Political party responses to the Cass Review

I've got a gender critical PPC to vote for! There's an SDP candidate standing in my constituency on a gender critical platform.

With all the Cass stuff currently in the headlines and the SDP candidate making this a battleground area for the election, I've emailed the Lib Dem and Labour PPCs to get a sense of what their personal views are. I would be happy to vote for a candidate whose personal views don't align with the party because that's the only way you actually get change (plus the vote for SDP would really just be a protest vote). This constituency is fairly true blue but Lib Dems are in second. They shouldn't give away any votes at all if they want to have a chance of swinging it.

Interesting to see this start to emerge as a battleground area for the election...

Scottish Labour now pushing to implement the Cass Report in Scotland. Big implications for Scottish and internal Labour politics: www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5057294-scottish-labour-back-implementing-cass-report-in-scotland

Here is an image of the Green Party of England and Wales's response - measured and reasonable I would say _ but it only appeared on the party's website for about an hour and was then taken down. Earlier the party's LGBTQ+ group had posted its own review of the report on X/twitter but their X account has been taken down by X since for breaching their rules, but in what way we don't know. The first few words remain on the link if you search for it on google, and from those it appears to have been a rant against the report. I searched just now for the LibDem offical response. There was a hit for it but the link led to a dead end, so has that been taken down too?

Here's the archived Green statement.

web.archive.org/web/20240416154240/www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2024/04/16/green-party-statement-on-the-cass-review/

Very intrigued to see what they eventually put out.

Archived libdem statement.

https://archive.ph/FgyBN

I think we need to archive any statements coming out about now!

Gosh. I can only imagine what tussles are going on behind the scenes.

@ArabellaScott

x.com/millihill/status/1780600089226203327?s=46&t=AjtjSItRj-kgZwRzL-pdyQ

Apparently the title was changed and now the Lib Dem statement has been deleted.

The Greens also seem to be having an internal battle

x.com/alisonclareteal/status/1780535092844097757?s=46&t=AjtjSItRj-kgZwRzL-pdyQ

The reasonable statement that they put out yesterday was only up briefly before some demanded it was taken down.

x.com/alisonclareteal/status/1780535092844097757?s=46&t=AjtjSItRj-kgZwRzL-pdyQ

Well, as I said, it's barely coherent.

It's signed the lgbtq+ executive committee though?

This from Meghan Gallagher of the Scottish Conservatives:

https://twitter.com/MGallacherMSP/status/1779795051452764428

'The silence from the Scottish Government over the Cass Review recommendations is deafening. That’s why I’ve written to Caroline Lamb, Chief Exec of NHS Lanarkshire to seek clarity on their position.'

It says it is! It's on their website?

Here's a sort of round up of some responses from Labour people:

https://labourlist.org/2024/04/trans-gender-policy-stance-cass-review-report-labour/

I've seen that Arabella. Apparently it's not the official Lib Dem statement.

Just found this:

https://www.libdems.org.uk/news/article/initial-statement-on-the-cass-review

"We share the widespread disappointment at the review's lack of evidence and perpetuation of harmful stereotypes. As always, we stand with young, trans, and autistic individuals, and women in defending their autonomy. Please see our full initial statement below.

Initial Statement on the Cass Review:

"We are very disappointed by the lack of evidence leading to a conclusion which infantilises autistic people and is undeniable transphobia towards young adults and people.

The Gillick competency saves lives and should be protected, not just for trans people but all people. Everyone has medical rights which should be protected.

LGBT+ Liberal Democrats will continue to stand with trans people, young people, autistic people and women to defend their right to bodily and medical autonomy.

LGBT+ Liberal Democrats Executive Committee"

I mean, that's barely coherent.

This is intriguing.

x.com/shahrarali/status/1780288889409741003?s=46&t=AjtjSItRj-kgZwRzL-pdyQ

The Green Party seem to have released a sensible statement on cass and then taken it straight back down again. 🤔

Not from the Conservatives per se, and this article from KB is fairly even-handed in criticism of institutional capture across all parties:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/148061a7-bcea-46c7-84e6-be6ee29d7ce2?shareToken=2f582f76ec269e6e20578142389f9472

Well there’s this, Rainbow

Tory gender enthusiasts have been as bad as anyone else on this.

Had anyone seen anything from the Lib Dems?

Urgh. Predictable.

Another prediction is that the SNP under pressure will launch their own Scoattishy Cass review that will find that gender affirming care is absolutely fine. 🙈

https://greens.scot/news/trans-rights-are-human-rights

Here's the Scottish Greens' official statement.

'The party will oppose any moves to increase the age of accessing gender affirming care to 25, following the publication of the Cass Report.
Maggie Chapman MSP said: “Trans rights are human rights, and we must ensure trans people are able to access the care they need in a timely and compassionate manner. It is clear that gender affirming care plays a vital role in supporting and protecting trans people, and we would oppose any moves to increase the minimum age to 25 to receive such care.
“With waiting times still up to five and a half years, it’s clear a lot of work remains. I’m glad the Cass Report acknowledges that this situation is completely unacceptable, and we’ll continue to work with the Scottish Government and Gender Identity Services to bring those times down to acceptable levels.'

https://www.newstatesman.com/podcasts/2024/04/how-will-the-gender-care-report-affect-politics

https://archive.ph/ThHCH

'After the Cass Review was published, the Scottish Greens said they would ‘oppose any moves to increase the age of accessing gender-affirming care to 25’. Chapman is their equalities spokesperson.'

It’s the Greens - it’s not unbelievable at all. They’re wired to the fucking moon.

Thank you for sharing the responses.

Seems a good idea to contact all representatives to ask for their considered positions, especially in Scotland.

https://www.writetothem.com/