The Trans Agenda
[18 August 2024]
Welcome to The Trans Agenda: The papers, a newsletter that will arrive in your inbox every week if you are subscribed.
With the end of the Olympics and the criminal investigation in France into the online abuse and harassment suffered by Imane Khelif, the papers have toned it down significantly this week compared to the previous two.
But it was not a good week from female sports journalists with Laura Woods, who features in a few articles because of alleged death threats, jumping on the ‘Imane is a man’ grift bandwagon. Alyson Rudd has also decided that, despite the Paralympics being “infused with the desire for inclusivity”, trans athletes should definitely be excluded. Get ready for some healthy doses of ableism over the course of the competition (28 August – 8 Sept) to go with the transphobia and racism they spewed all over the Olympics. The first ever trans Paralympian is set to take part and Rudd’s article is likely to be the first of many.
Apart from that, we’re back to the usual nonsense of institutions erasing women because they used inclusive language, the health of trans people being irrelevant compared to the needs of some snowflake cis men, and another detransitioner who is claiming that when he told his therapist “I cannot see myself as a man with another man, but I can see myself as a woman with a man”, they replied “that is because you are trans’.” Only idiots, who are determined to remain as ignorant as possible, believe this is how the NHS behaves.
This week saw 23 articles across the papers I monitor, down 47% on the week before and 53% on the week before that. The Guardian wins the award for most articles published on a single day about trans people (3) while The Telegraph continues to be the most prolific over the course of a week (8). The Mail had 7, The Times 5, while The Guardian managed to go six days without publishing anything.
See, it is possible!
THE PAPERS Monday 12th August – Sunday 18th August 2024
Monday Total: 5
The Guardian [0]
The Times [1]
Daily Mail [2]
![X-ray staff ‘told to ask men if they’re pregnant’ Daily Mail12 Aug 2024By Xantha Leatham Deputy Science Editor Questions: The guidance was issued to radiographers X-RAY operators have been instructed to ask men if they are pregnant before conducting scans, it has emerged. Inclusivity guidance that covers multiple hospitals states that radiographers must check whether all patients aged 12 to 55 are pregnant, regardless of their sex. It was issued by the Society of Radiographers (SoR) following an incident in which a trans man who was unknowingly pregnant had a CT scan. The radiation from these devices, as well as X-ray and MRI scans and cancer treatments, can be dangerous to unborn babies. But radiologists have warned that the guidance – which tells staff to be inclusive of transgender, non-binary and intersex patients – has caused confusion and anger. The measures have left men storming out of appointments and women in tears because of ‘invasive’ fertility questions, the Sunday Telegraph reported. Radiologists said patients are being asked to fill out pregnancy forms stating their sex at birth and preferred name and pronouns. Campaigners said the practice was ‘humiliating’ for patients and called for ‘a return to common sense’. In one instance, a man on a twoweek urgent cancer pathway was said to be ‘so annoyed by questions on the form... he left the department and didn’t actually have a scan’. Another patient requiring daily scans for a week after oesophageal surgery was left with a ‘sense of doubt’ after being asked whether he was a man every day. Women have also been left in tears by questions about their fertility, while patients of all backgrounds have been offended or embarrassed by the suggestion that their sex was not obvious, staff say. The guidance, developed by the Society of Radiographers (SoR), encourages NhS radiology departments to use its form or create their own version. It is not known how widespread their use is, but it is understood multiple hospitals in London, the North West and North East are using variations of the form. GP Dr Louise Irvine said it should be possible for medical records to ‘accurately record sex’ as well as the patient’s preferred pronouns. She added: ‘Given that it is impossible for anyone of the male sex to become pregnant, there is no need to ask male people if they might be pregnant, and thereby avoid a lot of embarrassment and upset. ‘If someone identifies as transgender or non-binary, and their records indicate they are biologically female, then they can be respectfully asked about the possibility of pregnancy.’ Fiona McAnena, of womens rights charity Sex Matters, called for a ‘return to common sense’. She added: ‘Putting healthcare staff and male patients through this humiliating farce, with inclusivity pregnancy forms, questions ‘Return to common sense’ on the likelihood of pregnancy, and inquiries about their pronouns, is both inappropriate and a shocking waste of time. Richard Evans, chief executive officer of the SoR, said: ‘It is insulting to suggest that personal ideology takes precedence when clinical practitioners such as radiographers are dealing with patients. It is specifically the case that radiographers using ionising radiation have a legal duty to ensure that a foetus is protected from exposure to harm.’ Mr Evans added that guidance for these ‘important checks [was] therefore essential’. Article Name:X-ray staff ‘told to ask men if they’re pregnant’ Publication:Daily Mail Author:By Xantha Leatham Deputy Science Editor Start Page:8 End Page:8](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F92e24c3a-68ba-4d41-9d4e-6dc5adbf382b_902x746.png "X-ray staff ‘told to ask men if they’re pregnant’ Daily Mail12 Aug 2024By Xantha Leatham Deputy Science Editor Questions: The guidance was issued to radiographers X-RAY operators have been instructed to ask men if they are pregnant before conducting scans, it has emerged. Inclusivity guidance that covers multiple hospitals states that radiographers must check whether all patients aged 12 to 55 are pregnant, regardless of their sex. It was issued by the Society of Radiographers (SoR) following an incident in which a trans man who was unknowingly pregnant had a CT scan. The radiation from these devices, as well as X-ray and MRI scans and cancer treatments, can be dangerous to unborn babies. But radiologists have warned that the guidance – which tells staff to be inclusive of transgender, non-binary and intersex patients – has caused confusion and anger. The measures have left men storming out of appointments and women in tears because of ‘invasive’ fertility questions, the Sunday Telegraph reported. Radiologists said patients are being asked to fill out pregnancy forms stating their sex at birth and preferred name and pronouns. Campaigners said the practice was ‘humiliating’ for patients and called for ‘a return to common sense’. In one instance, a man on a twoweek urgent cancer pathway was said to be ‘so annoyed by questions on the form... he left the department and didn’t actually have a scan’. Another patient requiring daily scans for a week after oesophageal surgery was left with a ‘sense of doubt’ after being asked whether he was a man every day. Women have also been left in tears by questions about their fertility, while patients of all backgrounds have been offended or embarrassed by the suggestion that their sex was not obvious, staff say. The guidance, developed by the Society of Radiographers (SoR), encourages NhS radiology departments to use its form or create their own version. It is not known how widespread their use is, but it is understood multiple hospitals in London, the North West and North East are using variations of the form. GP Dr Louise Irvine said it should be possible for medical records to ‘accurately record sex’ as well as the patient’s preferred pronouns. She added: ‘Given that it is impossible for anyone of the male sex to become pregnant, there is no need to ask male people if they might be pregnant, and thereby avoid a lot of embarrassment and upset. ‘If someone identifies as transgender or non-binary, and their records indicate they are biologically female, then they can be respectfully asked about the possibility of pregnancy.’ Fiona McAnena, of womens rights charity Sex Matters, called for a ‘return to common sense’. She added: ‘Putting healthcare staff and male patients through this humiliating farce, with inclusivity pregnancy forms, questions ‘Return to common sense’ on the likelihood of pregnancy, and inquiries about their pronouns, is both inappropriate and a shocking waste of time. Richard Evans, chief executive officer of the SoR, said: ‘It is insulting to suggest that personal ideology takes precedence when clinical practitioners such as radiographers are dealing with patients. It is specifically the case that radiographers using ionising radiation have a legal duty to ensure that a foetus is protected from exposure to harm.’ Mr Evans added that guidance for these ‘important checks [was] therefore essential’. Article Name:X-ray staff ‘told to ask men if they’re pregnant’ Publication:Daily Mail Author:By Xantha Leatham Deputy Science Editor Start Page:8 End Page:8")
Telegraph [2]
Tuesday Total: 2
The Guardian [0]
The Times [0]
Daily Mail [0]
Telegraph [2]
Wednesday Total: 2
The Guardian [0]
The Times [0]
Daily Mail [0]
Telegraph [2]
![‘For detransitioners, using the NHS is like going back to the scene of the attack’ Ritchie Herron bitterly regrets having male-to-female surgery through the health service – but hopes a programme for patients wanting to return to their original gender could help him partially reverse his mistake. The Daily Telegraph14 Aug 2024Sanchez Manning reports ‘I don’t want this to just be an attempt to brush people off who have regret’: Ritchie Herron – below, as a boy and today Ritchie Herron has experienced a living nightmare for six years. The 37-year-old civil servant, who in 2018 underwent radical gender surgery to complete his physical transformation to live as a woman, is one of a growing number of patients who have come to deeply regret undergoing medical interventions to change gender. Herron’s distress has been compounded by the NHS response to his desire to “detransition”, which has appeared clumsy and ill-suited to the situation in which he found himself. He claims that the inadequacy of the health service’s approach was highlighted by the fact that the main clinician assigned to oversee his care was a gynaecologist – a specialism which would clearly “not [offer] the right expertise” for someone seeking to overturn their transition to the female gender. In recent days, however, Herron has been feeling some hope. Last week the NHS announced that it was planning to launch a new service for transgender patients wanting to return to the gender of their birth. The development has given Herron optimism that “detransitioners” like him may finally now get the “right care” for the physical and mental pain many have endured for years. Previously unseen data obtained under freedom of information laws give the clearest indication yet of the number of “regretful” transitioners who changed their gender at the Tavistock child gender identity service, which was recently closed by the NHS for being “inadequate”. According to those data, at least 64 Tavistock patients detransitioned between 2010 and 2020. For Herron, the nightmare began six years ago when he underwent a vaginoplasty, which involves rearranging tissue in the genital area to create a vaginal opening. The surgery was the culmination of gender treatment that stemmed from an initial conversation with a therapist in which Herron said he “did not want to be a gay man”. Herron has spoken of how he “said to my therapist ‘I cannot see myself as a man with another man, but I can see myself as a woman with a man’, and she said ‘yes, that is because you are trans’.” The eventual surgical procedure went ahead, he says, despite him previously expressing repeated doubts to the NHS gender service he was under in the north of England, about having the operation. The surgery itself was a brutal experience in which he lost almost three pints of blood. After regaining consciousness he knew he had made a monumental mistake almost immediately. Herron’s first thought, he says, was, “Oh God, what have I done?” In the years that followed, his regret at the extreme changes made to his body only grew as he grappled with the dire physical and psychological consequences. His health difficulties were myriad, ranging from bone density problems and incontinence to skin conditions and numbness affecting his entire crotch area. He was near suicidal as he struggled to come to terms with the horrifying predicament he was in – for which he initially blamed himself. Finally, in 2022 he decided that his only hope for survival was to stop living as “Abby” and return to being “Ritchie”. But, says Herron, there was nowhere for people like him to turn to for help. Returning to the gender clinics at which he had originally been treated, he says: “I told them that I thought I had regret, and they told me that I didn’t. “Instead they said I had OCD and that what I was feeling was all part of my OCD. This made me very angry because I felt like they were just trying to cover their own backs. “All I really wanted was an acknowledgment that I’d made this huge mistake, but no one would let me say that.” The gender clinics also lacked the expertise to treat the medical problems experienced by detransitioners, he adds. A common feature of transitioning is hormone therapy, with oestrogen or testosterone used to suppress the release of “unwanted” hormones from the testes or ovaries. NHS advice states that “the hormones usually need to be taken for the rest of your life, even if you have gender surgery”. But there is evidence that the long-term