Observer interview with David Bell about the Tavistock case

[Biscuitsanddoombar]

www.theguardian.com/society/2021/may/02/tavistock-trust-whistleblower-david-bell-transgender-children-gids

Dr Bell seems fantastic. He's been quietly involved in this for years, but is now stepping up as a public face, and he's so effective. Check out his Channel 4 Cathy Newman interview. Also he had a lot to say in the excellent Dysphoric documentary, which you'll find on YouTube.

Quite amazing that this should be in the Observer rather than, say, the Sunday Times. Interesting that it comes so soon after the Rowan Moore article. Also interesting that it’s by one of the paper’s star writers, Rachel Cooke, and she’s done a really good job of letting him argue his case. I’d love to know what internal battles are going on at the Observer.

The Observer editorial following Bell vs Tavistock NHS made clear that the editorial team understood the issues well:

6/12/2020
'The Observer view on the high court's ruling on puberty-blocking drugs for children
The court was correct to halt a disturbing trend among clinicians to assume those as young as 10 were fit to make life-altering decisions about gender identity'

concludes:
"There are serious questions about the way in which GIDS has been discharging its duty of care. It was unable to supply the most basic of data that the court asked for, including the age profile of children referred for puberty blockers, how many had a mental health diagnosis and data on their treatment pathway. And the judgment casts doubt on the gender-affirming model of treatment for children who present with gender dysphoria. The idea that a child as young as 10 can come to a fixed view about their gender identity that sets them on a path to irreversible medical treatment is alarming, yet has become embedded in clinical practice. As we have reported, longstanding concerns raised by clinicians at the Tavistock have been shut down, with one whistleblower facing disciplinary action.

Any questioning of the gender-affirming model – and the role that trauma, internalised hostility to same-sex attraction or misleading online material may play in gender dysphoria in teenagers – is dismissed as transphobic. This is a chilling state of affairs that is detrimental to child safety. There are children who will find last week’s judgment distressing and it is imperative they receive the professional support they need. Children are not pawns to be deployed in adult debates about identity. Bell’s bravery has paved the way for a child-centred judgment that gives them the protection they deserve."

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/dec/06/the-observer-view-on-the-high-courts-ruling-on-puberty-blocking-drugs-for-children

One of the first things that really shocked me when I first started paying attention to this debate were the stats from the Tavistock about their GIDS patients. Here they are, from Wikipedia. Why have they risen so enormously in such a short time? Why are there now so many more girls than boys? This was historically a problem mostly found in boys/men, not girls/women.

Good article. Well done to The Observer. Interesting that Dr Bell will be involved in the June appeal re Keira Bell's judicial review.

Why have they risen so enormously in such a short time? Why are there now so many more girls than boys?

It's such a basic question. And when the answer is staring them in the face but they still shrug, it makes you think they don't want to address it.

I agree about the open-mindedness line. Bloody patronising apart from anything else.

Really chilling article.

Wow a pleasant surprise from the Guardian, I thought they were too afraid of being accused of transphobia to print something like this. Blimey I'll be moving my subscription back to them from The Times is they carry on like this.

Great article by Cooke.

Sodah is really good on this too.

Good stuff going on at the observer.

The trust admitting the over involvement of trans activist groups was chilling.

Integrity runs through him like a stick of rock. And so good to see him raise concerns about the campaign around conversion therapy. He sees it for exactly what it is, just like LGBAlliance. A Trojan horse.

Wow a pleasant surprise from the Guardian, I thought they were too afraid of being accused of transphobia to print something like this. Blimey I'll be moving my subscription back to them from The Times is they carry on like this.

Its published by The Observer who also ran this editorial after the Bell vs Tavistock Judicial Review:

'The Observer view on the high court's ruling on puberty-blocking drugs for children
Observer editorial
The court was correct to halt a disturbing trend among clinicians to assume those as young as 10 were fit to make life-altering decisions about gender identity'

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/dec/06/the-observer-view-on-the-high-courts-ruling-on-puberty-blocking-drugs-for-children

@NecessaryScene1

Dr Bell seems fantastic. He's been quietly involved in this for years, but is now stepping up as a public face, and he's so effective. Check out his Channel 4 Cathy Newman interview. Also he had a lot to say in the excellent Dysphoric documentary, which you'll find on YouTube.

Link to the Channel 4 interview.

www.channel4.com/news/children-have-been-very-seriously-damaged-by-nhs-gender-clinic-says-former-tavistock-staff-governor

Wow what a brilliant interview. I love the fact that every time Cathy Newman (for whom I have zero respect as an interviewer) asks him whether his views - which are informed by decades of clinical practice and research - are "hurtful" to trans people he ignores her. Because who gives a fuck about some random on Twitter's hurt feelings in the context of mutilating, castrating and neutering children!?

I think this is the first time I've read in the Guardian an acknowledgement that liberals are just siding blindly with trans ideology because it's 'on the right side of history' instead of actually engaging their brains and thinking critically about this. As Bell notes, since when did politically left wing people unquestioningly support big Pharma? It has continually frustrated me how asking questions or being critical about these issues has been framed into bigoted hate.

@FightingTheFoo

Wow what a brilliant interview. I love the fact that every time Cathy Newman (for whom I have zero respect as an interviewer) asks him whether his views - which are informed by decades of clinical practice and research - are "hurtful" to trans people he ignores her. Because who gives a fuck about some random on Twitter's hurt feelings in the context of mutilating, castrating and neutering children!?

Well said.

@FightingTheFoo

Wow what a brilliant interview. I love the fact that every time Cathy Newman (for whom I have zero respect as an interviewer) asks him whether his views - which are informed by decades of clinical practice and research - are "hurtful" to trans people he ignores her. Because who gives a fuck about some random on Twitter's hurt feelings in the context of mutilating, castrating and neutering children!?

I agree.

It's also notable to me how very precise he his with his wording.

There's no ambiguity whatsoever.

I'm particularly pleased to see how he's calling out the politicisation and capture of clinical policy by lobby groups.

Place marking. (I know I can 'watch thread' but this works better, sorry)

Please lets have more of these intelligent contributions in the press instead of the usual hogwash. David Bell says: "What matters is the truth. I hate the weaponisation of victimhood, the fact that the fear of being seen as transphobic now overrides everything". Well said David Bell.

There still seems to be an unspoken contract which states that in order to discuss this issue you first of all have to acknowledge or accept that there is such a thing as a 'genuine trans child', with all that suggests about having been actually born in the wrong body etc.

Still! It is better than where we were just a couple of years ago, when any discussion or question was completely verboten. And still is for the Labour party.

The transgender industry/complex is now an incredibly lucrative business. Bell rightly wonders why the Labour party are not interested in this?

www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/sex-reassignment-surgery-market

...and an industry which is expected to grow by 25% in the next few years.