The chilling effect of conversion therapy bills
We are often told that conversion therapy bills have been introduced in other countries with no issues.Not so, according to Dr Alexander Korte, who describes the detrimental consequences of German…
A Mother and Daughter Speak About Their Experience of Adolescent Trans Identity
Earlier this year, a mother and daughter were interviewed by Evan Davis on BBC Radio 4's PM programme, describing their experience of navigating the daughter's adolescent trans identity. Whilst the…
HMC Spring Conference 2023: Our letter to heads on ideological talks
The HMC Spring Conference 2023 ‘Making Good Things Happen’ took place on Thursday 4 May in London. We became aware that two keynote talks would cover 'The Joy of Trans'…
The Policy Exchange Report on Gender and Safeguarding in Schools: A Summary for Parents
Download our PDF A detailed report by the Policy Exchange think-tank offers a useful overview of current school policies in relation to trans-identified students. An Examination of Gender and Safeguarding…
Social Transition: The Most Recent Advice for Schools
Download our PDF A request to change name and pronouns in line with a cross-sex or non-binary identity by changing school records can seem like the kindest and most inclusive…
Trans Identity: The Tip of the Iceberg?
Gender dysphoria is complex and multifactorial. Immediate affirmation of a child’s attested trans identity may obscure the background circumstances that led to this conclusion. Child and adolescent trans identity —…
Parents Should Be Front and Centre When It Comes To Safeguarding
We welcome the emphasis from Nadhim Zahawi MP to the Education Select Committee that "Parents should be front and centre" when it comes to safeguarding. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXFtK6shaPA Alarmingly, a recent YouGov…
Conundrums, Confusion and Circular Arguments: DfE Guidance on Gender Identity
This article was originally published as a Twitter thread. We reproduce it here with kind permission of the author. The Department for Education has given schools an impossible task when…
Reconsidering Informed Consent for Trans-Identified Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults
Reconsidering Informed Consent for Trans-Identified Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults Published this week, this paper by Stephen Levine, E. Abbruzzese, and Julia M. Mason, summarises the prevailing informed consent model…
The Cass Review: Interim Report Published
We welcome today's interim report from The Cass Review and its recognition that the current service model "is not a safe or viable long-term option". The report deserves a detailed…
Meeting the Scottish Gender Recognition Unit and our Concerns over changes to the current legislation
We're grateful to the Scottish GRUnit for meeting us recently to discuss our concerns over its proposals to reform the gender recognition process, notably lowering eligibility to 16yr olds, the…
Our Concerns About Healthtalk.org Project Featuring Trans-Identified Young People And Their Parents
We wrote to Professor Sue Ziebland at the Nuffield Department of Primary Care, Professor John Powell at NIHR, and Dipex Charity (responsible for Healthtalk.org website) in July 2020 outlining our…
Sweden Calls For Restraint In The Use Of Cross Sex Hormones In Minors
Today Sweden's National Board for Health & Welfare calls for "restraint" in the use of hormones by under 18s suffering gender dysphoria. "the risks of blockers & cross-sex hormones for…
The Economist: Activist Doctors Are Pushing For GPs To Prescribe Cross Sex Hormones
The Economist has reported on concerns about NHS England's new pilot gender clinics for adults. The protocol is blatantly unsafe, especially for vulnerable young people (17 and above), whose mental…
Professor Tanya Byron: We Think You Failed This Dad
This week Professor Tanya Byron failed a dad who'd asked for help about his 6th former child who identifies as non-binary. We'd like him to know he's welcome in our…
Submission: Banning Conversion Therapy
In October 2021, the UK government opened a public consultation on its proposals to ban conversion therapy. According to the government website: "The consultation seeks views on a package of…
Mental Health in Trans-identified Adolescents
There is ample evidence to suggest that the current cohort of children and young people presenting with gender dysphoria are different from the almost exclusively pre-pubescent males previously seen. Not…
Why Are So Many Girls Deciding They’d Rather Be Boys?
Welcome to the Bayswater Support Group Website. If you've found your way here, you will have followed one of our QR codes - thank you! Below you will find a…
NICE review echoes concerns raised by experts: poor evidence base for puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones
Many clinicians have now raised concerns about the use of puberty blockers in children, particularly in the last few years. Much of the unease of these medical professionals has been…
Our statement in response to the family court ruling on parental consent to puberty blockers
In light of last December’s judgment by the High Court that under 16s were unlikely to be able to consent to the prescribing of puberty blockers, an application was made…
Gender: A Wider Lens Episode 16 – Gender Dysphoria – What It’s Like For Parents
Although we have posted a link to Sasha Ayad and Stella O'Malley's fantastic podcast series before, we thought this episode deserved a special mention of its own. This episode highlights…
How We Could Reform ‘Transition to Adulthood’ care in the NHS
A look at seamless transition – not of gender, but from childhood to adult life. How well does the NHS support vulnerable teens with gender distress as they move into…
Puberty Blockers: A Letter to a Parent
Background Those of us who give our time to our support group do so because we want to help fellow parents who are facing the same difficult parenting decisions as…
BMJ Rapid Response: Supporting Parents of Children with Gender Dysphoria
Our BMJ Rapid Response, published 27 January 2020 at https://www.bmj.com/content/368/bmj.m215/rr-0 in response to this article by Sally Howard about the difficulties faced by GPs caring for young people with gender…
Statement: Bayswater Support Group Shares Concerns of CQC Inspection Report, Calls for Enhanced Child Mental Health Support
20 January 2021 Bayswater Support Group shares the concerns of the Care Quality Commission (CQC), whose inspection report today described the service provided by the NHS Gender Identity Development Service…
Statement to The Mail On Sunday about Puberty Blockers
On Sunday 16th January 2021, Sanchez Manning reported in The Mail on Sunday about GenderCare, a private clinic treating young people wishing to take cross sex hormones. We were asked…
Our Letter: Regarding the EHRC Transgender Guidance for Secondary Schools
15 September 2020 Rebecca Hilsenrath CEO, Equalities and Human Rights Commission via email: correspondence@equalityhumanrights.com Dear Mrs Hilsenrath, EHRC Transgender Guidance for Secondary Schools We read with concern the report in…
Our Letter: Concerning the Oxford Study “Identifying the Health and Care Needs of Young Trans and Gender Diverse People”
A 30 month long project entitled Identifying the health and care needs of young trans and gender diverse people was started by the Nuffield Department of Primary Care, and we…
Thoughts on J.K. Rowling’s Essay and its Responses
"Being male is preferable to being female and vulnerable.” (contributed by a parent in our group) We wanted to express our gratitude to J.K. Rowling for shining a light, in…