Matilda Gosling vs. transgender people

Matilda Gosling is a British consultant and anti-transgender activist. Gosling is associated with anti-trans extremist group Sex Matters. Gosling frequently publishes and collaborates with other anti-trans extremists, including Helen Joyce and Stella O’Malley.

Gosling frequently complains about relying too heavily on parneting experts.

Background

Matilda Ann Gosling was born in 1979. Gosling earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Cambridge and a master’s degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Gosling taught English in Ecuador, Thailand, and India, and wrote for the New Statesman and East Anglian Daily Times. From 2001 to 2004 Gosling worked for MP Barry Sheerman before creating the National Skills Forum and doing freelance policy work. Gosling then managed policy research at City & Guilds Centre for Skills Development.

In 2010 Gosling co-founded consultancy The Research Base (The Fifth Base LLP, TRB Research LLP, later The Research Base Ltd) with Sara Fakhro and Tara Ann Kennedy. That organization was dissolved due to Gosling’s views on gender and trans issues. In 2022 Gosling began freelancing.

Gosling and partner live in Brighton with their two children.

Anti-trans activism

In October 2022, Gosling published a series with Stella O’Malley for Sex Matters titled “Teenagers and gender identity: the evidence base.”

In 2023, Gosling did a Sex Matters webinar on “gender distress” with Stella O’Malley and Michael Biggs, moderated by Helen Joyce.

Gosling appeared on a 2025 Battle of Ideas panel titled Sex Realism and the New Book Burnings with Meghan Murphy, Gillian Philip, Jenny Holland, and Suzanne Moore, moderated by Timandra Harkness.

In a 2025 anti-trans piece in The Times, “Matilda Gosling, a social scientist and author of two books on parenting, Evidence-Based Parenting and Teenagers, the Evidence Base, said that the gender ideology era was more concerning because it could carry long-term risks.” The article then cites Kenneth Zucker’s claims about high “desistance” rates from over three decades ago: “Gosling’s advice to concerned parents is to remain calm. There are many young people who do not fully follow through. One study looking at young boys treated in gender dysphoria clinics in the 1990s, before socially transitioning was common, found that 87 per cent stopped wanting to switch gender by the age of 20.”

Gosling urged caution when picking new names and affirming pronoun choices. She said: “If you’ve got a child that identifies as a gender that’s different from their sex, sometimes they’ll choose an opposite sex name and an opposite sex name can make later desisting, if that is a route they eventually go down, a lot harder.

“Some families will choose a kind of relatively neutral name as a kind of compromise and then that keeps everything open. I think where families need to be really careful is changing pronouns because that makes social transition happen to such a degree that it can be very difficult to leave it behind.”

[…] Gosling suggested, rather than presenting evidence against such medical interventions, it was better for parents to advise delaying. She suggested saying: “This will be your decision to take in future, but not yet.”

References

Maxted, Anna (November 27, 2024). The parenting style that ensures happier kids: One of Britain’s strictest teachers has condemned ‘gentle’ parenting. So which way is best to bring up children? Modern parenting can be a minefield – and here’s our guide to decoding the different methods. Good Housekeeping https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/uk/lifestyle/a62987227/what-type-of-parent-are-you/

Profiles anti-trans activists Katharine Birbalsingh and Gosling

Coverage in anti-trans press

Puttick, Helen (November 29, 2025). How we handled our child’s request to change gender. What is the best way of supporting a child who thinks they might be transgender? Families share their lessons while Matilda Gosling offers expert parenting advice. The Times https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/parents-gender-questioning-children-puberty-blocker-trial-2pkkrxncz

Staff report (June 29, 2025). Publishing’s Hostile Environment For Gender-Critical Authors. Family First New Zealand https://familyfirst.org.nz/2025/06/29/publishings-hostile-environment-for-gender-critical-authors/

Bindel, Julie (June 27, 2025). JK Rowling has exposed how desperate the gender extremists have become. The Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/comment/2025/06/27/jk-rowling-has-exposed-how-desperate-the-gender-extremists/

Simpson, Craig (June 25, 2025). ‘Sparkly’ pro-trans books targeting toddlers: State of children’s publishing ‘particularly concerning’, report concludes. The Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/06/25/sparkly-pro-trans-books-targeting-toddlers/

O’Keeffe, Alice (June 4, 2025). Five brilliant books to read if you’re a parent of teens. The Times https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/parenting/article/five-brilliant-books-to-read-if-youre-a-parent-of-teens-9jxx62h70

Stark, Kirsty (February 17, 2025). Understanding the inbetweeners: Helping your teenagers escape the doom loop. The Critic https://thecritic.co.uk/issues/february-2025/understanding-the-inbetweeners/

