Last week in the Welsh Parliament, we debated the findings of the Cass Review.
That’s a report on NHS practices and provision around young people who are “questioning their gender identity or experiencing gender dysphoria”.
It is a hugely significant report. There has been much debate on transgender issues over the years, but this is the most thorough piece of work done on the topic.
Why is it so important?
Until recently, children from around the UK were being sent to the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS), also known as the Tavistock, in London.
That includes hundreds of Welsh children over the years – as one example, in 2021-22 alone this number was over 150. That made it highly relevant as the topic of a Senedd debate.
What happened to the children there? Well, a court case revealed that record-keeping at the Tavistock was poor and that lots of information simply wasn’t recorded – but we do know that lots of children were given puberty blockers, a radically life-changing and serious medical intervention.
The Cass Review found that the evidence to support the use of puberty blockers was ‘remarkably weak’, and that not enough is known about the longer term impacts of puberty blockers for children and young people to know whether they are safe or not.
In short, those children the victims of medical experimentation.
The adults in the room had no idea about what impact those puberty blockers had, and they didn’t care - they happily carried on giving those blockers to vulnerable children. It is utterly abhorrent.
I wouldn’t want my children sent into an environment like that with such uncertainty and experimentation, and it is impossible to justify for other children in Wales.
The Cass Review was backed up by the University of York’s systematic, independent research programme.
It is high-quality, detailed research which has provided us with facts and evidence. We should always be following the science on these topics.
In the Welsh Parliament, it is only the Welsh Conservatives who support the implementation of the recommendations of the Cass Review and standing up for the rights of vulnerable children.
Welsh Labour, Plaid Cymru and the Liberal Democrats, who are all captured by people with extreme views, couldn’t bring themselves to support our motion. That tells you all you need to know.
If you have any queries or issues you’d like to raise with me, then you can get in touch by emailing [email protected].
Fy marn i - The Leader
Yr wythnos diwethaf yn Senedd Cymru, buom yn trafod casgliadau Adolygiad Cass.
Dyna adroddiad ar arferion a darpariaeth y GIG i bobl ifanc sy'n "cwestiynu eu hunaniaeth rhywedd neu'n profi dysfforia rhywedd".
Mae'n adroddiad arwyddocaol dros ben. Bu llawer o ddadlau ar faterion trawsryweddol dros y blynyddoedd, ond dyma'r darn mwyaf trylwyr o waith sydd wedi'i wneud ar y pwnc.
Pam mae mor bwysig?
Tan yn ddiweddar, roedd plant o bob cwr o'r DU yn cael eu hanfon i'r Gender Indentity Development Service (GIDS), neu'r Tavistock, yn Llundain.
Mae hynny'n cynnwys cannoedd o blant Cymru dros y blynyddoedd - er enghraifft, anfonwyd dros 150 yn ystod 2021-22. Roedd hynny'n ei wneud yn hynod berthnasol fel pwnc dadl yn y Senedd.
Beth ddigwyddodd i'r plant yno? Wel, datgelodd achos llys fod proses cadw cofnodion yn Tavistock yn wael ac nad oedd llawer o wybodaeth yn cael ei chofnodi - ond gwyddom fod llawer o blant yn cael meddyginiaeth atal y glasoed, ymyrraeth feddygol ddifrifol sy'n newid bywydau'n sylweddol.
Dywedodd Adolygiad Cass fod y dystiolaeth i gefnogi'r defnydd o feddyginiaethau atal y glasoed yn 'rhyfeddol o wan', ac nad ydym yn gwybod hanner digon am effeithiau hirdymor meddyginiaeth atal y glasoed ar gyfer plant a phobl ifanc, i weld a ydyn nhw'n ddiogel neu beidio.
Yn syml, mae’r plant hynny wedi dioddef yn sgil arbrofion meddygol.
Nid oedd gan yr oedolion yn yr ystafell unrhyw syniad am effaith y meddyginiaethau atal y glasoed hynny, nac yn poeni chwaith - yn hytrach, roedden nhw'n ddigon hapus i roi'r meddyginiaethau hynny i blant agored i niwed. Mae'n hollol ffiaidd.
Fyddwn i ddim am i'm plant gael eu hanfon i'r fath gyda'r fath ansicrwydd ac arbrofi, ac mae'n amhosib cyfiawnhau hynny i blant eraill yng Nghymru.
Ategwyd Adolygiad Cass gan raglen ymchwil systematig, annibynnol Prifysgol Caerefrog.
Mae'n ymchwil fanwl o'r radd flaenaf sydd wedi rhoi ffeithiau a thystiolaeth inni. Dylem bob amser fod yn dilyn y wyddoniaeth ar y pynciau hyn.
Yn Senedd Cymru, dim ond y Ceidwadwyr Cymreig sy'n cefnogi gweithredu argymhellion Adolygiad Cass a sefyll dros hawliau plant bregus.
Ni allai Llafur Cymru, Plaid Cymru a'r Democratiaid Rhyddfrydol, sydd i gyd wedi'u bachu gan bobl â safbwyntiau eithafol, gefnogi ein cynnig. Mae hynny'n dweud y cyfan.
Os oes gennych chi unrhyw ymholiadau neu faterion yr hoffech eu codi gyda mi, e-bostiwch [email protected].
