Dr. Hilary Cass, the pediatrician who led the landmark review of gender healthcare for children in the U.K., said young people have been “weaponised” and misled by social media about the realities of transitioning — comments that arrive as the government publishes draft guidance for schools on supporting gender-questioning pupils.
Speaking on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Cass welcomed the Department for Education’s draft issued earlier this week, while acknowledging “it is impossible for it to be completely foolproof.” Her independent review of NHS care for under-18s prompted sweeping changes, including a ban on puberty blockers.
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“There are a tiny number of people who will never be comfortable with their biological sex,” she said. “And for them, a medical pathway is the only way they’re going to live their life comfortably.” But she warned that “unrealistic images and expectations on social media” have distorted what transition involves, pointing to “quite intensive medical treatments” and “sometimes quite brutal surgeries.”
Cass said the political fight over gender identity had failed children. “Absolutely … (they) were also caught up in all the issues about single-sex spaces and sports and safe areas for women which were actually not to do with the children but they were somehow part of a football within it,” she said. “That’s a real shame that children have been weaponised.”
Asked why referrals and reported cases of gender distress among young people have risen, Cass cited the influence of social media and rigid gender stereotypes. “I think what has kind of misled children is the belief that if you are not a typical girl, if you like playing with trucks, or boys who like dressing up or that you have same-sex attraction that means that you’re trans,” she said. “Actually it’s not like that … those are all normal variations.” She added that many youths feel pressured by online norms: “It’s not OK to be anything but absolutely typical of the other girls on Instagram.”
The Department for Education’s proposed guidance urges schools to avoid “rigid rules based on gender stereotypes” and to take time to understand a child’s feelings, while being alert to “potential vulnerabilities,” including bullying or the need for mental health support. If a child or parent requests a social transition at school, the guidance advises a “careful approach,” discussions with families, and consideration of any clinical advice.
Schools should seek parents’ views in almost all cases, with only “rare circumstances where involving parents or carers would constitute a greater risk to the child than not involving them.” Cass said this reverses what she encountered during her NHS review. “The default seemed to be to not contact parents,” she told the Press Association, whereas the new approach presumes parents are informed “unless you really think there’s a significant risk to the child.” The change, she added, reduces the risk of “children being socially transitioned without their parents knowing as a routine.”
The draft guidance is open to public consultation for the next 10 weeks. It follows the 2024 Cass Review and last year’s Supreme Court ruling on biological sex.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