use of hormones increases the risk of conditions such as osteoporosis. “I asked the specialists a very normal and fundamental question – which is, ‘what hormones should I be on and what is the safest amount for me to take?’” says Herron. “But you can’t get any straight answers. I was literally told by my endocrinologist – if I want to be Abby, take oestrogen, and if I want to be Richard, take testosterone. This is despite the fact that I have all the signs of osteoporosis. It feels like they’re waiting for me to break all the bones in my body before they’re going to do anything. “In my opinion the gender clinics don’t have the right expertise or the expertise that they have is very captured [by trans activists].” Herron says the inadequacy of the NHS’s provision for patients in his position was highlighted by the fact that one of his clinicians was a gynaecologist. “I was seeing a woman’s doctor – a gynaecologist – and it just felt really weird because again it’s not the right expertise,” he says. “I didn’t have a vagina – it was an inverted penis. I don’t belong in women’s services but there was nowhere else to put me.” So when the NHS revealed that it planned to establish a service specifically for “individuals who choose to detransition”, Herron says he could not have been happier. “We definitely need this,” he says. “I cannot wait for the clinic to open. I would use the service straight away once it’s up and running. “What is most significant about this service is it actually acknowledges detransitioners and that hasn’t ever happened before in the NHS. It’s a huge step forward.” The NHS announcement came in the wake of the Cass report, a major review of NHS child gender services which found there was “remarkably weak” evidence that supported medical interventions in gender care. Dr Hilary Cass, the author of the review, said that NHS England should ensure there is provision for people considering detransition, while recognising that they may not wish to re-engage with the gender clinics they were previously under. The NHS has said that it will explore what measures would be necessary to create a “defined clinical pathway” for detransitioners. Experts, however, warn that such a service would face major challenges. Stella O’Malley, a psychotherapist who in 2022 founded a detransition service called “Beyond Trans”, which now has 250 users globally, says that one of the problems will be a lack of knowledge among doctors when it comes to the prescription of appropriate hormone treatments. “We’ve been running for over two years now and what we’ve found is that medical complications are by far the largest issue for those using our service,” she says. “But we have no information to offer them and the medical professionals who we ask are afraid to give their opinions. “The individuals we are helping are people who have, for instance, stopped all hormones and they were failing and in pain because you need hormones to live. So the NHS detransition service needs to educate doctors urgently about this.” Dr Anna Hutchinson, a psychologist who blew the whistle on the Tavistock child gender service, agrees. “What the new service needs to provide is endocrinology because a lot of current endocrinologists, namely hormone doctors, don’t want to touch this area,” she says. “Some detransitioners – or perhaps more aptly, regretters – have to make really difficult social decisions about how to live their lives as some of them may never again pass for their natal sex. The challenge of the service will be helping people to make those decisions, exploring the pros and cons of options for them from a psychosocial and also a medical perspective.” O’Malley warns that the NHS is going to face an uphill battle to regain the support of detransitioners: “This is a traumatised cohort that is extremely suspicious of all services. Their levels of trust have been broken down and there’s a lot of anger. For them, it’s almost like going back to the scene of the attack, going through the NHS.” The new service, she says, will need to have “a very definitive separation from any sort of gender clinic”. Herron agrees, saying: “People who have detransitioned don’t want to go back to gender clinics. We need to make sure this service is run by professionals and not influenced by these activist groups through various consultations.” He adds: “They need to have clinical psychologists who follow established models of care and an informed medical approach that is not theoretical.” A new service may be able to offer some surgical procedures as well as hormone and psychological therapy. Hutchinson says that those who have changed their gender from male to female could have their breasts removed as part of a detransitioning process. Patients – such as Herron – who have had a vaginoplasty, might be able to have a phalloplasty to partly reconstruct a penis, “but it would be nothing like your original male anatomy and I’m not sure I know of any detransitioner who has done that”, she adds. Indeed, O’Malley and Hutchinson believe that there is unlikely to be a significant demand for reversals of surgical changes. “An awful lot of those in our group have said they are saying goodbye to all medical intervention,” says O’Malley. “It feels, for many, too soon or too quick for them to go back into surgeries.” On Herron’s part, he certainly has “no plans to undergo any more experimental surgery”. He is also conscious that some of the changes that detransitioners like him have undergone are irreversible. But he is optimistic the service will still be able to help him. “I might be lucky to slow things down, but I do worry that it may be a bit late for me because it’s been over a decade with no testosterone,” he says. “But maybe they can help me with my urology problems, the pain and the lack of sensation I have. And maybe they can advise me on the hormone side of things and curb the onset of osteoporosis and the emerging autoimmunity issues that I have.” Currently there appears to be no clear timeframe for the new service, with NHS England only committing to “establish a programme of work to explore the issues around a detransition pathway by October 2024”. Herron believes there is certainly an “urgent need” for an NHS detransition clinic because so many are “suffering in silence”. But he is equally clear that the establishment of the service must not be rushed: “It needs to be set up properly with the right expertise. I don’t want this to just be an attempt to brush people off who have regret.” ‘I told the gender clinics that I thought I had regret – and they told me I didn’t’ Stella O’Malley Psychotherapist and founder of ‘Beyond Trans’ ‘Many are saying goodbye to medical intervention’ Article Name:‘For detransitioners, using the NHS is like going back to the scene of the attack’ Publication:The Daily Telegraph Author:Sanchez Manning reports Start Page:3 End Page:3](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb1957710-e309-4f47-b69c-2cf965effdf4_1829x754.jpeg "‘For detransitioners, using the NHS is like going back to the scene of the attack’ Ritchie Herron bitterly regrets having male-to-female surgery through the health service – but hopes a programme for patients wanting to return to their original gender could help him partially reverse his mistake. The Daily Telegraph14 Aug 2024Sanchez Manning reports ‘I don’t want this to just be an attempt to brush people off who have regret’: Ritchie Herron – below, as a boy and today Ritchie Herron has experienced a living nightmare for six years. The 37-year-old civil servant, who in 2018 underwent radical gender surgery to complete his physical transformation to live as a woman, is one of a growing number of patients who have come to deeply regret undergoing medical interventions to change gender. Herron’s distress has been compounded by the NHS response to his desire to “detransition”, which has appeared clumsy and ill-suited to the situation in which he found himself. He claims that the inadequacy of the health service’s approach was highlighted by the fact that the main clinician assigned to oversee his care was a gynaecologist – a specialism which would clearly “not [offer] the right expertise” for someone seeking to overturn their transition to the female gender. In recent days, however, Herron has been feeling some hope. Last week the NHS announced that it was planning to launch a new service for transgender patients wanting to return to the gender of their birth. The development has given Herron optimism that “detransitioners” like him may finally now get the “right care” for the physical and mental pain many have endured for years. Previously unseen data obtained under freedom of information laws give the clearest indication yet of the number of “regretful” transitioners who changed their gender at the Tavistock child gender identity service, which was recently closed by the NHS for being “inadequate”. According to those data, at least 64 Tavistock patients detransitioned between 2010 and 2020. For Herron, the nightmare began six years ago when he underwent a vaginoplasty, which involves rearranging tissue in the genital area to create a vaginal opening. The surgery was the culmination of gender treatment that stemmed from an initial conversation with a therapist in which Herron said he “did not want to be a gay man”. Herron has spoken of how he “said to my therapist ‘I cannot see myself as a man with another man, but I can see myself as a woman with a man’, and she said ‘yes, that is because you are trans’.” The eventual surgical procedure went ahead, he says, despite him previously expressing repeated doubts to the NHS gender service he was under in the north of England, about having the operation. The surgery itself was a brutal experience in which he lost almost three pints of blood. After regaining consciousness he knew he had made a monumental mistake almost immediately. Herron’s first thought, he says, was, “Oh God, what have I done?” In the years that followed, his regret at the extreme changes made to his body only grew as he grappled with the dire physical and psychological consequences. His health difficulties were myriad, ranging from bone density problems and incontinence to skin conditions and numbness affecting his entire crotch area. He was near suicidal as he struggled to come to terms with the horrifying predicament he was in – for which he initially blamed himself. Finally, in 2022 he decided that his only hope for survival was to stop living as “Abby” and return to being “Ritchie”. But, says Herron, there was nowhere for people like him to turn to for help. Returning to the gender clinics at which he had originally been treated, he says: “I told them that I thought I had regret, and they told me that I didn’t. “Instead they said I had OCD and that what I was feeling was all part of my OCD. This made me very angry because I felt like they were just trying to cover their own backs. “All I really wanted was an acknowledgment that I’d made this huge mistake, but no one would let me say that.” The gender clinics also lacked the expertise to treat the medical problems experienced by detransitioners, he adds. A common feature of transitioning is hormone therapy, with oestrogen or testosterone used to suppress the release of “unwanted” hormones from the testes or ovaries. NHS advice states that “the hormones usually need to be taken for the rest of your life, even if you have gender surgery”. But there is evidence that the long-term use of hormones increases the risk of conditions such as osteoporosis. “I asked the specialists a very normal and fundamental question – which is, ‘what hormones should I be on and what is the safest amount for me to take?’” says Herron. “But you can’t get any straight answers. I was literally told by my endocrinologist – if I want to be Abby, take oestrogen, and if I want to be Richard, take testosterone. This is despite the fact that I have all the signs of osteoporosis. It feels like they’re waiting for me to break all the bones in my body before they’re going to do anything. “In my opinion the gender clinics don’t have the right expertise or the expertise that they have is very captured [by trans activists].” Herron says the inadequacy of the NHS’s provision for patients in his position was highlighted by the fact that one of his clinicians was a gynaecologist. “I was seeing a woman’s doctor – a gynaecologist – and it just felt really weird because again it’s not the right expertise,” he says. “I didn’t have a vagina – it was an inverted penis. I don’t belong in women’s services but there was nowhere else to put me.” So when the NHS revealed that it planned to establish a service specifically for “individuals who choose to detransition”, Herron says he could not have been happier. “We definitely need this,” he says. “I cannot wait for the clinic to open. I would use the service straight away once it’s up and running. “What is most significant about this service is it actually acknowledges detransitioners and that hasn’t ever happened before in the NHS. It’s a huge step forward.” The NHS announcement came in the wake of the Cass report, a major review of NHS child gender services which found there was “remarkably weak” evidence that supported medical interventions in gender care. Dr Hilary Cass, the author of the review, said that NHS England should ensure there is provision for people considering detransition, while recognising that they may not wish to re-engage with the gender clinics they were previously under. The NHS has said that it will explore what measures would be necessary to create a “defined clinical pathway” for detransitioners. Experts, however, warn that such a service would face major challenges. Stella O’Malley, a psychotherapist who in 2022 founded a detransition service called “Beyond Trans”, which now has 250 users globally, says that one of the problems