This politicisation of mental ill health and gender distress in children and young people, followed by their medicalisation, is the biggest medical scandal that I have ever witnessed. The Cass Review is not the end of that scandal: we need to understand what happened, why, who is responsible, and how to prevent it from ever happening again.
I add my voice to those calling for a statutory public inquiry into how gender identity became embedded in schools and within the NHS.
I also call for the immediate removal of any influence of Stonewall and its cohort from our schools, hospitals and public spaces. Never again can we allow such a toxic and dangerous ideology to proliferate in our institutions.
Greater access to the internet has given children and young people learning resources “but it has also made them vulnerable to new dangers”, according to the review.
“Biology hasn’t changed and adult biology hasn’t changed in the last few years,” Cass said this week. “So it’s not that that’s changed things.
The report says girls spend more hours using social media than boys. A study cited by Cass found 43% of girls used social media for three or more hours a day, compared with 22% of boys.
A systematic review highlighted by the Cass report found that use of social media was associated with body image concerns. Numerous other studies cited by the report implicate smartphone and social media use in mental distress and suicidality among young people, particularly girls.
The report goes on to say that it is “common in adolescence to experience same-sex attraction and not to conform to gender stereotypes. In making sense of these feelings young people are now having to navigate an increasingly complex interplay between sex and gender.”
Source: What Cass review says about surge in children seeking gender services | Transgender | The Guardian