cannot be named, said the judges had “made the best possible decision for her safety, and for the safety of all children who are struggling with their identity as they go through puberty”. The legal proceedings have pitted the mother and father against each other. The father, referred to as P during the proceedings, has supported the child’s attempts to have treatment for gender dysphoria. The appeal hearing opened days after ministers announced that the government was imposing an indefinite ban on the use of puberty blockers by children wanting to change gender, on the grounds that the drugs posed an “unacceptable safety risk”. Cross-sex hormone treatment — which the 16- year-old known as Q was seeking — is not covered under that edict. In his ruling, Vos — who adopted the teenager’s preferred pronoun — said that the court “was simply being asked to keep open the possibility that it would, in the future, need to decide whether hormone treatment, to which the young person had consented, was or was not in his best interests”. The judge added that doing so “would be a factual question that the court would be well equipped to decide.” Vos acknowledged that Q “will be disappointed” by the ruling, before adding that he hoped “that he will come quickly to realise that we have prejudged nothing. I am just keen that all circumstances can be taken into account in the event that it becomes necessary in the future for this court to consider where his best interests lie.” Paul Conrathe, the solicitor representing the mother, described the decision as “a significant step forward”. He said that the child was intelligent and in good health but the court felt some oversight was necessary. The solicitor said that the mother would now return to the High Court “to protect her child from taking a treatment that will have irreversible lifelong consequences”.
Boxing gender row? Not on my watch, says Coe Matt Lawton, - Chief Sports Correspondent Coe has said that “too much power lies with too few people” within the IOC Lord Coe chose the 21st floor of a new building in Stratford to discuss his manifesto for the highest office in sport. From here he can see the “520 hectares of mud and a breakers’ yard” that became the location for the 2012 London Olympics. In his own words, he can offer some tangible evidence that he will fulfil his promises if he is elected the tenth president of the International Olympic Committee in March. Yesterday the manifestos of all seven candidates were published by the IOC. At the end of January Coe and his rivals will be invited to present their vision of life after Thomas Bach to the 111-strong IOC membership. Coe regards himself as something of an outsider, not least because three of the candidates — Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr, Kirsty Coventry and Prince Feisal Al Hussein — are already members of the IOC executive board. He is also coming at this quite unashamedly as the reform candidate. “I don’t mean introducing breakdance and thinking we’re down with the kids,” he said. He wants to shake things up but also wants to be a president who “democratises” the IOC, tapping into the broad expertise that already exists there. “There’s too much power in the hands of too few people,” he said. “There’s no shortage of talent. But the question I ask myself as a member is: ‘What input do I and other members have?’ The reality is: there isn’t enough. “I was at the Olympic session two days in advance of the Paris Olympic Games. I don’t genuinely remember a moment in those two days where sport or sports performance — or some of the challenges around the female category, athlete welfare, mental and physical — were discussed. A lot of very important concepts, yes. But that’s not how we should be defining ourselves.” Predictably, all seven candidates addressed many of the same key issues, such as diversity and inclusion and the protection of the female category. As president of World Athletics, Coe has already shown a willingness to make tough decisions and implement clear, robust policies. He did this on the participation of transgender and athletes with differences of sexual development (DSD); Russia too. The opposition have provided much the same assurances. “The IOC has a fundamental duty to safeguard women’s sport,” Samaranch said, while Coventry — very much regarded as Bach’s preferred candidate — writes of “protecting female athletes”. They say this, of course, when they were members of an IOC executive that presided over the Olympic boxing gender row, sparked by the participation of Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting, that erupted in Paris. On this, Coe, 68, pulls no punches. It would