*BREAKING*
@BACP has belatedly acknowledged that its members who hold and express gender critical beliefs are protected under the law. Its recent version of legal guidance to members confirms the outcome of the Forstater judgement of 2021, but without referring to the latter by name. Forstater decided that gender critical beliefs constituted a protected belief under the Equality Act 2010. BACP now confirm this in their updated version of Equality, diversity and inclusion in the counselling professions. Good Practice in Action 108: Legal Resource. This states that protected beliefs under the law include: “gender critical beliefs (including a belief that sex is immutable and should not be conflated with gender identity).”
@TherapyAntidote @genspect @sometherapist @JamesEsses @CanSG_org So the next question to @BACP is how are you going to support members with GC beliefs from accusations of breaching the MoUv2 or of practicing conversion therapy?

If the max ‘safe’ time on puberty blockers is 2 years, what happens to a child who started them at 12 when they get to 14? @segm_ebm @CanSG_org @Transgendertrd If the min. age to start puberty blockers in UK is 16 what are they trying to achieve given puberty is usually complete by 15-16?

1/ The NHS is shutting down its gender identity clinic for children after a damning review found that it failed vulnerable under-18s.

The gender identity service at Tavistock & Portman NHS Foundation Trust has been ordered to close by spring 2023 2/It will be replaced by regional centres at existing children’s hospitals offering more “holistic care” with “strong links to mental health services”.
Gender Identity Development Service clinic has been accused of rushing children into life-altering treatment on puberty blockers

1/ @FifeRight14 @sometherapist We have written to the chair of the Coalition on Conversion Therapy setting out our concerns and asking to meet, we were blocked and told not to contact them again 2/ We wrote to all 20 signatory bodies of the MoU setting out our concerns and asking to meet and were ignored. The Chair of the Coalition, responsible for the MoU (who blocked us) told them not to engage with us

The Thoughtful Therapists' letter to the Lancet, published today:
As a group of psychotherapists working in the area of gender, we have concerns about the arguments and statistics presented in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health's Editorial.(1) We believe that using the outdated statistic that 1% of people who transition will regret their decision is highly irresponsible, and lacks the rigour for which the Lancet group of journals is known.

1/ In the UK the number of young people with gender dysphoria is increasing, access to gender related
medical treatments is decreasing and a new law might make routine therapy with gender questioning people difficult or illegal.

aliciakearns.com/ban-lgbtq-conv…

Read more here: 2/ Following recent court rulings, it has been acknowledged that ‘additional safeguards when making clinical decisions about puberty blockers for under-16s’ are necessary england.nhs.uk/commissioning/…

1/ petition.parliament.uk/petitions/5820…
At first glance it may appear strange that we, a group of therapists, are against the governments current plans to make conversion therapy illegal in the UK. 2/ Have no doubts, we think that everyone should be free to live their lives as they wish. People must feel safe at home, on the streets, online, and - particularly important for us - with their therapists.