BRENT CUTLER recommends a sober examination of the real risks and true merits of nuclear energy, and an exposure of the capitalist system as an obstacle to human betterment
The dangers of medicalising gender
SONYA ANDERMAHR admires a candid history of the NHS service and its mistreatment of young people with gender dysphoria
[Ted Eyton/CC]
A deeply pleasing festive crime wave
MARIA DUARTE picks the best and worst of a crowded year of films
JOSEPHINE BARBARO welcomes a diverse anthology of experiences by autistic women that amounts to a resounding chorus, demanding to be heard
PAUL BUHLE recommends an eminently useful book that examines the political opportunities for popular anti-fascist intervention
PETER MASON is entertained by the autobiography of Charlie Harper, one of punk’s most enduring figures
Time to Think
Hannah Barnes, Swift Press, £20
“ARE we hurting children?” is the question that lies at the heart of this timely and meticulously researched investigation into the medical scandal at the Tavistock and Portman Trust’s Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS).
The service opened in 1989 to provide talking therapies to young people struggling with their gender identity. Treatment initially consisted of careful and lengthy exploration of the issues and family counselling in a supportive setting. It involved small numbers of patients, mainly boys, who exhibited gender incongruence before puberty. Most of these boys desisted and grew up to be gay.
By the time of the announcement of the clinic’s closure last year, the number of young people being treated had skyrocketed into the thousands; the vast majority, representing a rise of over 4,000 per cent, were now teenage girls exhibiting extreme distress and complex problems.
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