not have happened on his watch. “On the issue of the female category, for me it is non-negotiable,” he said. “And if you don’t have clear policies you end up with where you got to in Paris. “It couldn’t have happened in athletics. Our policies were discussed, debated, and were driven by some of the smartest people in sports science and genetics, and some of the smartest gender-based lawyers as well. We landed it safely and we landed it securely.” High on Coe’s agenda is a desire to “strengthen anti-doping systems”. Again, these are not empty promises. He took charge of athletics in 2015 when it was drowning in a corruption scandal and created the Athletics Integrity Unit, which has set the gold standard in the protection of clean athletes and the war against drug cheats. Paris, meanwhile, was overshadowed by the controversy caused by revelations that 23 Chinese swimmers were cleared to race at the Tokyo Games despite little explanation of how they tested positive for trimetazidine. In Toyota, Bridgestone, Panasonic and Axe, the IOC has lost four major sponsors since Paris. Reason enough, in Coe’s mind, for change. “There’s a huge amount to be done. But I know there is an appetite for change from members, from National Olympic Committees, international federations, the broadcasters and commercial partners.” He looks out across the Olympic park here in east London. “This is probably the best demonstration of anything I’ve delivered,” he said, making reference to his roles first as chair of the London bid and then of the 2012 Games themselves. “This is not a changing model. It’s a model that’s changed and has left town. I have been training for this role for my entire life. I’m ready.” Fifa just gave a World Cup to Saudi Arabia. What is Coe’s view? “I’m not going to make up policy on the hoof,” he said. “I’ve been watching very closely the Saudi landscape. We’ve had, and continue to have, very active discussions with Saudi Arabia. They want to play a part in our sport. And at this moment I see no reason why they shouldn’t. I’m not saying that the door is wide open or closed. But I know I can have uncompromising conversations.”
Daily Mail [0]
Telegraph [2]
Coe makes IOC pledge to ‘protect women’s sport’ The Daily Telegraph20 Dec 2024By Oliver Brown CHIEF SPORTS WRITER Lord Coe has made a “non-negotiable” pledge to protect the female category if he becomes president of the International Olympic Committee, arguing that the boxing debacle at this year’s Paris Games – where two fighters won gold medals as women despite a sex-test controversy – would never have happened on his watch. Launching his manifesto for one of the most powerful roles in sport, Coe spells out his credentials on this subject, making it one of his four core commitments to “protect and promote the integrity of women’s sport”. His distinction from his main rivals to succeed Thomas Bach is that he has already delivered on this promise as president of World Athletics, ensuring that elite competition is restricted exclusively to those who are biologically female. By contrast, Coe’s two main rivals, Kirsty Coventry and Juan Antonio Samaranch Jnr, were both part of the IOC executive board who enabled Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting to become Olympic boxing champions despite test results revealing the presence of male chromosomes. “On the female category, for me it was non-negotiable,” Coe said. “If you don’t have clear policies, you end up with where you got to in Paris. The comforting thing for me is that this couldn’t have happened in athletics. Why? We had a policy, and it was discussed, debated and driven by some of the smartest people in sports science and genetics. “I wasn’t sitting there in Paris thinking: ‘Oh my goodness, there’s a chance I’ve got three on a rostrum who are going to fall into that crevice.’” At the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, during his first year as president of World Athletics, Coe did face a situation where Caster Semenya and two other athletes with differences in sexual development (DSDS) made up the podium in the women’s 800 metres. But he subsequently introduced a policy where DSD athletes would require a minimum two years of testosterone suppression to compete in any women’s race, while banning transgender athletes who had gone through male puberty altogether from international women’s events. “It was always very clear to me,” he said. “Gender cannot trump biology.” Coe writes in his manifesto: “I will advocate for clear, sciencebased policies that safeguard the female category... Women’s sport is at a critical juncture. We must navigate this with sensitivity and resolve to ensure current and