Before the Cass Review laid bare the scale of medical negligence in England’s gender-identity services, a number of insiders had tried to sound the alarm. Clinicians, therapists and other professionals had long been warning that kids were being fast-tracked to medical transition. They revealed that puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones were being liberally prescribed, despite there being scant evidence of their safety or efficacy. These whistleblowers put their reputations and careers on the line. Anyone who questioned the automatic ‘affirmation’ of children in their chosen gender risked being branded a ‘transphobe’.

Dr Marcus Evans, a psychoanalyst and former governor at the Tavistock gender clinic, was one of these dissenting voices. What he witnessed inside the NHS gender-identity services disturbed him so much that he resigned from his position in 2019. Since then, he has continued to warn about the harms of ‘gender-affirming care’ and the insidious influence of the trans lobby in healthcare.

Evans joined Brendan O’Neill on the latest episode of The Brendan O’Neill Show to discuss the long road to the Cass Review. What follows is an edited extract from their conversation. Listen to the full thing here.