O’Keeffe, Alice (February 8, 2025). Advice for parents of teens — don’t bang on about mental health. The Sunday Times https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/teenagers-evidence-base-matilda-gosling-review-tjgrssvmh

Maxted, Anna (January 25, 2025). How to be a good parent to teenagers — the expert’s guide. The Times https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/parenting/article/how-to-be-good-parent-teenagers-87hp5cd77

Barnes, Hannah (January 15, 2025). The myth of the teenager: Adolescents suffer from an image problem. Matilda Gosling’s Teenagers: The Evidence Base looks at the facts to dispel unhelpful stereotypes. The New Statesman https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/books/book-of-the-day/2025/01/the-myth-of-the-teenager

Whipple, Tom (January 20, 2024). Evidence-Based Parenting by Matilda Gosling review — the science of child-rearing: This practical manual uses science to give reassuring advice, without hectoring. The Times https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/evidence-based-parenting-matilda-gosling-review-37f0lwfkn

van der Waal, Tineke (April 13, 2023). Puberty blockers meet more and more resistance. Christian Network Europe News https://cne.news/article/2931-puberty-blockers-meet-more-and-more-resistance

Lane, Bernard (December 14, 2022). Catch-up studies: As gender clinics scramble for evidence, they should beware the placebo effect. Gender Clinic News https://www.genderclinicnews.com/p/catch-up-studies

Selected writing by Gosling

Gosling, Matilda (June 25, 2025). Everyday cancellation in publishing: The costs and legal risks of discrimination against gender-critical staff and authors. Sex Matters / SEEN in Publishing https://sex-matters.org/posts/publications/everyday-cancellation-in-publishing/

PDF https://sex-matters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Everyday-cancellation-in-publishing-Sex-Matters.pdf

Gosling, Matilda (November 29, 2025). How we handled our child’s request to change gender. The Sunday Times https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/parents-gender-questioning-children-puberty-blocker-trial-2pkkrxncz

Gosling, Matilda (October 8, 2024). The problem with ED: Equality, diversity and inclusion policies are constraining free thought and dividing peopleI. The Critic https://thecritic.co.uk/the-problem-with-edi/

Gosling, Matilda (January 16, 2024). Survivors of male violence need single-sex spaces. The Critic https://thecritic.co.uk/survivors-of-male-violence-need-single-sex-spaces/

Gosling, Matilda (January 15, 2024). Women’s services: a sector silenced. https://sex-matters.org/posts/single-sex-services/womens-services-a-sector-silenced/

PDF https://sex-matters.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Womens-services_-a-sector-silenced-Sex-Matters.pdf

Gosling, Matilda (April 17, 2023). Unbaking the genderbread person. The Critic https://thecritic.co.uk/unbaking-the-genderbread-person/

Gosling, Matilda; O’Malley, Stella (October 2022). Teenagers and gender identity: the evidence base. Sex Matters https://sex-matters.org/posts/healthcare/teenagers-and-gender-identity-the-evidence-base-parts-1-2-and-3/

Introduction and Part 1 [Gosling and O’Malley]: Why might teenagers question their gender?
https://sex-matters.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Teenagers-and-gender-identity-–-the-evidence-base-part-1.pdf
Part 2 [Gosling]: Treatment and outcomes
https://sex-matters.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Teenagers-and-gender-identity-part-2.pdf
Part 3 [Gosling]: How parents can support their children
https://sex-matters.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Teenagers-and-gender-identity-part-3.pdf

Gosling, Matilda (October 2022). Technical paper Gender-questioning teenagers: puberty blockers and hormone treatment vs placebo. Sex Matters https://sex-matters.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Teenagers-medication-vs-placebo.pdf

O’Malley, Stella; Gosling, Matilda (October 10, 2022). Children and gender distress: Modish answers may not be the best. The Critic https://thecritic.co.uk/children-and-gender-distress/

Books

Gosling, Matilda (2025). Teenagers: The Evidence Base (Evidence-Based Parenting). Swift Press, ISBN 978-1800752399

Gosling, Matilda (2024). Evidence-Based Parenting: From Toddler to Pre-Teen. Swift Press, ISBN 978-1800752368

Media

OI Rappaport / GBNews with Josh Howie and Matilda Gosling (June 29, 2025). Gender Ideology and publishing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d55uT3Htfmw

Liberal Voice for Women with Alison Jenner and Matilda Gosling (February 15, 2025). Alison Jenner in conversation with Matilda Gosling. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBj-D3Nsods

Sex Matters with Helen Joyce, Matilda Gosling, and Stella O’Malley (May 16, 2023). Sex Matters teenagers and gender distress webinar 16th May 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NyBBYz7qnw

Sex Matters with Michael Biggs, Helen Joyce, and Matilda Gosling (February 23, 2023). Sex Matters child gender medicine webinar 23rd February 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlEh28QfY7M