will be a lack of knowledge among doctors when it comes to the prescription of appropriate hormone treatments. “We’ve been running for over two years now and what we’ve found is that medical complications are by far the largest issue for those using our service,” she says. “But we have no information to offer them and the medical professionals who we ask are afraid to give their opinions. “The individuals we are helping are people who have, for instance, stopped all hormones and they were failing and in pain because you need hormones to live. So the NHS detransition service needs to educate doctors urgently about this.” Dr Anna Hutchinson, a psychologist who blew the whistle on the Tavistock child gender service, agrees. “What the new service needs to provide is endocrinology because a lot of current endocrinologists, namely hormone doctors, don’t want to touch this area,” she says. “Some detransitioners – or perhaps more aptly, regretters – have to make really difficult social decisions about how to live their lives as some of them may never again pass for their natal sex. The challenge of the service will be helping people to make those decisions, exploring the pros and cons of options for them from a psychosocial and also a medical perspective.” O’Malley warns that the NHS is going to face an uphill battle to regain the support of detransitioners: “This is a traumatised cohort that is extremely suspicious of all services. Their levels of trust have been broken down and there’s a lot of anger. For them, it’s almost like going back to the scene of the attack, going through the NHS.” The new service, she says, will need to have “a very definitive separation from any sort of gender clinic”. Herron agrees, saying: “People who have detransitioned don’t want to go back to gender clinics. We need to make sure this service is run by professionals and not influenced by these activist groups through various consultations.” He adds: “They need to have clinical psychologists who follow established models of care and an informed medical approach that is not theoretical.” A new service may be able to offer some surgical procedures as well as hormone and psychological therapy. Hutchinson says that those who have changed their gender from male to female could have their breasts removed as part of a detransitioning process. Patients – such as Herron – who have had a vaginoplasty, might be able to have a phalloplasty to partly reconstruct a penis, “but it would be nothing like your original male anatomy and I’m not sure I know of any detransitioner who has done that”, she adds. Indeed, O’Malley and Hutchinson believe that there is unlikely to be a significant demand for reversals of surgical changes. “An awful lot of those in our group have said they are saying goodbye to all medical intervention,” says O’Malley. “It feels, for many, too soon or too quick for them to go back into surgeries.” On Herron’s part, he certainly has “no plans to undergo any more experimental surgery”. He is also conscious that some of the changes that detransitioners like him have undergone are irreversible. But he is optimistic the service will still be able to help him. “I might be lucky to slow things down, but I do worry that it may be a bit late for me because it’s been over a decade with no testosterone,” he says. “But maybe they can help me with my urology problems, the pain and the lack of sensation I have. And maybe they can advise me on the hormone side of things and curb the onset of osteoporosis and the emerging autoimmunity issues that I have.” Currently there appears to be no clear timeframe for the new service, with NHS England only committing to “establish a programme of work to explore the issues around a detransition pathway by October 2024”. Herron believes there is certainly an “urgent need” for an NHS detransition clinic because so many are “suffering in silence”. But he is equally clear that the establishment of the service must not be rushed: “It needs to be set up properly with the right expertise. I don’t want this to just be an attempt to brush people off who have regret.” ‘I told the gender clinics that I thought I had regret – and they told me I didn’t’ Stella O’Malley Psychotherapist and founder of ‘Beyond Trans’ ‘Many are saying goodbye to medical intervention’ Article Name:‘For detransitioners, using the NHS is like going back to the scene of the attack’ Publication:The Daily Telegraph Author:Sanchez Manning reports Start Page:3 End Page:3")
Thursday Total: 4
The Guardian [0]
The Times [2]
Daily Mail [1]
![Rowling and Musk named in gender-row boxer’s lawsuit Controversial gold medallist accuses pair of cyber-bullying Daily Mail15 Aug 2024From Andrew Levy in London and Peter Allen in Paris AN Olympic boxing champion at the centre of a huge gender controversy has filed a cyberbullying lawsuit, naming JK Rowling and Elon Musk. French authorities opened an investigation into a harassment complaint made by Algerian gold medallist Imane Khelif after a torrent of criticism during the recent Games, the Paris prosecutor’s office said yesterday. The boxer was disqualified from the world championships last year when the International Boxing Association (IBA) announced she had failed a gender eligibility test, stating she was ‘biologically male’. But she was cleared to compete in Paris by the International Olympic Committee, fighting at 66kg. The controversy flared again following Khelif’s crushing opening bout, which she won in just 46 seconds when her Italian opponent quit, claiming she had never been punched so hard. That sparked a flurry of criticism, with Harry Potter author and women’s rights campaigner Ms Rowling tweeting a video of the fight and writing: ‘Watch this then explain why you’re OK with a man beating a woman in public for your entertainment.’ Donald Trump also weighed into the row, saying he would ‘keep men out of women’s sports’, while his running mate, J D Vance, described the fight as a ‘grown man pummelling a woman’. Ms Khelif, 25, has filed a complaint for aggravated online harassment, citing some of her prominent critics and calling it a ‘fight for justice’. Her lawyer, Nabil Boudi, said: ‘The investigation will determine who was behind this misogynistic, racist and sexist campaign, but will also have to concern itself with those who fed the online lynching.’ He confirmed that Ms Rowling and Mr Musk, the owner of X, the platform on which the messages were published, had been named in the lawsuit. Mr Trump could also be included, Mr Boudi said, adding: ‘Trump tweeted, so whether or not he is named in our lawsuit, he will inevitably be looked into as part of the prosecution.’ The opening of a judicial enquiry means that anything written about Khelif online could be used as evidence. Those named in the complaint may be given a formal legal status, ranging from ‘assisted witness’ to ‘criminal suspect’. Cyber-bullying can be punished with prison sentences of between two and five years in France, while fines range from £26,000 to £39,000. Mr Boudi said the evidence online was ‘indisputable’. ‘It’s all repeated, detailed content and the attacks [are] on her physique, her gender, her nationality, her appearance in general and her status as a woman,’ he added. But UK barrister Anya Palmer, an expert in employment law, questioned whether the case would lead to criminal charges outside French jurisdiction. ‘Either the alleged perpetrator or the alleged victim would have to be a French national and I’m not aware that Khelif has French citizenship,’ she said. Neither Ms Rowling nor Mr Musk have commented on the accusations. ‘Trump will be looked into as part of case’ Article Name:Rowling and Musk named in gender-row boxer’s lawsuit Publication:Daily Mail Author:From Andrew Levy in London and Peter Allen in Paris Start Page:5 End Page:5](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5bb52cd3-45cf-4c30-87d6-00f3d89e2774_539x568.jpeg "Rowling and Musk named in gender-row boxer’s lawsuit Controversial gold medallist accuses pair of cyber-bullying Daily Mail15 Aug 2024From Andrew Levy in London and Peter Allen in Paris AN Olympic boxing champion at the centre of a huge gender controversy has filed a cyberbullying lawsuit, naming JK Rowling and Elon Musk. French authorities opened an investigation into a harassment complaint made by Algerian gold medallist Imane Khelif after a torrent of criticism during the recent Games, the Paris prosecutor’s office said yesterday. The boxer was disqualified from the world championships last year when the International Boxing Association (IBA) announced she had failed a gender eligibility test, stating she was ‘biologically male’. But she was cleared to compete in Paris by the International Olympic Committee, fighting at 66kg. The controversy flared again following Khelif’s crushing opening bout, which she won in just 46 seconds when her Italian opponent quit, claiming she had never been punched so hard. That sparked a flurry of criticism, with Harry Potter author and women’s rights campaigner Ms Rowling tweeting a video of the fight and writing: ‘Watch this then explain why you’re OK with a man beating a woman in public for your entertainment.’ Donald Trump also weighed into the row, saying he would ‘keep men out of women’s sports’, while his running mate, J D Vance, described the fight as a ‘grown man pummelling a woman’. Ms Khelif, 25, has filed a complaint for aggravated online harassment, citing some of her prominent critics and calling it a ‘fight for justice’. Her lawyer, Nabil Boudi, said: ‘The investigation will determine who was behind this misogynistic, racist and sexist campaign, but will also have to concern itself with those who fed the online lynching.’ He confirmed that Ms Rowling and Mr Musk, the owner of X, the platform on which the messages were published, had been named in the lawsuit. Mr Trump could also be included, Mr Boudi said, adding: ‘Trump tweeted, so whether or not he is named in our lawsuit, he will inevitably be looked into as part of the prosecution.’ The opening of a judicial enquiry means that anything written about Khelif online could be used as evidence. Those named in the complaint may be given a formal legal status, ranging from ‘assisted witness’ to ‘criminal suspect’. Cyber-bullying can be punished with prison sentences of between two and five years in France, while fines range from £26,000 to £39,000. Mr Boudi said the evidence online was ‘indisputable’. ‘It’s all repeated, detailed content and the attacks [are] on her physique, her gender, her nationality, her appearance in general and her status as a woman,’ he added. But UK barrister Anya Palmer, an expert in employment law, questioned whether the case would lead to criminal charges outside French jurisdiction. ‘Either the alleged perpetrator or the alleged victim would have to be a French national and I’m not aware that Khelif has French citizenship,’ she said. Neither Ms Rowling nor Mr Musk have commented on the accusations. ‘Trump will be looked into as part of case’ Article Name:Rowling and Musk named in gender-row boxer’s lawsuit Publication:Daily Mail Author:From Andrew Levy in London and Peter Allen in Paris Start Page:5 End Page:5")
Telegraph [1]
![The boxing row that turned into a fight for free speech Olympian Imane Khelif’s next bout could be against famous critics, such as JK Rowling, in court. Marianka Swain reports The Daily Telegraph15 Aug 2024 She won an Olympic gold medal in the boxing ring in Paris, but can the controversial Algerian competitor Imane Khelif, who was at the centre of the gender row that dominated the Games, now land a knockout blow in court? We will soon find out, as lawyers acting for Khelif have filed a complaint with French authorities over aggravated cyber harassment – and JK Rowling and Elon Musk have been named in the suit. Khelif ’s lawyer Nabil Boudi said in a statement that they had filed the complaint last Friday with the online hate centre of the Paris prosecutor’s office. “The criminal investigation will determine who initiated this misogynistic, racist and sexist campaign,” Boudi said, “but will also have to focus on those who fuelled this digital lynching.” It’s the latest bout in what has proved to be the 2024 Olympics’ most bruising fight, throwing up passionately debated issues around sporting fairness, gender equality, online bullying and free-speech protection. Khelif, 25, won the women’s 66kg welterweight boxing title last week to the vocal delight of her Algerian supporters and to the dismay of those who felt the athlete had an innately unfair physical advantage. Khelif was disqualified from competing in last year’s World Championships final by the International Boxing Association (IBA), which said that it had conducted “gender testing” in May 2022 and March 2023, and that the results showed that Khelif had XY chromosomes, and so was biologically male. Khelif reportedly has a condition called DSD or “differences in sex development”. People with DSD can be born with both ovarian and testicular tissue. The South African runner Caster Semenya, who won the 800m gold in the 2016 Rio Olympics, has a form of DSD, which means she produces testosterone levels more usually found in male athletes. However, the IBA has since been stripped of its rights to govern global boxing, so it was down to the International Olympic Committee to decide which athletes were eligible to compete at the Olympics – and they allowed Khelif to enter. The Algerian then went on to win, in a victory that angered some female sporting greats. Tennis legend Martina Navratilova labelled it “a travesty”. But this next crucial round isn’t between Khelif and another fighter, but between Khelif and her detractors. In the red corner stands the defiant Olympic boxing champ, who calls her critics “enemies of success” and has said her victory has a “special taste” because of them. In the blue corner: