Tavistock, the United Kingdom’s only clinic specializing in facilitating gender transition, has been the subject of scandal for years and is now due to be closed.
A study publicized by the BBC in 2020 revealed that all but one of the children treated for gender dysphoria were given puberty-blocking drugs.
Earlier this year, an investigation commissioned by the National Health Service (NHS) and carried about by retired pediatrician Dr. Hilary Cass found that the gender clinic was “not a safe or viable long-term” option for young people and children, concluding that clinic staff frequently just rushed children into transition, especially as the number of children identifying as transgender grows. Now, finally, the NHS is doing what should have been done years ago: it is closing Tavistock.
It is not all good news, of course. While the investigation that led to this decision criticized Tavistock for rushed and sloppy methods, it did not condemn or oppose giving children puberty blockers outright.
Instead, the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust will be shuttering Tavistock by spring—and it will be replaced by “new regional centres” that will “ensure the holistic needs” of patients are met. The NHS believes the problem is that the demand for trans treatments is leading to a reduction in the quality of care—they are not yet condemning the idea that sex changes for young people is care to begin with.
