The Times- Lawyers accused of ‘dangerous and false’ trans suicide claims
Lawyers accused of ‘dangerous and false’ trans suicide claims
The review, published on Friday, concluded that social media posts linking a ban on puberty blockers to suicide “do not meet basic standards for statistical evidence” and“campaign groups are often selective about evidence”.
In March the NHS banned the use of puberty blockers for children, before a review by Dr Hilary Cass published in April found that there was a lack of evidence for their safety or effectiveness. Wes Streeting, the health secretary, has confirmed he will press ahead with a ban on private clinics prescribing the drugs to children. However, this ban is being challenged in the courts by the Good Law Project, led by Maugham, who wrote on social media that the measure would “kill trans children”.
In his review, Appleby criticised the toxicity of the debate on social media. He said: “The way that this issue has been discussed on social media has been insensitive, distressing and dangerous, and goes against guidance on safe reporting of suicide. One risk is that young people and their families will be terrified by predictions of suicide as inevitable without puberty blockers — some of the responses on social media show this.
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“Another is identification: already-distressed adolescents hearing the message that ‘people like you, facing similar problems, are killing themselves’, leading to imitative suicide or self-harm, to which young people are particularly susceptible.
“Then there is the insensitivity of the ‘dead child’ rhetoric. Suicide should not be a slogan or a means to winning an argument.”
Appleby is a psychiatrist based at the University of Manchester who leads the National Suicide Prevention Strategy for England. His review detailed how the Good Law Project had shared online claims of a surge in suicides since puberty blockers were banned.
Appleby said that posts on Twitter/ X made “multiple references to children dying in future because they are unable to access puberty-blocking drugs”.
He said: “These claims have been retweeted thousands of times by other campaigners and members of the public. They have been repeated by some leading journalists, though there is nothing to suggest that they have examined the evidence for themselves. They, too, have adopted the language of ‘dying children’.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “Decisions on our children’s healthcare must follow the evidence at all times.
“Dr Cass’s review found there was insufficient evidence to show puberty blockers were safe for under-18s which is why the NHS has already stopped their routine prescription for children with gender dysphoria.
“We are committed to ensuring children questioning their gender receive the best possible multidisciplinary care, led by expert clinical guidance. That is why we are reforming gender identity services.
“It is vital that the public discussion around this issue is handled sensitively and responsibly.”
Maya Forstater, the chief executive of the campaign group Sex Matters, said: “For more than a decade, high-profile trans activists have been making outrageous claims about child suicide and so-called ‘gender medicine’ as a tactic to emotionally blackmail parents, health professionals and policy makers.
“The government’s clear and no-nonsense statement is long overdue. It marks a watershed moment in tackling the darkest and most extreme narratives used to embed gender identity ideology.
“We are enormously relieved that the government is standing up to the most vile bullies in the trans activist movement with truth and common sense.”
Jo Maugham, executive director of the Good Law Project, said: “I was not contacted in advance of the statement being released and will obviously need time to respond. I do have difficulties with the figures and analysis and will respond in due course.”
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