those who have taken to social media to furiously question Khelif ’s right to compete in women’s events. On X (formerly Twitter) author J K Rowling characterised Khelif ’s fight against Italian competitor Angela Carini, who tearfully quit after just 46 seconds, as “male violence against women becoming an Olympic sport”. She posted a picture of the pair, writing that it showed “the smirk of a male who knows he’s protected by a misogynist sporting establishment enjoying the distress of a woman he’s just punched in the head, and whose life’s ambition he’s just shattered”. Donald Trump posted an image from that same fight on Truth Social, captioning it: “I will keep men out of women’s sports”. Elon Musk shared the American college swimmer Riley Gaines’s post on X stating that “men don’t belong in women’s sports”, with Musk adding “Absolutely” in agreement. Boudi said that French law allows the prosecution “latitude to be able to investigate against all people”, which is presumably why he has named two such high-profile figures in the complaint. But it’s not quite that simple in practice, explains lawyer Mark Stephens. “There is a difference between expressing a view about a matter of fact and making a threat,” he says. Khelif may feel that someone denying her gender is itself a form of bullying, but there has got to be a degree of tolerance. Just a denial of sex isn’t going to be sufficient to criminalise that speech. People are allowed to hold what some may consider uncomfortable, even repugnant views, and in this case it’s part of a legitimate public debate.” Stephens continues: “It’s when you combine, for example, that challenge to her gender with hateful speech, abuse or threats – those are the people who could be held criminally responsible. That’s what the prosecutors look for. It’s usually someone who takes that original comment and amplifies it in an objectively intimidating or abusive way, then it moves over into wrongdoing.” That means it’s more likely that someone who, say, quoted a Rowling post and added an explicit threat to it could be in trouble in this case, rather than Rowling herself. However, we’re into slightly murky territory when it comes to social media. Stephens points out that these platforms should be looking at whether such speech is a breach of their community standards, but there’s plenty of variation between nations. “The French laws have always been more stringent than ours,” Stephens observes. “There’s a natural distaste in continental Europe for social media platforms, plus there are sensitivities around the rise of the far-Right at the moment. The fact that some [far-Right individuals] feature prominently on these platforms could well feed into public policy.” Taking all of that into account, including the febrile political context, Stephens reckons that Khelif “has a very good opportunity to win her case in France”. In 2014 the French government put in place the first of their actions against online harassment. Anyone who repeated remarks or behaviour, with the effect of deteriorating the living conditions of another person, ‘There is a difference between expressing a view about a matter of fact and making a threat’ would become liable to a year of imprisonment and a fine. The online hate centre (“pôle national de lutte contre la haine en ligne” in French, known as the PNLH) to which Khelif ’s lawyers have brought their case was established in 2021 and has jurisdiction over the whole country. But its reach has already extended beyond French borders: in 2020 a teenage girl who had received around 50,000 death threats after posting a video criticising Islam took her case to the PNLH, even though it had originated in Vienna. Khelif might also be motivated by the fact that she’s resident in a conservative Muslim country where differences aren’t generally tolerated. Homosexuality is still illegal in Algeria, and vigilante crimes are widespread. In 2019, student Assil Belalta was found in his dormitory at the University of Algiers with his throat slit and “he is gay” painted on the wall in blood. If her fellow Algerians believed online claims (whether false or not) that Khelif is transgender or intersex, she could not only lose her national treasure status, but her life might even be in danger. But if Khelif does deliver a swift right hook in court by winning her French case, will that convince her most vocal critics to back down? Definitely not in Rowling’s case, believes feminist campaigner and Telegraph columnist Suzanne Moore: “All I can say is, ‘Bring it on’, as Khelif will have to show some proof of sex. If Rowling was ever going to ‘back down’, she would have done so years ago. She stepped forward during [Scotland’s] Hate Crime legislation and dared them to arrest her. They blinked first.” So, even if Rowling isn’t directly named in the final court case she may well continue to comment on it, and to defend the rights of those who are targeted. She won’t be alone, either, as the zealous advocates on both sides of this fight – from Khelif ’s punchy defenders to those who fear free speech could wind up with a black eye – watch avidly to see how this vital test case plays out, and who is left standing. Article Name:The boxing row that turned into a fight for free speech Publication:The Daily Telegraph Start Page:2 End Page:2](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5338ac01-a709-462b-a711-2fcf92ba7b14_1518x738.jpeg "The boxing row that turned into a fight for free speech Olympian Imane Khelif’s next bout could be against famous critics, such as JK Rowling, in court. Marianka Swain reports The Daily Telegraph15 Aug 2024 She won an Olympic gold medal in the boxing ring in Paris, but can the controversial Algerian competitor Imane Khelif, who was at the centre of the gender row that dominated the Games, now land a knockout blow in court? We will soon find out, as lawyers acting for Khelif have filed a complaint with French authorities over aggravated cyber harassment – and JK Rowling and Elon Musk have been named in the suit. Khelif ’s lawyer Nabil Boudi said in a statement that they had filed the complaint last Friday with the online hate centre of the Paris prosecutor’s office. “The criminal investigation will determine who initiated this misogynistic, racist and sexist campaign,” Boudi said, “but will also have to focus on those who fuelled this digital lynching.” It’s the latest bout in what has proved to be the 2024 Olympics’ most bruising fight, throwing up passionately debated issues around sporting fairness, gender equality, online bullying and free-speech protection. Khelif, 25, won the women’s 66kg welterweight boxing title last week to the vocal delight of her Algerian supporters and to the dismay of those who felt the athlete had an innately unfair physical advantage. Khelif was disqualified from competing in last year’s World Championships final by the International Boxing Association (IBA), which said that it had conducted “gender testing” in May 2022 and March 2023, and that the results showed that Khelif had XY chromosomes, and so was biologically male. Khelif reportedly has a condition called DSD or “differences in sex development”. People with DSD can be born with both ovarian and testicular tissue. The South African runner Caster Semenya, who won the 800m gold in the 2016 Rio Olympics, has a form of DSD, which means she produces testosterone levels more usually found in male athletes. However, the IBA has since been stripped of its rights to govern global boxing, so it was down to the International Olympic Committee to decide which athletes were eligible to compete at the Olympics – and they allowed Khelif to enter. The Algerian then went on to win, in a victory that angered some female sporting greats. Tennis legend Martina Navratilova labelled it “a travesty”. But this next crucial round isn’t between Khelif and another fighter, but between Khelif and her detractors. In the red corner stands the defiant Olympic boxing champ, who calls her critics “enemies of success” and has said her victory has a “special taste” because of them. In the blue corner: those who have taken to social media to furiously question Khelif ’s right to compete in women’s events. On X (formerly Twitter) author J K Rowling characterised Khelif ’s fight against Italian competitor Angela Carini, who tearfully quit after just 46 seconds, as “male violence against women becoming an Olympic sport”. She posted a picture of the pair, writing that it showed “the smirk of a male who knows he’s protected by a misogynist sporting establishment enjoying the distress of a woman he’s just punched in the head, and whose life’s ambition he’s just shattered”. Donald Trump posted an image from that same fight on Truth Social, captioning it: “I will keep men out of women’s sports”. Elon Musk shared the American college swimmer Riley Gaines’s post on X stating that “men don’t belong in women’s sports”, with Musk adding “Absolutely” in agreement. Boudi said that French law allows the prosecution “latitude to be able to investigate against all people”, which is presumably why he has named two such high-profile figures in the complaint. But it’s not quite that simple in practice, explains lawyer Mark Stephens. “There is a difference between expressing a view about a matter of fact and making a threat,” he says. Khelif may feel that someone denying her gender is itself a form of bullying, but there has got to be a degree of tolerance. Just a denial of sex isn’t going to be sufficient to criminalise that speech. People are allowed to hold what some may consider uncomfortable, even repugnant views, and in this case it’s part of a legitimate public debate.” Stephens continues: “It’s when you combine, for example, that challenge to her gender with hateful speech, abuse or threats – those are the people who could be held criminally responsible. That’s what the prosecutors look for. It’s usually someone who takes that original comment and amplifies it in an objectively intimidating or abusive way, then it moves over into wrongdoing.” That means it’s more likely that someone who, say, quoted a Rowling post and added an explicit threat to it could be in trouble in this case, rather than Rowling herself. However, we’re into slightly murky territory when it comes to social media. Stephens points out that these platforms should be looking at whether such speech is a breach of their community standards, but there’s plenty of variation between nations. “The French laws have always been more stringent than ours,” Stephens observes. “There’s a natural distaste in continental Europe for social media platforms, plus there are sensitivities around the rise of the far-Right at the moment. The fact that some [far-Right individuals] feature prominently on these platforms could well feed into public policy.” Taking all of that into account, including the febrile political context, Stephens reckons that Khelif “has a very good opportunity to win her case in France”. In 2014 the French government put in place the first of their actions against online harassment. Anyone who repeated remarks or behaviour, with the effect of deteriorating the living conditions of another person, ‘There is a difference between expressing a view about a matter of fact and making a threat’ would become liable to a year of imprisonment and a fine. The online hate centre (“pôle national de lutte contre la haine en ligne” in French, known as the PNLH) to which Khelif ’s lawyers have brought their case was established in 2021 and has jurisdiction over the whole country. But its reach has already extended beyond French borders: in 2020 a teenage girl who had received around 50,000 death threats after posting a video criticising Islam took her case to the PNLH, even though it had originated in Vienna. Khelif might also be motivated by the fact that she’s resident in a conservative Muslim country where differences aren’t generally tolerated. Homosexuality is still illegal in Algeria, and vigilante crimes are widespread. In 2019, student Assil Belalta was found in his dormitory at the University of Algiers with his throat slit and “he is gay” painted on the wall in blood. If her fellow Algerians believed online claims (whether false or not) that Khelif is transgender or intersex, she could not only lose her national treasure status, but her life might even be in danger. But if Khelif does deliver a swift right hook in court by winning her French case, will that convince her most vocal critics to back down? Definitely not in Rowling’s case, believes feminist campaigner and Telegraph columnist Suzanne Moore: “All I can say is, ‘Bring it on’, as Khelif will have to show some proof of sex. If Rowling was ever going to ‘back down’, she would have done so years ago. She stepped forward during [Scotland’s] Hate Crime legislation and dared them to arrest her. They blinked first.” So, even if Rowling isn’t directly named in the final court case she may well continue to comment on it, and to defend the rights of those who are targeted. She won’t be alone, either, as the zealous advocates on both sides of this fight – from Khelif ’s punchy defenders to those who fear free speech could wind up with a black eye – watch avidly to see how this vital test case plays out, and who is left standing. Article Name:The boxing row that turned into a fight for free speech Publication:The Daily Telegraph Start Page:2 End Page:2")
Friday Total: 6
The Guardian [3]
