High Profile Campaigners Demand Public Inquiry Into Gender Ideology Infiltration

British writer JK Rowling poses on the red carpet after arriving to attend the World Premiere of the film "Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore" in London on March 29, 2022. Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty Images

A group of professionals and high-profile public figures has written to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak demanding a public inquiry into how gender ideology was allowed to infiltrate public life and institutions, causing great harm to children and vulnerable people.

The letter was signed by writers including JK Rowling and “Father Ted” creator Graham Linehan, and by a number of Conservative politicians including former Prime Minister Liz Truss, former Home Secretary Suella Braverman, Dame Andrea Jenkyns, Miriam Cates, and Danny Kruger.

Labour MP Graham Stringer also put his name to the letter, as did former Green Party deputy leader Sharah Ali, Scottish Alba Party MP Neale Hanvey, and Reform UK leader Richard Tice.

In the wake of the damning Cass Review into gender services offered to children by NHS England, the letter expresses “grave concern” about the emotional and physical harm done to children “in the name of gender identity ideology.”

The report, authored by leading paediatrician Dr. Hilary Cass, was broadly welcomed by many of the letter’s signatories, but they wish to see a more robust challenge to the notion of “being born into the wrong body,” pointing out there is no scientific evidence for gender ideology.

Signatories include three “detransitioners”—Keira Bell, Ritchie Herron, and Sinead Watson—who have spoken out about the physical damage they have to live with after taking puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones and undergoing irreversible surgery.

The letter raises concerns about schools unquestioningly teaching children about gender ideology as though it is a fact that someone can have a different “gender identity” to one’s biological sex, when this is merely an ideology.

A number of campaigners from gay rights and children’s and women’s rights groups also signed the letter, including representatives from the LGB Alliance, Transgender Trend, and Genspect.

The letter says: “Those most at risk are children who do not conform to traditional sex stereotypes. Evidence shows that, in fact, the vast majority are sexually attracted to people of the same sex.”

Some Who Signed Lost Their Careers

Some who signed the letter were “cancelled,” effectively losing their careers, their usual income, and suffering severe reputational damage because they challenged the institutions promoting gender ideology. While some, such as Ms. Rowling, might be considered “too big” or too wealthy to be cancelled, others such as Mr. Linehan and writer Rachel Rooney spoke out at considerable personal cost.

The swimmer Sharron Davies, who has campaigned for trans-identified men to be kept out of women’s sport, also signed, together with broadcasters including Beverley Turner of GB News and TalkTV’s Julia Hartley-Brewer.

A number of psychiatrists, psychologists, and other medical professionals signed the letter, including former employees of the discredited Tavistock clinic.

Another signatory was academic Kathleen Stock, who was hounded out of her job as professor of philosophy at Sussex University for expressing so-called “gender critical” views, which opinion polls show the majority of Brits agree with.

Former barrister James Esses, who was thrown off his master’s degree course in psychology for raising concerns about gender ideology, also signed.

"Father Ted" co-creator Graham Linehan during a Let Women Speak rally in Belfast on April 16, 2023. PA

The letter states that whistleblowers in the field of so-called “gender-affirming care” have now been “vindicated” as Dr. Cass revealed the scandal of medical interventions for young people who wrongly believed they were “transgender” and were placed on inappropriate paths towards surgery and sterility.

The signatories welcomed the NHS’s decision to halt the prescription of puberty blockers and the closure of the scandal-hit Tavistock clinic as further evidence that gender ideology is harmful, and pointed out that the long-term damage done to young people through cross-sex hormones is not yet known.

Institutions, ‘Especially the BBC,’ Should Be Looked At

“We believe this is a major scandal that requires a public inquiry,” the group wrote, adding that such an interrogation should “consider the extent to which state and non-state institutions have failed in their duty of care” by promoting the ideology of transgenderism.

“The scope of an inquiry must include all institutions complicit in this harm, including government departments, the NHS, private gender clinics, mental health bodies, schools, ‘LGBTQ+’ campaign groups, broadcast and print media (particularly the BBC), and private corporations,” the letter says.

Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss speaks at the launch of the Popular Conservatives movement in London on Feb. 6, 2024. Leon Neal/Getty Images

Such an inquiry should have the power to compel public institutions to give evidence, the letter says, and must examine the reasons for the surge in the number of young people who believe they are “transgender,” such as the “promotion and glorification” of the ideology.

It should further look at how and why gender identity ideology became embedded in the policies and practices of relevant institutions, the influence of third-party organisations, such as charities and campaign groups, on government, education, and health practitioners, the group added.

The evidence base of a “gender-affirming transition” model and how this aligns or conflicts with medical and therapeutic best practice would also need to be examined, along with the clinical treatment offered to children and vulnerable adults.

Attempts to silence individuals who raised concerns about harm done to children through “gender-affirming transition,” whether social or medical, should also be considered, along with the policies of schools in allowing children to “identify” as the opposite sex, sometimes without their parents’ knowledge or consent.

Public Inquiries Can Cost Hundreds of Millions

Public inquiries have become a feature of British politics over the past three decades, but some question whether the cost to the public purse makes them truly worthwhile exercises.

Between 1990 and 2017, the government reportedly spent at least £630 million on public inquiries, with the most expensive being the Bloody Sunday Inquiry, costing an estimated £192 million, with nearly £100 million going to lawyers.

Others believe they are worthwhile because they can bring a sense of closure to victims, although they cannot in themselves lead to those responsible for wrongdoing going to prison, as this has to be done through the courts.

There are more than a dozen ongoing public inquiries in the UK, including the COVID Inquiry, chaired by Baroness Hallett, which is expected to run until at least 2027 and is likely to cost in the hundreds of millions. This has faced repeated criticism of having a “pre-determined outcome” in favour of lockdowns, with some suggesting it will be a “whitewash” rather than a genuine truth seeking exercise.