Well, well, well. After all of the SNP’s sniping at Dr Hilary Cass’s review into UK gender clinics, it transpires that the Scottish government has – finally – accepted the findings of a gender clinic report in full. The revelation comes months after Cass found ‘remarkably weak evidence’ to support gender treatments for children and concluded that the ‘toxicity’ of the gender debate meant professionals were ‘afraid’ to openly discuss their views. Oh dear…
After much ado, the SNP government has now said it will implement a gender treatment review’s recommendations, with public health minister Jenni Minto confirming that a second report – entitled ‘The Cass Review: Implications for Scotland’ – has been accepted. It means that young people in Scotland looking for gender services will have to be referred to specialists by doctors rather than being able to self-refer. The development also means that children looking for gender treatment will be looked after by paediatricians as opposed to receiving care in an ‘adult sexual health setting’. It took long enough…
It’s quite the turnaround given the number of Nats who seemed, um, more than a little opposed to the original Cass review in the first place. Scottish government ministers were first accused by senior clinicians of dragging their feet in responding to Dr Hilary’s report. It emerged that two of Scotland’s largest health boards had even urged the chief medical officer – who dithered under pressure from trans activists – to adopt the review’s recommendations. Then Hapless Humza Yousaf was criticised for hesitating over the issue of Glasgow’s tartan Tavistock, before the Sandyford gender clinic eventually announced it would pause the prescription of puberty blockers to new patients under 18. When eco-zealot Patrick Harvie – formerly a junior minister when the Greens were in coalition with the SNP – snubbed Cass’s report for not being a ‘valid scientific document’, a government spokesperson refused to condemn him. And, to add insult to injury, the Scottish government was slammed for ‘sneaking out’ its much-delayed response to the gender report the day after the general election. Crikey. It’s not like the Nats to do things by halves, eh?
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