![Trans young people on life after the Cass report and puberty blocker ban The Guardian16 Aug 2024Libby Brooks Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@ samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie PHOTOGRAPH: REX/SHUTTERSTOCK Trans pride in London last month. Puberty blockers have now been banned throughout much of the UK After the landmark Cass review into the care of young people questioning their gender this year, puberty blockers have in effect been banned in England, Wales and Scotland for the treatment of under-18s with gender dysphoria. Dr Hilary Cass, the report’s author, had criticised the lack of evidence surrounding the benefits and risks associated with the drugs, which delay the onset of puberty. Even before her review was published, NHS England stopped the routine prescription of puberty blockers in March, and NHS Scotland followed in April. In May, the outgoing Conservative government also issued an emergency order banning private prescriptions of the drug. This temporary order was challenged in court by a transgender advocacy group but it was upheld as lawful, and the new Labour health secretary, Wes Streeting, has defended the ban. Cass, who said puberty blockers had become “almost totemic” in the debate about the appropriate care for this group of children and young people, suggested they should only be prescribed as part of an authorised clinical trial. This is not expected to start recruiting participants until next year. In the meantime, the waiting list for children’s gender care is growing. According to NHS England’s own figures, more than 5,700 under-18s are waiting an average of 100 weeks for a first appointment in England and Wales. The heavily criticised Gender Identity Development Service (Gids) at London’s Tavistock and Portman NHS trust has closed, and two new specialist hubs have launched, with more expected to open. So what of the children and families affected by the changes? The Guardian spoke to young people and their parents who are struggling to cope. Names have been changed to protect their identities. Hannah was three when she started telling her parents she was a girl, not a boy. Her mother, Sarah, said her daughter had worn skirts and dresses to nursery, and at the age of seven changed her name and pronouns after requesting this for about a year. But once she noticed the physical signs of puberty last year, Hannah – who was then 12 – started a “lengthy and intrusive” assessment process at the Sandyford clinic in Glasgow. Sarah said: “The doctor was confident Hannah understood what was happening and had the capacity to consent. By February, she told us she would be recommending her for puberty blockers.” But the following month, NHS England stopped new prescriptions south of the border and a few weeks later the Sandyford confirmed Hannah would not receive the blockers. “They acknowledged that the timing was very hard on us, assured us nobody was getting discharged, and [said] there would be emotional wellbeing appointments,” her mother said. The family felt they had no choice but to explore private medicine, but the full ban closed off that option. “We don’t know what’s next,” her mother said. “Hannah had always said she would kill herself if she had to go through male puberty. This is a medicine that’s still very much in use [for children going through early puberty], but not available for Hannah.” Hannah had had a difficult childhood, Sarah said, and was first referred to child and adolescent mental health services (Camhs) at the age of six. “She is one of the neurodivergent children who, according to the Cass narrative, is in particular need of protection by this ban,” Sarah said. “But I cannot stress enough that everyone who knows Hannah, including her GP, Camhs and social work, believe she needs puberty blockers and that the NHS should nd be providing this care. Her GP and a Camhs psychiatrist both wrote to Sandyford to stress this. “There are a lot of professionals involved in Hannah’s life; all accept her absolute consistency with regard to gender identification and none have concerns about our parenting. This ban has made an already vulnerable child more vulnerable.” The outright ban imposed by the government this year was “a performative gesture”, said Grin, a 17-year-old trans boy and sixth-form student. “The chance of getting blockers at a point in your development when they are actually useful was effectively zero before it; there already was no access,” he said. It was this frustration that prompted him and another trans friend to embark on a protest at the end of June, scaling the front of the NHS England building in London and perching on a ledge for three nights under the banner Trans Kids Deserve Better. “The reason we used the image of a pawn on our banner is because it feels like young people are being used for political gain and treated as an intellectual exercise, rather than as human beings,” he said. Grin, who lives in London, joined the waiting list for Gids the week after he turned 13 four years ago. But he had still not got an appointment when he was referred to adult services earlier this year. “It’s really scary being a young person just working out who you are, and to know that your puberty is progressing in a way that you don’t feel aligned with – you feel trapped,” he said. “My body was changing in a way I actively hated.” He obtained hormones privately online at 14 with his parents’ support. He has now been on puberty blockers, bought from abroad, for four years and, through his GP, has been taking the masculinising hormone testosterone for three years. “The whole point of blockers is to be a compromise, so that you don’t have to go through permanent change before you fully know what you want. It’s a scary thing to think about at 11,” he said. “If I’d had access to blockers at that age, it would have given me time to engage with therapy – no amount of psychological intervention is going to help when you’ve got that huge terror about your body changing. Had I been cis, that would have given me time to figure it out.” The Cass review urged the NHS to introduce a full research programme for young people treated by gender services, which could include puberty blockers, but Grin believes “the future is DIY hormones” – where people source and administer drugs without professional medical oversight, typically buying them online. “There is a concern that the next generation getting blockers will not be regulated, but a bigger issue is that there will be a much greater differentiation depending on parents: do they have the money to go private and do they trust their own instincts to go against what the NHS is advising for their children?” he said. Coven, an 18-year-old trans girl and student from London, joined the NHS waiting list for youth gender services at the age of 13, when she socially transitioned with the support of her family. “At the time I wasn’t sure about the medication I needed but I knew I needed help. Instead, I’m now on an adult waiting list and still haven’t had my first appointment,” she said. Although her GP has been supportive, putting her on a waiting list for psychological support, she became too old for that service before she was seen – although she has been able to get some counselling through queer organisations. “I looked into private healthcare but the money involved meant it just wasn’t possible,” she said. Even before the puberty blockers ban, “nobody was getting healthcare anyway”, she added. “I know one of two people out of a large group of friends who have actually made it off the NHS waiting list, and by then they were way past the need for puberty blockers.” When she heard that the court had ruled the ban legitimate, it was “crushing, but not a surprise”, she said. “From my experience, young trans people don’t have access to healthcare. The waiting lists are long and cruel, the prices of a private clinic are unrealistic, and other routes are uncontrolled and not often monitored by medical professionals. Every pathway looks bleak right now.” Despite her reservations, Coven has been taking non-prescription hormone replacement therapy for two years. “I’ve had to become my own doctor, do all my own research, spend so much time analysing blood tests on my own. Don’t I deserve someone to oversee my care?” she said. “If I was in the room with decision-makers I’d want to tell them that so many people are drowning in despair because of the decisions they’ve made.” Paula’s trans son, Josh, was seen by Gids at the age of 15 after a wait of two years. “I did have worries as a parent because I felt there were a lot of unknowns. The discussion around transgender care is upsetting because people talk with such certainty and there’s so much we don’t know,” she said. “For me, the concern was about making those choices at such a young age. There does seem to have been a surprising lack of research and relying on received wisdom instead.” The clinic recommended that Josh experience more of life before making a decision about hormonal intervention. “There’s been a lot of coverage about the Tavistock giving out puberty blockers readily, and that wasn’t our experience,” his mother said. “They weren’t very systematic in their care of Josh, but I didn’t feel they were trying to advocate for puberty blockers.” She added: “One of the problems I had at the time was that they were presented as a way of pausing, reflecting and giving breathing space, but almost all the young people who started them went on the cross-sex hormones [which are designed to masculinise or feminise a person’s body], so it seemed like a very clear pathway. “There wasn’t always transparency about that, or else a level of knowledge was assumed that parents didn’t have. Josh certainly saw it as a first step. “In his mind the only reason to go to Gids was to get on [puberty] blockers.” Josh, who is now 20, ended up saving money from his part-time job and getting testosterone online without his parents’ knowledge when he turned 18. “He was so determined. That was when we entered a different phase – do I want to be unhappy for the rest of my life because my child is doing something I worry about? Our relationship with our child was more important than anything else.” Paula echoed Cass in saying that puberty blockers had become a key focus in the sometimes toxic debate about treatment for young people. “Blockers seem to have become a ‘flashpoint’ for the whole debate about healthcare for gender-questioning young people,” she said. “Sometimes, the vitriol I find in my news feed is horrifying. But Josh is very resilient and clear in himself about who he is.” ‘If I’d had access to blockers at that age, it would have given me time to engage with therapy’ Grin A 17-year-old trans boy Article Name:Trans young people on life after the Cass report and puberty blocker ban Publication:The Guardian Author:Libby Brooks Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@ samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie Start Page:18 End Page:18](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7525a7b5-558d-4a60-9ba9-a0f074f58126_1191x743.jpeg "Trans young people on life after the Cass report and puberty blocker ban The Guardian16 Aug 2024Libby Brooks Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@ samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie PHOTOGRAPH: REX/SHUTTERSTOCK Trans pride in London last month. Puberty blockers have now been banned throughout much of the UK After the landmark Cass review into the care of young people questioning their gender this year, puberty blockers have in effect been banned in England, Wales and Scotland for the treatment of under-18s with gender dysphoria. Dr Hilary Cass, the report’s author, had criticised the lack of evidence surrounding the benefits and risks associated with the drugs, which delay the onset of puberty. Even before her review was published, NHS England stopped the routine prescription of puberty blockers in March, and NHS Scotland followed in April. In May, the outgoing Conservative government also issued an emergency order banning private prescriptions of the drug. This temporary order was challenged in court by a transgender advocacy group but it was upheld as lawful, and the new Labour health secretary, Wes Streeting, has defended the ban. Cass, who said puberty blockers had become “almost totemic” in the debate about the appropriate care for this group of children and young people, suggested they should only be prescribed as part of an authorised clinical trial. This is not expected to start recruiting participants until next year. In the meantime, the waiting list for children’s gender care is growing. According to NHS England’s own figures, more than 5,700 under-18s are waiting an average of 100 weeks for a first appointment in England and Wales. The heavily criticised Gender Identity Development Service (Gids) at London’s Tavistock and Portman NHS trust has closed, and two new specialist hubs have launched, with more expected to open. So what of the children and families affected by the changes? The Guardian spoke to young people and their parents who are struggling to cope. Names have been changed to protect their identities. Hannah was three when she started telling her parents she was a girl, not a boy. Her mother, Sarah, said her daughter had worn skirts and dresses to nursery, and at the age of seven changed her name and pronouns after requesting this for about a year. But once she noticed the physical signs of puberty last year, Hannah – who was then 12 – started a “lengthy and intrusive” assessment process at the Sandyford clinic in Glasgow. Sarah said: “The doctor was confident Hannah understood what was happening and had the capacity to consent. By February, she told us she would be recommending her for puberty blockers.” But the following month, NHS England stopped new prescriptions south of the border and a few weeks later the Sandyford confirmed Hannah would not receive the blockers. “They acknowledged that the timing was very hard on us, assured us nobody was getting discharged, and [said] there would be emotional wellbeing appointments,” her mother said. The family felt they had no choice but to explore private medicine, but the full ban closed off that option. “We don’t know what’s next,” her mother