future generations of women choose sport.” At 68, he makes no secret that he would regard his election as IOC president as the crowning glory of his career. He is the most qualified candidate in the seven-person race, as a double Olympic champion over 1500 metres and the orchestrator of London 2012, among the most successful Games ever. He held the briefing for his manifesto launch on the top floor of the Turing Building in Stratford, overlooking the Olympic Park that he helped transform from urban wasteland. “This park is probably the best demonstration of anything that I’ve delivered, using the extraordinary power of the Olympic movement,” he said. Coe will present his proposals to the IOC in Lausanne on Jan 30, with Bach’s successor scheduled to be confirmed in Greece in late March. Article Name:Coe makes IOC pledge to ‘protect women’s sport’ Publication:The Daily Telegraph Author:By Oliver Brown CHIEF SPORTS WRITER Start Page:8 End Page:8
Fry criticises Stonewall’s ‘nonsensical’ trans policy The Daily Telegraph20 Dec 2024By Janet Eastham STEPHEN FRY has criticised Stonewall as he branded the charity’s stance on transgender issues “nonsensical”. The author and broadcaster spoke out for the first time against the LGBT rights charity’s advocacy for gender ideology. Speaking on the Triggernometry podcast, Fry was challenged over his support for Stonewall despite the organisation’s backing for allowing children to medically transition. Asked by host Konstantin Kisin how he can “in all conscience” continue to back them, Fry said he had “no interest or support” for the charity’s “nonsensical” pro-trans ideology. It was the first time he has criticised Stonewall but some feminist activists accused him of only speaking out once it was “safe” to do so. Fry was asked a question sent in by Levi Pay, a gay man and former Stonewall employee, who said he watched the organisation start ‘I am not sure I do support them. Stonewall has got stuck in a terrible, terrible quagmire’ advocating for medicalising vulnerable children and suggest “lesbians who wish to exclude male people from their dating pool as being equivalent to racists”. Reading Pay’s question, Krisin asked: “How can Stephen Fry and all conscience continue to support them?” Fry replied: “Do I? I am not sure I do support them?” He went on to disavow Stonewall, saying he agreed “completely” with Pay’s criticism. “I think it has got stuck in a terrible, terrible quagmire, so he is right,” he said. The actor went on to explain that he had previously supported Stonewall’s campaign to secure equal rights for gay people. He described backing Sir Ian Mckellen when, as a spokesman for the charity in 1991, he had convinced then prime minister John Major to lower the age of consent for homosexual men. Three years after the meeting, Parliament voted to drop the consenting age from 21 to 18. Fry said: “Ian talking to John Major eventually left equality of age of consent and all the way through to the Lib Dem-conservative alliance legalising same sex marriage. And of course, I was thrilled with a lot of the work that Stonewall did in those days.” Article Name:Fry criticises Stonewall’s ‘nonsensical’ trans policy Publication:The Daily Telegraph Author:By Janet Eastham Start Page:9 End Page:9

Saturday Total: 6

The Guardian [0]
The Times [1]
Former trans charity boss will defy ban on puberty blockers James Beal - Social Affairs Editor Susie Green claims the ban on puberty blockers is cruel An organisation led by the former chief executive of the transgender support charity Mermaids has vowed to keep helping children access puberty blockers, despite a permanent ban. Anne Trans Healthcare, co-founded by the former Mermaids leader Susie Green, criticised Labour after it was announced that the government would keep a ban on the drugs for under-18s. Wes Streeting, the health secretary, told MPs last week that he was making the temporary ban, introduced in May, indefinite across the UK. He said that the way puberty blockers had been used was a “scandal”. The ban was backed by Baroness Cass, a former president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, whose report this year concluded that the field of gender medicine was “built on shaky foundations”. In a post on Instagram, Anne Trans Healthcare said: “We offer legal, compassionate and supportive routes to accessing puberty blockers with medical oversight from experienced endocrinologists. Our team will guide you through every step of the process, ensuring you feel supported.” Green, 56, was dismissed as Mermaids’ chief executive in 2022 over a loss of trust in her leadership, a Charity Commission report on the organisation revealed. Anne