James, a psychotherapist, was prevented from studying transgender regret by Bath Spa University, which said that the ‘politically incorrect’ research could lead to attacks on social media and harm the university’s reputation.
James Caspian, a registered UK psychotherapist, worked with patients who were medically transitioning, or considering medically transitioning, their gender for ten years.
In 2013 he began to see that patients were getting younger and that there was a surge in the numbers of young women presenting with complex mental health issues. There were growing concerns about the number of patients who were regretting their transitions and surgery and wanted to detransition.
James wanted to study this phenomenon in more depth, so enrolled in a part-time M.A. course at Bath Spa University. His initial research proposal was approved, but after mentioning the possibility of social media criticism to his tutor, the study was blocked from going forwards.
The decision was challenged in the UK courts and taken to the European Court of Human Rights.
James commented: “Too much is at stake for academic freedom and for hundreds, if not thousands, of young people who are saying that they are being harmed and often silenced by a rigid view that has become a kind of transgender ideology and permits no discussion.”