Helen Bowes-Catton (she/her)
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hbowescatton.bsky.social
Helen Bowes-Catton (she/her)
@hbowescatton.bsky.social
740 followers 550 following 310 posts
Academic researching 1) inclusion in doctoral education and 2) LGBTQIA+ identities and politics.

Northern, working class, queer, cis feminist. Lifts heavy things for fun. Views mine.
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Helen Bowes-Catton (she/her)
natacha.bsky.social
Worked hard to get this into Guardian Oz & big props to @fiercemum.bsky.social for setting it up & Melissa Davey for publishing it. She will doubtless get loads of hassle from transphobes for it, but it needs to be out there.
Puberty Blocker bans harm trans kids, no-one should pretend they don’t.
Puberty blocker bans in Queensland and NZ risk extreme harm to trans youth, UK expert warns
Sociologist who surveyed effect of 2024 UK ban says denial of gender-affirming care has left trans and non-binary children in ‘abject misery and severe distress’
www.theguardian.com
December 21, 2025 at 6:10 AM
Reposted by Helen Bowes-Catton (she/her)
natacha.bsky.social
Please share this widely. There have been 13 peer-reviewed critiques of the Cass Review, to the extent that academia regards it as pseudoscience, but so far all have been subject to organised censorship by mainstream media. This is the first time one has broken through. Oz Guardian only still.
natacha.bsky.social Natacha @natacha.bsky.social · 9d
Worked hard to get this into Guardian Oz & big props to @fiercemum.bsky.social for setting it up & Melissa Davey for publishing it. She will doubtless get loads of hassle from transphobes for it, but it needs to be out there.
Puberty Blocker bans harm trans kids, no-one should pretend they don’t.
Puberty blocker bans in Queensland and NZ risk extreme harm to trans youth, UK expert warns
Sociologist who surveyed effect of 2024 UK ban says denial of gender-affirming care has left trans and non-binary children in ‘abject misery and severe distress’
www.theguardian.com
December 21, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Reposted by Helen Bowes-Catton (she/her)
agirlcalleddave.bsky.social
@kevinmckenna.co.uk this needs bring up in the house. This can not be ignored any longer. @alastaircampbell2.bsky.social this should be major news on a podcast. @zackpolanski.bsky.social the greens should be screaming from the rafters about this too. You too @libdems.org.uk
natacha.bsky.social Natacha @natacha.bsky.social · 9d
Please share this widely. There have been 13 peer-reviewed critiques of the Cass Review, to the extent that academia regards it as pseudoscience, but so far all have been subject to organised censorship by mainstream media. This is the first time one has broken through. Oz Guardian only still.
natacha.bsky.social Natacha @natacha.bsky.social · 9d
Worked hard to get this into Guardian Oz & big props to @fiercemum.bsky.social for setting it up & Melissa Davey for publishing it. She will doubtless get loads of hassle from transphobes for it, but it needs to be out there.
Puberty Blocker bans harm trans kids, no-one should pretend they don’t.
December 21, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Reposted by Helen Bowes-Catton (she/her)
goodlawproject.bsky.social
Any attempt at centralisation without significant investment will cause serious harm to trans patients. We are also concerned that some GPs and other practioners may misuse the review as an excuse to unnecessarily withdraw longstanding care – especially bridging and shared care provision.
December 18, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Reposted by Helen Bowes-Catton (she/her)
transsolidarity.bsky.social
The long-awaited Levy Review is out.

This is tinkering around the edges of a failing system.

