Psychologist interested in community, health, & wellbeing (esp. among gay & bi men) and social justice for all.
Lecturer
@UniOfGalway
Board
@nxfie
Views my own.
It is scandalous that none of the authors of the systematic reviews informing the
#CassReview
had previous experience of researching or providing gender healthcare.
This is unprecedented.
Imagine a review of heart surgery techniques that inluded zero surgeons or cardiologists!
Young people seeking to transition deserve much better than the
#CassReview
. In this preprint, we show that Cass relied on poorly conducted systematic reviews & primary resarch, & made unsupported claims that should together undermine her recommendations.
Disgusting. Cathal Crotty should be in jail.
Instead Crotty still works as solider at Sarsfield Barracks and was described by Commandant Paul Togher as an “exemplary”, “courteous”, “professional” and “disciplined” officer.
He is actually a criminal and violent miosgynist.
"As I lay in the foetal position, and losing consciousness, he continued his relentless beating. My last conscious thought was 'he’s not stopping, I’m going to die’.
Soldier avoids jail term after beating woman unconscious via
@RTENews
Sylvie wasn't only a trans woman in
#DirectProvision
. She was my friend who loved to cook and make me jealous with pics of her work, she was a joker, she had strong feelings about her situation and was brave enough to share them and she loved Whitney Houston - a lot! I miss her.
The British Medical Association will evaluate the Cass Report and its methodologies. I'm proud to see our work cited in their rationale for doing so, along with the work of colleagues at the Integrity Project at Yale.
More details here:
It seems Abbasi hasn't applied his understanding of systematic review methodology to the
#CassReview
as if he had read the reviews he would have noticed the flaws in their approach that I & others have pointed out. We'll be submitting a commentary to BMJ Evidence Based Medicine.
Critics of the methodology of the systematic reviews that form the basis of the Cass Review are displaying their limited understanding of research methods and evidence based medicine — but that’s what got us into this mess in the first place
I'm hearing that the next target for the far right is Ballybrit here in Galway. A few weeks ago, we marched against discrimination and hate through the streets of Galway. This is what Galway stands for. We are the most multi-cultural city place in Ireland and this strengthens us.
For the 2nd time recently
@AnMailleach
has targeted trans people with disinformation – this time in a national newspaper. As a social scientist at DCU, it is a matter of professional integrity for him to “communicate research in a transparent, fair, full & unbiased way” but
Shame on
@moneillsf
for signing off on this.
#Transhealthcare
saves the lives of young people. This is Sinn Fein leaning in again to ideas pushed by the right designed to divide. If you’re left, young & support SF, look again. This won’t go unchallenged - details to follow.
Good to see a light being shone on one of the most prevalent yet least talked about aspects of
#PhDlife
. The incredible demands, uncertainty, financial difficulty and common lack of support contribute to significant distress to the mental health of many
#PhD
students.
#phdchat
Don't vote for Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, or racists.
Don't vote for Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, or racists.
Don't vote for Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, or racists.
Don't vote for Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, or racists.
Don't vote for Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, or racists.
#VoteLeftTransferLeft
Not sharing it but the
@Independent_ie
have an article full of misinformation about trans healthcare from Ciara Kelly and I'm begging anyone who reads it to talk to an expert instead. It would be disgraceful any day but to platform these lies on Trans Day of Visibility is sick.
Colleagues in academia across Ireland, please sign this open letter in support of our trans community and calling for better trans healthcare through the HSE. We cannot let a biased review from just one other jurisdiction dictate our healthcare policy.
We need more politicians like
@paulmurphy_TD
who stand up for their communities and against landlords and the far right. Huge respect for how he faces down the aggression and lies of this agitator who has nothing of value to contribute in response, and for all his work as a TD.
Far right activist Brigid Whelan came and interrupted our press event demanding that GSOC release their report on George Nkencho. This was after the Ceann Comhairle shut down
@MickBarryTD
's contribution in the Dáil.
She also interrupted our protest to
#SaveTallaghtPostOffice
I'm devastated and furious to hear that several of our Chinese students were violently attacked on campus this weekend. This was a disgusting act of hatred and cowardice. I can't imagine how traumatic this is for those poor students. I wish them all the best for their recovery!
