The spell is broken. There will be battles ahead but the social contagion of transgenderism has ended. The horror of what has happened is now widely recognised. The state, which should uphold child safety, instead engaged in a programme of mutilating children. It was carried out by the NHS, sometimes actively encouraged by schools. Those who challenged such thinking risked a visit from the police. The idea of being “born in the wrong body” was normalised. You might think that Christians would regard the notion as an impertinence to the Almighty. But the Church of England put fashion before theology and went along with the madness.
As always language was crucial to the process of thought control. The letter T was slyly added to LGB (along with a bewildering array of other letters and symbols.) Stonewall was captured. The term “Transphobia” was coined. Its meaning was sufficiently broad that it could stifle dissent though it was intended, of course, to suggest an equivalent of homophobia. But the idea that transgenderism is a natural extension of gay rights is grotesque. Unquestioning acceptance of this ideology has meant the same-sex attracted are the most vulnerable. It has led to the castration of gay teenagers.
“Progressives” who consider themselves feminists have also found themselves justifying sending rapists to women’s prisons – on the grounds that if a man says he’s a woman then he’s a woman.
The review by Dr Hilary Cass, which was published last week, is properly concerned with the medical rather than the moral or political aspects of the controversy. It says:
“The Gender Identity Development Service was established in 1989. At that time, the service saw fewer than 10 children a year, predominantly pre-pubertal birth-registered
males, and the main focus was therapeutic, with only a small proportion referred for hormone treatment by around age 16.
“The approach to treatment changed with the emergence of ‘the Dutch Protocol’ which involved the use of puberty blockers from early puberty. In 2011, the UK trialled the use of puberty blockers in the ‘early intervention study.’
“Preliminary results from the early intervention study in 2015-2016 did not demonstrate benefit. The results of the study were not formally published until 2020, at which time it showed there was a lack of any positive measurable outcomes. Despite this, from 2014 puberty blockers moved from a research-only protocol to being available in routine clinical practice and were given to a broader group of patients who would not have met the inclusion criteria of the original protocol.”
It adds:
“Childhood, adolescence and young adulthood are dynamic developmental periods for gender expression, cognitive development and overall brain maturation, and at the same time, young people are having to navigate an increasingly complex world. This important developmental backdrop needs to be taken into account when thinking about how gender incongruence may develop in any one individual and how best to address it.”
Recommendations include the following:
“NHS England should review the policy on masculinising/feminising hormones. The option to provide masculinising/feminising hormones from age 16 is available, but the Review would recommend extreme caution. There should be a clear clinical rationale for providing hormones at this stage rather than waiting until an individual reaches 18.”
Those who had been bullied into acquiescence will feel emboldened to challenge what has been happening. Politicians who gave poor leadership are finding themselves held to account. The worse culprits have been in the Labour Party. The brave Labour MP Rosie Duffield has given an account of the abuse she suffered. Sir Keir Starmer has made the absurd statement that a woman can have a penis and his credibility has righty suffered as a result. But then Penny Mordaunt effectively made the same claim when she stood up in Parliament to say:
“Transgender men are men and transgender women are women.”
Mordaunt has been much criticised for the remark. But she made it in 2021, as a Minister, it was not repudiated by the Government. Gillian Keegan, now the Education Secretary, said the same the year before. Theresa May was keen to normalise transgenderism when she Prime Minister – part of her eagerness to be considered woke. Many Conservative politicians would acknowledge in private the dangers of transgender ideology being promoted in schools but would avoid making a comment in public.
Other Conservatives have been robust in pointing out the harm done to children. For instance, Miriam Cates has declared:
“It’s as if respected professionals told children that anorexia was not a mental health problem but an identity to be celebrated, and that those who disagreed are bigots who want to ‘erase’ thin people.”
As Kemi Badenoch says:
“Worse than the ravings of the militants was the cowardice of those in positions of influence. How many university administrators, media editors, police officers and politicians preferred to keep quiet for fear of becoming the next target or in the hope of maintaining their progressive credentials? We need more bravery and less cancel culture.”
Badenoch has not only been brave but astute – fighting her cause as a Cabinet Minister facing considerable opposition within the system, “institutional resistance” as she puts it. She believes we are at “merely the beginning” in defeating gender ideology. I’m sure that’s right in terms of getting proper legal safeguards. Julie Bindel has called for any doctor administering puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones to be struck off. That is important. But I do think the terms of the debate have already shifted.
It is not just the transgender issue where Conservatives have oo often allowed themselves to be silenced, or even acquiescent, to a flawed ideology. The Left have become very effective in dictating what the rest of us are allowed to say. For a while, Greta Thunberg’s absurd climate alarmism could not be challenged. During the lockdown the only debate acceptable to the broadcasters was whether it should be more severe. Black Lives Matter – an extremist and divisive outfit – won plaudits from across the establishment. Dissenting voices that faced ridicule and personal abuse at the time would be subsequently vindicated.
After the transgender scandal, let Conservatives resolve to speak up a bit louder and a bit sooner in future.
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Author: Harry Phibbs
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