Trans Healthcare, of which Green is a director, says on its website that patients can get puberty blockers prescribed by doctors outside the UK and sent to an “EU destination” for pick-up. It uses endocrinologists and doctors, based abroad to issue prescriptions, getting around the ban on providing the drugs in the UK. The puberty blockers must be collected from the EU by the patient, and the person named on the prescription must bring them back to the UK. Anne Trans Healthcare estimates that under-18s can get access to puberty blockers within about four months after signing up. The organisation was founded last year by Green and the entrepreneur Lizzie Jordan, an HIV advocate who also set up the LGBT youth support organisation Think2Speak. It is named after Jordan’s aunt and, on its website, it says it offers “evidence-based” and “gender-affirming” care for transgender people of all ages. Patients under 18 need the support of a parent, carer or guardian to access Anne’s services, and a “standard youth membership” costs £150 a month, plus a one-off £200 fee. When Streeting extended the ban on December 11, he said that allowing access to puberty blockers was an “unacceptable safety risk”. Several Labour and Green Party MPs criticised the ban, arguing that it was an attack on transgender children that amounted to a “breach of young people’s human rights”. Cass said a lot of “misinformation” was being spread and that evidence had suggested that the drugs do not improve mental health. She said: “What is worrying is when people say that if children don’t get these drugs they will die, because clearly that’s not true.” Puberty blockers suppress the release of sex hormones to halt the physical changes of puberty, such as the growth of facial hair, which typically occur between eight and 14. Green confirmed to The Times that Anne Trans Healthcare was still “supporting people to access legal routes to gender-affirming healthcare”. She said: “We will continue to do so despite a UK-wide ban. We do it because to do otherwise would be morally and ethically wrong. The ban is cruel, prejudicial and frankly inhumane.” Green said she had “seen the positive impact that access to puberty blockers has on young people’s lives”.
Daily Mail [1]
Trans lobby group threatens to help break puberty blockers ban Daily Mail21 Dec 2024By Chris Pollard CAMPAIGNERS demanded an urgent review of the puberty blockers ban last night over a trans lobby group’s offer to help children exploit loopholes. Hours after they were permanently banned by the Government last week, Anne Trans Health started offering youngsters ‘legal, compassionate and supportive routes’ to access the body-altering hormones, which halt development into adulthood. The organisation is led by Susie Green, 56, who previously ran controversial trans charity Mermaids that promoted sex reassignment surgery and sent chest binders to young girls without their parents’ knowledge. The ban prevents NHS or private doctors from prescribing puberty blockers for gender dysphoria. It also bans the sale and supply of them from doctors in Europe. However, it is believed Anne Trans Health encourages children to fly to the Republic of Ireland, where the banned medicines can be prescribed and supplied. Patients can then return home with them. Stephanie Davies-Arai, of campaign group Transgender Trend, said the scheme should be outlawed ‘for the protection of vulnerable children’. Article Name:Trans lobby group threatens to help break puberty blockers ban Publication:Daily Mail Author:By Chris Pollard Start Page:2 End Page:2
Telegraph [4]
Use preferred pronouns this Christmas, says Debrett’s The Daily Telegraph - Saturday21 Dec 2024By Janet Eastham CHRISTMAS dinner party hosts have been told to use their guests’ preferred pronouns for the first time by Britain’s top etiquette school. Debrett’s, the undisputed arbiter of “proper” conduct in polite society, has issued guidance that includes advice on accommodating people who are gender-diverse. Liz Wyse, the editor of the 255-yearold coaching company, has advocated that hosts lead by example this festive season when it comes to using trans guests’ preferred pronouns, rather than calling out elderly relatives over accidental slip-ups. In other advice written for The Telegraph, Debrett’s cautions against spirited dinner table debates that can become “flashpoints”, especially when people of different ages and backgrounds are brought together. The nuclear option if the conversation turns nasty is to “play the Christmas host card”, said Ms Wyse. This involves firmly steering the conversation by saying, “It’s Christmas Day and I really don’t want people arguing around my dinner