Stella O'Malley

Last updated

Stella O'Malley
Born1973or1974(age 49–50) [1]
Dublin, Ireland [2]
Occupation(s)Psychotherapist and author
Known forPsychotherapy and mental health
Website www.stellaomalley.com

Stella O'Malley is an Irish psychotherapist and author, with three books on parenting and mental health. [3] [4] She is a regular contributor to Irish national newspapers, podcasts, and TV. She made a documentary about gender dysphoria in children for Channel 4, and is the founder of Genspect, a self-described gender critical organisation opposed to gender affirming care.

Contents

Early life

O'Malley is the third child in a family of four children, with one older sister and brother, and one younger brother. [5]

O'Malley grew up in Dublin in the late 1970s. In her documentary Trans Kids: It's Time to Talk she states that from the ages of 4 to 13 or 14, she insisted that she was a boy, that as puberty developed she felt there was no other option and stopped telling people she was a boy, and at 16 she became comfortable with herself as a woman. She believes that if she had been born half a decade later she would have insisted she was a trans boy and transitioned. [1] [6] During the 70s and 80s when she grew up, this was instead understood by those around her as her being a very eccentric, unusual kid, and she states, "I don't think [my parents] gave it much focus." [7]

Published works

Books

O'Malley has written several books, all of which were on the Irish best sellers list. [8] [9] [10] [11]

Film

In 2018 her Channel 4 documentary Trans Kids: It's Time To Talk [13] aired. The documentary addressed transgender children and their gender dysphoria, expressing concerns that too many children were transitioning and doing so too young. In the documentary, she interviewed transgender children and adults as well as a detransitioned woman, all of whom said they didn't regret their decision to medically transition. Transgender groups and charities she approached had refused to speak to her; she said they accused her of questioning whether transgender children exist. She was criticised for interviewing James Caspian and "trans-critical" feminists who oppose the right of transgender people to self-identify, one of whom asserted there is no scientific evidence anyone is "born in the wrong body". In the film, O'Malley states that she had called herself a boy until puberty, which she retroactively considers gender dysphoria and believes would have led her to transition if born later, but felt comfortable as a girl after puberty. [14] [6] [1] [15]

Some critics praised the documentary, others criticised it for uneven coverage, asking if children and adolescents are being "groomed" into believing they're trans, and O'Malley's conclusion that transgender children "are lost and are being led". [14] [6] [1] [15] Dr Helen Webberley, a UK based GP and gender specialist who'd declined to participate in the film, criticised it for not including any trans adults who'd transitioned as children. [6] Sarah Carson concluded in her review that "a film like this that tries to prove that to be transgender can be "a phase" – with few statistics and not enough concrete evidence – could do more harm than good". [14]

TV

She has been the resident psychotherapist for two TV programmes, Raised by the Village, [16] on Irish TV channel RTÉ1, and on a TG4 parenting show in Irish, Cad Faoi Na Tuismitheoirí. [17]

Podcasts

Exploratory therapy, Genspect and SEGM

O'Malley advocates for "exploratory therapy" in support of gender dysphoria and has written and testified about how some conversion therapy bills also risk limiting access to exploratory therapy. [18] [19] [20] On August 9, 2021, O'Malley co-authored an opinion letter titled "Bill to ban conversion therapy poses problems for therapists" alongside psychologist Jacky Grainer and GP Madeleine Ní Dhailigh for the Irish Times in reference to the Prohibition of Conversion Therapies Bill 2018. In the letter, she criticized the inclusion of “suppression of gender identity” in the bill's definition of conversion therapy. [19] The Union of Students in Ireland subsequently announced that it was boycotting the Irish Times until it apologised for the article. [21] The Trans Writers Union also announced a boycott of the paper due to what they characterised as advocating conversion therapy and a pattern of transphobic behavior. [22] [23] In an interview with O'Malley in Undark Magazine published in April 2022, O'Malley stated that she opposes all medical treatment for teens under 18. [24]

In February 2020, O'Malley tweeted "I hate the phrase gender critical but I am making a list! A large number of people contact me seeking help and I don't know enough Irish therapists who can provide compassionate and nuanced therapy." This was described as compiling a list of Irish gender critical therapists, which some Twitter users equated with conversion therapy. [25]

