Paediatrician Dr. Hillary Cass began her report into the treatment of children who say they are transgender—praised even by senior Labour figures as a “watershed” paper—by highlighting that the “toxicity of the debate is exceptional.”
As if to confirm the truth of this statement since its publication less than a fortnight ago, Dr. Cass has received “vile” emails and has been advised not to use public transport due to safety fears.
Cass’s long-awaited review found that the treatment of children unsure about their gender “is an area of remarkably weak evidence” which sees studies “exaggerated or misrepresented” to support political—as opposed to medical—viewpoints. It has received a good deal of backing among the political classes and has already prompted the National Health Service to say that it will review all of the transgender treatment it provides.
But in an interview with The Times, Cass revealed that it has also made her the target of a deluge of hate from activists. She has had a “pretty aggressive” response from some, including “pretty vile emails”—many of which the team around her is “protecting” her from—containing “words I wouldn’t put in a newspaper.”
Cass added that she has had to stop using public transport “following security advice.”
None of this is particularly surprising. In an article published in Spiked over the weekend, journalist Jo Bartosch highlighted that officials at the discredited NHS Gender Identity Development Service transgender clinic were “desperate to silence anyone who expressed doubts about how clinics were operating.” She added that “when questions were asked about the safety of puberty blockers and hormones, staff faced an atmosphere where clinical curiosity was discouraged.”
It appears that the experience of working inside ‘gender services’ often mirrored the external hostile environment overshadowed by ‘trans activists’ and their ‘allies.’ Those outside the medical profession “were also smeared as transphobic for questioning the new wisdom about so-called trans kids,” Bartosch wrote, pointing to the often one-sided nature of the official pre-Cass ‘discussion.’
But in a statement that speaks to her resolute nature, Cass told The Times she is “much, much more upset and frustrated” about disinformation surrounding the report than the abuse she is receiving since those who are “deliberately” trying to undermine its findings “are putting children at risk by doing that.”
Maya Forstater, a researcher who lost her job at a think tank after tweeting that transgender women could not change their biological sex, responded to reports on Cass’ safety by betting that “when she is spotted in public people want to say ‘thank you’ for her work.” Forstater added: “I get the occasional scowl but much more often people say well done.”