Violence against our community is on the rise, with homophobic & transphobic attacks reported in recent days, & now gardai have issued the advice below following the horrific news of a man's murder in Sligo. Please be careful & reach out to your community if you need support ❤️🏳️🌈
Colleagues in academia across Ireland, please sign this open letter in support of our trans community and calling for better trans healthcare through the HSE. We cannot let a biased review from just one other jurisdiction dictate our healthcare policy.
This is dangerous misinformation that is potentially a breach of
@DCU
's code of conduct in relation to employees' obligations to be honest and avoid improper influence of decision making. Shameful. I'll consider a report if it's not deleted.
Nauseating to hear politicians credit Varadkar with the success of the marriage referendum. He spoke out against civil partnership and same-sex adoption and only came out to support marriage equality after seeing which way the wind was blowing, doing little else for the campaign.
Great to see another comprehension critique of the
#CassReport
and grateful to the authors for highlighting our work, especially our systematic assessment of methods in the reviews that Cass commissioned.
It should be clear for all now that Cass oversaw a deeply flawed project.
An interdisciplinary group of scholars (including myself) worked with The Integrity Project
@YaleLawSch
to contextualize, and where appropriate critique, the UK’s “Cass Report” on medical treatments for adolescent gender dysphoria.
More to say on this later but it's crucial that academics and scientists in Ireland stand up for trans and non-binary people today and everyday. Make yourselves heard and use your expertise and experience to call out the myths and fear mongering being pushed by some colleagues.
Today is the 30th anniversary of the passing of the bill that decriminalised homosexuality. It's amazing to look back at the
@GCNmag
archive too see glimpses of all the years and years of work that preceded this seminal achievement for social justice in Ireland. Happy Pride all!
Overall, the
#CassReview
fails to comprehensively or adequately answer its key questions about gender identity services for young people. This should undermine its recommendations, but the Tories already went beyond them to ban puberty blockers.
We suggest this way forward:
Glad to share this platform with
@KarSugrue
to call on the HSE to look further than the
#CassReview
to inform the implementation of gender affirmative care for young people & adults that's delivered efficiently & effectively using an informed consent model
We are a group of clinicians & academics from psychology, sociology, biology, bioethics, psychiatry, neuroscience, general practice, nursing, pharmacy, statistics & medical education, with a mix of expertise in evidence synthesis, evidence-based medicine, & transgender health.
Despite the claims in that speech for the no side, there is not any evidence that being given a required abortion has any negative effects on mental health. As a psychologist, it is worrying to see the lack of regard for evidence by those who want to retain the 8th
#latelate
Our paper and this one have generated a lot of comments from people who don't want trans young people to access gender affirming care.
I've yet to see any of these comments go beyond angry denial. So none of this commentary is truly critical as it doesn't undermine our analyses.
An interdisciplinary group of scholars (including myself) worked with The Integrity Project
@YaleLawSch
to contextualize, and where appropriate critique, the UK’s “Cass Report” on medical treatments for adolescent gender dysphoria.
We identified serious issues with the methods used in the 7
#CassReview
systematic reviews including undisclosed & unexplained deviations from the protocol & a number of ways in which relevant research was excluded, particularly in the case of puberty blockers & hormone therapy.
We also identified numerous claims that Cass makes that are not supported, or even contradicted, by the existing evidence - a sign of her lack of expertise in this area. Additional unsupported claims made in the
#CassReview
are identified in this paper:
Here's a brief summary of my take on the
#CassReview
on
@drivetimerte
, as well as the thoughts of Prof O'Shea which include several inaccuracies that I pointed out.
This review was not rigorous especially in relation to puberty blockers & hormone therapy.
@ColetteColfer
I've been patient & polite with you. I've provided critique based on the best practice standards for SR methodology - hardly clutching at straws. You don't have any original critique, or evidence, or expertise on health research to support your points. That is surely ideological?
They excluded 36% & 48% of studies for hormone therapy & puberty blockers respectively using this flawed approach but for some reason did not use this approach in their other reviews. Why arbitrarily use this flawed approach in these two most controversial of topics? Motivated?
It is vital to note that other systematic reviews of puberty blockers & hormone therapy for gender diverse young people, & other clinical guidelines come to much more positive conclusions than the
#CassReview
, which also ignores the risks of delaying or denying these options.
The authors fail to demonstrate that the observed increase in gender dysphoria is either unexpected or of concern, yet the assumption of both underpins the Cass Review and its commissioning. They also fail to test related claims adequately (or at all, at times).