In June 2021, O'Malley founded Genspect. [26] [27] Genspect has supported numerous legal complaints against clinicians and has supported parents trying to prevent children from socially transitioning at school without full parental support. Genspect also "stands in full solidarity" with Our Duty, an organisation that advocates an immediate moratorium on gender-affirming healthcare for anyone under 25 and public funding for gender-affirming healthcare at any age. The group recommends talk therapies where the stated goal of any treatment regimen must be "swift desistance from transgender ideation". Genspect has advised parents against using trans children's chosen names and pronouns, recommended that schools ban "tucking" and "binding", as well as use "biologically accurate language in all cases" and not punish students for misgendering other students. Genspect also stated that "acceptance of the reality of their biological sex" should be the first treatment for gender variant children. [28] Jenn Burleton, Executive Director of TransActive, described Genspect as "an anti-trans, 'gender critical' organization ideologically affiliated with TERFism, ROGD [Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria], and Alliance Defending Freedom". [29]

O'Malley is a clinical advisor to the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (SEGM). [30] She also helped found the International Association of Therapists for Desisters and Detransitioners (IATDD) and the Gender Dysphoria Support Network (GDSN) in 2020. [18] [30] [31]

In March 2022, O'Malley would have appeared at an NHS conference on gender dysphoria at Great Ormond Street Hospital, alongside paediatrician Hilary Cass, journalist Helen Joyce, CEO of Mermaids, Susie Green, and fellow Genspect advisors Sinéad Watson, Stephanie Davies-Arai, and Lisa Littman. The event was cancelled following complaints by NHS whistleblowers, researchers, and trans rights activists, who accused a majority of the speakers as having a "record of extreme prejudice towards trans people". In particular, opposing inclusion of protections for trans people under the UK conversion therapy ban, intervening in a court case in Arizona in defense of the state's Medicaid ban on trans healthcare, and arguing gender-affirming care for transgender youth is "abusive". [28]

On May 6, 2022, Gay Community News (Dublin) published an article about concerns people raised over O'Malley being invited to address an Education and Training Boards Ireland (ETBI) conference on managing gender issues in schools. In the article, O'Malley was characterised as an anti-trans conversion therapy advocate whose views were misinformation. [22] On May 10, 2022, TD Mick Barry raised issue with O'Malley's invitation to the conference, referring to a Twitter Spaces conversion in which she stated "I don't think you need to give empathy at all, none, zero. I think I should because I'm trying to understand them" when asked why woman should have sympathy for who they describe as autogynephiles. [32] [33] LGBTQIA+ activist Izzy Kamikaze also shared link to the released audio. O'Malley has sent a legal letter to Barry accusing him of defamation and sent similar language to Kamikaze for sharing the link. [34]

Personal life

O’Malley lives in Birr, County Offaly with her husband and two children. [2] [12]

Related Research Articles

Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. Methods that have been used to this end include forms of brain surgery, surgical or hormonal castration, aversive treatments such as electric shocks, nausea-inducing drugs, hypnosis, counseling, spiritual interventions, visualization, psychoanalysis, and arousal reconditioning.

Gender dysphoria (GD) is the distress a person experiences due to a mismatch between their gender identity—their personal sense of their own gender—and their sex assigned at birth. The term replaced the previous diagnostic label of gender identity disorder (GID) in 2013 with the release of the diagnostic manual DSM-5. The condition was renamed to remove the stigma associated with the term disorder.

The Standards of Care for the Health of Transgender and Gender Diverse People (SOC) is an international clinical protocol by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) outlining the recommended assessment and treatment for transgender and gender-diverse individuals across the lifespan including social, hormonal, or surgical transition. It often influences clinicians' decisions regarding patients' treatment. While other standards, protocols, and guidelines exist – especially outside the United States – the WPATH SOC is the most widespread protocol used by professionals working with transgender or gender-variant people.

Gender dysphoria in children (GD), also known as gender incongruence of childhood, is a formal diagnosis for children who experience significant discontent due to a mismatch between their assigned sex and gender identity. The diagnostic label gender identity disorder in children (GIDC) was used by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) until it was renamed gender dysphoria in children in 2013 with the release of the DSM-5. The diagnosis was renamed to remove the stigma associated with the term disorder.

