Charlie Evans, a detransitioned female and founder of the @DetransAdNet, introduces our speakers. She says ‘we are not motivated by hate. We are motivated by solidarity, sisterhood and a strong sense of justice’. #ManchesterDetrans
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Our first story comes from Max, a female detransitioner who says that her transition was about ‘escaping lesbophobia and male harassment’.
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Max notes that ‘every person who is born female is forced to modify her appearance in some way’.
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Discussing the benefits of therapy for dysphoric individuals, Max says ‘it took a long time to link gender and body issues to what was going on in my life’.
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Max finishes by saying ‘there isn’t a simple answer here. We need to think about it, talk about it and ask these questions’.
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Our next speaker is Kira, who describes herself as being ‘caught up in transition’.
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She says that as a child she had no female role models, socialised with boys and ‘was free to be the gender nonconformist child [she] was until puberty’ when she ‘started to feel the social pressures to conform’ to femininity.
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Kira began hormone replacement therapy and had a double mastectomy at 20 years old but she discovered that ‘hormones and surgery can only do so much’
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She asks the very moving question, ‘How can I possibly be loving myself if I am sacrificing my general health in order to change my whole being?’
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Kira closes by saying ‘medical transition doesn’t have to be the only response to gender identity issues’.
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We will now here from a panel of experts including Tavistock employee Dr David Bell (speaking in a personal capacity), psychotherapist
@stellaomalley3, NHS doctor and clinical researcher @HannahKJRyan and clinical psychologist Dr Anna Hutchinson.#ManchesterDetransShow this thread -
Dr David Bell says ‘as far as I know, I do not think any centre has properly followed up the patients’. He is shocked that clinics ‘carry out a major intervention and not follow up the patients’.
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He adds that the term ‘puberty blockers’ is misleading. He says that they are ‘potent drugs’ which probably have physiological consequences beyond affecting puberty.
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He goes on to say that the term ‘puberty blockers’ falsely implies that they are a targeted medical intervention and ‘lures us towards a simplification of something that is much more complex than that’.
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@stellaomalley3 says that ‘the lack of long term evidence is the biggest issue in this field...we need to tread carefully’.#ManchesterDetransShow this thread -
Dr Ann Hutchinson points out the alarming statistic that ‘nearly 100% of those who take puberty blockers go on to take cross-sex hormones’.
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@charlie_sci adds that ‘we have no system to effectively collect data on detransition’. @HannahKJRyan agrees, highlighting the importance of acknowledging that existing statistics on detransition are highly questionable.#ManchesterDetransShow this thread -
@HannahKJRyan notes that the effects of puberty blockers and HRT are long term and so long term data collection on these treatments is absolutely crucial.
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Dr David Bell asks someone absolutely crucial questions: ‘Why is this happening? What kind of social, cultural events are leading to this rapid change? Has there been a sudden rise in misogyny? Are girls internalising their hatred of femininity?’
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He says that ‘it would be very reductionist to put this down to individuals’ and says that understanding the complex social and cultural factors motivating this rapid change will take time.
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He questions the concerning ‘rush to [give] experimental treatment’.
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@HannahKJRyan says that more clinicians are starting to engage with the issue and she hopes that more medical professionals will speak out. She says ‘there is a lot of pressure to move quickly’.
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@HannahKJRyan says that those health professionals working face to face with children and teenagers who are experiencing a lot of distress are under ‘immense pressure’, both professionally and morally, to act.
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Dr David Bell says that there is fear amongst medical professionals of being called transphobic or being accused of a hate crime.
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Dr Anna Hutchinson says that medical professionals are accused of transphobia for calling for more research. She says ‘how can it be transphobic to call for better standards of care? I want better standards of care for dysphoric children’.
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A member of the audience who is also a medical professional working in this field describes his experiences of being silenced. He says, ‘we are advised against using the terms detransition and desisters’ and says that this deeply worries him.
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He also describes how the conflation of gender identity and sexuality is leading to a form of conversion therapy for these children.
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Another audience member, a clinical psychologist and lecturer, describes her concerns about the ‘affirmation-only model’ which advocates immediate social transition for gender-questioning children.
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@HannahKJRyan agrees and notes that the impact of social transition is significant and should not be underestimated.
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An audience member notes that gender ideology feels like old school sexism. Dr David Bell responds by saying that he has observed a ‘caricaturing of gender stereotypes’ through transition.
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