Gender Recognition Reform (GRR) – follow the science1
A major long-term study,² span of 25 years, 1996 to 2019, was released on 4 April in Finland, by the Tampere University Hospital, by Professor Riittakerttu Kaltiala³ who has run Finland’s youth gender clinic since 2011.
“Those supporting Gender Transition should read the report from Finland that tracked every gender-referred adolescent in the country for up to 25 years. Their psychiatric needs did not improve after ‘gender reassignment’, they increased. One reason given for gender reassignment was that it would improve psychiatric health. This report says otherwise,” said Brian Nugent, lead Alliance to Liberate Scotland candidate in the Highlands and Islands region.
Psychiatric morbidity⁴ refers to the presence of mental health or conditions within a population. What the report authors said is in some individuals, the medical procedures “appear to be linked to deterioration in mental health.”
He continued, “there are people who suffer from gender dysphoria, they should be treated with care for the patient’s best interest, unlike what happened at Sandyford Clinic where patients were put on a conveyor belt to drug and surgical treatment which many have come to regret,”
“A crime has been committed in Scotland, in plain sight, against vulnerable adolescents. Pushing people towards transition was the approach taken by Sandyford, Stonewall then not only promoted the ideology, they then got compliant politicians and political parties to push their legislation, against the wishes of two public consultations, through the Scottish Parliament.”
“The bill passed in Edinburgh in December 2022, but struck down by the UK government in January 2023. The Gender Recognition Reform Bill therefore is not law. However, it is being promoted by the Scottish Government in Scottish Public life in education, social work and the NHS.”
“What do you think of your children, or grandchildren being indoctrinated in gender ideology in the classroom?”
When you go to vote remember that in order of enthusiasm for pushing GRR through the most enthusiastic were the Scottish Greens, followed by the Lib Dems, the SNP and the Labour party.
“The report authors suggest the pattern of the findings may indicate that for some adolescents, mental health difficulties are presenting as concerns about gender identity — not the reverse. Their recommendation is precise: thorough psychiatric assessment and ongoing treatment, ‘Psychiatric needs must be adequately met’, before and after any medical procedures.”
“The study’s conclusion could not be clearer: “Psychiatric needs do not subside after medical gender reassignment.” This is the claim that the gender medicine movement has staked its entire ethical claim on. The claim has not held up.”
Study Technical detail Finland centralises all gender identity assessments to two university hospitals. Because health register reporting is mandatory and patients cannot opt out, the dataset captured the complete fate of every gender-referred adolescent in the country from 1996 to 2019.
The cohort of 2,083 individuals was compared against 16,643 matched population controls. Follow-up ran for up to 25 years. This is not a small study with convenient dropouts. It is the full national picture.
Among those who underwent medical “gender reassignment”, the increase was stark. Feminising procedures: psychiatric morbidity rose from 9.8% to 60.7%. Masculinising procedures: from 21.6% to 54.5%. The procedures did not resolve the distress.
After adjusting for prior psychiatric history, all gender-referred adolescents — whether or not they had undergone procedures — faced similarly elevated ongoing risk. Approximately five times higher than male controls. Three times higher than female controls.
The study also found that those referred after 2010 — when Finland saw a tenfold referral surge — arrived with far greater pre-existing psychiatric needs. 47.9% had already required specialist psychiatric treatment before their first clinic contact.
The UK’s Cass Review — a four-year NHS-commissioned inquiry — found the evidence base for puberty-suppressing drugs and cross-sex hormones in minors to be ‘remarkably weak.’
References
¹ Report Title, contributors, date published – https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/apa.70533
² Wiley Online Library where Acta Paediatrica, Medical journal covering research on paediatrics, where the report was peer reviewed. – https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/
³ Kaltiala also served on the UK’s Cass Review advisory board.
⁴ https://spiegal.com/en/what-is-psychiatric-morbidity
Sovereignty statement
Sovereignty believes every young person in Scotland experiencing gender dysphoria deserves compassionate, evidence-based care that prioritises their long-term mental and physical health. We fully support the Finnish study’s clear recommendation for thorough psychiatric assessment and ongoing treatment before and after any medical intervention. This is not about denying the existence of gender dysphoria; it is about rejecting the rushed “conveyor-belt” approach to drug and surgical transition that has already caused so many vulnerable adolescents to regret irreversible decisions. Scotland’s children must never again be sacrificed to ideology over science. When you vote, remember which parties drove the Gender Recognition Reform Bill through Parliament against the evidence and against the clear wishes of two public consultations.