Safeguard evidence based therapy for children struggling with gender dysphoria petition to be discussed by Women and Equalities Committee Wednesday 24th November

[334bu]

You recently signed the petition “Safeguard evidence-based therapy for children struggling with gender dysphoria”:
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/582083

The House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee is holding two focussed sessions on conversion therapy, and will be looking at the Government's proposals to ban these practices, which are currently under public consultation.

The Committee will hold the first of two evidence sessions on the subject on Wednesday 24 November, where it will hear from two panels of witnesses, exploring different concerns about the Government’s proposals.

Watch the session from 2.30pm: www.parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/6b3fe0a8-92ca-4b54-ab2a-8e2831daab06

Topics to be discussed at the session will include:

what a definition of conversion therapy should look like

the issue of informed consent

religious freedoms

parental responsibilities.

You can read more about the session here: committees.parliament.uk/work/1620/the-governments-consultation-on-conversion-therapy/news/159002/mps-hold-evidence-session-on-conversion-therapy/

The Committee will hold a second evidence session on Tuesday 30 November, with a Government Minister. Updates about these sessions will be posted here: committees.parliament.uk/work/1620/the-governments-consultation-on-conversion-therapy/

The Government's consultation on banning conversion therapy
The Government is currently consulting on proposals to ban conversion therapy, and support victims of these practices. You can read a summary of the proposals, and share your views here:
www.gov.uk/government/consultations/banning-conversion-therapy

The consultation will close on 10 December 2021.

Well this should be interesting. Thanks for sharing OP.

Thanks 334. I will load that into my diary.

Has there been any movement on the promise to look into the huge surge in girls with gender dysphoria, or has it just been conveniently forgotten?

And there is another current thread on this board
In case no one else has mentioned it.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/4241685-Public-consultation-on-conversion-therapy

Many people deciding the outcome of the bill will be very confused and may conflate conversion away from gay with not affirming transitioning to a different gender.

Does conversion mean:
a. Therapeutic counselling to explore all the things in a person’s life making them feel unhappy, and a ‘wait and see’ approach before taking any steps to under go transitioning?

Some people would argue, as the law does Australia and many states of America, that this is forced conversion.

or

b. Affirmation only. Accepting at once that a person is the other gender, advising them to change their name and pronouns, take puberty blockers, which may well lead on to x sex hormones ex, then surgery. and irreversible damage?

Ironically, some people use this to convert away the gay. So it is contradictory.

If you doubt the importance of getting it right, this is from a harrowing account of a US parent.

“I learned that in our state there is a “conversion therapy” ban. This brings to mind the idea of “praying the gay away” or shock therapy and chemical castration drugs to “fix” a homosexual and make them heterosexual. These practices are awful, but that’s not how that term is being used now. I had no idea that under this law has quietly been added another definition. This definition disallows normal exploratory therapy when a child identifies as transgender. It is now illegal for a therapist to investigate why a child feels this way or to question how they came to this conclusion. They can lose their license to practice. In what kind of therapy do we not ask questions about our perceptions? Isn’t that the whole basis for any mental health therapy?“

This quote is from:
pitt.substack.com/p/school-personnel-are-not-qualified?justPublished=true

Re: Informed consent
In this podcast with Dr David Bell who formerly worked at the Tavistock Clinic, he explains well why it is not really possible for a child or young teen to give informed consent.
BBC Radio Ulster - Nolan Investigates, Episode 5 - A gender clinic insider speaks out

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09yk7dh

There is a danger that those writing into the consultation who want a policy of affirmation only for young people with body dysmorphia who feel they want to transition may well quote Gillick Competency

“Children under the age of 16 can consent to their own treatment if they're believed to have enough intelligence, competence and understanding to fully appreciate what's involved in their treatment. This is known as being Gillick competent.
www.nhs.uk › conditions › c...
Children and young people, Consent to treatment - NHS”

The witnesses in that first session all seem to be from religious groups. Where are organisations like Sex Matters, LGB Alliance or Transgender Trend?

@Thingybob

The witnesses in that first session all seem to be from religious groups. Where are organisations like Sex Matters, LGB Alliance or Transgender Trend?

If it’s anything like the GRA reform consultations, this one will be the first of a few sessions, where they invite different groups. They should advertise who will be at each session in advance

There is a call in Twitter for emails to committee askingvwhy no therapists are included. Will try and get link.

ta, OP.

mobile.twitter.com/ThoughtfulTs/status/1462354333727662082

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