1/ Following the parliamentary recess ending mid April, Alicia Kearns MP will introduce an amendment to the Criminal Justice Act about Conversion Practices. It doesn't define "gender identity", but would enact it into law and risks fuelling the very problem it tries to solve.
2/ Conversion Practices legislation worldwide says doctors must accept the self diagnosis of vulnerable and confused children presenting at gender services. We've highlighted that most of these children grow up to be gay or are autistic before.
3/ This amendment is an unusual piece of legislation. It doesn't define "gender identity". It allows private prosecutors to misuse this law and risks a post office like scandal. The statutory defences are circular and misunderstand legal terms like "parental responsibility".
4/ Disbelief in gender ideology is a protected characteristic in civil law, but this amendment would create a criminal statute where gender identity is the basis for prosecution. That is a serious irregularity which will affect parents, teachers and clinicians.
5/ We believe this amendment would create a law that is incompatible with the 1998 Human Rights Act. Failing to define key terms, prescribing how parents can parent and limiting what people can say is highly likely to lead to human rights challenges.
6/ We continue to share the concerns of the Secretary of State for Equalities and members across both houses that gender medicine appears to be a new form of Gay Conversion Therapy. In a week where the NHS sensibly bans puberty blockers, this legislation is not fit for purpose.
7/ Our full Parliamentary Briefing will be available on our website soon and we encourage everyone who can to contact their MP regarding this legislation. Doctors, parents and teachers must be free to do their jobs without an unwarranted threat of prosecution.
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1/ GMN Director @HassanMamdani and Board Member @MrMennoTweets have tonight written to the Secretary of State for DCMS, the Shadow SOS & the chair of the EHRC regarding BBC discrimination against the same sex orientation protected characteristic
2/ The BBC has unequal public influence in the UK and it is presently describing a dating reality TV show as "same sex" based featuring "all boys". These claims are incorrect and they constitute conversion practice public messaging. Homosexual males are men who love men.
3/ The BBC have chosen to inflame an already difficult social issue knowing that the contestants will now be a subject of public debate. It is hard to see how this is consistent with their duty of care and we discourage any discussion of personalities. The ideas matter more.
1/ The Gay Men's Network renews our call to @aliciakearns to withdraw her Criminal Justice Bill conversion amendment.
In our new briefing on the latest version of this chaotic and quickly changing legislation, we explain why this amendment is dangerous and homophobic.
2/ We are not alone in our concerns. Dr. Cass was clear that it is harmful to compare exploratory therapy (and we add to that basic parenting) to a conversion practice. A child's self diagnosis should never be treated as definitive by any responsible adult.
3/ Under this amendment, a child "proposing" to change their gender has a "transgender identity" and any attempt to change, replace or negate this will be fraught with the risk of prosecution. In reality this means prosecuted doctors and parents who fail to affirm.
2/ It is now time for a statutory Inquiry under the 2005 Inquiries Act. Gender Ideology recreated gay conversion therapy within the NHS and the bodies that should have stood up for gay people instead cheered on this crime against humanity. We demand answers.
3/ In our response we set out a comprehensive list of policy proposals and we analyse the findings of the Cass report. We broadly welcome this report, but we can see no circumstances in which a live trial of puberty blockers can ever be ethical. Gay youth are not test subjects.
1/ The Gay Men's Network welcomes the sensible decision by NHS England today regarding Puberty Blockers. This is a significant step forward for evidence based paediatrics and adhering to the Hippocratic duty to "first do no harm"
2/ We responded to the NHSE consultation in November 2023 making the point that it would be unethical and reckless to prescribe experimental and irreversible drugs, even in "exceptional" cases or clinical trials.
3/ We have long questioned the efficacy and safety of these drugs and we've drawn attention to the fact the patient cohort at GIDS is 80-90% same sex attracted and 35% are autistic. These figures should have been the subject of medical curiosity and investigation.
1/ GMN has written to @WHO, @DrTedros and @JeremyFarrar regarding the Guideline Development Group consultation about our concerns of institutional capture by gender extremists. Homosexuals must not be forgotten in this consultation.
2/ Gender medicine is riven with institutional homophobia and takes no account of autism spectrum overrepresentation in the patient cohort. Staff at the UK Tavistock GIDS "joked" that "soon there will be no gay people left". This is modern day gay conversion therapy.
3/ The WHO threatens to assemble a panel of extremists, some of whom believe that exploratory talking therapy is a "conversion practice" and have this panel dictate global best practice on areas far outside medical concern like gender self ID. This cannot be right.
1/ GMN has tonight written a public letter to Baroness Burt of Solihull regarding her Private Members Bill in the House of Lords regarding a "Conversion Therapy Ban".
We raise serious concerns about the unintended consequences this bill would have if it became law.
2/ So-called "conversion therapy bans" cause gay conversion. UK figures state that 80-90% of the children and young people at gender clinics are same sex attracted. The vast majority will grow out of cross sex ideation if left to go through puberty. CT Bans make this impossible.
3/ CT Bans require doctors to accept a child or young person's self diagnosis or risk a criminal penalty. This is wrong. Clinical best practice should never be dictated by criminal law. Medicine should focus on the welfare of the patient and not ideological considerations.