Judicial review into adult GIDs

[WarriorN]

Two attempts to post on this were deleted with a more detailed title into what it actually is: the launching of a judicial review against adult GIDS.

I only posted the title and the text of the tweet.

So posting the link to the tweet.

He also has a piece in the times - sorry I can't access.

twitter.com/tullipr/status/1665116767767674880?s=46&t=A2fpFNgDRyXF2d6ye97wEA

I wonder if there's an automatic filter when few mods or something?

Text of tweet

I'm pleased to announce that we will be launching a Judicial Review against the UK's Adult Gender Clinics.

The review aims to challenge the failure of the NHS to provide appropriate treatment and safeguards for adults suffering from gender dysphoria.

Last Friday, Paul Conrathe issued a notice to the UK's Secretary of Health (@SteveBarclay) and the Minister for Women and Equalities (@KemiBadenoch) informing them of our action. Dr. Hilary Cass has also been notified.

We are optimistic the UK Government will welcome the review.

I would like to give thanks to my superb legal team: Paul Conrathe (Sinclair's Law), Jeremy Hyam KC, Slater and Gordon for their continuous work on my medical negligence claim, and Peter Harthan of 7HS.

And to each and everyone of you for your support, thank you so much!

For a full statement and to see how you can help support the action, please visit tinyurl.com/safeguardsNow

Thank you!

Ritchie xoxo

Times story

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/nhs-trans-surgery-damaged-my-body-for-ever-its-not-safe-jt2hhbrgk

He said last week the bbc should be reporting on it "if they behave themselves."

Ah ok so it's the text of the tweet that's not getting though. Ffs

Times link

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/nhs-trans-surgery-damaged-my-body-for-ever-its-not-safe-jt2hhbrgk

This might be a shareable link:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/cf857796-01ec-11ee-b730-2607a18701aa?shareToken=4fb99eee8688c47ce7c6c46b3c540ba44_

Images of tweet

Thank you Rhymes, it clarifies who "we" are.

the Newcastle-based civil servant, 36, has launched legal action against NHS England, alongside the “heartbroken” father of a 21-year-old who has been booked in for imminent genital-removal surgery at an adult gender clinic. The two men are demanding a judicial review which includes an independent inquiry into the safety of NHS treatments being offered to young people under the age of 25 who are experiencing gender dysphoria.

Steve Barclay, secretary of state for health, and Kemi Badenoch, minister for equalities, as well as Dr Hilary Cass, who carried out a recent review of the Tavistock Gender Identity Development Service (Gids) are also being served with legal papers. The father is hoping to stop the surgery from going ahead.

I hope that this will be successful and trigger a long over due review into the way these "treatments" and the idea "bodies are wrong" based on gender stereotyping and internalised homophobia, are viewed.

This is very much needed. The adult pathway, which begins at 17, is full on affirmation onto the medical pipeline. With “time served” on the Tavi waiting list applied to the adult waiting time, many younger adults are being seen much more quickly than the headline 3-4 year waiting list would indicate.

I also find it absolutely chilling that the father of the other young man was threatened with his son being taken into care when he tried to block him from going on puberty blockers at 16. This cult-like social services threatening environment needs to stop.

It is heartbreaking to hear of the state of Ritchie's post surgery body. I really hope this case goes well for him and the other person. I have contributed to the crowdfunder.

I have seen him previously mention that he was threatened with the discontinuation of his therapy sessions if he didn't sign up for surgery.
Only now have I seen he had had 100+ sessions.
I can see that these can not be unlimited/forever given the appalling state of NHS mental health services, although that is no reason to force someone to take the "next" step. Wondering how effective those sessions were and why so called "full surgical transition" should be seen as the end goal. Isn't it the case that most adult men who transition never have surgery? I don't mean to diminish or make fun of this very serious and upsetting problem but the words of Magdalen Berns re Alex Drummond are very relevant here "of course surgery terrifies you Alex. They chop your cock off". No one should be persuaded that this is the only course for them when they have clearly expressed concerns.

Also, I hope the surgeons who are lined up for the imminent surgery on the other young man hold off. It would surely be very unwise to proceed with surgery knowing a high profile legal case is pending.

Glad to see this is happening - not before time!

Very much needed.

My personal professional experience is with a boy, now a man, who has learning difficulties and autism, who could have been (and could now be) either Ritchie or this young man. It was all about stereotypes and liking those not associated with his sex. He was seen as a child when the Tavistock and mermaids was more reasonable and measured and was NOT given a diagnosis of GD. Since attending a particular very pro trans FE college which has a large dept for young adults with learning disabilities, he's fully socially transitioned (I don't know more). I'm also very concerned about some of the individuals who appear to involve themselves with that institution.

The parents always followed the professional's advice. They had no particular opinions other than making sure he was happy. But obviously the "professional advice" has since changed a lot.

Those 100+ sessions will have been fully affirming- ie instead of being sessions to explore the underlying reasons for his gender dysphoria, they will have morphed into therapy to help accept the need to transition, a conditioning to help him along the way in his belief that he was actually a woman.