Until trans people can access our healthcare based on informed consent, from the same doctors in the same communities as everyone else, issues will remain unsolved.

www.england.nhs.uk/publication/...
NHS England » Operational and delivery review of NHS adult gender dysphoria clinics in England
NHS England » Operational and delivery review of NHS adult gender dysphoria clinics in England
www.england.nhs.uk
December 18, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Reposted by Helen Bowes-Catton (she/her)
goodlawproject.bsky.social
Not every country’s going down the same path as the UK – the High Court of New Zealand has ruled that a ban on puberty blockers for young trans people should not be enforced ahead of a legal challenge from a trans health body:
https://goodlaw.social/6pig
New Zealand court stops trans puberty blockers ban
The High Court of New Zealand has ruled that a ban on puberty blockers for young trans people should not be enforced ahead of a legal challenge from a trans health body.
goodlaw.social
December 17, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Reposted by Helen Bowes-Catton (she/her)
ucucommons.org
Vital piece on how the OfS Sussex fine and the Supreme Court ruling have created an even more hostile environment for trans people in UK universities. As Chris Parkes says: if the expected EHRC guidance is adopted, "people are going to get hurt". 1/2
December 15, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Reposted by Helen Bowes-Catton (she/her)
goodlawproject.org
The exclusion of trans people from public and academic spaces, removal of protections by human rights institutions, dehumanising language used by state news media, judicial tolerance of trans directed hate crime, withdrawal of medical care: all of this is very familiar to genocide scholars.
Trans scholars being ‘pushed out of academia’, researchers warn
Universities ‘afraid to be trans inclusive’ after Supreme Court ruling and OfS Sussex fine, leaving staff fearing ‘hostile environment’
share.google
December 15, 2025 at 11:07 AM
Reposted by Helen Bowes-Catton (she/her)
adambienkov.bsky.social
The fact is no presenter has ever had to leave the BBC for expressing conservative views, or even explicitly endorsing a right-wing party.

Was never a problem for Jeremy Clarkson. Was never a problem for Andrew Neil. Was never a problem for Alan Sugar
thegmcconnachie.bsky.social Garry @thegmcconnachie.bsky.social · 17d
Robin Ince reveals to last night’s audience at a recording of Infinite Monkey Cage that the BBC has forced him to resign over his support of trans people
December 13, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Reposted by Helen Bowes-Catton (she/her)
robinince.bsky.social
Very sad that I felt I had no choice but to resign from The Infinite Monkey Cage - a victory for the transphobes and other bigots - I did it because so much of the media has chosen to believe the kind and empathetic people are a fiction - they are real and so often unrepresented.
This is the saddest day of my professional life. Today is not only the final recording of the latest series of The Infinite Monkey Cage, it is my last ever Monkey Cage. I never thought that I would have to leave the show. I always imagined going on until | dropped dead under the studio lights due to a brain aneurysm caused by my final attempt to understand notions of quantum gravity or the shock of being told about fly maggot infestations in the sacks of macaque monkeys. I resigned in September, after sixteen years of dedication to the show, A show that I named and helped develop over all those years. Unfortunately, my opinions outside the BBC have been considered problematic for sometime, whether it has been voicing support for the trans community, criticism of Donald Trump, numerous other outlandish opinions, including once gently criticising Stephen Fry. These things were considered to conflict with being a freelance BBC science presenter In a recent meeting where BBC Studio executives again voiced problems with me, I realised my choices. Obedience and being quieter to remain making Monkey Cage, or 'Resign and have the freedom to speak out against what I believe are injustices'. • I chose the latter. It broke my heart. I love this show and I love the audience, and it is because of the audience in particular, that this decision was so difficult to make. I kept thinking about all the extremist voices promoting hate and division. They are being given so many platforms, while voices that represent kindness, open mindedness, empathy seem to be scarcer and scarcer. I felt I couldn't pamper myself with the luxury of silence. One of my many privileges is that I am able to resign and I can speak out even if it is to the detriment of my career. I have thought a lot about my heroes, Sinead O Connor, James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, and so many more. I think of Sinead's words, "the job of an artist is to be themselves at any cost". James Baldwin said prejudice was really just a word for cowardice. Audre Lorde, viewing her life, wrote that her only regrets were her silences. I think of my father as I resign, he brought me up to believe in fairness , justice and kindness. Though my heart is broken, it is also full of fire. I apologise to our incredible listeners for my departure, your love of the show means a great deal. I am so sorry to let you down. I hope that you can understand my reasoning. I have to accept that I am not what the current BBC expects of their freelance presenters. Despite this I should add that I have always worked far more than my contracted hours to try and ensure the show was always the best it could be, as well as making myself accessible and responsive to the audience wherever and whenever I met them. Every night, we have recorded, I have been filled with determination to make the best show possible. This was not "just a job" I hope that with my departure I can be a better ally to the LGBTQ community, to the neurodivergent community, to activists fighting against those who aim to brutalise society, to those currently in prison on hunger strike, and to all those who fight for a more inclusive world. From many conversations, I know there are many Monkey Cage listeners who support these communities and activists too. The strawberry is dead. Long live the strawberry. B
December 13, 2025 at 12:02 AM
Reposted by Helen Bowes-Catton (she/her)
junlper.beer
December 12, 2025 at 3:42 AM
Reposted by Helen Bowes-Catton (she/her)
sophiemolly.co.uk
'One parent told me that she was hearing reports of Dr Hillary Cass (of the Cass Review) teaching staff at NHS Sussex on how to detransition trans children.'

