Hilary Cass is a British pediatrician responsible for the Cass Review, a 2024 document critical of gender-affirming models of care for trans and gender diverse youth.
Cass’s efforts reflect similar historic efforts to misuse medical research for political ends, like the collusion by Paul McHugh and Jon Meyer to produce biased research that justified their goal of closing the Johns Hopkins gender clinic in 1979.
Background
Hilary Dawn Cass was born in February 1958. Cass attended the private City of London School for Girls before earning a medical degree from Royal Free hospital medical school in 1982. From 1994 to 2009 Cass was a consultant in pediatric disability at Great Ormond Street Hospital.
Cass Review
In 2020 Cass was appointed by the National Health Service (NHS) to lead the independent Cass Review. Following a 2022 interim report that telegraphed the outcome, the Final Report was released in 2024.
Since the launch of the Cass Review in 2020, the situation for trans children in the UK has continued to decline (Madrigal-Borloz, 2023). In 2022 the UK Minister for Health called for clinicians to look for evidence of âwhat has caused children to be trans,â citing the Cass Review to claim that âidentifying as transâ is likely to be a response to âchild sex abuseâ (Milton, 2022). The Cass Review was cited by the British government to justify plans to exclude trans people from legislation to ban conversion therapy (British Psychological Society, 2022). The Cass Review was also cited to justify the closure of existing childrenâs gender services for England and Wales, with services ceasing to see any new referrals 18âmonths before replacement services are expected to be operational (Ali, 2023). Trans healthcare professionals outside of the UK have critiqued the Cass review (Pang et al., 2022) as well as critiquing healthcare policies inspired by the Cass Review such as the NHSâ 2023 draft service specification (WPATH et al., 2023).
Horton (2024)
Anti-trans activists fanned out across English-language media to promote the final report, in hopes of influencing public policy globally.
References
Yale Integrity Project (July 2024). An Evidence-Based Critique of the Cass Review. https://law.yale.edu/sites/default/files/documents/integrity-project_cass-response.pdf
Budge SL, Abreu RL, Flinn RE, Donahue KL, Estevez R, Olezeski CL, Bernacki JM, Barr S, Bettergarcia J, Sprott RA, Allen BJ (September 28, 2024). Gender Affirming Care Is Evidence Based for Transgender and Gender-Diverse Youth. Journal of Adolescent Health. 75 (6): 851â853. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2024.09.009
Horton, Cal (2024). The Cass Review: Cis-supremacy in the UKâs approach to healthcare for trans children. International Journal of Transgender Health https://doi.org/10.1080/26895269.2024.2328249
Signatories (April 13, 2024). Letter from academics concerned about The Cass Review. Uncommon Sense https://uncommon-scents.blogspot.com/2024/04/letter-from-academics-concerned-about.html
Woods, Mel; Haug, Oliver (April 12, 2024). Hereâs why the âCass Reviewâ mattersâeven if you arenât in the U.K. Xtra https://xtramagazine.com/health/trans-health/united-kingdom-cass-review-trans-health-264642
Lee, Nicole (April 12, 2024). TENI issues statement in response to Cass Review on trans healthcare. GCN https://uk.news.yahoo.com/teni-issues-statement-response-cass-140132551.html
McConnell, Freddie (April 11, 2024). Hilary Cassâs proposals are mostly common sense. She must reject anti-trans bias with the same clarity. The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/apr/11/hilary-cass-trans-children-review
Reed, Erin (April 11, 2024). Hilary Cass’ NHS report is rife with debunked theories and falsehoods. The Advocate https://www.advocate.com/health/hilary-cass-nhs-report-debunked
Hansford, Amelia (April 10, 2024). Cass report urges âextreme cautionâ in prescribing puberty blockers to trans youth. PinkNews https://www.thepinknews.com/2024/04/10/cass-review-extreme-caution-puberty-blockers/
Gomersall, Ellie (April 10, 2024). As a trans person, the Cass Review fills me with fear for the next generation. i https://inews.co.uk/opinion/trans-person-cass-review-fear-2999937
Vinter, Robyn (April 9, 2024). Mother criticises âagenda from aboveâ after release of Cass report. The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/apr/10/mother-criticises-agenda-from-above-cass-report-trans
Crimmins, Tricia (April 10, 2024). JK Rowling, gender critical U.K. groups cheer release of Cass Reviewâas activists push back. Daily Dot https://www.dailydot.com/debug/cass-review-uk/
Reed, Erin (April 10, 2024). Cass Met With DeSantis Pick Over Trans Ban: Her Review Now Targets England Trans Care. Erin in the Morning https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/cass-met-with-desantis-pick-over
Reed, Erin (April 10, 202)4. Transphobic report by UK pediatrician Hilary Cass released. Los Angeles Blade https://www.losangelesblade.com/2024/04/10/transphobic-report-by-uk-pediatrician-hilary-cass-released/
ElĂșvian, Kay (April 10, 2024). The Cass Review: An Analysis. Seroxcatâs Salon https://medium.com/seroxcats-salon/the-cass-review-analysis-b828eca1753a
Staff report (April 10, 2024). UK: Cass review on gender identity is being ‘weaponised’ by anti-trans groups. Amnesty International https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/uk-cass-review-gender-identity-being-weaponised-anti-trans-groups
Fae, Jane (April 11, 2024). The Cass Review is bad science and should not be taken seriously by policymakers. TransActual https://transactual.org.uk/blog/2024/04/11/press-release-the-cass-review-is-bad-science-and-should-not-be-taken-seriously-by-policymakers/
Maung, Hane (April 12, 2024). Response to the Cass Review. GenderGP https://www.gendergp.com/response-to-the-cass-review/
(April 26, 2022). The Failure of the Cass Review. Growing Up Transgender https://growinguptransgender.com/2022/04/06/the-failure-of-the-cass-review/
Tengely-Evans, TomĂĄĆĄ; Foster Thomas (April 10, 2024). Cass Review opens door to more attacks on trans people. Socialist Worker https://socialistworker.co.uk/news/cass-review-1/
Resources
The Cass Review (cass.independent-review.uk)
Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
YouTube (youtube.com)
Twitter (twitter.com)
Linkedin (linkedin.com)