James Caspian is a British therapist and anti-transgender activist in the “ex-transgender” movement.
Caspian was a member of the anti-trans organization Pediatric and Adolescent Gender Dysphoria Working Group.
Background
James Caspian was born in ~1959.
Caspian is listed on the National Register of Hypnotherapists and Psychotherapists and was “strongly influenced by Jungâs Analytical Psychology.”
Anti-transgender activism
In 2016, Caspian proposed studying “detransition” while in graduate school, but Bath Spa University rejected the proposal. Caspian then became a cause cĂ©lĂšbre among anti-trans activists, who showered Caspian with money and attention. In 2019, the High Court upheld the decision made by Bath Spa University to block Caspianâs research into transgender regret.
Caspian appeared in the 2018 anti-trans propaganda piece Trans Kids: It’s Time to Talk hosted by Stella O’Malley.
Stephanie hoped to reach professionals working in the field â psychotherapists, clinical psychologists, counsellors â people who provided talking therapy to distressed patients. The first therapist to contact her didnât give his real name. He wanted to tell her about a proposed change to the Memorandum of Understanding on Conversion Therapy (MoU), a policy document for counsellors and therapists.
The original MoU, published in 2015, was a protection against gay conversion therapy. It was signed by all the major counselling bodies and colleges along with NHS England and the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Now the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP), the psychotherapy regulator, was co-ordinating a review, and activists within the profession were campaigning to add âgender identityâ to the MoU.
He saw that it could easily lead to âaffirmation by the back door,â because it prohibited any questioning of what may have led to a clientâs identification with a cross-sex gender identity and so potentially outlaw exploration with patients what being trans meant to them, or why they felt that way. In effect, theyâd have to affirm clients of all ages as whatever âgenderâ they said they were.
A therapist who tried to explore why a teenage girl might think she was a boy could be in trouble for malpractice. If what they did was labelled conversion therapy, they could be sanctioned and removed from the register. This would mean that no one could help someone work out why they thought they were in the wrong body. It would have to be accepted as fact. The risk of someone, especially a young person â the group growing fastest at gender clinics â having medical treatments and surgery they may later regret, would be exponentially increased.
These proposals would tie up the whole UK therapy sector. He said that UKCP officers were talking to politicians about using the MoU as the basis of a law against conversion therapy for âgender identityâ. To explore and question could then become a criminal offence â the police in the therapy room. Heâd heard of Stephanie and her work from another therapist, Bob Withers, and he thought she could help. After a few long phone conversations, they began to trust each other and he revealed his real name, James Caspian. In time they became good friends.
Caspian gave a glowing review to Transgender Children and Young People: Born in Your Own Body edited by Heather Brunskell-Evans and Michele Moore. Caspian also did an interview with Brunskell-Evans.
References
Staff report (February 13, 2021). James Caspian Ethics Review Form Posted Online. Trans Safety Network https://transsafety.network/posts/james-caspian-ethics-review-leaked/
Baska, Maggie (February 9, 2021). Psychotherapist blocked from studying âtrans regretâ takes case to the EU human rights court. PinkNews https://www.thepinknews.com/2021/02/09/james-caspian-transgender-trans-bath-spa-european-court-human-rights/
Jones, Zinnia (February 28, 2019). James Caspian and âfifty trans peopleâ who regret transitioning. Gender Analysis https://genderanalysis.net/2019/02/james-caspian-and-fifty-trans-people-who-regret-transitioning/
Patherick, Sam (February 20, 2019). Ex-Bath Spa student James Caspian fails in court fight against university. Somerset Live https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/somerset-news/bath-spa-university-james-caspian-2557060
Staff report (September 25, 2017). Bath Spa University ‘blocks transgender research.’ BBC https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41384473
Petherick, Sam (September 26, 2017). Bath Spa University vetoes ‘politically incorrect’ transgender surgery reversal study. Bath Chronicle https://www.bathchronicle.co.uk/news/bath-news/bath-spa-university-vetoes-politically-533956
Coverage in anti-trans press
Shute, Joe (February 17, 2019). ‘Why are we so scared to admit many people regret changing their gender?’ The Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/scared-admit-many-people-regret-changing-gender/
Swerling, Gabriella (Fenruary 5, 2021). Psychotherapist blocked from studying âtrans regretâ takes case to the European Court. The Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/02/05/psychotherapist-blocked-studying-trans-regret-takes-case-european/
Booker, Christopher (March 7, 2020). The tyranny of woke: How it’s fashionable in modern Britain to believe there’s no difference between men and women. Daily Mail https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-8086913/How-fashionable-modern-Britain-believe-theres-no-difference-men-women.html
Christian Concern (2018). James Caspian https://christianconcern.com/cccases/james-caspian/
Weale, Sally (September 25, 2017). University ‘turned down politically incorrect transgender research.’ The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/sep/25/bath-spa-university-transgender-gender-reassignment-reversal-research
Selected anti-trans writing by Caspian
Caspian, James (February 22, 2019). My battle with the transgender thoughtpolice. Spiked https://www.spiked-online.com/2019/02/22/my-battle-with-the-transgender-thoughtpolice/
Caspian, J. (2018). Brunskell-Evans, H. & Moore, M. (Eds). Transgender Children and Young People: Born in Your Own Body. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2018. Pp. 224. Hbk. ÂŁ61.99.. Journal of Analytical Psychology 63:536-538 https://pep-web.org/browse/JOAP/volumes/63?preview=JOAP.063.0536A full text: http://www.heather-brunskell-evans.co.uk/body-politics/review-of-transgender-children-and-young-people-born-in-your-own-body/
âThe Heroâs Journeyâ in âTrans in the Twenty-First Centuryâ edited by A. Purnell and J. Bland, published by the Beaumont Trust 2011.
Review of âArchetypal Genderâ by M. Anderton in Harvest 2013, published by the C.G. Jung Club, London 2013.
Media
Genspect (June 7, 2022). Trans Kids: It’s Time to Talk | 4: James Caspian. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXH_6CEjnRQ
Oren Amitay (January 27, 2018). Academic Cleansing: Fight for Truth & Free Speech vs Political Correctness and Trans Ideology. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQIWoDW63ak
Christian Concern (Feb 22, 2019). Psychotherapist James Caspian’s research into transgender regret blocked by Bath Spa University. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vfx3nUEwoEU
The Dissenter with Ricardo Lopes and James Caspian (Feb 15, 2018). #2 James Caspian: Censoring studies on trans people | Censura de estudos em pessoas trans. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_7BMRqPtWs
Resources
LinkedIn (linkedin.com)
James Caspian (jamescaspian.co.uk)
Transgender Awareness (transgenderawareness.co.uk)
CrowdJustice (crowdjustice.com)
- Protect Freedom of Speech in our Universities
- crowdjustice.com/case/uphold-freedom-of-speech-in-our-universities/
- Free Speech Matters
- crowdjustice.com/case/free-speech-matters-round2
Facebook (facebook.com)
- Free Speech Matters
- facebook.com/profile.php?id=100077577183412
YouTube (youtube.com)