The doctor behind a landmark review of the NHS’s gender identity services for children and young people has said there are fears for her personal safety amid online abuse following the release of the report.
Dr Hilary Cass told the Times she wanted to address the “disinformation” circulating about the findings and recommendations made by the Cass review when it was published on 10 April.
She said she received online abuse in the wake of the report and was advised to stop using public transport.
The report said the evidence base for gender medicine in young people was thin and children were being let down by a “toxic” public discourse on gender.
Cass told the Times: “I was really frustrated by the criticism because it’s straight up disinformation. This is completely inaccurate.
“It started the day before the report appeared when an influencer posted a photo of a list of papers that were apparently rejected because they were not randomized control trials.
“That list has absolutely nothing to do with either our report or any of the papers.”
Referring to the online abuse she has received, she said: “There are some pretty nasty emails coming in at the moment, most of which my team is protecting me so I don’t get to see them.”
She added: “I’m not going on public transport at the moment, following safety advice, which is inconvenient.”
The report said that the Gender Identity Development Service (GID) at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, the only NHS gender identity development service for children in England and Wales, uses puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones despite “remarkably weak evidence” that they have improved the well-being of young people and are concerned that they may harm health.
The report recommended that young people struggling with their gender identity should be screened for neurodevelopmental conditions and there should be an assessment of their mental health, as some who seek help with their gender identity may also have, for example, anxiety or depression.
When the report was released, Cass emphasized that her findings were not intended to undermine the validity of trans identities or challenge people’s right to transition, but rather to care for the rapidly growing number of children and youth with gender-related need to improve. .
The report’s findings were not welcomed by all medical professionals. Dr Aidan Kelly, a clinical psychologist specializing in gender who left the Tavistock in 2021, said the NHS was struggling to recruit skilled and experienced people to run the planned eight clinics which would provide the new, broader model of care.
“Although Gids was not perfect, we had a service with a history and expertise,” he told the Guardian last week. “There were things that had to change, but at least holding on to the knowledge gained over time would have made sense to me.”
NHS England has since announced a second Cass review-style evaluation of adult sex clinics. Cass confirmed to the Times that she would not take part in the adult report following the abuse she had suffered in recent weeks.
She said, “You heard it right here: I’m not going to do the adult sex clinic review.”
