Thread by @Transgendertrd

In the UK we have a good number of wise, thoughtful and experienced clinicians, psychologists and psychiatrists researching and writing on gender dysphoria in children and young people. Imagine if the GIDS model of care had been developed by the following professionals.
Thread.

In March 2018 Margaret McCartney wrote this for the BMJ. Back then you didn't see even cautious pieces like this.
"Yet playing with dolls and liking dresses doesn’t make children female, just as playing with trucks and liking mud doesn’t make them male."

bmj.com/content/360/bm…

Richard Byng, GP & Professor of Primary Care Research, wrote a rapid response.

"I worry that a bio-medical response is increasingly expected for girls with ‘rapid onset gender dysphoria’"

bmj.com/content/360/bm…

In January 2019 a letter by Richards, Maxwell @JmaxwellJulie & McCune was published in the BMJ.
'Use of puberty blockers for gender dysphoria: a momentous step in the dark.'

"blockers are now being used in the context
of profound scientific ignorance"

transgendertrend.com/wp-content/upl…

In February 2019 this excellent piece '‘Taking the lid off the box’: The value of extended clinical assessment for adolescents presenting with gender identity difficulties' by Churcher Clarke & Spiliadis was published.

Two case vignettes were presented.
researchgate.net/publication/33…

Also Feb 2019: a rapid response to an article 'Safeguarding LGBT+ adolescents' came from Susan Bewley, Margaret McCartney, Lucy Griffin & Richard Byng.

"it is neither mandatory to affirm their beliefs nor automatic that transition is the goal"

bmj.com/content/364/bm…

July 2019: by Hutchinson, Midgen & Spiliadis:

"Unless we are free to discuss, explore, and research differential presentations of gender dysphoria, the range of interventions which might best serve each young person may not be available to them."

researchgate.net/publication/33…

Also in July 2019 came this article by Anastassis Spiliadis: 'Towards a Gender Exploratory Model: slowing things down, opening things up and exploring identity development'

"I am interested in enriching the narratives available to young people"

researchgate.net/publication/33…

Sept 2019: rapid responses to a piece by @deb_cohen & @hannahsbee came from @sueevansprotect, Byng, @JmaxwellJulie & Damian Clifford.

"The most important issues were not considered in the HRA's report: the safety and efficacy of the puberty blocker"

bmj.com/content/366/bm…

In January 2020 Marcus Evans @marcusevanspsyc published this piece in @Quillette.

"the therapist must resist the temptation to suspend curiosity, uncritically accept the patient’s presentation at face value, and then act as an “affirming” cheerleader"

quillette.com/2020/01/17/why…

In July 2020 came this piece by Lucy Griffin, Katie Clyde, Richard Byng and Susan Bewley.

"If merely a natural variation, it becomes difficult to identify the purpose of or justification for medical intervention."

cambridge.org/core/journals/…

Nov 2020: Bob Withers @BobWithers52 published this piece.

"This puts young trans people at risk of receiving potentially damaging medical treatment they may later... come to regret, while their underlying psychological issues remain unaddressed."

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/14…

And Feb 2021: this article from @sueevansprotect & @marcusevanspsyc was published in @Quillette.

"Mental health is based on an ability to integrate various aspects of the self, not pretend them away"

quillette.com/2021/02/04/fir…

Just imagine if this group of experienced professionals had been the management team at the GIDS from the start. What a different position we would be in now.