Dr Helen Webberley

Bone feels like the most fixed thing about us, doesn't it? I have made a video asking whether that is really true, and what it means for how we think about bodies. Come and watch my take here:

They call it protecting girls. Initiative 638 would make every girl who wants to play school sport prove her sex, and boys would face nothing of the kind. More than 140 healthcare providers have said no. What I make of it:

Someone on a televised debate described puberty blockers as 'switching off' organs and then handing out the opposite hormone… https://www.helenwebberley.com/insights/what-puberty-blockers-actually-do?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=insight&utm_content=insight_8885&utm_term=1824

Rowling describes trans activism as 'elitist to its core' while funding legal action and reaching millions within hours. I've read the essay closely and looked at who actually holds the power. My full take is here:

Every so often someone asks whether a brain scan could prove a person is trans. I understand the wish for a quick answer. I have had it… https://www.helenwebberley.com/insights/brain-scan-prove-trans?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=insight&utm_content=insight_8991&utm_term=1810

I talked with surgeon Dr Sidhbh Gallagher about what gender-affirming surgery really involves, the misinformation around it, and the joy of reveal day. Come and watch our conversation:

Two courts have looked at the trans military ban and found animus. The administration now wants the Supreme Court to see a "medical condition" instead. I've written about what that relabelling is really doing, and why it reaches far beyond the military. Read my full take:

A post is going round that lifts two sentences out of a longer discussion about integrated care and sets them side by… https://www.helenwebberley.com/insights/trans-woman-gynaecological-prostate-care?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=insight&utm_content=insight_8944&utm_term=1808

The Supreme Court is being asked to bar trans women from women's sport in every US state, at speed, with no full briefing and no oral argument. The Alliance Defending Freedom chose this case on purpose. My full take on what is really being decided:

We do not tolerate racist slurs, yet transphobic abuse gets waved through, and sometimes cheered. I have written about the harm it does and who has a duty to call it out. Find out what I think:

Gender affirming surgery: so many questions, and so much noise around them. I have made a video with my take, in plain words and without the fuss. Come and watch it, and tell me what you think.

A handful of masked trans protesters lay down on a red carpet in front of the cameras. It lasted moments, but I keep thinking about why they did it and what it says about how tired people are. Find out what I think:

Arizona's Prop 318 would apply to spectators at sporting events. Not players. People who came to watch. I've written about what this measure is really trying to do, and why a public vote on trans people's rights matters so much. Find my full take here:

Trans people are waiting years for NHS gender care, and the system keeps getting worse. I have made a video on what is behind the crisis and who is paying for it. Find out what I think:

If sports bans were really about admiring and protecting women, you'd expect women's biggest fans to back them most. A new survey of 1,000 American adults found something very different. I've written my full take on what the numbers show:

She is a trans teenager in Camas, Washington who wanted to run. Adults made her a target, then a campaign advert. She has never spoken publicly. I've written about who is driving this and what it would mean for every girl in school sport.

Everyone says "protecting women and girls". Almost nobody finishes the sentence. I have written about what it really asks us to accept, who the data shows is actually at risk, and what "women" on the door should mean. Come and read it:

Going it alone because the waiting list runs to years is a decision a lot of people have felt forced into. I have made a video on the dangers of DIY and why it happens. Come and watch my full take:

The WHO removed being trans from its list of mental disorders, and most trans people say very little has changed at the clinic door. A joint statement from ILGA World and partners asks why. My take on what would make it real:

Young people in New Zealand had their puberty blockers stopped by a policy decision, and now they and their… https://www.helenwebberley.com/insights/patha-v-crown-nz-puberty-blocker-ban-challenge?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=insight&utm_content=insight_8801&utm_term=1769

A teacher wrote a 17-year-old's deadname on a whiteboard in front of the whole class, and now £46,000 has been raised to fight the consequences. I have written about what the record shows, and about the student everyone has stopped talking about:

The claim that affirming parents are abusing or brainwashing their children keeps coming back, usually… https://www.helenwebberley.com/insights/affirming-trans-youth-gender-identity-harm-research?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=insight&utm_content=insight_8744&utm_term=1755

So many people tell me they have put off a medical question for months because they cannot work out how to begin with their… https://www.helenwebberley.com/insights/talking-to-doctor-about-trans-care?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=insight&utm_content=insight_8998&utm_term=1756

She is a minor, she has said nothing publicly, and she just wanted to run. Adults named her, organised against her and turned her into a campaign advert. I have written about who is behind it and what it would mean for every girl. Full take here:

The news can feel like it only ever goes one way. It doesn't. Bulgaria's Supreme Court has backed legal gender… https://www.helenwebberley.com/insights/trans-rights-legal-wins-global-progress?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=insight&utm_content=insight_8988&utm_term=1745