table – let’s talk about something else.” Hosts hoping to defuse tension might think of asking about school choices, but this is an approach Debrett’s now warns against. “In years gone by, asking where a guest’s children or grandchildren go to school, or making polite enquiries about holiday plans, might have been considered a standard line of questioning, even an indication of polite engagement, but times are changing,” Ms Wyse said. Given concerns over Labour’s VAT tax raid on private school fees and ongoing economic uncertainty, probing questions could reveal that certain choices are not affordable. Ms Wyse said guests might feel uncomfortable making such disclosures, “especially if they are socialising with people who are not sharing these difficulties”. With inflation at its highest level in eight months, Debrett’s has laid down some rules for sensitive gift-giving, especially when there is an affluence gap between recipients. One option is to opt out altogether, but Ms Wyse cautions that this solution “is only recommended for adults”. Less drastic measures include agreeing a budget beforehand and setting up a Secret Santa scheme. Controversially, regifting – if employed with “the utmost caution” – is allowed. Where secular and religious traditions clash, the manners expert said the priorities of your youngest guests trump all else, because attending church before opening any presents is liable to result in “some very overexcited and restless children”. Concessions will also be required to keep environmentally aware guests on side. Decking your home in “sustainable decorations”, such as real mistletoe and holly, and using recycled wrapping paper, are useful ways to “subtly ensure that even your most eco-conscious guests will not be shocked by your extravagance and wastefulness”. Article Name:Use preferred pronouns this Christmas, says Debrett’s Publication:The Daily Telegraph - Saturday Author:By Janet Eastham Start Page:5 End Page:5
Ex-Mermaids chief vows to defy puberty blocker ban The Daily Telegraph - Saturday21 Dec 2024By Tim Sigsworth A FORMER chief executive of the charity Mermaids has vowed to defy the nationwide ban on puberty blockers at her new trans clinic. Susie Green said Anne Trans Healthcare, which describes itself as helping “trans youth of all ages” to access puberty blockers, would continue to provide “legal routes to gender-affirming healthcare”. Last week, the Government announced a nationwide ban on the drugs, which stop the onset of puberty. In April, the Cass Review, led by the paediatrician Baroness Cass, found there was “remarkably weak” evidence to support their prescription to children with gender dysphoria. Ms Green, who was chief executive at Mermaids until 2022, co-founded Anne Trans Healthcare in 2023. The organisation’s website claims it offers a “legal route” for under-18s to access puberty blockers by organising prescriptions from doctors based abroad. They are brought to Britain from European Union countries by the person with the prescription. Jolyon Maugham KC, the director of the Good Law Project, backed the method earlier this year. He wrote on social media: “So you can get your EU prescription fulfilled at an EU pharmacy and lawfully bring those puberty blockers back into the UK.” Ms Green said her charity would still help children access the drugs despite the ban, telling The Times: “We will continue to do so despite a UK-wide ban. We do it because to do otherwise would be morally and ethically wrong. The ban is cruel, prejudicial and frankly inhumane.” Mermaids was reprimanded by the Charity Commission in October for decisions including its promotion of puberty blockers and chest binders to children. It opened an inquiry into Mermaids in 2022 after The Telegraph revealed teenagers as young as 13 were being given chest binders against their parents’ wishes. Puberty blockers will still be prescribed for early onset puberty and cancer treatment. Ms Green had planned to use Northern Ireland as a gateway to get the drugs into Britain. But fears about it becoming a “back door” for puberty blockers to be distributed across the rest of the United Kingdom led members of the devolved administration to unanimously vote to also adopt the ban earlier this month. Article Name:Ex-Mermaids chief vows to defy puberty blocker ban Publication:The Daily Telegraph - Saturday Author:By Tim Sigsworth Start Page:8 End Page:8