Kenneth J. Zucker is an American-Canadian psychologist and sexologist. He was named editor-in-chief of Archives of Sexual Behavior in 2001. He was psychologist-in-chief at Toronto's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and head of its Gender Identity Service until December 2015. Zucker is a professor in the departments of psychiatry and psychology at the University of Toronto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transgender youth</span> Children and adolescents who are transgender

Transgender youth are children or adolescents who do not identify with the sex they were assigned at birth. Because transgender youth are usually dependent on their parents for care, shelter, financial support, and other needs, they differ in challenges compared to adults. According to the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, the American Psychological Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, appropriate care for transgender youth may include supportive mental health care, social transition, and/or puberty blockers, which delay puberty and the development of secondary sex characteristics to allow children more time to explore their gender identity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT rights in Florida</span>

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the U.S. state of Florida have federal protections, but many face legal difficulties on the state level that are not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Same-sex sexual activity became legal in the state after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Lawrence v. Texas on June 26, 2003, although the state legislature has not repealed its sodomy law. Same-sex marriage has been legal in the state since January 6, 2015. Discrimination on account of sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing and public accommodations is outlawed following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County. In addition, several cities and counties, comprising about 55 percent of Florida's population, have enacted anti-discrimination ordinances. These include Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa, Orlando, St. Petersburg, Tallahassee and West Palm Beach, among others. Conversion therapy is also banned in a number of cities in the state, mainly in the Miami metropolitan area, but has been struck down by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. In September 2023, Lake Worth Beach, Florida became an official "LGBT sanctuary city" to protect and defend LGBT rights.

Puberty blockers are medicines used to postpone puberty in children. The most commonly used puberty blockers are gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists, which suppress the natural production of sex hormones, such as androgens and estrogens. In addition to their use in treating precocious puberty, which involves puberty occurring at an unusually early age in children, puberty blockers are also used for transgender children to delay the development of unwanted sex characteristics, so as to allow transgender youth more time to explore their gender identity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leelah Alcorn</span> American transgender girl (1997–2014)

Leelah Alcorn was an American transgender girl whose suicide attracted international attention; she had posted a suicide note to her Tumblr blog about societal standards affecting transgender people and expressing the hope that her death would create a dialogue about discrimination, abuse, and lack of support for transgender people.

Detransition is the cessation or reversal of a transgender identification or of gender transition, temporarily or permanently, through social, legal, and/or medical means. The term is distinct from the concept of 'regret', and the decision may be based on a shift in gender identity, or other reasons, such as health concerns, social pressure, or discrimination and stigma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Debra Soh</span> Canadian sex researcher

Debra W. Soh is a Canadian columnist, author, and former academic sex researcher.

Rapid-onset gender dysphoria (ROGD) is a controversial, scientifically unsupported hypothesis which claims that some adolescents identify as transgender and experience gender dysphoria due to peer influence and social contagion. ROGD is not recognized as a valid mental health diagnosis by any major professional association, which discourage its use due to a lack of reputable scientific evidence for the concept, major methodological issues in existing research, and its stigmatization of gender-affirming care for transgender youth. The paper initially proposing the concept was based on surveys of parents of transgender youth recruited from three anti-trans websites; following its publication, it was re-reviewed and a correction was issued highlighting that ROGD is not a clinically validated phenomenon. Since the paper's publication, the concept has frequently been cited in legislative attempts to restrict the rights of transgender youth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Turban</span> American psychiatrist

Jack L. Turban is an American psychiatrist and writer who researches LGBTQ health, with a focus on the mental health of transgender youth. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Vox. He is an assistant professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at The University of California San Francisco and affiliate faculty in health policy at The Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies.

<i>Irreversible Damage</i> 2020 book by Abigail Shrier

Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters is a 2020 book by Abigail Shrier, published by Regnery Publishing, which endorses the controversial concept of rapid-onset gender dysphoria (ROGD). ROGD is not recognized as a medical diagnosis by any major professional institution nor is it backed by credible scientific evidence.

