Britain’s National Health Service is closing its gender-identity youth clinic after a review revealed its care of gender-confused children and adolescents was substandard. Referrals at the clinic have skyrocketed in recent years, especially among teenage girls and those on the autism spectrum. Hilary Cass, the pediatrician leading the review, found that the clinic was “not a safe or viable long-term option.” Instead, new regional centers will be set up to “ensure the holistic needs” of patients are met.
In a face-saving statement, the trans activist group Stonewall said it welcomed the opportunity to decrease “unacceptable” wait times for “young trans people.” Really, though, this comes as a major blow to their efforts. And it is all thanks to the dogged journalism of the Times of London, the whistleblower clinicians who spoke out, and the battle in the British courts brought by Keira Bella, the young woman and former patient harmed by a hasty transition.