This is a brief overview of some of CAN-SG’s activities in 2023
The group has grown to over 100 healthcare professionals with members across many specialities including medicine, nursing, psychiatry, psychology and psychotherapy, general practice, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, radiology and radiography, midwifery and surgery.
Hundreds of people have signed our Declaration and shared with us their reasons for doing so.
Over the past year we’ve been involved in the following activities.
Giving professional advice
- Our evidence submissions to the following consultations
- interim service specification on new gender services for children and adolescents (end of 2022)
- puberty suppressing hormones for children and adolescents
- WHO guidelines on health of trans and gender diverse people (early 2024)
- Our evidence to parliamentarians for the Conversion Practices Bill
Writing, researching & academic work by our members
- written academic papers
- published books
- When Kids Say They’re Trans by Stella O’Malley, Sasha Ayad, Lisa Marchiano
- DETRANS: When Transition is not the Solution by Az Hakeem
- written several in-depth articles for our website including on social transition; what is meant by “conversion therapy“; the ethics of transgender surgery; the misuse of suicide statistics;
Spoken at and helped organise professional conferences across the world
Webinars
Campaigning & advocating
- In March, on International Women’s Day, CAN-SG submitted a letter signed by over 8000 people, including over 1300 health professionals to Amanda Pritchard at NHSEngland raising concerns about the erasure of words for “woman” and “mother” from NHS Digital communications. We never received a response. We will be pursuing the issue of sex based language and the importance of not confusing sex with gender in relation to health care, communication, data collection and research in 2024.
- CAN-SG supported James Esses case and wrote to UKCP to express support for their position on gender critical views in psychotherapy
- CAN-SG has written twice to NHS England to say it is important to provide services for detransitioners, but has not had a reply – we will be pursuing this in 2024
- CAN-SG supported With Woman in their challenge to the proposal to fund a programme of midwifery training based on poor quality research
Working within professional structures
Members have worked within their professional bodies to try to inform their policies on sex and gender, including: RCPsych, RCOG, UKCP, BPS, BMA, RCN
CAN-SG members in the media
CAN-SG members have been in a documentary on Irish TV, press reports, letters, quotes and interviews: RTÉ Prime Time, Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian, Mail, BMJ, Politics Live, Channel 4 and GB News.
Working with others
Several of our members are involved in other groups such as Genspect, Thoughtful Therapists, Bayswater Support, With Woman midwifery group, and the new Scottish group ScotPAG.
Website & social media
Our website is updated with interesting news and articles promoted on @CanSG_org
