Birr woman's company hosts major conference highlighting dangers of transgender movement

A BIRR woman's company hosted a major conference in Killarney recently, highlighting some of the dangers of the powerful and influential transgender movement.
Stella O’Malley is Director of Genspect which devotes itself to highlighting some of the potentially harmful ideas swirling around in the world of the gender debate.
During Genspect's three day conference in Killarney, Stella spoke about the threat to conventional therapy posed by badly worded conversion therapy bills that are currently under consideration around the world.
The conference took place from April 27 - 29 . It was Genspect's first annual conference and was called “The Bigger Picture.”
Stella said its purpose was to challenge the narrow, medicalised treatment model for gender dysphoria promoted by some organisations.
She pointed out that the “no debate” stance on gender ideology of these powerful organisations has “stifled conversation and demonised those who dissented from a treatment model recommending puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgery for gender-distressed youth.”
The Bigger Picture was a “big tent” event, welcoming those disenfranchised voices and giving speakers from multiple disciplines an opportunity to broaden the conversation. Beyond presenting treatment models that differ from the affirmative approach, a range of speakers described the negative impact of gender ideology on society at large.
The Keynote speaker Helen Joyce, author of the book “Trans: When Reality meets Ideology”, told the conference that, in her opinion, “gender ideology has infringed the sex-based rights of women.”
Maya Forstater, co-founder of Sex Matters, joined Joyce to discuss defending gender critical beliefs “in a world dominated by intolerant ideologues.”
Oxford sociologist Michael Biggs exposed the “flawed evidence base for the use of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones,” followed by Prof. Ken Zucker, who considered the ethical implications of puberty blockers for minor children.
Dr Julia Mason later discussed the erosion of trust in traditional scientific authority as a result of biased and ideologically driven “evidence”.
Stephanie Davies-Arai of Transgender Trend described how gender ideology has “infiltrated our schools and overridden traditional safeguarding practices for children.” Dr. Heather Brunskell-Evans challenged the claims of Queer Theory and the social construction of the so-called “transgender child”.
Physician/researcher Lisa Littman revisited her studies on Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria and transition regret, drawing attention to the social contagion aspects of trans-identification.
Other speakers included the two Vice Directors of Genspect who joined panels and gave individual talks about normalising excellence in healthcare (Alasdair Gunn) and the role of sexualised shame in autogynephilia (Joseph Burgo). Malcolm Clark, one of the founding members of the LGB Alliance, joined several panels to discuss, among other issues, the ‘transing’ young gays and lesbians.
Day Two of the conference concluded with a livestream of the podcast, Gender: A Wider Lens. The final afternoon included presentations by Miranda Yardley, discussing how to effect positive change in transgender issues today; writer Eliza Mondegreen describing the handling of transition doubt in online spaces, and a clinical presentation by Jungian analyst Lisa Marchiano on her work with a young woman who detransitioned.
An extensive analysis of gender in Ireland was offered with a range of different speakers. Laoise Uí Aodha de Brún, barrister-at-law and founder of The Countess, discussed the implications of Self ID in Ireland. Psychotherapist Iseult White discussed the “chilling effect” on dissent within her profession inflicted by the affirmative care model. On Saturday, theologian Colette Colfer analysed how gender ideology is akin to a religious identity. Estelle Birdy discussed the authoritarian streak that is underlying identity politics while a panel discussion revealed some startling insights about how gender ideology is taught as fact within the Irish education system.
The Bigger Picture also featured panels with prominent detransitioners, young men and women harmed by gender medicine whose existence has been denied or dismissed by some. Through its conference, Genspect said it was giving them a voice and uniting them with experts in medicine (Dr. Lori Regenstreif) and sexual health (Leonore Tiefer) to address their needs. Other panels brought together speakers from diverse fields to debate the enforced use of pronouns and to consider whether gender non-conforming youth have been encouraged to pursue life-altering medical treatments rather than accepting themselves as same-sex attracted. Independent journalist and documentarian Benjamin Boyce moderated several of these panels.
The Bigger Picture will be an annual event, in order to continue the conversation about gender ideology and to challenge the narrow medicalised model for gender-distressed youth promoted by “now-discredited”, influential organisations.