<i>Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality</i> 2021 book by Helen Joyce

Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality is a 2021 nonfiction book by journalist and gender critical activist Helen Joyce that criticizes the transgender rights movement and transgender activism. It is published by Oneworld Publications, their fifth book in the Sunday Times bestseller list. Reviews of the book ranged from positive to critical. In 2023 it was shortlisted for the John Maddox Prize.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transgender Trend</span> British pressure group

Transgender Trend is an anti-trans British pressure group, which describes itself as a group of parents, professionals and academics who are concerned about the number of children diagnosed with gender dysphoria. It was founded in 2015 by Stephanie Davies-Arai.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Genspect</span> Organization opposing transgender rights

Genspect is an international group founded in June 2021 by psychotherapist Stella O'Malley that has been described as gender-critical. Genspect is known for criticizing and opposing gender-affirming care, as well as social and medical transition for transgender people. Genspect opposes allowing transgender people under 25 years old to transition, and opposes laws that would ban conversion therapy on the basis of gender identity. Genspect also endorses the unproven concept of rapid-onset gender dysphoria (ROGD), which proposes a subclass of gender dysphoria caused by peer influence and social contagion. ROGD has been rejected by major medical organisations due to its lack of evidence and likelihood to cause harm by stigmatizing gender-affirming care.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine</span> Organization opposing transgender rights

The Society For Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (SEGM) is a non-profit organization that is known for its opposition to gender-affirming care for transgender youth and for engaging in political lobbying. The group routinely cites the unproven proposal of rapid-onset gender dysphoria and has falsely claimed that conversion therapy techniques are only practiced on the basis of sexual orientation rather than gender identity. SEGM is often cited in anti-transgender legislation and court cases, sometimes providing evidence briefs themselves. It is not officially recognized as a scientific organization by the international medical community.

Quentin Van Meter is a pediatric endocrinologist and president of the American College of Pediatricians, a socially conservative advocacy group which is known for opposing gay marriage, gender reassignment surgery, and abortion. He has advocated and referred his clients to conversion therapy and is known for rejecting the medical consensus on the efficacy and safety of transgender health care.

Laura Edwards-Leeper is an American psychologist and founder of the first pediatric gender clinic of the United States. She also served as head of the Child and Adolescent Committee for the World Professional Association for Transgender Health.

References

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  4. ↑ Hayward, Eleanor (26 March 2022). "Gender event off after trans activists attack 'extreme' views" . The Times . Archived from the original on 29 March 2022. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  5. ↑ O'Malley, Stella. "Trans Kids: It's Time to Talk - Stella O'Malley". The Ray D'Arcy Show (Interview). Interviewed by Ray D'Arcy. RTÉ.
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  16. ↑ "Raised by the Village". RTÉ. 19 September 2019. Archived from the original on 2 April 2022. Retrieved 2 April 2022. Under the guidance of one of Irelands top child psychotherapists, Stella O'Malley …
  17. ↑ "Cad Faoi na Tuismitheoirí?". RTÉ. 6 December 2021. Archived from the original on 19 June 2022. Retrieved 2 April 2022. The Cookes in Kerry benefit from guidance from our parenting expert Stella O Malley who helps them navigate …
  18. 1 2 "'Treat Youth With Gender Dysphoria as Individuals'". Medscape. Archived from the original on 22 June 2022. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
  19. 1 2 Grainger, Jacky; Ní Dhailigh, Madeleine; O’ Malley, Stella (9 June 2022). "Bill to ban conversion therapy poses problems for therapists". Irish Times. Archived from the original on 12 June 2022. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  20. ↑ "Stella O'Malley's testimony at the Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Bill - 13 Oct 2021". YouTube. 13 October 2021. Archived from the original on 26 June 2022. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
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  22. 1 2 Schad, Saoirse (6 May 2022). "Irish education conference faces backlash for talk on "managing gender issues" in schools". Gay Community News (Dublin) . Archived from the original on 9 June 2022. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
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  33. ↑ Leveille, Lee (2 April 2022). "Leaked audio confirms Genspect director as anti-trans conversion therapist targeting youth". Health Liberation Now. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  34. ↑ Tighe, Mark. "Trans quote wrong, says woman 'defamed' by TD Mick Barry" . The Times . ISSN   0140-0460. Archived from the original on 21 June 2022. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
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