On 17-20 June the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych) will host their 2024 International Congress at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre. The conference programme lists several speakers associated with anti-trans lobbying and the promotion of conversion therapy.
An anti-trans panel
On Thursday 20 June, a session will take place titled ‘Treatment of gender dysphoria in children and adolescents: a review of the evidence base’. Most of the speakers have worked with SEGM, an anti-trans pseudoscience thinktank associated with the promotion of conversion therapy.
- Dr Lenny Cornwall (chair), of Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Trust. Dr Cornwall lost a closely fought election to the RCPsych Board in 2023, after promising to “end RCPsych’s partnership with Stonewall”. Cornwall is a member of CAN-SG, an anti-trans pseudoscientific group who promoted conversion therapy in their launch webinar in October 2023. He has actively opposed measures to support men and non-binary people in perinatal care, for example through supporting a campaign to cancel trans equality training for midwives.
- Prof Riittakertu Kaltiala, of Tampere University, Finland and chief psychiatrist in the Adolescent Forensic unit at Tampere University Hospital. Prof Kaltiala spoke at SEGM’s 2023 conference and introduced Dr Hilary Cass to SEGM member Patrick Hunter. The psychiatric unit at Tampere University Hospital has been accused of abusive practices by young trans people and their families, including unnecessary gynecological tests, subjecting young people to inappropriate questions and recommendations regarding their sexual practices, and refusing to use young people’s names.
- Dr Michael Biggs, of the University of Oxford. Dr Biggs has no specific expertise in trans healthcare, but has extensively engaged in anti-trans disinformation campaigns. He is an advisor to SEGM, a member of the Board of Directors for the anti-trans group Sex Matters, and has appeared in anti-trans film for Ickonic, the streaming platform operated by notorious antisemite David Icke. In 2018 Biggs was outed as the owner of a prolific transphobic troll account on Twitter.
- Prof Sallie Baxendale, of University College London. Prof Baxendale has written for the anti-trans campaign group Transgender Trend, and spoken at a conference organised by SEGM.
Keynotes from Dr Hilary Cass
The RCPSych Congress will also feature a keynote address from Dr Hilary Cass, chair of the Cass Review on Tuesday 19 June. Dr Cass will also speak at a later event titled “Everything you wanted to know about transgender health but were too afraid to ask”.
While the final report of the Cass Review has been warmly received by NHS bodies and UK politicians, it has been extensively critiqued by trans healthcare experts and researchers from a range of disciplines. Critics have highlighted methodological and ethical issues including inconsistent use of evidence, the exclusion of research expertise or oversight from people with lived experience of gender services, and collaboration with proponents of conversion therapy.
Despite this preponderence of controversial figures on the speaking programme, we are not aware that any proponents of affirmative trans healthcare, let alone actual trans people, have been invited to speak to our own experiences at the RCPsych conference.
Speak out against transphobia in psychiatry
Contemporary anti-trans campaigns within medical science thrive on partial evidence, disinformation, and misleading expertise. In this context, it is easy for certain voices to be lost: specifically, people with actual lived experience of transition and gender services, and trans healthcare experts who have actually worked with and listened to trans people.
Echoing the rallying cry of the disability liberation movement, “nothing about us without us”, we encourage RCPsych conference organisers to reconsider the promotion of conversion practices and absence of trans expertise at their World Congress. We further encourage keynote speakers at the RCPsych Congress – including Dr Hilary Cass – to consider whether they wish to be associated with the dangerous ideologies and practices of groups such as SEGM and CAN-SG.
Readers wishing to lobby conference organisers and speakers may find the information in this post useful as a starting point.
Official contact details for the RCPsych International Congress 2024 are available here.
Keynote speakers include:
- Dr Lade Smith
- Professor John McGrath
- Professor Arnoud Arntz
- Dr Ramaswamy Viswanathan
- Professor Andrew McIntosh
- Dr Rebecca Lawrence
- Professor Ramalingam N Chithiramohan
- Professor Kenneth A Kaufman
- Professor Sophie Scott
- Professor John Strang
- Dr Hilary Cass
- Dr Humphrey Needham-Bennett
- Dr Rebecca Cooney
- Professor Dacher Keltner
- Judge Tim Eicke
- Professor Helen Killaspy
If you choose to contact any of these individuals, please be courteous and provide relevant evidence: they may not be aware that various event attendees are associated with anti-trans groups, or may not initially understand how or why these groups pose a real risk of harm to trans people.