Way of the World Michael Deacon The Daily Telegraph - Saturday21 Dec 2024 Quite rightly, the entire population of Britain has been rolling its collective eyes at the fact that Harry and Meghan’s official Christmas card doesn’t say “Happy Christmas”. Instead, it says: “Happy Holiday Season”. For pity’s sake. A prince, an actual English prince, referring to Christmas as “the holidays”. The use of such a phrase isn’t just toe-curling, however. In my view, it also provides a revealing insight into the Sussexes’ marriage. Let’s face it: there are only two conceivable reasons why Harry would have allowed “Happy Holiday Season” to appear under his name. The first is that, after five years in Montecito, His Royal Highness has clean forgotten how to speak his father’s English, and now communicates exclusively in Californian. This is certainly plausible, given that, during recent public appearances, he’s been heard saying things like “you guys”, “awesome” and even “dude”. I fear, however, that the more likely explanation is the second. Which is that Harry lives in such abject terror of his wife that he didn’t dare question, let alone overrule, her unambiguously American choice of festive message. All right, so in most households the wife does tend to take charge of writing the Christmas cards (or rather, the husband leaves it to her). But when both husband and wife are so famous that their Christmas card design gets released to every media outlet on the planet, the husband has to take a bit more responsibility. In this case, therefore, Harry should surely have spoken up. “Megs, darling, it’s an awesome design. Love all the photos of us tending hospital patients and hugging other people’s children. There’s just one tiny, tiny thing. We can’t possibly put ‘Happy Holiday Season’.” “Why not?” “Well, I’m British. And British people don’t say ‘holiday season’. We say ‘Christmas’.” “But we’re in America. And in America, we say ‘holiday season’.” “Oh, but please, Megs. I’m sure Americans sometimes use the word ‘Christmas’ too. Bing Crosby didn’t sing, ‘I’m dreaming of a white holiday season’, did he? Anyway, if we put ‘holiday season’, people will laugh at me. I mean, I’m a member of the Royal family.” “Are you?” “Gosh, that’s a point. I’m not really sure now. Better call Pa and check.” Are you a politician? Anxious to show voters that you aren’t just another dreary, out-of-touch stuffed shirt? Keen to sound fearless, bold and cutting-edge, like some hot new tech trailblazer from Silicon Valley? Simple. Just describe whatever you’re doing, no matter how dull and unglamorous, as “like a start-up”. That’s what just about every other politician does these days. Last week, Kemi Badenoch declared that her Tory leadership team is “like a start-up”. The week before that, Pat McFadden, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, claimed that he would make Whitehall think “like a start-up”. In September, Tony Blair claimed that his vast Tony Blair Institute was “like a start-up”. And in May, Dominic Cummings even revealed that he was planning to launch “The Start-Up Party”. Plenty of lesser-known figures are at it, too. During the general election, the SDP’s candidate for Coventry South proclaimed: “I want Coventry to bootstrap its way to success like a start-up.” Sadly, it seems his would-be constituents didn’t share his exciting vision. He received just 334 votes. To be fair, it’s not only politicians who keep parroting this cliché. I’ve heard countless other people using it, from football coaches to museum directors. Just you wait. It’ll be on Thought for the Day next. “God created the world in six days. So, in a very real sense, it was rather like a start-up…” A64-year-old Iraq-born trans woman, we reported this week, is suing the NHS after it refused to carry out her third “gender reassignment” operation. Apparently the plaintiff goes by two names: Samantha Kane and Lady Carbisdale. Admittedly, “Lady Carbisdale” isn’t some ancient aristocratic title she was born to inherit – it’s just how she chooses to style herself. But perhaps it’s best not to point this out. Saying “But you’re not a real Lady” could get you in serious trouble. At any rate, it’s a fascinating story – mainly because, as our reporter noted, Lady Carbisdale is believed to be “the only person in Britain to have changed gender three times”. If true, this shatters the record held by a previous author of this very column. Fifty years ago, when gender ideology was still very much in its infancy, Auberon Waugh revealed to his readers that he was “the only human being in the world who has changed sex and then changed back again”. He explained: “My reason for changing sex in the first place was a general feeling that at 34 it was time for a change. My reason for changing back was the ghastly boredom of women’s conversation after dinner.” Perhaps this is why Lady Carbisdale also changed back to being a man. As she’s subsequently chosen to become a woman again, however, she must have found men’s after-dinner conversation to be even more boring. Come to think of it, her ladyship is a barrister. I wonder whether she ever had dinner with Sir Keir Starmer. Article Name:Way of the World Michael Deacon Publication:The Daily Telegraph - Saturday Start Page:18 End Page:18