Getting gender-affirming care in the UK has never been harder, and more people are turning to DIY HRT. I answer the biggest questions on online hormones, blood tests and safety, and on what options are still open. Find out what I think:

Being trans was removed from the WHO's list of mental disorders, and still the gatekeeping carries on. I have written about why that is, and the three demands from trans organisations worldwide that I think are exactly right. Read my full take:

Some people stop transitioning because they want to. Others stop because a law, an insurer, a prison or a… https://www.helenwebberley.com/insights/forced-detransition-state-coercion-medical-reversal?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=insight&utm_content=insight_9012&utm_term=1747

Four coaches turned for Ciiara Nyx, and the story behind that voice is even better than the audition. Music gave her words when she had none, and her mum Vicki made a choice I loved reading about. My full take is here:

A trans child asks you to take down the old photos and your heart drops. I've written about that moment, the grief… https://www.helenwebberley.com/insights/parenting-trans-child-what-parents-go-through?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=insight&utm_content=insight_8996&utm_term=1732

There's something worrying me at the moment, and I've put it into a video rather than a quick post, because it needs more room than that. If you've felt it too, I'd like to hear what you make of mine. Watch it here:

Many of us hoped a change of government would shift the direction. It hasn't. School guidance that… https://www.helenwebberley.com/insights/labour-anti-trans-policy-school-healthcare-conversion-therapy?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=insight&utm_content=insight_8983&utm_term=1734

A senior Texas Republican says the anti-trans ads "just aren't resonating". Notice what he doesn't say: anything about the laws those ads were selling, or the trans young people living under them. My full take is on the site:

How do you support a trans child when there is abuse in the house? A mother asked me exactly that, and the answer starts somewhere you might not expect. I have written about what safety first really means, and what comes after it. Come and read it:

She reached for a tin of tomatoes in a supermarket and cried in the car park, and it wasn't sadness. I have written about what trans people taught me about transition, and where I learned it. Come and read it:

You can't suppress it. That is the title of my latest video, and it is a thought I keep coming back to when I think about the pressure trans people are under. Come and watch my full take:

A trans sophomore competed lawfully, placed 39th at a major invite, and then her teammates walked off the start line. No rule was broken. A child was made into somebody else's campaign material. Here is what I think of that:

"Switch off your ovaries or your testicles." That was the claim made in a televised debate about puberty blockers, and it is… https://www.helenwebberley.com/insights/what-puberty-blockers-actually-do?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=insight&utm_content=insight_8885&utm_term=1720

Oregon's trans healthcare coverage law is still on the books, but the oversight that shows whether anyone is getting the care has been paused. The fear behind it is real. So is the cost to trans Oregonians. Here is what I think:

Conversion therapy is abuse, however gently it gets described. I have made a video on banning it, and on what a ban has to cover to protect trans people in real life. Watch my full take here:

A T-shirt saying 'Protect the Dolls' was clear on the BBC's own social clip, then blurred plain white on Strictly and iPlayer. 'Standard practice', they say. I've written about why a rule applied selectively is already a choice. Read my full take:

I have wished for a quick test that would settle every argument about who is trans. I understand why people keep looking for one. I have… https://www.helenwebberley.com/insights/brain-scan-prove-trans?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=insight&utm_content=insight_8991&utm_term=1707

From the archive, still true: The Cass Review's credibility just took another hit

Tony Leung said Cyclone kept him awake, and he asked a question about silence that I have not stopped thinking about. My take on Philip Yung's film, and on the trans co-writer who shaped it, is on the site:

Most medicine asks "do you understand, and do you consent?" Gender care has too often asked "do we believe you?" I… https://www.helenwebberley.com/insights/informed-consent-hrt-access-nhs-alternatives?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=insight&utm_content=insight_8740&utm_term=1702

I was invited onto TalkTV to debate trans healthcare, puberty blockers and conversion therapy. I have gone back through the biggest claims made on air, one by one, against what the evidence says. Come and watch my full reaction:

A story worth your weekend: Transitioning as a trans man after raising your family

A chapter spent two years campaigning to keep trans women out of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and it is the chapter that has been dissolved. I have written about what DAR actually decided and why, and the politicians now rushing to the chapter's defence. Come and read my take:

I sat down with Jeremy Vine to talk about the NHS single-sex guidance and what it means for trans… https://www.helenwebberley.com/insights/jeremy-vine-nhs-single-sex-guidance?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=clip&utm_content=clip_1981a2e6_53b6_4268_9b80_b4da40bbd9ad&utm_term=1704