Hannah Barnes is a British author and anti-transgender activist.
Barnes was an invited speaker at a 2023 anti-trans conference organized by the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine.
Background
Barnes earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Oxford in 2005 and a degree from City, University of London in 2006.
After roles at DeHavilland and GCap Media, Barnes joined the BBC in 2014.
Anti-trans activism
Barnes is a key figure in FUD propaganda around healthcare for gender diverse youth, with a special focus on medications for unwanted puberty.
Time to Think
Barnes authored the 2023 book Time to Think: The Inside Story of the Collapse of the Tavistock’s Gender Service for Children. The Tavistock was typical of bureaucratic centralized federally funded clinics that have emerged under nationalized healthcare systems. These clinics often deliver substandard care due to unacceptable wait times. Countries like Canada and the UK have closed these kinds of clinics in favor of decentralized options.
The acknowledgements list many key figures in global anti-trans activism:
This book would never have been written without the endless support of my husband, Pat, who has kept our family on track while allowing me to research, conduct interviews, write and rewrite. Enormous thanks are also due to my parents and step-parents for their love, and for their help with looking after their amazing grandchildren. To all those who shared their experience of GIDS as service users or as their family members, thank you for telling your stories. Ellie, Jack, Phoebe, Hannah, ‘Jacob’, ‘Michelle’, ‘Diana’, ‘Harriet’ – thank you for trusting with me with such personal accounts, and, in some cases, highly sensitive information.
I owe a huge debt of gratitude to all of the GIDS clinicians who have given me their time, shared their thoughts – whatever they may be – and who met or spoke with me, even if they did not feel comfortable being interviewed. To Anna Hutchinson, who patiently shared her experiences over many hours, to Matt Bristow, Will Crouch, Kirsty Entwistle, Sue Evans, Az Hakeem, Melissa Midgen, Natasha Prescott, Anastassis Spiliadis, and to the many, many others who have spoken on condition of anonymity – thank you. For some, I am aware it has been a difficult experience, and I do not take lightly how daunting it might have been to share your views – for a variety of reasons. There are also further, unnamed clinicians who have spoken out over several years, and who have tried to bring about change away from the public eye. Thanks too to all who have spoken with me who work or worked in the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, or were charged with its governance: Sonia Appleby, Juliet Singer, David Bell, Marcus Evans, Stanley Ruszczynski, David Taylor, Marilyn Miller and those who do not wish to be named. Paul Moran, Donal O’Shea, Russell Viner, David Freedman and Stephanie Davies-Arai also deserve my thanks, as do Lucy Bannerman, Susan Matthews and Richard Stephens.
My first, and exceptionally brilliant, reader was my uncle, Robert Barnes, and I thank him for his many thoughtful, wise suggestions and feedback. My second was Julia Murphy, who managed to squeeze in reading alongside work and family life. Thank you. This book would also not have been written without the encouragement of Innes Bowen, who convinced me that I had it in me. Nor would it have been possible without my agent Toby Mundy, who took it – and me – on, and who has been a consistent voice of calm when I have needed it. And to Mark Richards and Diana Broccardo at Swift Press, who were brave enough to publish it. For bringing coherence to the many, many references, thank you to the ever-patient Alex Middleton. The seeds were sown at BBC Newsnight, and there would have been no book without the original backing and courage of my former editor, Esmé Wren, and my friend and former colleague Deborah Cohen, as well as support from deputy editors Dan Clarke, Verity Murphy and Stewart Maclean. Finally, thank you to everyone who has sent me source material or shared information, and to those whose names I don’t know who have had the wisdom to archive hundreds of webpages. I am indebted to you all.
Resources
Twitter (twitter.com)
LinkedIn (linkedin.com)