Letters on Liberty: The Trans Ideology Trap

THE TRANS IDEOLOGY TRAPJames Esses

James Esses argues that the debate around sex, gender identity and trans has, from the outset, been centred around freedoms. But, he says, instead of broadening the scope of personal liberty, gender ideology actually hinders it. He argues that a contemporary obsession with trans forces many to conform to an ideology they do not believe in, places people into rigid boxes from which they cannot escape, encourages children to take decisions that they may regret for the rest of their lives and detracts significantly from the rights and freedoms of others – particularly in terms of free speech. James argues that we need to make the distinction between supporting people with gender-identity issues, and conforming to a new and censorious gender ideology.

Letters on Liberty: the trans ideology trap

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James Esses is a writer and commentator. He is the co-founder of Thoughtful Therapists – a group with concerns about the impact of gender ideology on counselling and therapy. James was previously a criminal defence barrister, holding a number of senior roles in the UK Civil Service, including head of policy at the Crown Prosecution Service. James is suing his university course provider and therapeutic regulatory body for discrimination based on his beliefs, following expulsion from his masters’ degree in psychotherapy after speaking out about the medicalisation of children.

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