The Cass Review is a British report released in 2024. Its purpose was to strengthen existing gatekeeping of trans health services by severely limiting these options for minors. Lead author Hilary Cass produced a political document similar to the anti-trans “science” produced by anti-trans extremist Paul McHugh to justify shutting down the Johns Hopkins gender clinic in 1979.
Members
The Cass Review included a group of unnamed participants that comprised the Gender Dysphoria Clinical Advisory Group, also likely known as Cass Review Assurance Group. As their names become known, they will be added below.
- Chair; Past President of Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health
- Advosory Board member
- Professor in Primary Care Research, University of Plymouth; Peninsula Medical School (Faculty of Health: Medicine, Dentistry and Human Sciences)
Leeds Endocrine team
- Consultant in Paediatric Endocrinology and Gender Dysphoria, Leeds Children’s Hospital; and Nomination of British Society for Paediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes
Jeremy Glyde [unconfirmed]
- Senior Public Health Adviser to Specialised Commissioning, NHS England
- [listed elsewhere as Head of Specialised Commissioning / Deputy Director CYP Gender Dysphoria Programme, NHS England]
Gary Butler [unconfirmed]
- Consultant in Paediatric and Adolescent Endocrinology – Gender Identity Development Service; University College London Hospital & UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health
Polly Carmichael [unconfirmed]
- Clinical Psychologist, and Clinical Director of Gender Identity Development Service; Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust
Richard Stephens [unconfirmed]
- Patient and public voice representative
[unconfirmed]
- Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust
Jess Turnbull [unconfirmed]
- Consultant Community Paediatrician; Guys and St Thomas’ Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust / Nomination of Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health
Bobbie Farsides (Also Cass Review Assurance Group)
- Professor of Clinical and Biomedical Ethics, University of Sussex
Peter Fonagy
- Head of the Division of Psychology and Language Sciences at University College of London; Chief Executive of the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families
Kenny Gibson
- National Head of Safeguarding, NHS England
Carl Henegan
- General Practitioner; and Professor of Evidence-Based Medicine and Director, Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine; Oxford University
[unconfirmed]
- Patient and public voice representative
Leeds Endocrine team
- Consultant in Paediatric Endocrinology – Gender Identity Development Service; Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Dr Hilary Strachan?
- Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, Central Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust / Nomination of Royal College of Psychiatrists
[unconfirmed]
- Patient and public voice representative
[unconfirmed]
- Clinical Policy Fellow, NHS England (secretariat)
[unconfirmed]
- Senior Professional Adviser. NHS Wales
References
Pearce, Ruth (April 10, 2024, updated often). Whatâs wrong with the Cass Review? A round-up of commentary and evidence. https://ruthpearce.net/2024/04/16/whats-wrong-with-the-cass-review-a-round-up-of-commentary-and-evidence/
Noone, C., Southgate, A., Ashman, A., Quinn, Ă., Comer, D., Shrewsbury, D., Ashley, F., Hartland, J., Paschedag, J., Gilmore, J., Kennedy, N., Woolley, T. E., Heath, R., Biskupovic Goulding, R., Simpson, V., Kiely, E., Coll, S., White, M., Grijseels, D. M., ⊠McLamore, Q. (2025). Critically appraising the cass report: methodological flaws and unsupported claims. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 25(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12874-025-02581-7
Moore, J. K., Rayner, C., Skinner, S. R., Wynne, K., Cavve, B. S., Fraser, B., Ganti, U., McAllister, C., MeyerowitzâKatz, G., Nguyen, T., Ravine, A., Ross, B., Russell, D. B., Saunders, L. A., Siafarikas, A., & Pang, K. C. (2025). Cass Review does not guide care for trans young people. Medical Journal of Australia, 223(7), 331â337. https://doi.org/10.5694/mja2.70035
Reed, Erin (March 9, 2025). New German, Swiss, And Austrian Guidelines Recommend Trans Youth Care, Slam Cass Review. Erin In The Morning https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/new-german-swiss-and-austria-guidelines
Horton, Cal; Pearce, Ruth (August 7, 2024). The U.K.âs Cass Review Badly Fails Trans Children. Scientific American https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-u-k-s-cass-review-badly-fails-trans-children/
Grijseels, D. M. (2024). Biological and psychosocial evidence in the Cass Review: a critical commentary. International Journal of Transgender Health, 1â11. https://doi.org/10.1080/26895269.2024.2362304
McNamara, Meredithe et al. (July 2024). An Evidence-Based Critique of âThe Cass Reviewâ on Gender-affirming Care for Adolescent Gender Dysphoria. Yale Integrity Project https://law.yale.edu/sites/default/files/documents/integrity-project_cass-response.pdf
Reed, Erin (June 14, 2024). Another International Medical Org Rejects Cass Recommendations On Trans Youth. Erin in the Morning https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/another-international-medical-org
Reed, Erin (May 13, 2024). Endocrine Society And American Academy Of Pediatrics Respond To Cass, Reject Bans. Erin in the Morning https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/endocrine-society-and-american-academy
Scheimer, Dorey; Chakrabarti, Meghna; Skoog, Tim (May 8, 2024). ‘Cass Review’ author: More ‘caution’ advised for gender-affirming care for youth. On Point https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2024/05/08/hilary-cass-review-caution-nhs-gender-affirming-care-youth
Reed, Erin (May 9, 2024). Cass Says Transition Should Be Measured By âEmployment,” Not Satisfaction. Erin in the Morning https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/cass-says-transition-should-be-measured
Reed, Erin (April 18, 2024). Opinion: England’s Anti-Trans Cass Review Is Politics Disguised As Science. Erin in the Morning https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/opinion-englands-anti-trans-cass
Reed, Erin (April 19, 2024). Dr. Cass Backpedals From Review: HRT, Blockers Should Be Made Available. Erin in the Morning https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/dr-cass-backpedals-from-review-hrt
Staff report (April 15, 2024). The Cass Review Needs to be Thrown Out Entirely. This is Why. What the Trans https://whatthetrans.com/cass-review/
Feminist Gender Equality Network (April 13, 2024). Letter from academics concerned about The Cass Review. https://feministgenderequality.network/letter-from-academics-concerned-about-the-cass-review/
Davie, Max; Hobbs, Laura (August 10, 2024). The Cass Report: The Good, The Bad, The Critical. https://www.crossdreamersidebars.com/2024/08/the-cass-report-good-bad-critical.html
Horton, C. (2024). The Cass Review: Cis-supremacy in the UKâs approach to healthcare for trans children. International Journal of Transgender Health, 1â25. https://doi.org/10.1080/26895269.2024.2328249
Staff report (2024). The Cass Report â A Briefing. TransActual https://transactual.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/TransActual-Briefing-on-Cass-Review.pdf
Resources
Cass Review (cass.independent-review.uk)
- Final Report (2024)
- cass.independent-review.uk/home/publications/final-report
- Interim Report (2022)
- cass.independent-review.uk/home/publications/interim-report
Twitter/X (https://x.com)
Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)