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European Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry: 2025 anti-transgender conference

by Andrea James Reviewed October 10, 2026 4 min read

In summer 2025, the European Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (ESCAP) held a conference in coordination with anti-trans hate group Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (SEGM), which helped organize five symposia in collaboration with the ESCAP Policy Division.

Many key figures in the international network of anti-trans activists presented or attended.

Background

In 2024, ESCAP published a policy statement on the “urgent need for safeguarding clinical, scientific, and ethical standards” for trans healthcare for young people. As expected, ESCAP psychiatrists recommend that psychiatrists be deeply involved as gatekeepers in clinical decisions around trans healthcare for young people. 

The statement was praised by a number of anti-trans organizations, and SEGM invited lead author Maja Radobuljac to present ESCAP’s policy statement at their 2024 conference.

The ESCAP Policy Division members at the time were:

  • Chair: Prof Maja Drobnič Radobuljac – Slovenia
  • Co-Chair: Prof Robert Vermeiren – The Netherlands
  • Prof Dimitris Anagnostopoulos – Greece
  • Dr Füsun Çuhadaroglu Çetin – Turkey
  • Dr Sofie Crommen – Belgium
  • Prof Stephan Eliez – Switzerland
  • Prof Sarah Hohmann – Germany
  • Prof Riittakerttu Kaltiala – Finland
  • Prof Konstantinos Kotsis – Greece
  • Prof Nermina Kravic – Bosnia-Herzegovina

At the ESCAP General Assembly on October 10, 2024, the ESCAP Policy Division announced their plans to collaborate with SEGM:

“Maja Drobnič Radobuljac, chair of the Policy Division presented the report. Since the last General Assembly, two statements had been published (as mentioned by the President in his report): one on EU mental health policy and the other on care for children with gender dysphoria. The latter especially had generated a lot of media interest in several countries and Maja had also been invited to present the statement at the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (SEGM) conference this October in Athens. A track on the topic was in planning for the Strasbourg congress.”

2025 program

In the summer of 2025, SEGM helped organize five symposia at the ESCAP conference in Strasbourg, France, in collaboration with the ESCAP Policy Division. The symposia were packed with prominent anti-trans activists with ties to SEGM.

Designing research in gender dysphoria in minors

Lived experiences of gender dysphoria

  • Chairs: Robert Vermeiren and Maja Drobnic Radobuljac
  • Disenchantment of Transition: Navigating Identity and Irreversible Change: Corinna Cohn
  • A road to a meaningful life: Lucian Wolf [Slovenian youth transitioner]
  • The Invisible Scars of Transition and Desistance: “Maia Poet” (Maia Abbruzzese)
  • Questions and doubts in online trans communities: Sarah Mittermaier
  • Insights from parents of trans-identified youth: “Helen” [British parent whose child reportedly “desisted” from a trans identity]

Gender dysphoria in minors: Evidence for and development of treatment approaches

  • Chairs: Sarah Hohmann and Urh Grošelj
  • History and evolution of youth gender medicine: Evgenia Abbruzzese
  • The benefits and risks of childhood and adolescent social gender transition: what is the evidence? Alison Clayton
  • Current evidence of using puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones in minors with gender dysphoria: Florian Zepf
  • How do young people seeking gender reassignment fare over the long term? Riittakerttu Kaltiala
  • Developing high-quality, systematic, and transparent guidelines to inform clinical care: Ivan Florez

When evidence is not sufficient: The ethics of gender dysphoria management in minors

ESCAP SOA Session II – Hilary Cass: Gender identity and gender dysphoria in young people – a UK perspective : past, present and future

Cautious national developments in treatment of GD in minors

  • Chairs: Maja Drobnic Radobuljac and Riittakerttu Kaltiala
  • Medical gender reassignment in minors – why are we cautious in Finland? Riittakerttu Kaltiala
  • Youth Gender Dysphoria in Norway – The Situation Today and Thoughts on the Future: Anne Wæhre
  • The Current Debate on Gender Dysphoria in Minors in Germany: Problems with the New Clinical Guideline and Conceptual Aspects of a Heterogeneous Clinical Phenomenon: Florian Zepf
  • The Italian approach to gender dysphoria in minors: recent developments and future prospects: Marco Del Giudice
  • ESCAP statement on the care for children and adolescents with gender dysphoria: an urgent need for safeguarding clinical, scientific, and ethical standards Maja Drobnic Radobuljac

See also

European Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Selected ESCAP publications

Drobnič Radobuljac, M., Grošelj, U., Kaltiala, R., the ESCAP Policy Division [see above], the ESCAP Board [see above], Vermeiren, R., Crommen, S., Kotsis, K., Danese, A., Hoekstra, P.J., Fegert, J. M. (2024). ESCAP statement on the care for children and adolescents with gender dysphoria: an urgent need for safeguarding clinical, scientific, and ethical standards. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 33(6), 2011–2016. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-024-02440-8 Full text https://www.sgkjpp.ch/fileadmin/SGKJPP/user_upload/documents/Radobuljac_ESCAPStatementGenderdysphoria_2024.pdf

ESCAP (October 10, 2024). Draft Minutes of the ESCAP General Assembly. https://www.escap.eu/uploads/General%20Assembly%202025/final-draft-minutes-general-assembly101024v2.pdf

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