The Good News Supplement: Monday 12th August - Sunday 18th August

Female machinists at Ford’s Dagenham plant, striking for equal pay in 1968 - IMAGE CREDIT: Worker’s Liberty

Another bumper edition of good news stories from the gender beat this week! Enjoy!

Leaving Them Kids Alone

In huge news from the US this week, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) has become the first major clinical organisation to challenge the medicalisation of gender dysphoric minors.

As Leo Sapir - an expert in the field of ‘gender medicine’ - writes in City Journal, “The main justification for ‘gender-affirming care’ for minors in the United States has been that ‘all major U.S. medical associations’ support it… But the U.S. consensus now appears to have its first big fracture.”

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons is a major medical organisation which represents 11,000 members and over 90% of the field in the USA and Canada. It told Leo Sapir that it “Has not endorsed any organization’s practice recommendations for the treatment of adolescents with gender dysphoria.” Furthermore, the ASPS acknowledged that there is “Considerable uncertainty as to the long-term efficacy for the use of chest and genital surgical interventions” and that “The existing evidence base is viewed as low quality/low certainty.”  

Now, the ASPS says that is “Reviewing and prioritising several initiatives that best support evidence-based gender surgical care to provide guidance to plastic surgeons.”

The dominoes are beginning to topple.

The IX Factor

In yet more big news from the US, the Supreme Court has temporarily blocked the Biden administration’s attempt to eviscerate Title IX.

US federal legislation known as Title IX was passed in 19724 and originally intended to protect female rights and prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex in federally funded education programmes. In April 2024, the Biden administration announced a re-write of Title IX and inserted ‘gender identity’ into the legislation. This would have devastated female single sex sports and spaces and enforced the use of preferred pronouns within the education system.

This week the US Supreme Court has ruled against implementing these changes, thus, at least for now, upholding the legal sex-based rights of women and girls in the education system.

James & The Giant Breach

James Esses has reached a settlement with the Metanoia Institute after it expelled him from his masters course over his gender critical beliefs.

Three years ago, James Esses was an experienced volunteer counsellor at Childline and three years into a five-year MSc psychotherapy course at the Metanoia Institute. He became increasingly alarmed about the potential harms of gender identity ideology on vulnerable dysphoric children. He discussed this issue on social media and, in April 2021, he set up a public petition campaigning against the government’s proposed ban on so-called conversion practices.

As a result, James was sacked from his volunteer role at Childline and the Metanoia Institute terminated his student contract. He subsequently took legal action against Metanoia over the discrimination he suffered.

This week James reached a settlement with Metanoia. In a statement, the institute admitted that it had breached its own policies when it expelled him from his course and failed to offer him a hearing or an internal appeal. It also recognised that gender critical views are valid professional therapeutic beliefs, offered James a full apology and vowed never to put another student in this position.

“Metanoia recognises that gender-critical beliefs are protected under the Equality Act 2010. These are the beliefs that sex is binary, immutable and biological and is fundamentally important… It accepts as a matter of general principle the validity of the professional belief that children with gender dysphoria should be treated with explorative therapy, rather than being affirmed towards medical intervention. Discrimination against students because of these beliefs is unlawful.

Metanoia also acknowledges the changing policy landscape in this field, including the significant UKCP withdrawal from the 2017 Memorandum of Understanding on Conversion Therapy, on child safeguarding grounds, as well as the outcome of the Cass Review. We accept that Mr Esses’ advocacy on this subject-matter was motivated by a desire to protect children.

We also recognise the importance of freedom of speech within educational institutions and the steps taken by the government in this regard, including the recent introduction of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023…

As a consequence of his expulsion, Mr Esses was barred from the opportunity of completing the additional two years of his studies and receiving his qualification with the Institute. Mr Esses passed every assessment undertaken which had been marked, had received positive feedback from his clinical placements and, at the time of his expulsion, had been signed off to set up in private practice by his supervisor, clinical placement and personal tutor. We apologise to him for the impact of his expulsion, both professional and personal…

We will seek to learn the lessons from this ordeal to ensure that this never happens to another student within our Institute and have already taken significant steps so as to improve quality in decision-making. We acknowledge the hurt that it has caused to Mr Esses and wish him well for the future.”

Huge congratulations to James and his legal team.

A Level Playing Field

Good news from the Canadian province of Alberta; the government is ploughing ahead with legislation that will protect female sports categories.

The Alberta Ministry of Tourism and Sport is overseeing the new policy which is scheduled for implementation this autumn. Press Secretary, Amber Edgerton, told The National Post, “We’re working with provincial sporting organisations to ensure that biological women and girls have a choice to compete in a women’s only division in athletic competitions.”

Barnes Storming

Hannah Barnes - author of the seminal book about the Tavistock & Portman child gender clinic, Time to Think - has been nominated in four separate categories of the Medical Journalists’ Association Awards.

Huge congratulations and best of luck, Hannah.

Sex Matters In Parliament

On Wednesday 11th September, Sex Matters, Women’s Rights Network and other groups will be going into Parliament with their supporters. The intention is to lobby MPs to stand up for single-sex services and to clarify the Equality Act 2010.

“We want to make sure the call to stand up for single-sex services is heard loud and clear in Westminster, by MPs of every party... Will you join us?” 

This action is part of a ‘lobby day’ when citizens can access Parliament to speak to their MPs. If you would like to get involved and support Sex Matters in Parliament on 11th September, you can find more details and how to proceed here.

And Finally…

(Note from Graham:

Hello! I hope this counts as good news. I will be streaming my ‘GRAHAM LINEHAN PLAYS BALATRO AND TEACHES YOU POKER BASICS’ series from the following locations!

YouTube

Twitch

Facebook

Twitter (not calling it X)

So join me, subscribe, like, all that sort of thing and be among the first to see what is sure to be a terrible disaster!