Using a tool from evidence-based medicine called the Risk of Bias in Systematic Reviews (ROBIS), assessed issues related to (1) study eligibility criteria, (2) identification and selection of studies, (3) data collection and study appraisal, and (4) synthesis and findings.
These flaws have not prevented proponents of the
#CassReview
from praising its application of evidence-based medicine. This view is based upon a paternalistic lens that views GAC as quasi-psychiatric care & a methodological lens that is not ethically or contextually appropriate.
Here is my letter to Noel Grealish regarding his comments in Oughterard.
All my solidarity to those seeking international protection in Ireland and those dealing with the horrific system of direct provision which
@FineGael
is spreading rather than dismantling. We must do better.
Bias is introduced into these systematic reviews mostly through udisclosed & unexplained deviations from the protocol & the exclusion of research relevant to
#CassReview
's research questions from review & analysis, particularly in the cases of puberty blockers & hormone therapy.
"The new Gender Participation Policy 'blanket ban' on a section of our community is hugely disappointing
and regressive". -
@ewrfc
#RugbyForAll
#GCNnews
Other key aspects of systematic methodological standards that the Cass systematic reviews failed:
1. Did not involve key users and stakeholders
2. Only assessed study quality in 4/6 reviews
3. Study quality should not be quantified
4. Studies should not be excluded on quality.
We found that for most of these domains, most of the systematic reviews were at high risk of bias. All of the systematic reviews were judged to be at an overall high risk of bias. These judgments were made by two independent reviewers according to the ROBIS established criteria.
Very insightful contribution from Dr Aidan Kelly on the realities on the ground for trans healthcare in England and the limitations of the Cass Report and the myths arising from the anti-gender discourses surrounding it.
The primary research also includes serious flaws. The quantitative study of health records ignored changes in acceptance, stigma, diagnostic criteria and clinical guidelines which may alter sampling over time and bias gender dysphoria prevalence estimates.
My friend Sylva was failed by Ireland, like so many in Direct Provision. We miss her so much and have now been robbed of the chance for some sense of closure after her tragic death last year. I'll think of Sylva all through
#Pride2019
, of how much she would love to celebrate it.
The qualitative research does not explain its analysis or consider reflexivity and positionality (where the researcher stands in relationship to the research).
This means it ignores important indicators of rigour in qualitative research of healthcare in favour of basic summaries.
I'm delighted that
@nuigalway
has awarded an honorary PhD to Ailbhe Smyth! Such deserved recognition. It's 2 years in a row that women from our community have been honoured this way for their activism, after Nuala Ward. I had the honour of interviewing Ailbhe here last December.
@VictoriaAtkins
This is the exact opposite. It is cruel, heartless & rash. The Cass Review should not dictate policy considering its serious flaws & you have now suddenly taken away a vital support for many children without considering the very likely & very significant harm you will cause them.
Absolutely disgusted, but sadly not surprised that racists here in Galway have turned to violence to get their way. Fear has been whipped up by local councillors and the far right and this is the result. We need to send a stronger message that most of Galway welcomes everyone!
Breaking : Word coming in that Ross Lake House Hotel, Rosscahill, Oughterard, Co. Galway Is now on Fire, It was going to be used as a DP Center, but it looks like this is not going to happen now, END
These screenshots are the profiles & publication lists of the core members of the team that carried out the
#CassReview
systematic reviews & at the top you can see that a search for gender only finds the papers commissioned by Cass & no evidence of previous expertise. See ALT!
@BulelaniMfaco
@masi_asylum
This person was my friend. Despite being in the men's centre, she was a woman. She was a lovely person and I hope
@masi_asylum
and all affected by her death know her as she wanted to be known. The
#LGBT
+ community in Galway did so and we're mourning her loss.
Another Far Right arson in Wicklow! I'm so sick of hateful rhetoric & the lack of thought for how this affects the lives of people who have it hard enough already. Solidarity with all international protection applicants and migrants. You are welcome here!
It is amusing to see Gender Studies among the ‘woke’ influencers-GS survives on a shoestring because of a dedicated staff & interest among students. A big % of our students choose it as an elective,many report it transforms their minds-oh, maybe that’s what she meant 🤣
#gsrules
I was firmly voting Yes to both referenda at first but listening to the expertise & lived experience of disabled people & carers, & analysis of the amendment by them and legal experts, I will
#VoteYesNo
The state must facilitate autonomy.