said. “Hannah had always said she would kill herself if she had to go through male puberty. This is a medicine that’s still very much in use [for children going through early puberty], but not available for Hannah.” Hannah had had a difficult childhood, Sarah said, and was first referred to child and adolescent mental health services (Camhs) at the age of six. “She is one of the neurodivergent children who, according to the Cass narrative, is in particular need of protection by this ban,” Sarah said. “But I cannot stress enough that everyone who knows Hannah, including her GP, Camhs and social work, believe she needs puberty blockers and that the NHS should nd be providing this care. Her GP and a Camhs psychiatrist both wrote to Sandyford to stress this. “There are a lot of professionals involved in Hannah’s life; all accept her absolute consistency with regard to gender identification and none have concerns about our parenting. This ban has made an already vulnerable child more vulnerable.” The outright ban imposed by the government this year was “a performative gesture”, said Grin, a 17-year-old trans boy and sixth-form student. “The chance of getting blockers at a point in your development when they are actually useful was effectively zero before it; there already was no access,” he said. It was this frustration that prompted him and another trans friend to embark on a protest at the end of June, scaling the front of the NHS England building in London and perching on a ledge for three nights under the banner Trans Kids Deserve Better. “The reason we used the image of a pawn on our banner is because it feels like young people are being used for political gain and treated as an intellectual exercise, rather than as human beings,” he said. Grin, who lives in London, joined the waiting list for Gids the week after he turned 13 four years ago. But he had still not got an appointment when he was referred to adult services earlier this year. “It’s really scary being a young person just working out who you are, and to know that your puberty is progressing in a way that you don’t feel aligned with – you feel trapped,” he said. “My body was changing in a way I actively hated.” He obtained hormones privately online at 14 with his parents’ support. He has now been on puberty blockers, bought from abroad, for four years and, through his GP, has been taking the masculinising hormone testosterone for three years. “The whole point of blockers is to be a compromise, so that you don’t have to go through permanent change before you fully know what you want. It’s a scary thing to think about at 11,” he said. “If I’d had access to blockers at that age, it would have given me time to engage with therapy – no amount of psychological intervention is going to help when you’ve got that huge terror about your body changing. Had I been cis, that would have given me time to figure it out.” The Cass review urged the NHS to introduce a full research programme for young people treated by gender services, which could include puberty blockers, but Grin believes “the future is DIY hormones” – where people source and administer drugs without professional medical oversight, typically buying them online. “There is a concern that the next generation getting blockers will not be regulated, but a bigger issue is that there will be a much greater differentiation depending on parents: do they have the money to go private and do they trust their own instincts to go against what the NHS is advising for their children?” he said. Coven, an 18-year-old trans girl and student from London, joined the NHS waiting list for youth gender services at the age of 13, when she socially transitioned with the support of her family. “At the time I wasn’t sure about the medication I needed but I knew I needed help. Instead, I’m now on an adult waiting list and still haven’t had my first appointment,” she said. Although her GP has been supportive, putting her on a waiting list for psychological support, she became too old for that service before she was seen – although she has been able to get some counselling through queer organisations. “I looked into private healthcare but the money involved meant it just wasn’t possible,” she said. Even before the puberty blockers ban, “nobody was getting healthcare anyway”, she added. “I know one of two people out of a large group of friends who have actually made it off the NHS waiting list, and by then they were way past the need for puberty blockers.” When she heard that the court had ruled the ban legitimate, it was “crushing, but not a surprise”, she said. “From my experience, young trans people don’t have access to healthcare. The waiting lists are long and cruel, the prices of a private clinic are unrealistic, and other routes are uncontrolled and not often monitored by medical professionals. Every pathway looks bleak right now.” Despite her reservations, Coven has been taking non-prescription hormone replacement therapy for two years. “I’ve had to become my own doctor, do all my own research, spend so much time analysing blood tests on my own. Don’t I deserve someone to oversee my care?” she said. “If I was in the room with decision-makers I’d want to tell them that so many people are drowning in despair because of the decisions they’ve made.” Paula’s trans son, Josh, was seen by Gids at the age of 15 after a wait of two years. “I did have worries as a parent because I felt there were a lot of unknowns. The discussion around transgender care is upsetting because people talk with such certainty and there’s so much we don’t know,” she said. “For me, the concern was about making those choices at such a young age. There does seem to have been a surprising lack of research and relying on received wisdom instead.” The clinic recommended that Josh experience more of life before making a decision about hormonal intervention. “There’s been a lot of coverage about the Tavistock giving out puberty blockers readily, and that wasn’t our experience,” his mother said. “They weren’t very systematic in their care of Josh, but I didn’t feel they were trying to advocate for puberty blockers.” She added: “One of the problems I had at the time was that they were presented as a way of pausing, reflecting and giving breathing space, but almost all the young people who started them went on the cross-sex hormones [which are designed to masculinise or feminise a person’s body], so it seemed like a very clear pathway. “There wasn’t always transparency about that, or else a level of knowledge was assumed that parents didn’t have. Josh certainly saw it as a first step. “In his mind the only reason to go to Gids was to get on [puberty] blockers.” Josh, who is now 20, ended up saving money from his part-time job and getting testosterone online without his parents’ knowledge when he turned 18. “He was so determined. That was when we entered a different phase – do I want to be unhappy for the rest of my life because my child is doing something I worry about? Our relationship with our child was more important than anything else.” Paula echoed Cass in saying that puberty blockers had become a key focus in the sometimes toxic debate about treatment for young people. “Blockers seem to have become a ‘flashpoint’ for the whole debate about healthcare for gender-questioning young people,” she said. “Sometimes, the vitriol I find in my news feed is horrifying. But Josh is very resilient and clear in himself about who he is.” ‘If I’d had access to blockers at that age, it would have given me time to engage with therapy’ Grin A 17-year-old trans boy Article Name:Trans young people on life after the Cass report and puberty blocker ban Publication:The Guardian Author:Libby Brooks Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@ samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie Start Page:18 End Page:18")
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![Death threats to ITV star and unborn baby over gender row boxer Daily Mail16 Aug 2024Daily Mail Reporter Olympic champion: Imane Khelif in Paris ITV sports presenter Laura Woods yesterday revealed that she and her unborn child have received death threats amid the Olympic boxing gender dispute. The 37-year-old said she had been targeted after writing an online comment in support of an article by The Daily Telegraph’s chief sports writer, Oliver Brown. Mr Brown’s piece questioned why two ‘biologically male’ boxers, Imane Khelif, 25, and Lin Yu-Ting, 29, were allowed to compete in the women’s boxing in Paris this summer. He said the International Olympic Committee was wrong to clear them for fights – and after he shared the article on X, Ms Woods responded: ‘Great article Oli’. But she took to the platform yesterday to write: ‘Since I replied to this article I’ve had numerous death threats to myself and my unborn child. Questions on my own gender (I’m pregnant so guess that clears that one up), calls for my employers to sack me, threats to my home. ‘I’ve been called racist, a bigot and a sexist as well as various insults... I’ve also been asked why I haven’t raised any concerns on this topic before. See the above for your answer.’ Earlier this month, boxing at Paris 2024 was overshadowed by a dispute over the participation of Algeria’s Khelif, who went on to win a gold medal, and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who also won gold. Both allegedly failed gender tests conducted by the International Boxing Association last year which purportedly showed they have XY chromosomes, the male pattern. They were then disqualified from last year’s World Boxing Championships by the IBA despite both insisting they were born female. Ms Woods, who is expecting her first child with former Love Island contestant Adam Collard, 28, continued in her X post: ‘When there are discrepancies with test results – which could impact the safety of another human being, in an environment that above all else should be fair – questions are quite rightly going to be asked. ‘The answers are still unclear, otherwise, this topic would be closed.’ The gender debate began when Italy’s Angela Carini quit 46 seconds into her round-of-16 match with Khelif. The Algerian landed the first significant punch and the Italian fighter dropped to her knees in tears. The 25-year-old could be heard shouting to her coach, ‘It’s not right, it’s not right!’ before telling reporters she had never been punched so hard in her life. The International Olympic Committee had allowed Khelif to compete despite last year’s gender test as the IBA was unable to provide any proof of its findings. The IBA was also expelled by the IOC in June last year over financial and corruption concerns. Khelif went on to win Algeria’s first gold medal in women’s boxing. But the row has continued – Khelif has now filed an online harassment lawsuit that reportedly names JK Rowling and Elon Musk. The Harry Potter author, 59, had referred to Khelif as a ‘male’ and accused her of ‘enjoying the distress of a woman he’s just punched in the head, and whose life’s ambition he’s just shattered’. Nabil Boudi, Khelif’s attorney, said: ‘JK Rowling and Elon Musk are named in the lawsuit, among others. ‘[Donald] Trump tweeted, so whether or not he is named in our lawsuit, he will inevitably be looked into as part of the prosecution. What we’re asking is that the prosecution investigates not only these people but whoever it feels necessary. If the case goes to court, they will stand trial.’ After striking gold in Paris, the Algerian fighter had a message for those who raised concerns at her inclusion. ‘I am a woman like any other woman,’ she said. ‘I was born a woman, I lived as a woman, I competed as woman – there is no doubt. ‘There are enemies of success of course. That gives my success a special taste because of these attacks. I want to tell the world that they should commit to the Olympic principles and they should not bully people.’ ‘The answers are still unclear’ ‘Never been punched so hard’ Article Name:Death threats to ITV star and unborn baby over gender row boxer Publication:Daily Mail Author:Daily Mail Reporter Start Page:9 End Page:9](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F91de1ffb-befe-4771-a005-ae6eb2fef703_544x552.jpeg "Death threats to ITV star and unborn baby over gender row boxer Daily Mail16 Aug 2024Daily Mail Reporter Olympic champion: Imane Khelif in Paris ITV sports presenter Laura Woods yesterday revealed that she and her unborn child have received death threats amid the Olympic boxing gender dispute. The 37-year-old said she had been targeted after writing an online comment in support of an article by The Daily Telegraph’s chief sports writer, Oliver Brown. Mr Brown’s piece questioned why two ‘biologically male’ boxers, Imane Khelif, 25, and Lin Yu-Ting, 29, were allowed to compete in the women’s boxing in Paris this summer. He said the International Olympic Committee was wrong to clear them for fights – and after he shared the article on X, Ms Woods responded: ‘Great article Oli’. But she took to the platform yesterday to write: ‘Since I replied to this article I’ve had numerous death threats to myself and my unborn child. Questions on my own gender (I’m pregnant so guess that clears that one up), calls for my employers to sack me, threats to my home. ‘I’ve been called racist, a bigot and a sexist as well as various insults... I’ve also been asked why I haven’t raised any concerns on this topic before. See the above for your answer.’ Earlier this month, boxing at Paris 2024 was overshadowed by a dispute over the participation of Algeria’s Khelif, who went on to win a gold medal, and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who also won gold. Both allegedly failed gender tests conducted by the International Boxing Association last year which purportedly showed they have XY chromosomes, the male pattern. They were then disqualified from last year’s World Boxing Championships by the IBA despite both insisting they were born female. Ms Woods, who is expecting her first child with former Love Island contestant Adam Collard, 28, continued in her X post: ‘When there are discrepancies with test results – which could impact the safety of another human being, in an environment that above all else should be fair – questions are quite rightly going to be asked. ‘The answers are still unclear, otherwise, this topic would be closed.’ The gender debate began when Italy’s Angela Carini quit 46 seconds into her round-of-16 match with Khelif. The Algerian landed the first significant punch and the Italian fighter dropped to her knees in tears. The 25-year-old could be heard shouting to her coach, ‘It’s not right, it’s not right!’ before telling reporters she had never been punched so hard in her life. The International Olympic Committee had allowed Khelif to compete despite last year’s gender test as the IBA was unable to provide any proof of its findings. The IBA was also expelled by the IOC in June last year over financial and corruption concerns. Khelif went on to win Algeria’s first gold medal in women’s boxing. But the row has continued – Khelif has now filed an online harassment lawsuit that reportedly names JK Rowling and Elon Musk. The Harry Potter author, 59, had referred to Khelif as a ‘male’ and accused her of ‘enjoying the distress of a woman he’s just punched in the head, and whose life’s ambition he’s just shattered’. Nabil Boudi, Khelif’s attorney, said: ‘JK Rowling and Elon Musk are named in the lawsuit, among others. ‘[Donald] Trump tweeted, so whether or not he is named in our lawsuit, he will inevitably be looked into as part of the prosecution. What we’re asking is that the prosecution investigates not only these people but whoever it feels necessary. If the case goes to court, they will stand trial.’ After striking gold in Paris, the Algerian fighter had a message for those who raised concerns at her inclusion. ‘I am a woman like any other woman,’ she said. ‘I was born a woman, I lived as a woman, I competed as woman – there is no doubt. ‘There are enemies of success of course. That gives my success a special taste because of these attacks. I want to tell the world that they should commit to the Olympic principles and they should not bully people.’ ‘The answers are still unclear’ ‘Never been punched so hard’ Article Name:Death threats to ITV star and unborn baby over gender row boxer Publication:Daily Mail Author:Daily Mail Reporter Start Page:9 End Page:9")
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![IMANE Khelif was just a couple of months old when JK Rowling published The Prisoner of Azkaban, the third book in her harry Potter series, in July 1999. While children across the world queued up to get their hands on copies of the latest instalment of the boy wizard’s adventures, Khelif was embarking on what she would later describe as her own fairytale, one which would take her from a childhood selling scrap metal and plastic in a backwater town in rural Algeria to olympic glory in Paris. At first glance, then, a real rags-to-riches tale and yet one which underwent an extraordinary twist this week when the 25-year-old Algerian named Rowling in a criminal complaint filed to French authorities after the world-famous author accused the boxer of being male. Indeed, nearly a week after the olympic closing ceremony in Paris, the ugly gender row which overshadowed the games amid allegations that Khelif is ‘biologically’ male is showing no sign of abating. With Rowling, billionaire Elon Musk and possibly even Donald Trump drawn into the legal affray, if anything the gloves are only just coming off. Among those outraged by claims that Khelif is a ‘man fighting women’ are, the Mail can exclusively reveal, the boxer’s mother, Nasria, who has spoken out for the first time about the controversy this week, insisting that her child is her ‘beloved daughter’. She vowed to give her ‘unwavering love and support as I have always done since she was born’, adding: ‘I will always be there for her.’ Family friends have told this newspaper that despite initially having reservations about Imane competing in a sport largely associated with men, Nasria Khelif eventually threw her weight behind her, taking on extra work as a school cook to help pay for her daughter’s boxing training and travel costs. ‘Nasria has been at Imane’s side throughout her career,’ said one of the Khelif family’s neighbours in Biban Mesbah in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains, around 185 miles from the Algerian capital, Algiers. BoTh Nasria and her husband Amar, who works as a welder for an oil company, were among hundreds of locals who crowded around a giant outdoor screen in the centre of Biban Mesbah, a town with a population of just 6,000, tucking into plates of couscous while watching their daughter punch her way to olympic victory in Paris last Friday. Celebratory shots were fired into the air from traditional muskets after Khelif’s welterweight win over China’s Yang Lui. Nasria and Amar were with Imane at the Palais d’El Mouradia in Algiers on Thursday where their boxer daughter was given a hero’s welcome by president Abdelmajid Tebboune who told her: ‘Your gold is Algeria’s gold.’ The ceremony is just one of many high-profile celebrations planned in Khelif’s highly conservative and nationalistic home country in the days ahead. For Algerians, Khelif’s olympic gold medal is a source of huge national pride. Amar Khelif – who insisted a fortnight ago: ‘My child is a girl. She was raised as a girl. Imane is a girl who has loved sport since she was six years old’ – has also described Imane’s medal as ‘Algeria’s victory’. A giant poster of his daughter hangs on the wall at her old boxing club in the town of Tiaret. Zohra Chourouk, a 17-year-old member of the club, says she hope to follow in Imane’s footsteps. She added: ‘She honoured the national flag. She is our role model.’ Such praise is a world away from comments made by JK Rowling as the gender row centred on Khelif gathered pace in Paris. The 59-year-old mother of three was one of the most high-profile figures leading the outcry against Khelif’s inclusion in this summer’s Games after it emerged the athlete failed unspecified gender eligibility tests administered by the International Boxing Association. In one post on X, Rowling shared a photo of Khelif’s controversial fight with Italy’s Angela Carini, which lasted just 46 seconds before Carini abandoned the fight, accusing the Algerian of being a male who was ‘enjoying the distress of a woman he’s just punched in the head’. In another post, she wrote: ‘Explain why you’re oK with a man beating a woman in public for your entertainment. This isn’t sport. From the bullying cheat in the red all the way up to the organisers who allowed this to happen, this is men revelling in their power over women.’ X owner Elon Musk also weighed in, sharing a post from US swimmer Riley Gaines which said that ‘men don’t belong in women’s sports’ and adding the word ‘absolutely’. US presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump posted a picture from one of Khelif’s fights and said: ‘I will keep men out of women’s sports.’ Such comments have outraged Algerians – particularly those who have known Khelif since childhood – and have led to erroneous claims that she was a trans woman; claims which were swiftly debunked by the emergence of photographs taken in the early 2000s showing Khelif as a schoolgirl in a class photograph at primary school in Biban Mesbah. Khelif was born in the small town of Aïn Sidi Ali, in May 1999, the youngest of five children. Her family moved to Biban Mesbah a few years later. Neighbours recall how she was expected to help her mother with household chores but also developed a passion for football with boys in the village. On occasions, she also got into fights with them. One of her teachers – who has no doubt the child who attended her primary school class was a girl – told the Mail this week that she was ‘energetic and very ambitious’. ‘She wanted to be the best at what she did, and to make other people in her home country proud of her. Football was her first passion then she was drawn to boxing, even though her parents didn’t think that sport was right for a little girl. ‘Boys gave her a tough time, too, and she had to stand up to them, but this made her more determined.’ In an interview with UNICEF, for whom Khelif became an ambassador in January, she said she used to sell scrap metal and plastic, while her mother sold home-made couscous, to pay for the bus fare to the nearest club ten miles away. She became a cadet in Algeria’s Civil Protection Unit which enabled her to attend their boxing club in Tiaret. She moved to the town to live with her Uncle Rachid. She is said to have begun training seriously after watching boxing on television at the Rio 2016 Olympics. The roots of this highly toxic controversy lie in the last-minute decision by the International Boxing Association (IBA) in March last year, to disqualify Khelif from the Women’s World Championships in India. She was expelled just hours before a scheduled gold medal showdown against a Chinese opponent ‘after her elevated levels of testosterone failed to meet the eligibility criteria’. So, too, was Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Ting. In a statement this month, the IBA said that the pair had failed to meet the eligibility for participating in the women’s competition. It said that the boxers ‘did not undergo a testosterone examination but were subject to a separate and recognised test where the specifics remain confidential’. The IBA’s Russian president, Umar Kremlev, alleged last year that both boxers’ tests revealed the presence of XY chromosomes which determine a person’s biological sex as male. To complicate matters further, however, the Russian-dominated IBA has been seriously discredited in recent years amid concerns about the integrity of its president, Kremlev, who is a close associate of Vladimir Putin, as well as an ongoing clash with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) which banished the organisation from the Olympics in 2019. The IOC has already said boxing will be dropped from the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics unless the sport lines up behind a new governing body. Amid accusations of corruption, judging scandals and financial misdeeds, three dozen nations, including the UK and the US, have cuts ties with the IBA to form a new body called World Boxing. TENSIONS between the IBA and the IOC increased following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. While the IOC advised its governing bodies to prevent Russian athletes competing with their national flag and anthems, the IBA disregarded this at the world championships in Delhi last year. Aspects of Khelif’s disqualification are deeply troubling, particularly the timing. It came just three days after the Algerian, who had competed for years in IBA events without any problems, won an early-round bout with Azalia Amineva, a previously unbeaten Russian fighter. Khelif’s disqualification ensured Amineva’s official perfect record was restored. Not surprisingly then, the IOC – and others in the boxing world – believe Khelif’s IBA disqualification lacks transparency and cannot be relied upon. An IOC statement made clear the organisation’s stance: ‘Khelif was assigned female at birth and it says so on her passport, which is the International Olympic Committee’s threshold for eligibility in boxing.’ Nevertheless, she faced a wave of online abuse and accusations over her gender. In the middle of the Paris Games, Khelif’s trainer, George Cazorla, tried to put the scandal to rest with a statement which raised as many questions as it answered. He said that after the 2023 World Championships disqualification, he contacted a renowned endocrinologist, a doctor who treats hormone related problems, in Paris. ‘He confirmed that Imane is indeed a woman, despite her karyotype [an individual’s set of chromosones] and her testosterone level. He said: ‘There is a problem with her hormones, with her chromosome, but she is a woman. ‘We then worked with a doctor based in Algeria to monitor and regulate Imane’s testosterone level, which is currently within the female norm. Tests clearly show that all her muscular and other qualities have been diminishing since then.’ Fiona McAnena, director of campaigns for the UK charity Sex Matters and an expert on the policies of sports governing bodies, said that both Khelif and Taiwan’s YuTing are believed to to be impacted by what is known medically as a Difference of Sexual Development (DSD) which gave them ‘a massive competitive advantage’. ACCORDING to the NHS, DSD is ‘a group of rare conditions involving genes and reproductive organs, including genitals. It means a person’s sex development is different to most other people’s’. Around 130 babies born in the UK each year have potential intersex conditions and, it is estimated, around 1.7 per cent of the global population. At Rio 2016, all three athletes on the podium for the women’s 800m race – South Africa’s Caster Semenya, Margaret Wambui of Kenya and Burundi’s Francine Niyonsaba – had DSD. Sex Matters trustee Dr Emma Hilton, a developmental scientist at the University of Manchester and an expert in how differences between the sexes translate into sporting performance, told the Mail: ‘That 800m race was shocking, but at least when you are running around a track you are not punching someone in the face. ‘The IOC don’t want these athletes barred because they have been captured by ideology. They have said that this is a human rights issue where to do so would be discrimination. But inclusion cannot just be offset against safety.’ Khelif is adamant that that nothing about her biology has given her an advantage in the boxing ring. Speaking after her gold medal victory last Friday, she said: ‘I’m a strong woman with special powers. From the ring, I sent a message to those who were against me.’ Her French lawyer has confirmed that a legal complaint has been sent to the National Centre for the Fight Against Online Hatred within the Paris Prosecutor’s Office accusing individuals, including Rowling, of ‘cyberbullying due to gender’. An investigation has been launched. In the midst of this ongoing debacle, perhaps the most troubling comment of all came from IOC President Thomas Bach last Friday when he said that there is not a ‘scientifically solid system’ to identify men and women. Until that issue is resolved, the debate about how to ensure a level playing field for athletes is unlikely to be settled in the near future. Her gold medal divided the world. Now, as Olympic boxer Imane Khelif sues JK Rowling and Elon Musk for questioning her gender, her furious parents spring to her defence in an interview that will make you think twice Article Name:EXCLUSIVE The Snapchat photo that spelled end of a dream for golden couple of Love Island Publication:Daily Mail Author:By Grant Tucker and Dolly Busby Start Page:29 End Page:29](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F24b839aa-afcd-4d84-b168-157ffbb1c4f2_1119x710.jpeg "IMANE Khelif was just a couple of months old when JK Rowling published The Prisoner of Azkaban, the third book in her harry Potter series, in July 1999. While children across the world queued up to get their hands on copies of the latest instalment of the boy wizard’s adventures, Khelif was embarking on what she would later describe as her own fairytale, one which would take her from a childhood selling scrap metal and plastic in a backwater town in rural Algeria to olympic glory in Paris. At first glance, then, a real rags-to-riches tale and yet one which underwent an extraordinary twist this week when the 25-year-old Algerian named Rowling in a criminal complaint filed to French authorities after the world-famous author accused the boxer of being male. Indeed, nearly a week after the olympic closing ceremony in Paris, the ugly gender row which overshadowed the games amid allegations that Khelif is ‘biologically’ male is showing no sign of abating. With Rowling, billionaire Elon Musk and possibly even Donald Trump drawn into the legal affray, if anything the gloves are only just coming off. Among those outraged by claims that Khelif is a ‘man fighting women’ are, the Mail can exclusively reveal, the boxer’s mother, Nasria, who has spoken out for the first time about the controversy this week, insisting that her child is her ‘beloved daughter’. She vowed to give her ‘unwavering love and support as I have always done since she was born’, adding: ‘I will always be there for her.’ Family friends have told this newspaper that despite initially having reservations about Imane competing in a sport largely associated with men, Nasria Khelif eventually threw her weight behind her, taking on extra work as a school cook to help pay for her daughter’s boxing training and travel costs. ‘Nasria has been at Imane’s side throughout her career,’ said one of the Khelif family’s neighbours in Biban Mesbah in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains, around 185 miles from the Algerian capital, Algiers. BoTh Nasria and her husband Amar, who works as a welder for an oil company, were among hundreds of locals who crowded around a giant outdoor screen in the centre of Biban Mesbah, a town with a population of just 6,000, tucking into plates of couscous while watching their daughter punch her way to olympic victory in Paris last Friday. Celebratory shots were fired into the air from traditional muskets after Khelif’s welterweight win over China’s Yang Lui. Nasria and Amar were with Imane at the Palais d’El Mouradia in Algiers on Thursday where their boxer daughter was given a hero’s welcome by president Abdelmajid Tebboune who told her: ‘Your gold is Algeria’s gold.’ The ceremony is just one of many high-profile celebrations planned in Khelif’s highly conservative and nationalistic home country in the days ahead. For Algerians, Khelif’s olympic gold medal is a source of huge national pride. Amar Khelif – who insisted a fortnight ago: ‘My child is a girl. She was raised as a girl. Imane is a girl who has loved sport since she was six years old’ – has also described Imane’s medal as ‘Algeria’s victory’. A giant poster of his daughter hangs on the wall at her old boxing club in the town of Tiaret. Zohra Chourouk, a 17-year-old member of the club, says she hope to follow in Imane’s footsteps. She added: ‘She honoured the national flag. She is our role model.’ Such praise is a world away from comments made by JK Rowling as the gender row centred on Khelif gathered pace in Paris. The 59-year-old mother of three was one of the most high-profile figures leading the outcry against Khelif’s inclusion in this summer’s Games after it emerged the athlete failed unspecified gender eligibility tests administered by the International Boxing Association. In one post on X, Rowling shared a photo of Khelif’s controversial fight with Italy’s Angela Carini, which lasted just 46 seconds before Carini abandoned the fight, accusing the Algerian of being a male who was ‘enjoying the distress of a woman he’s just punched in the head’. In another post, she wrote: ‘Explain why you’re oK with a man beating a woman in public for your entertainment. This isn’t sport. From the bullying cheat in the red all the way up to the organisers who allowed this to happen, this is men revelling in their power over women.’ X owner Elon Musk also weighed in, sharing a post from US swimmer Riley Gaines which said that ‘men don’t belong in women’s sports’ and adding the word ‘absolutely’. US presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump posted a picture from one of Khelif’s fights and said: ‘I will keep men out of women’s sports.’ Such comments have outraged Algerians – particularly those who have known Khelif since childhood – and have led to erroneous claims that she was a trans woman; claims which were swiftly debunked by the emergence of photographs taken in the early 2000s showing Khelif as a schoolgirl in a class photograph at primary school in Biban Mesbah. Khelif was born in the small town of Aïn Sidi Ali, in May 1999, the youngest of five children. Her family moved to Biban Mesbah a few years later. Neighbours recall how she was expected to help her mother with household chores but also developed a passion for football with boys in the village. On occasions, she also got into fights with them. One of her teachers – who has no doubt the child who attended her primary school class was a girl – told the Mail this week that she was ‘energetic and very ambitious’. ‘She wanted to be the best at what she did, and to make other people in her home country proud of her. Football was her first passion then she was drawn to boxing, even though her parents didn’t think that sport was right for a little girl. ‘Boys gave her a tough time, too, and she had to stand up to them, but this made her more determined.’ In an interview with UNICEF, for whom Khelif became an ambassador in January, she said she used to sell scrap metal and plastic, while her mother sold home-made couscous, to pay for the bus fare to the nearest club ten miles away. She became a cadet in Algeria’s Civil Protection Unit which enabled her to attend their boxing club in Tiaret. She moved to the town to live with her Uncle Rachid. She is said to have begun training seriously after watching boxing on television at the Rio 2016 Olympics. The roots of this highly toxic controversy lie in the last-minute decision by the International Boxing Association (IBA) in March last year, to disqualify Khelif from the Women’s World Championships in India. She was expelled just hours before a scheduled gold medal showdown against a Chinese opponent ‘after her elevated levels of testosterone failed to meet the eligibility criteria’. So, too, was Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Ting. In a statement this month, the IBA said that the pair had failed to meet the eligibility for participating in the women’s competition. It said that the boxers ‘did not undergo a testosterone examination but were subject to a separate and recognised test where the specifics remain confidential’. The IBA’s Russian president, Umar Kremlev, alleged last year that both boxers’ tests revealed the presence of XY chromosomes which determine a person’s biological sex as male. To complicate matters further, however, the Russian-dominated IBA has been seriously discredited in recent years amid concerns about the integrity of its president, Kremlev, who is a close associate of Vladimir Putin, as well as an ongoing clash with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) which banished the organisation from the Olympics in 2019. The IOC has already said boxing will be dropped from the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics unless the sport lines up behind a new governing body. Amid accusations of corruption, judging scandals and financial misdeeds, three dozen nations, including the UK and the US, have cuts ties with the IBA to form a new body called World Boxing. TENSIONS between the IBA and the IOC increased following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. While the IOC advised its governing bodies to prevent Russian athletes competing with their national flag and anthems, the IBA disregarded this at the world championships in Delhi last year. Aspects of Khelif’s disqualification are deeply troubling, particularly the timing. It came just three days after the Algerian, who had competed for years in IBA events without any problems, won an early-round bout with Azalia Amineva, a previously unbeaten Russian fighter. Khelif’s disqualification ensured Amineva’s official perfect record was restored. Not surprisingly then, the IOC – and others in the boxing world – believe Khelif’s IBA disqualification lacks transparency and cannot be relied upon. An IOC statement made clear the organisation’s stance: ‘Khelif was assigned female at birth and it says so on her passport, which is the International Olympic Committee’s threshold for eligibility in boxing.’ Nevertheless, she faced a wave of online abuse and accusations over her gender. In the middle of the Paris Games, Khelif’s trainer, George Cazorla, tried to put the scandal to rest with a statement which raised as many questions as it answered. He said that after the 2023 World Championships disqualification, he contacted a renowned endocrinologist, a doctor who treats hormone related problems, in Paris. ‘He confirmed that Imane is indeed a woman, despite her karyotype [an individual’s set of chromosones] and her testosterone level. He said: ‘There is a problem with her hormones, with her chromosome, but she is a woman. ‘We then worked with a doctor based in Algeria to monitor and regulate Imane’s testosterone level, which is currently within the female norm. Tests clearly show that all her muscular and other qualities have been diminishing since then.’ Fiona McAnena, director of campaigns for the UK charity Sex Matters and an expert on the policies of sports governing bodies, said that both Khelif and Taiwan’s YuTing are believed to to be impacted by what is known medically as a Difference of Sexual Development (DSD) which gave them ‘a massive competitive advantage’. ACCORDING to the NHS, DSD is ‘a group of rare conditions involving genes and reproductive organs, including genitals. It means a person’s sex development is different to most other people’s’. Around 130 babies born in the UK each year have potential intersex conditions and, it is estimated, around 1.7 per cent of the global population. At Rio 2016, all three athletes on the podium for the women’s 800m race – South Africa’s Caster Semenya, Margaret Wambui of Kenya and Burundi’s Francine Niyonsaba – had DSD. Sex Matters trustee Dr Emma Hilton, a developmental scientist at the University of Manchester and an expert in how differences between the sexes translate into sporting performance, told the Mail: ‘That 800m race was shocking, but at least when you are running around a track you are not punching someone in the face. ‘The IOC don’t want these athletes barred because they have been captured by ideology. They have said that this is a human rights issue where to do so would be discrimination. But inclusion cannot just be offset against safety.’ Khelif is adamant that that nothing about her biology has given her an advantage in the boxing ring. Speaking after her gold medal victory last Friday, she said: ‘I’m a strong woman with special powers. From the ring, I sent a message to those who were against me.’ Her French lawyer has confirmed that a legal complaint has been sent to the National Centre for the Fight Against Online Hatred within the Paris Prosecutor’s Office accusing individuals, including Rowling, of ‘cyberbullying due to gender’. An investigation has been launched. In the midst of this ongoing debacle, perhaps the most troubling comment of all came from IOC President Thomas Bach last Friday when he said that there is not a ‘scientifically solid system’ to identify men and women. Until that issue is resolved, the debate about how to ensure a level playing field for athletes is unlikely to be settled in the near future. Her gold medal divided the world. Now, as Olympic boxer Imane Khelif sues JK Rowling and Elon Musk for questioning her gender, her furious parents spring to her defence in an interview that will make you think twice Article Name:EXCLUSIVE The Snapchat photo that spelled end of a dream for golden couple of Love Island Publication:Daily Mail Author:By Grant Tucker and Dolly Busby Start Page:29 End Page:29")
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