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Louise Irvine vs. transgender people

Louise Irvine is a Scottish physician, unsuccessfuol political candidate, and anti-transgender activist. Irvine is affiliated with anti-trans hate group Genspect and is co-chair of the anti-trans Clinical Advisory Network on Sex and Gender (CAN-SG) with Stella Kingett.

Background

Marie-Louise Irvine was born in June 1957 in Paisley, Scotland. After graduating from Harlaw Academy Aberdeen in 1975. Irvine earned a medical degree from University of Aberdeen in 1981. Irvine also earned a master’s degree from Kings College, University of London. Irvine helped set up the Scottish Medical Aid for Nicaragua in 1980 and worked in that country for two years.

In 1995 Irvine became a GP partner at Amersham Vale Practice in Lewisham. Irvine was involved in campaigns, including the New School for New Cross Campaign and Local Education Action by Parents campaign to build another local school. Irvine als helped lead the Save Lewisham Hospital Campaign.

Irvine’s spouse is a retired pediatrician. They have two children.

Anti-trans activism

In a 2023 puff piece about CAN-SG by anti-trans activist Hadley Freeman in The Times, Irvine noted that CAN-SG was mostly mental health practitioners:

Almost all asked to be anonymous in this article. “The level of fear is pretty strong among our members. We have GPs, nurses, midwives, physiotherapists, academics. But about half our members work in the psychiatric professions, because they have been at the sharp end of the risks of gender-affirming care and the lack of evidence,” CAN-SG’s co-chairwoman Dr Louise Irvine, a retired GP, told me.

Irvine has worked to stop private clinics and physicians from providing gender affirming care, claiming it is an “abdication of responsibility” by UK regulators and lawmakers:

“There is no evidence of the benefit of puberty blockers but there is evidence of probable harm. If the service specification for the NHS is that it is safe, good practice not to provide puberty blockers outside of clinical trials but people can still get them privately, then all you are doing is allowing them to bypass those conditions that you have put in place.  If something is not safe for the NHS, then it is not safe for private providers. It is the job of the Government to ensure safety and they have an overarching duty of care to young people.”

Irvine criticized the British Medical Association for taking a stand against the “scientifically illiterate” UK Supreme Court

Dr Louise Irvine, co-chair of the Clinical Advisory Network on Sex and Gender, said: “­It is really worrying for female patients to think that doctors are seriously arguing that sex is not a clear-cut category in healthcare. Doctors have to recognise sex in order to be able to practise medicine properly and safely.

“As a doctor, you need to know sex for accurate diagnoses. Sex matters for NHS service provision and single-sex wards. It is misogynistic to negate or ignore women’s rights. Medical misogyny is a huge problem. The profession has a long, long history of misogyny. Now the BMA is making out that sex is a nebulous concept and category. If doctors don’t understand sex then I don’t think they should be doctors.”

Irvine wants to stop a planned clinical trial of puberty blockers in the UK, telling the BBC:

“Given that puberty blockers by definition disrupt a crucial natural phase of human development, the anticipated benefits must be tangible and significant to justify the risk to children. In pushing ahead with a puberty blockers trial, we are concerned that political interests are being prioritised over clinical, ethical and scientific concerns, and over the health and wellbeing of children.”

References

Hayward, Eleanor (April 29, 2025). BMA accused of destroying trust in medicine with stance on sex. The Times https://www.thetimes.com/uk/healthcare/article/bma-destroying-trust-medicine-sex-women-xg5h35bxl

Feinmann, J. (2025). BMA Resident Doctors Committee is criticised after condemning UK ruling on biological sex. BMJ, 389, r900. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.r900

Staff (April 30 2025). A landmark study of gender medicine is caught in an ethics row. The Economist https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2025/04/30/a-landmark-study-of-gender-medicine-is-caught-in-an-ethics-row

Cohen, Deborah (December 9, 2024). Puberty blockers: Can a drug trial solve one of medicine’s most controversial debates? BBC https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyd2qe5kkjo

Dixon, Hayley (February 28, 2024). NHS issues urgent warning for discredited transgender clinic. The Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/02/28/gps-transgender-clinic-urgent-safety-warning-nhs/

Freeman, Hadley (May 7, 2023). Medical evidence over trans ideology: welcome to the doctors’ resistance. The Times http://thetimes.com//uk/healthcare/article/welcome-to-the-doctors-resistance-trans-ideology-comment-brhqfn373

Mulholland, HĂ©lĂšne (17 May 2017). GP Louise Irvine: “Jeremy Hunt has not been a good steward of the NHS.” The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/may/17/jeremy-hunt-nhs-gp-louise-irvine

Selected anti-trans writing by Irvine

Kingett, Stella; Irvine, Louise (April 18, 2024). Letters: Hilary Cass’s report and the trans rights debate. The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/apr/18/hilary-cass-report-and-the-trans-rights-debate

Block, Jennifer (2023). Gender dysphoria in young people is rising—and so is professional disagreement. BMJ, p382. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.p382

Media

Wallace, Nick (March 3, 2025). The Times at One radio interview with Louise Irvine on UK puberty blocker trial. https://genderblog.net/dr-louise-irvine-the-case-against-the-nhs-puberty-blocker-trial/

Genspect with Carrie Clark, Michael Biggs, Louise Irvine and Susan Evans (January 31, 2025). The NHS Puberty Blocker Study – Necessary evil or medical scandal in the making? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAiOUhs_FEM

Genspect (December 21, 2024). Unheeded Warnings and the Cost of Medical Mistakes – Dr. Louise Irvine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igRI246KqtE

Resources

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

X/Twitter (x.com)

Clinical Advisory Network on Sex and Gender (can-sg.org)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

Crowdfunder (crowdfunder.co.uk)

UK Companies House (find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk)

Keep Our NHS Public (KONP) (keepournhspublic.com)

  • The Team
  • keepournhspublic.com/about-us/the-team

Elect Dr Louise (electdrlouise.com) [redirected to nhaswsurrey.wordpress.com]

NHA – South West Surrey Group (nhaswsurrey.wordpress.com)

Save Lewisham Hospital Campaign (savelewishamhospital.com)

NHA Party (nhaparty.org)