Irish journalist and former Economist editor Helen Joyce argues that modern “gender affirmation” approaches for children lack solid scientific evidence and have spread through institutions, schools, and social media despite weak clinical backing. Discussing the UK’s Cass Report, Joyce claims the review found treatments such as puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for gender-distressed minors were introduced without reliable evidence or long-term follow-up, often affecting vulnerable children with other mental health issues.
The conversation also explores how gender identity ideology spread through online youth culture and activist networks, the legal and political battles around sex-based rights, and Ireland’s self-ID law, with Joyce warning that policy built on self-declared gender could have wide-ranging consequences for healthcare, law, and women’s spaces.
PLEASE NOTE: The views expressed by guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of this program.
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