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. âThe 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,â CAN-SGâs 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 âabdication of responsibilityâ by UK regulators and lawmakers:
âThere 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.â
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: âÂIt 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.
âAs 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 womenâs 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 donât understand sex then I donât think they should be doctors.â
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 doctorsâ 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 Cassâs 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 risingâand so is professional disagreement. BMJ, p382. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.p382
- Clinical Advisory Network on Sex and Gender: Louise Irvine, David Pilgrim, Lisa Davies, Tessa Katz, Robin Ion, Angela Dixon, Shahana Hussain, Stella OâMalley, Catherine Bright, Juliet Singer, David Bell, Maria Atkins, Aileen O’Brien, Az Hakeem, Lenny Cornwall (March 2, 2023). Rapid Response: Concerns about potential harms of medicalising children and young people with gender dysphoria must be openly discussed within professional bodies, universities and the NHS. BMJ https://www.bmj.com/content/380/bmj.p382/rr-0
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 â 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)
- drmarielouise [deleted]
- LouiseIrvine18
- nha_swsurrey
Clinical Advisory Network on Sex and Gender (can-sg.org)
- About Us
- can-sg.org/about-us
LinkedIn (linkedin.com)
Facebook (facebook.com)
- drlouiseirvine [deleted]
Instagram (instagram.com)
Crowdfunder (crowdfunder.co.uk)
- Support Dr Louise Irvine against Jeremy Hunt!
- crowdfunder.co.uk/p/unseat-hunt
UK Companies House (find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk)
- Dr Marie-Louise Louise Irvine
- https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/CICuLLAQOOcOTMNo70WAugy7Eh4/appointments
- Marie Louise Irvine
- https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/QiIR4cUgQc9Wu5DL_gkHpHVNskg/appointments
- Louise Irvine
- https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/Xn4gc4Q3H_7xfLiqd6gjwB1MKCQ/appointments
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)
- Louise Irvine
- nhaparty.org/louise_irvine