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Hilary Cass vs. transgender people

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 “what has caused children to be trans,” citing the Cass Review to claim that “identifying as trans” is likely to be a response to “child sex abuse” (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 children’s gender services for England and Wales, with services ceasing to see any new referrals 18 months 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 NHS’ 2023 draft service specification (WPATH et al., 2023).

Horton (2024)

Anti-trans activists fanned out across the media to promote the final report, in hopes of influencing public policy globally.

References

Horton, Cal (2024). The Cass Review: Cis-supremacy in the UK’s 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). Here’s why the ‘Cass Review’ matters—even if you aren’t 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 Cass’s 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 ‘extreme caution’ 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 ‘agenda from above’ 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 Review—as 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. Seroxcat’s 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)