Sex-change regret The Daily Telegraph - Saturday21 Dec 2024 SIR – The report (December 19) that a person wants to change sex for a third time is perhaps an extreme example of transition regret. We can, however, surely expect more cases where people will want to sue when they realise that cross-sex hormone or surgical treatment have not resolved their underlying problems. This person had their first surgery at 37, nearly 30 years ago, and is still struggling. Why, then, do activists who have opposed the last government’s temporary ban – and the indefinite one imposed by Wes Streeting, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care – on puberty blockers, think that children are able to consent to life-changing courses of action? Tim Barnsley Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland Article Name:Sex-change regret Publication:The Daily Telegraph - Saturday Start Page:17 End Page:17

Sunday Total: 3

The Observer [0]
Sunday Times [0]
Mail on Sunday [0]
Sunday Telegraph [3]
NHS faces action after cross-sex hormones given to 16-year-old Brighton father seeks judicial review after local GP prescribed drugs against official guidance The Sunday Telegraph22 Dec 2024By Patrick Sawer and Connor Stringer THE NHS is facing legal action by the father of a 16-year-old who was given cross-sex hormones despite official guidance against their use. The Brighton father is seeking a judicial review of the decision by his local GP to prescribe the drugs to the teenager for the treatment of his gender dysphoria. He claims that the treatment given to his son runs counter to the recommendations of the Cass Review, led by the paediatrician, Dr Hilary Cass, which concluded that there was “remarkably weak” evidence to support the use of cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers in children with gender dysphoria. The review warned that it put them on an affirmative pathway that “may change the trajectory of psychosexual and gender identity development”. Following publication of the report, an emergency ban on puberty blockers was introduced in May this year by Victoria Atkins, the Conservative health secretary at the time.
Streeting faces Labour MP backlash over puberty blockers ban The Sunday Telegraph22 Dec 2024By Ethan Croft, SUNDAY POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT Wes Streeting has come under fire for the ban WES Streeting is facing backlash from his party after announcing an indefinite ban on puberty blockers in the NHS. The Health Secretary revealed last week that a temporary ban on the prescription of puberty-suppressing hormones would become permanent, restricting the sale or supply of the blockers for under-18s. The decision will be reviewed no earlier than 2027. But the move has sparked outrage among some Labour MPs and activists, as party discipline frays. A number have written to Mr Streeting asking him to rethink the policy, The Telegraph has found. Kate Osborne, MP for Jarrow and Gateshead East, has publicly described the policy as “an attack on the trans community”. LGBT+ Labour, the party’s official group for LGBT people, has published an open letter to the Health Secretary expressing “deep concern” over the announcement. The letter said: “We worry that a permanent ban on puberty blockers will have a detrimental impact on the mental health of young trans people. Puberty blockers represent an important medication for many children and young people with gender dysphoria.” Mr Streeting is listed as a parliamentary patron on the group’s website, alongside 53 other Labour MPs. Appeals have also been made to the equalities ministers, but The Telegraph understands they are following the Health Secretary’s lead on the issue. Government sources said the disagreement remains “polite and collegiate”. Earlier this week, all Labour MPs were invited to a meeting in parliament with Dr Hilary Cass, the paediatric consultant who authored a landmark review of gender identity services for children that was published in April. The report urged doctors to exercise “extreme caution” when considering a puberty blocker prescription, warning there was “a lack of high-quality research” into the treatment. In March, the NHS stopped the routine prescription of puberty blockers for children. The health service is currently drawing up the parameters of a clinical trial of puberty blockers as recommended by Cass