But Stonewall reacted with the fury of a playground bully. It denounced these resource packs with their responsible, accurate advice as 'dangerous' and 'deeply damaging'. In amazingly aggressive language, they told any teacher who found one to 'shred it'.
By 2019, Stonewall was working with 2,000 individual schools, so it wasn't hard for the charity to get its way. It also had bigger levers to pull: it successfully lobbied local councils to tell their schools to comply with Stonewall's 'affirmation first' approach
We know from detransitioners how appalling the consequences have been for those confused and distressed young people who were put onto medical pathways without realising what they were letting themselves in for
We don't know how many such people there are, because six out of seven adult gender services refused to co-operate with Cass and release follow-up information. To say this is odd behaviour for members of the medical profession using untested drugs is to put it mildly.
Did Ruth Hunt know how much havoc she was causing? Did she disseminate misinformation deliberately? I doubt it. But, as I've shown, she had supreme confidence in her own brilliance and was certain she was right, even when people politely told her she wasn't
She wrote in 2017 that 'very few young people who access support go on to transition'. We know now the reverse is true. Very few people who accessed gender services *did not* transition, even though Cass says it wasn't the best way to manage their gender distress
She also said puberty blockers were reversible so 'it's pretty safe'. Aside from some of the gruesome side-effects that have been reported, including osteoporosis among transmen in their twenties, we know that puberty blockers almost always led to irreversible transition.
All her pronouncements, in other words, were the opposite of the truth. She was in a position of influence and authority, which is what made her misguided certainties so damaging.
In the Noughties, Sir Fred Goodwin got a knighthood for running RBS, the world’s biggest bank. When RBS crashed, nearly taking our economy with it, his knighthood was withdrawn. He didn't crash the bank deliberately, but that wasn't the point. He didn't deserve the honour.
It’s the same with Hunt. Rewarding her with a peerage is an insult to all the confused young people and their families who were damaged, and to all the people who were denounced as bigots for expressing valid concerns.
The upper house has the power to remove a member under the House of Lords (Expulsion and Suspension) Act of 2015. If you haven’t done so already, please sign my petition asking Hunt’s fellow peers to use that power. change.org/p/strip-ruth-h…
Correction: Tweet 3 should say Allison Bailey not Allison Kelly. Sorry Allison. (No matter how many times you proof a thread...)
@simonjedge @amscanlon It's worth reminding people that, for their signature to be counted, they do need to confirm their signature in the email link they'll be sent.
@simonjedge I'll happily sign the petition. This woman could hardly have done more harm both to vulnerable teenagers and the organisation she used to run.
@simonjedge Brilliant thread Simon. Off to sign the petition.
@simonjedge Thank you for this, Simon. Signed and shared on Day 1, and I'm delighted to see the numbers rise. I can't even think about her Times interview without feeling my blood pressure rocket.
@simonjedge Any point in an Australian signing?