Here's
@flacireland
's helpful take:
Delighted to join this great group of local activists today. We were going door-to-door to counter racist misinformation from the far right about the people applying for international protection who will be staying in Galway soon. There was an overwhelmingly positive response!
Great collection of anti-racist activists from various groups in Galway sharing a message of love, solidarity, and welcome to the refugees due to be housed in Ballybrit, Galway.
1/3
#F
áilteRoimhTheifigh
#IrelandForAll
#AllTribesWelcome
#GalwayForAll
As a psychologist & having experienced difficulties with my mental health, I strongly condemn
@savethe8thinfo
& others in the No campaign who have abused the mental health of Irish women by lying regarding the evidence regarding the relationship between abortion & mental health..
Very happy to officially begin my appointment as lecturer in the School of Psychology at NUI Galway today! I was given excellent undergrad & PhD training by the school & great support to pursue my masters at Leiden University too. I hope I can give our students the same!
I cannot understand the medical community’s silence and complicity in the direction trans healthcare is going
If you aren’t campaigning for your trans patients I better not see a single one of you at Prides sharing some shit about “love=love”
Good to see
@HSELive
having a conference on inclusive healthcare for LGBTQ+ and I'm glad to be here to join the discussion and hear how they plan to improve their services, especially for trans and non-binary people.
@LarryPDonnelly
Values need to be reconsidered when protesting against genocide which has led to more than 30,000 loved ones being killed is wrong if it disrupts one part of a tourist holiday & temporarily moves memorial benches for a few dozen loved ones. Why are they more important than Gaza?
Blatant homophobia is still an issue, as shown by my
@nuigalway
colleague Prof.
@sean_leen
. He owes our community an apology at the very least for his damaging comments, particularly the many students and staff in the school of engineering who are members of the
#LGBT
+ community.
I'm so proud of those who marched in solidarity with Trans & Intersex peope today. I'm even more in awe of how Trans, Non-binary & Intersex communities in Ireland provide solidarity to each other, the rest of the LGBT+ community & all who face oppression.
I won't be giving
@Farrell_Mairead
even a preference in the next general election. I intended to do so but I can't support
@sinnfeinireland
slipping further and further to the right and targeting those fleeing Ukraine and seeking intrnational protection.
New paper with
@michaelhogannui
. We used
@Headspace
to conduct a 6-week
#mindfulness
meditation intervention, which we compared with a sham meditation intervention in a randomised, double-blinded trial. We found no benefits for cognition or wellbeing.
All my solidarity to the students in
@tcddublin
! What a sad state for a university to value tourists above education & research. Such a lack of imagination, from somewhere that should be an epicentre of imagination, to only see charging students & tourists as their only options.
Joint statement from PWO,
@tcdsu
and
@TrinityBDS
in response to targeted attacks to the Students’ Union, union leaders and
@tcddublin
’s attempts to crack down on peaceful protest.
FULL STATEMENT HERE ▶️
starting his article with the implication of a comparison between trans healthcare & the abuses committed here by catholic & state institutions is certainly neither fair nor unbiased & is the first sign of his lack of understanding & compassion for trans and non-binary people.
Catholic commentators would do well to remember that they railroaded our education system and forced me and countless others to learn their ideology. The Catholic church has done more harm to children and women than anything related to the idea of letting trans people live has.
Packed room to celebrate the designation of
@nuigalway
as a University of Sanctuary. An important milestone in a long journey towards improving access, inclusion and visibility of students from ethnic minority communities and challenging prejudices among our staff and students.
Congrats Cllr. Owen Hanley! Fantastic to have a voice of the young, a voice of the LGBT community, a voice for the climate and a voice for change in
#GalwayCityLE19
!
Pathetic bigotry targeting children.
They want Ireland to go back to what it was like when I was a kid - having to hide any sign of being attracted to guys, being terrified of having revealed myself accidentally, staying in the closet for years until feeling safe to come out.
Lovely to kick off the Pride season by celebrating in Westport today with
@Mayo_Pride
!
Great crowd, great atmosphere, and such a beautiful place.
Well done to all the organisers and entertainers! It's amazing to see so many pride celebrations around rural Ireland now 🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈
We have an 11 month research assistant post that would be ideal for anyone with a MSc in psychology or health-related discipline. It is for a project focused on the intersection of health inequalities & patient experience. More details here:
Please share!