in her report. But gender-critical activists have urged the NHS to delay the trial, scheduled to begin in the new year, to make sure it meets the safeguards recommended by Cass. A source close to the Health Secretary said: “Wes is acting on the basis of ‘No amount of pressure will see him put politics before patient safety’ advice from clinicians and the Commission on Human Medicines. No amount of pressure will see him put politics before patient safety.” The letters come amid growing discontent in the parliamentary Labour Party over a number of politically sensitive decisions and the Government’s collapsing poll ratings. This week, 30 Labour MPs publicly spoke out against the Government’s decision to deny £10.5 billion of compensation to the Waspi women, who claimed they had not been properly informed about changes to the state pension age. It marks a fraying of party discipline, which has been ruthlessly enforced in the past by Keir Starmer and his advisors. Article Name:Streeting faces Labour MP backlash over puberty blockers ban Publication:The Sunday Telegraph Author:By Ethan Croft, SUNDAY POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT Start Page:7 End Page:7
Gender-fluid visibility week in health service’s 2025 calendar The Sunday Telegraph22 Dec 2024By Michael Searles HEALTH CORRESPONDENT GENDER-FLUID visibility week and transgender parent day are among awareness events the NHS will recognise in 2025. A calendar of events for NHS England staff to watch out for includes some 351 awareness days, weeks and months to be marked next year. After religious holidays and festivals are removed, there are about 240 events left, with about one in eight LGBT-related. A source said most awareness days and weeks were not typically marked in any way, but those relating to transgender people tended to be “highly visible”, with blog posts emailed to all staff and put on the NHS staff homepage. “The main issue is excessive airtime for awareness days for trans people and their gender identities and rules, and these are riddled with falsehoods about being more likely to be victims of murder or discrimination,” the source said. “And if you challenge it, you are a bigot.” They queried why staff were spending so much time on promoting these days rather than doing their jobs. The 31 awareness days and weeks for this group on the NHS list is significantly more than any other topic or area, followed by cancer, which has almost half the awareness events noted at just 16. While most of the year is filled with some form of day of recognition, it means there is more than one day every other week on average for people who consider themselves LGBTQ+. Days being celebrated include transgender parent day, pansexual and panromantic awareness and visibility day, intersex day of solidarity, transgender day of remembrance, national coming ‘The NHS needs to drop the performative nonsense and focus its efforts on treating sick people’ out day, and international pronouns day, the NHS says. LGBT history month also runs throughout January, with trans awareness month in November. For women there are just four similar awareness days or weeks – including for the menopause – while maternity and baby loss awareness there are 10 such occasions. Awareness events dedicated to racism and black and minority ethnic people also numbered 10 in total. Disa- bilities and health conditions such as dementia, heart disease and eating disorders receive fewer mentions still. Other inclusions are Christmas jumper day, physician associates’ week, and a national day for staff networks. Kate Barker, chief executive of the LGB Alliance charity, said: “Instead of celebrating made-up pronouns, the NHS should be raising awareness of the scandal of unevidenced, experimental medicalisation of gender-distressed young people. “Marking Detransition Awareness Day on March 12 would be a welcome step in ending the irreversible damage – often inflicted by the NHS itself – on youth who are otherwise likely to grow up happily gay or lesbian.” Helen Joyce, director of advocacy at human rights charity Sex Matters, said that “endless tripe about special identities” makes “NHS staff look obsessed with trivial nonsense like made-up genders and preferred pronouns. Over time that’s bound to erode patients’ trust”. A spokesman for NHS England said: “These awareness days are not created by NHS England – they are shared with staff so they can engage with them if they wish.” Article Name:Gender-fluid visibility week in health service’s 2025 calendar Publication:The Sunday Telegraph Author:By Michael Searles HEALTH CORRESPONDENT Start Page:7 End Page:7

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