Upon stepping into Parliament’s committee room six yesterday afternoon (22 January), I felt like I had travelled back in time. Otherwise, there is little to explain the anachronistic, ignorant questions put forward by members of the Women and Equalities Select Committee (WESC) and their bizarre choice of witnesses, who were ill-equipped to answer them. All it went to show is how so many politicians have failed to engage in the detail of the debate on how best to care for gender-distressed young people and how far we are, still, from settling it.
The committee had chosen to hold a one-off session on the “Evidence base on the safety and effectiveness of puberty blockers”. This seemed strange given the recent four-year review into youth gender services that looked at that very question. Surely, therefore, you’d call the person who led that process, Dr Hilary Cass, as a witness? Apparently not. Or a member of the team from the University of York who carried out the independent, peer-reviewed study of the evidence base for the use of puberty blockers to treat gender-related distress? This group had concluded: “There is a lack of high-quality research assessing puberty suppression in adolescents experiencing gender dysphoria/incongruence. No conclusions can be drawn about the impact on gender dysphoria, mental and psychosocial health or cognitive development. Bone health and height may be compromised during treatment.” None of them were invited either.
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