Update on Experimenting on Children
Dusty's One Offs No.14. #BeMorePorcupine.
I first published a compilation of pieces arguing against the clinical trial of puberty blockers on children in England on 30 November. Please note that I am updating that as we go along so please keep an eye on it. It will say at the beginning what the latest updated version is.
If you know of any good articles, blogs, interviews etc on this subject or that will be useful to the fight against the clinical trial please let us know.
The latest updated version is here:
https://dustymasterson.substack.com/p/experimenting-on-children-f2d
As regular readers know James Esses and Keira Bell are looking to take a judicial review challenge. Watch this space! I am sending updated versions of this piece to James.
The arguments so far are splitting, as it were, into two camps as far as I can make out, though both camps conclude that a clinical trial is unethical and unconscionable!
The first camp argues that ‘gender identity’ is a complete fiction and that ‘gender affirming care’ does not deserve to be regarded as medicine at all. Examples of those running this argument are Andrew Doyle and Barry Wall (EDI Jester).
The second camp basically treats ‘gender dysphoria’ or ‘gender incongruence’ ( the current favourite phrase of the trans rights activists) as a symptom and you do not treat a symptom, you look for the cause. An example of someone running this argument is Andy Lewis.
Even if ‘gender dysphoria’ was an actual medical condition, the evidence is that the vast majority of children grow out of it ie. puberty itself is the cure!
Moreover it is simply not possible for children to give informed consent in these circumstances.
And finally, most commentators are pointing out that hundreds and hundreds of children went through the Gender Identity Service (GIDS) at the Tavistock Centre before it was closed down. Why not track them down and see how they are doing now?
All thoughts gratefully received.
I don’t think there’s such a thing as gender dysphoria- just symptoms which have underlying causes such as autism, abuse, emerging as gay, fear of growing up in a sexualised world for girls, etc and in the past we may have settled on a different word or probably none. Gender dysphoria is shorthand for mental health problems, it’s a kind of fashionable diagnosis which has caught on due to pressure from ideologues and social contagion. I do accept that people such as Stella O’Malley would disagree with me and I don’t claim to be an expert so I don’t want to be dogmatic and am open to other opinions.
I am surprised that neither is focussing on the harms that puberty blockers do, although I am sure that features somewhere; but to my mind it is the most important aspect.