Great to see this infographic on
#repealthe8th
I put together for
@Psychs4Choice
being shared. Here are the evidence-based facts which counter some of the most common myths about abortion. Vote
#together4yes
!
Granted it is hard to accurately estimate the prevalence of gender dysphoria, it's put been put at less than a hundredth of 1% in Ireland. Something O'Malley could easily look up. This alone should undermine his later claims of evidence being ignored
If you're a scientist in Ireland, please sign. The political process which led to the recommendation of a repeal of the 8th amendment was evidence-based. This way of working should be reinforced & strengthened in our democracy. The evidence supports Yes.
but not recognising that trans & non-binary people have been at the forefront of this change shows at best an incredible lack of curiosity & awareness for a social scientist , & at worst, deliberate omission of relevant scholarship & history just because it undermines his point.
My question about the ejection of
@LornaBogue
at the "consultative" forum on international security policy was rejected & when I made this point to the forum, the chair ignored it. This is such a poorly designed event for consultation that it seems deliberate to frustrate debate.
This. And sport is just as made up as the binary so why not just adapt both to the actual, and beautiful, diversity of human development and experience?
Y’all do realize that biological and bodily variation isn’t the problem? The problem is we invented a sex binary that doesn’t capture the complexities of reality.
Happy
#TravellerPrideWeek2023
to all! I'm so glad that I've learned more about Traveller culture in recent years thanks to events & training by
@gtmtrav
and others. I want to continue learning and I hope for the day that the Traveller community is embraced instead of stigmatised.
Claiming that gender dysphoria has suddenly become common (despite not being common), and so soon after the reminder of state and clerical abuse, could be seen as an attempt to stoke moral panic – it’s a common discursive strategy. See:
I happened to be in Chile today for this demonstration of Pride. Wonderful to see so many in Santiago marching for
#LGBT
+ rights! Congratulations to
@Movilh
and best of luck in your fight for equality! 🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈
Vital to keep highlighting homophobia & transphobia. The most scarring discrimination I experienced was the institutionalised queerphobia of catholic schooling and, in Ireland,
#AllOfUs
experienced that - the environment that should nurture you attacking the very idea of you.
This is disgraceful! Temple Direct Provision centre stopped providing an allowance for nappies for asylum-seeking children. Parents are now having to chose between getting food or nappies in the food hall. This ain't supports & comforts
@CharlieFlanagan
. Its cruelty
Large crowd gathering in Tuam to remember the 796 babies committed to a mass grave in a Mother & Baby home operated under the auspices of the Catholic Church. We also
#Stand4Truth
and a secular Ireland which truly cherishes all its children - not one which abuses and shames them.
Disappointing & cynical opportunism here from Mary Lou McDonald, who I usually greatly respect. No amount of govt ineptitude justifies the racist actions of those running the blockade in Inch. We're all frustrated and angry with this govt & that should only be directed at them.
The blockade at a hotel housing asylum seekers in Inch, Co Clare is reflecting a real frustration and anger with the Government, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has said, and responsibility lies with them
Galway is gathering on the 23rd to stand against racism and all forms of discrimination. Come along to show solidarity and welcome to the communities that need it most!
Some people are trying to whip up bigotry, from racism to transphobia, to build a profile so let's say NO!
This ejection of an elected representative for trying to provide an opposing perspective shows that this is not a consultation, it's a charade. I'm here at the Galway event today and it's already clear that we're here to listen not contribute. Neutrality is being undermined.
My statement on being ejected from today's so-called
#ConsultativeForum
.
As a side observation, it's amazing how some people love talking about women and democracy until the precise moment a democratically-elected woman opens her mouth.
It's depressing that what is supposed to be the flagship current affairs programme of our national broadcaster can so woefully misdiagnose this issue. They can't bring themselves to say "far right" so they pretend that direct action is a new and negative social force.
#rtept
Tonight at 9.35pm on
@RTEOne
on Prime Time, we've a special report.
'Direct action: Why has this new form of protest suddenly emerged?'
#rtept
|
@RTENews
READ:
WATCH:
He then claims that “For many women it threatens hard-won rights” to have laws that support trans people, but he fails to explain what these laws are or give any evidence of how they impact women.
Delighted for Nuala Ward who is recieving a much deserved honorary doctorate from
@nuigalway
today! Nuala is a truly inspiring person who I've admired since the moment we met. She has done and continues to do so much for the LGBT+ community in Galway. We're lucky to have her! 🏳️🌈