The ideological march through the medical institutions was rapid and unexpected. In recent years, we have seen leading paediatric specialists asserting that children who say they are “in the wrong body” must have their feelings immediately affirmed. We have been told that if a boy claims to be a girl, or vice versa, they must be believed and fast-tracked onto a pathway to medicalisation: first puberty blockers, then cross-sex hormones, and in some cases irreversible surgery.
This worldwide medical scandal has disproportionately impacted gay, autistic, and gender non-conforming children. Where clinicians should have been looking out for the interests of the vulnerable, they have been encouraging them to proceed with experimental treatments. Few people would have imagined that mutilating children to ensure they better conform to gendered stereotypes would one day be considered progressive. But here we are.
Much of the responsibility must lie in the hands of WPATH (World Professional Association for Transgender Health), a US-based organisation established in 1979 that is recognised as the leading global authority in this area. WPATH has pushed for the normalisation of the “gender-affirming” approach, and its “Standards of Care” have formed the basis of policies throughout the western world, including in the NHS.
But in an explosive series of leaked files, the credibility of WPATH might now be irreparably shattered. Whistleblowers have provided author and journalist Michael Shellenberger with videos and messages from the WPATH internal chat system which suggest that the health professionals involved in recommending “gender-affirming” healthcare are aware that it is not scientifically or medically sound. A full report has been written by journalist Mia Hughes for the Environmental Progress think-tank. The title is as chilling as its contents: The WPATH Files: Pseudoscientific Surgical and Hormonal Experiments on Children, Adolescents, and Vulnerable Adults.
Some of the leaked internal messages are astonishing in their disregard for basic medical and ethical standards. For all that paediatric gender specialists have publicly stated that there is a consensus in favour of the “affirmative” model, that it is evidence-based, and that it is safer than a psychotherapeutic alternative, their private conversations would seem to suggest otherwise.
There are messages in the WPATH Files proving that surgeons and therapists are aware that a significant proportion of young people referred to gender clinicians suffer from mental health problems. Some specialists associated with WPATH are proceeding with treatment even for those who cannot realistically consent to it. After all, how could a pre-pubescent or even adolescent child fully grasp the concepts of lifelong sterility and the loss of sexual function? As one author of the WPATH “Standards of Care” acknowledges in a leaked message:
“[It is] out of their developmental range to understand the extent to which some of these medical interventions are impacting them. They’ll say they understand, but then they’ll say something else that makes you think, oh, they didn’t really understand that they are going to have facial hair.”
Or what about the endocrinologist who admits that “we’re often explaining these sorts of things to people who haven’t even had biology in high school yet”? And these are the very patients who have been approved for potentially irreversible procedures.
Even when mental health concerns are severe – the WPATH Files include references to schizophrenia and dissociative identity disorder – patients have been allowed to “consent” to surgical procedures. Consider the following example, in which a nurse has contacted a leading member of WPATH to raise concerns about an adult patient with PTSD, major depressive disorder, observed dissociations, and schizoid typical traits. Can such a person possibly consent to treatment? According to one of the authors of WPATH’s “Standards of Care”, the answer is a resounding “yes”:
“I’m missing why you are perplexed… The mere presence of psychiatric illness should not block a person’s ability to start hormones if they have persistent gender dysphoria, capacity to consent, and the benefits of starting hormones outweigh the risks… So why the internal struggle as to ‘the right thing to do’?”
Treatments discussed in the leaked files include the removal of genitals, mastectomies, “minimal-depth vaginoplasties (vulvoplasties), phallus-preserving vaginoplasties, and nullification procedures”. A gender therapist in California speaks of intervening “on behalf of people who have been diagnosed with major depressive disorder, cPTSD, homeless, and got at least an orchiectomy” (removal of the testicles).
Those who have raised questions about such extreme procedures have been accused of “gatekeeping”. Even those who have later regretted their surgery have had their concerns trivialised. A Canadian endocrinologist acknowledges evidence from Dutch researchers of post-transitional regret, but says “it’s there, and I don’t think any of that surprises us”. The WPATH Files make clear that specialists are aware of the risks, but that they simply accept it as inevitable. One doctor is quoted as saying:
“It would be great if every patient could be perfectly cleared prior to every surgical intervention, but at the end of the day it is a risk/benefit decision.”
For some time now, it has been assumed that the “affirmative” approach is the only way to prevent patient suicides. But last July, a letter to the Wall Street Journal signed by twenty-one leading professionals involved in the care of gender-diverse youth opposed the view that this form of treatment is optimal, and pointed out that there is no secure evidence that puberty blockers reduce the risk of suicidal ideation. Last month, this was confirmed in a study published in the British Medical Journal based on a group of Finnish adolescents who were being treated for gender dysphoria between 1996 and 2019. So why have experts at WPATH taken a different view, in spite of their awareness of serious side effects and potentially fatal outcomes of the treatment they espouse?
The answer lies in one word: ideology. The new religion of gender identity is entirely faith-based, and so evidence that exposes its inherent dangers is dismissed outright by believers, even those with medical qualifications. The impact of all this is summarised by Mia Hughes in her report on the WPATH Files, in which she argues that the organisation has violated its ethical responsibilities:
“While there is a place in medicine for risky experiments, these can only be justified if there is a reliable, objective diagnosis, no other treatment options are available, and the outcome for a patient or patient group is dire. However, contrary to WPATH’s claims, the best available evidence suggests that gender medicine does not fall into this category.”
Given the fact that so many organisations have relied on WPATH’s “Standards of Care”, these revelations could be a game-changer. The ideological capture of medical institutions has resulted in reckless treatment of some of the most vulnerable in society. Patients need to understand the risks involved, and be able to make informed decisions. If nothing else, there must now be a serious reassessment of the validity of the “gender-affirming” model of healthcare.
Full details of the WPATH files can be found in the report by Mia Hughes for Environmental Progress. You can read it here.
I will be hosting a special episode of Free Speech Nation on GB News this Sunday at 7pm devoted to the WPATH files and their significance. Watch on Sky 512, Virgin 604, Freeview 236, Freesat 216, YouView 236.
I want to believe this will be the watershed moment, Andrew; really I do! I’m afraid I’ve become a bit jaded by all the cricket sounds that have followed revelations just as appalling as these. I’m managing expectations like it’s my job now, hoping to be proved wrong.
I’ve had a quick look through and there’s nothing there that we haven’t been shouting about for years now. This is what makes it all so shocking. Where was the MSM, in particular the BBC? Where were the journalists with integrity? I can only say thank you to all the people who’ve put so much into uncovering the horror of such a ludicrous belief system and that includes you Andrew and GB News.
Will this wake people up? I’m not sure. We’ve seen horror stories so often now and nothing happens. Let’s hope that this is too big to ignore even for the deliberately blind and deaf.