On Thursday, June 27, a group of transphobic pseudoscientists will gather at the Vrije Universiteit for a ‘conference’ aimed at denying trans young people access to health care. Action group Trans Zorg Now demands that the Vrije Universiteit does not provide a platform for misinformation and hate speech, and will demonstrate on Thursday in front of the main entrance at De Boelelaan 1105 in Amsterdam. On June 19, 22 transgender interest groups sent a letter to the university to express their major concerns about the conference.

At the top of the programme is British keynote speaker Hilary Cass. In April 2024, she launched an attack on British transgender health care for young people with the publication of the controversial Cass Review. Cass claimed that this care wouldn’t have a scientific basis. But her report immediately received widespread international criticism. According to experts, she had cherry-picked from scientific studies, ignored positive evidence and drawn sweeping conclusions that could not be derived from the available data. Yet the British government used this highly controversial report to shut down transgender health care for young people in Britain. Warnings from medical professionals and advocacy groups that young people would suffer severely due to the lack of health care were ignored.

Other speakers at the conference are also highly controversial. The Finnish psychiatrist Riittakerttu Kaltiala is involved with, among other things, the transphobic organisations SEGM and Genspect. Several authoritative institutions, including the Southern Poverty Law Center, consider both organisations to be hate groups. Swedish psychiatrist and well-known anti-transgender activist Mikael Landén also has ties to SEGM. These controversial speakers do not have to worry about a critical reception, because the packed program includes barely half an hour of debate. The rest of the program is full of speakers who want to further restrict transgender health care for young people. While the overwhelming scientific consensus is that this health care is extremely successful. Everything indicates that this conference is not a platform for a neutral scientific dialogue, but offers a very one-sided stage for misinformation and a sham dialogue.

Trans Zorg Now warns: “We have seen what their hatred and misinformation causes. Delaying or denying health care to trans youth leads to great suffering and costs lives. These people have blood on their hands!” The action group will demonstrate on Thursday, June 27 from 8 a.m. to 12 noon in front of the main entrance of the Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1105, Amsterdam.