Hopefully this will allow some of the appalling practices happening to these children to be aired in court. My concern is that if this vulnerable 21 year old is deemed to be "legally competent" to decide on this brutal surgery, many trans activists who see children as mini adults (as evidenced regularly on this board) will extrapolate any ruling to apply to the youngest of children.
I hope I'm wrong. This Judge looked at the treatment of a child who was socially transitioned by his very unwell mother and was very critical of the actions of social services & other professionals who actively enabled the emotional abuse of the child:

https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Fam/2016/2430.html

For Ritchie, GIDS said that if he wasn't going to transition the therapy was going to stop.

He was unable to rationally understand what was going on (hence many therapy sessions, iirc weekly) and so agreed to do so.

I know nothing about this but what is on this thread. But I can’t help wondering about the 100 plus sessions. My DH suddenly nearly died with something very rare - was obviously struggling post emergency surgery and was only offered 1 session. rogd mum sounds right, it’s so horribly sinister and remorseless

My concern is that if this vulnerable 21 year old is deemed to be "legally competent" to decide on this brutal surgery, many trans activists who see children as mini adults (as evidenced regularly on this board) will extrapolate any ruling to apply to the youngest of children.

Yes its extremely concerning.

Ritchie is an adult who does not have learning difficulties and consented to medically transitioning AFTER the age of 25, and yet still severely regrets it. (Though true informed consent here is debatable.)

So how can anyone say that children can consent, let alone those who may have additional vulnerabilities?

@Moomoola

He's written extensively about his experience.

Here he describes those sessions including one his mother attended, where his mother's concerns were dismissed.

And yet mothers who affirm are applauded.

https://open.substack.com/pub/tullipr/p/scrambled-eggs?utmcampaign=post&utmm_medium=web

That case was in 2016 which seems a lifetime ago. I do wonder if the judge would make the same judgement now, if some of the things that were said would be acceptable now. Which of course would mean less likelihood of protection of a similar child in a similar situation now.

That is really worrying that the time spent on Children’s waiting lists counts towards reducing the adult services waiting list time. Something for the Cass report to comment on, I hope. The watch and wait approach might be able to resolve distress for some (many?) of these young people without putting them in the path of lifelong medication and surgeries.
If they’ve been on the waiting list, what emotional support (and of what quality?) have they had before arriving into adult services?

Arriving into adult services at a ‘young’ age, compared to the adults on the waiting list, must add to their vulnerabilities. They will have lesser life experience and self knowledge, might be still in further or higher education and have grown up around a lot of institutional and peer encouragement towards gender identity.

Then there’s the emotional and cognitive effects of post pubertal adolescents aged under 18 being required to take puberty blockers for at least one year before they are allowed to access NHS cross-sex hormones.

It sounds like a perfect storm of very young adults who are still teenagers, many autistic, traumatised and same-sex attracted (or any combination of those) arriving into adult services in a very vulnerable state.

Very different cohort to the married fathers in mid life deciding that they want to transition, for example. I hope the adult services are geared up to cope with both the issues arising from patients having been through the children’s gender identity services, and the waits that others have had for those children’s services.

Also with the overwhelming acceptance of the affirmation only model I have my doubts whether any school now would be raising concerns.

This is a very important and educative case but I doubt it is used in this way by any agencies now.

1 It seems to me, in particular, that concerns from a school i.e. the professionals who see the child most, should always be afforded very significant weight. The following passages reveal that the staff at school A were reading the situation carefully and, for the reasons which I will address later in this judgment, were plainly alert both to J's presentation and to the Mother's confrontational and inappropriate behaviour. I am bound to say that had their concerns been given the weight that they plainly should have, it is difficult to resist the conclusion that J could have been spared a great deal of emotional harm:
2 
"6.11. On the 14/11/13 a referral was received from [School A]. [School A] reported concerns regarding emotional abuse of [J] and [M]'s mental health. [M] had claimed that [J] is gender variant and should be allowed to go to school dressed as a girl. [M] had made accusations that [J] was being bullied at school because of gender variance. [M] was unable to provide names of the bullies and staff at school had not observed any bullying. Staff advised that at school [J] behaved no differently than the other children but they felt that [M] was unwilling to accept this and on occasions she reduced a teacher to tears due to her 'forceful and confrontational' manner.*

sloth, spelled out like that, it's an astonishing shit show of medical and psychiatric malpractice.

As I said on the other thread I think a useful comparator is how a 25 year old woman would not be allowed sterilisation surgery, however sure she was that she didn't want kids. Why the vast difference in medical approach?

Slothtoes there is no support while a child is on a waiting list and often CAMHS will use that waiting list as an excuse to not take them on for other issues. Our experience was that our GP refused to refer our 14 year old daughter for an ASD assessment because she didn’t want it but did put her on the GIDS waiting list because she did want that- over my objections.

Children just sit on the waiting list and while I can’t swear to it, I think given the waiting list lengths, a majority are likely shunted off to adult services without ever being seen by GIDS (though I know GIDS is a horror show in itself, the whole thing is awful).

@FannyCann

Some very aggressively affirming mothers have been instrumental in leading on 'academic research' into 'trans children' and their 'school experiences' in the last few years.

They are generating a hollow man 'evidence base' that university departments of education (teacher training course) are using to refer to.