Unlisted interview with Dr. Polly Carmichael
The Cass Review shows weak evidence behind Carmichael's claims and rationale for puberty blockers
Below is an interview I found on YouTube with Dr. Polly Carmichael last updated on the 9th February 2017. It is unlisted, meaning that you can’t find it if you search for it; you have to know the link to the playlist. The headings are taken from the titles of the videos.
Some definitions
“‘gender identity’ is a relatively new term in fact, probably coined in the 60s by Stoller, ‘gender identity’ refers to your sense of your self, as male, female, non-binary, genderqueer or whatever your identity might be”.
In the book Trouble with Gender Alex Byrne writes about the history of the concept of “gender identity”:
Stoller and Greenson originally explained gender identity in 1964 as the ‘sense of knowing to which sex one belongs’.
Stoller would have not recognised “non-binary”, “genderqueer” or “whatever your identity might be”. It is arguable that it is abusive to encourage the delusion that you can be something other than male or female, in patients that have specifically been referred because of their trouble with their identity.
The uncritical acceptance of identities such as “non-binary” shows a naivety regarding the motivation for genital surgeries amongst men, and the likelihood of such identities being a premise to fulfil e.g.a castration paraphilia. It also shows a naivity of a political culture, where marginalised identities have become prized amongst adolescents.
Carmichael follows:
“Sexual orientation does not necessarily follow gender identity… these two things do not follow each other” 1:02
The popular book on the research of cross-sex identification, The Man who would be Queen was published in 2003. The book covers the connection between atypical sexual orientation and cross-sex identification in males: being either a matter of homosexuality or autogynephilia.
It is arguable that Dr. Polly Carmichael was either an ideologue, for presenting a highly contested opinion in her field uncritically as fact, or incompetent, for being inadequately informed about the research in her field.
How does your organisation help people?
“Following a broad assessment… it may be that some would choose to go on and think about the first stage of physical intervention which would be the hypothalamic blocker, which is something that basically pauses puberty, a reversible treatment…” 1:40
Looking at the conclusions of the Cass Review, this statement can be seen to have been made without adequate evidence:
“The rationale for early puberty suppression remains unclear, with weak evidence regarding the impact on gender dysphoria, mental or psychosocial health. The effect on cognitive and psychosexual development remains unknown.”
What’s the youngest patient you have seen?
What causes gender dysphoria?
The causes of cross-sex identification are relatively well known. Again, Carmichael is arguably either obscuring what is known about cross-sex identification for ideological reasons, or incompetent, for being inadequately informed about the research in her field.