John Lewis has been branded “irresponsible” by leading GPs over its breast-binding advice for transgender children.
The department store recently launched a magazine for more than 70,000 staff which advises parents on how to find breast binders for transgender children.
The magazine recommends support from the charity Mermaids, which is currently under investigation by the Charity Commission amid safeguarding concerns, and praises the private clinic GenderGP for prescribing cross-sex hormones.
Following its publication, the John Lewis Partnership, which also owns the Waitrose supermarket, faced boycott calls on Wednesday after it issued a new publication to more than 70,000 staff members.
However, now a GP who leads a gender-critical advisory group has spoken out criticising the magazine. A gender-critical approach is one that does not believe that gender identity is more important than biological sex.
Louise Irvine, the co-chairman of the Clinical Advisory Network on Sex and Gender, said: “Increasing numbers of adolescent girls are binding their breasts to give a flatter, more ‘masculine’ chest appearance.
‘Significant number of risks’
“There is very little research on this but what research exists shows no good evidence of benefit and a significant number of risks including damage to the breasts, skin, chest wall muscles and ribs; pain; restriction in breathing, leading in particular to lack of participation in sports or exercise.
“It is irresponsible of John Lewis to allow the promotion of breast binding and as John Lewis is such a trusted brand it creates the impression that breast binding is harmless and without risk. This could encourage more young girls to engage in this harmful practice.”
The Identity magazine, produced by the “LGBTQIA+ network”, warned parents their support “can determine their child’s mental well-being” before quoting figures from the controversial charity Stonewall, which suggested that the number of transgender children attempting suicide is “double the national average”.
The magazine starts with an introduction from the editor in which he suggests the debates over LGBTQ rights are “playing pointless politics with people’s lives”.
The magazine, seen by The Telegraph, features a piece on “Raising Trans and Non-Binary Children”, which focuses on a mother, Simone, who says she was not surprised her daughter wanted to transition to be a boy as “he hadn’t worn anything girly since he was eight”.
Sharron Davies also spoke out against the magazine. She said that she would boycott John Lewis, writing on Twitter: “Another store off my radar.”
The Olympic swimmer, former Gladiator and sports commentator, who has attended 12 consecutive Olympic Games, has previously been vilified after speaking out against biological males competing in women’s sport.
Breast binding was referenced in the Cass Review, an independent report led by Dr Hilary Cass, a consultant paediatrician and former president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.
It was commissioned by NHS England and NHS Improvement to make recommendations on the services provided to children and young people exploring their gender identity.
According to her interim report, published in 2022, she found that doctors feel “pressured to adopt an unquestioning approach” when treating children with gender dysphoria, an independent review has found.
Dr Cass also specifically mentioned breast binding in her report, describing it as “painful” and “potentially harmful”.
She wrote: “We have also heard about the distress experienced by birth-registered females as they reach puberty, including the use of painful, and potentially harmful, binding processes to conceal their breasts.”
‘Avoid damage to growing bodies’
Responding to the magazine, Dr Jane Hamlin, the president emerita of the Beaumont Society, a charity which supports transgender people, said: “It is understandable – particularly with the heartbreakingly long waiting lists for treatment at a gender clinic – that transgender boys and men might want to bind their breasts as an interim measure. However, it is important that they get advice from a reliable source and choose a method that avoids damage to their growing bodies.
“John Lewis stores enjoy a high reputation for their services and products, so I would hope that they would be able to provide accurate and high-quality advice on the type, size and quality of any binders before selling one to anyone – particularly a young person.”
A spokesman for John Lewis said that the reference to breast binding in the magazine was an independent view from an individual and not an official recommendation by the department store.
They added: “The John Lewis Partnership is a welcoming place for people to work or shop irrespective of their background or beliefs.
“The Identity magazine was created by members of our LGBTQIA+ network in which our partners (as we call our employees) share their experiences.
“The magazine was not edited or funded by the management of the John Lewis Partnership. It is wrong to suggest the magazine provides advice from the Partnership.”