northwestbylines.co.uk/opinion-corn...
Giving a voice to the voiceless – A trans woman investigates
How and why I investigated what is going on with the treatment of trans children in Sussex, and how if affects the children, their families and me
northwestbylines.co.uk
December 12, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Reposted by Helen Bowes-Catton (she/her)
goodlawproject.org
Also worth noting, the Tribunal found that Sandie Peggie had harassed Dr Beth Upton in a "hate incident".
December 8, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Reposted by Helen Bowes-Catton (she/her)
goodlawproject.org
An important point to come out of the Sandie Peggie case is that 'gender critical' employees can't take matters into their own hands and confront trans employees. If they do that it is likely to be harassment/ bullying/ a hate incident.
So far as her other comments are concerned, they were impermissible manifestations of her belief and were in our view what amounted to an incident of harassment by the claimant of the second respondent related to the protected characteristic of gender reassignment, reasonably perceived by the second respondent to be so, and were a breach by the claimant of section 26 of the Act and of the Bullying and Harassment Policy. The second respondent was entitled to view the actions of the claimant in those particular regards as being such harassment, or as a “hate incident” within the policy, and the first respondent was entitled in principle to act on the complaint made, but the detail of how it did so depends on all the circumstances as more fully addressed below. The second respondent was also entitled to regard the claimant’s actions as a breach of the second respondent’s Article 8 rights, so far as the claimant’s expression of her beliefs was impermissible. 1034. We also considered that the claimant had acted deliberately to be able to challenge the second respondent whilst they were alone. What she did was to wait until other members of staff had left the changing room, and for the second respondent to leave the cubicle, before raising her own beliefs directly with the second respondent in the manner we have set out. 1035. Whilst the claimant had not been informed as promptly and in the detail we considered appropriate, and the first respondent did not consider whether to revoke permission at all, the claimant did not herself raise any formal grievance under the policy. She is an experienced member of staff who had access to union advice. She knew, or ought reasonably to have known, that the first respondent having granted permission to the second respondent she required to have raised her concerns with the first respondent as the decision-maker rather than with the colleague to whom it had been granted, and in any event ought not to have done so in the manner that she did.
December 9, 2025 at 9:20 AM
Reposted by Helen Bowes-Catton (she/her)
goodlawproject.bsky.social
One of the first cases following the Supreme Court’s decision on the definition of sex under the Equality Act has found it didn’t decide which changing room a trans person should use.

Reflections on the Peggie case by a specialist discrimination law KC:
https://goodlaw.social/32xs
goodlaw.social
December 9, 2025 at 11:26 AM
Reposted by Helen Bowes-Catton (she/her)
revrachelmann.bsky.social
I received exactly the same answer. Since when is ‘trans woman’ an obscure and unclear way of referring to a person?
kirsty-mctear.bsky.social Kirsty McTear @kirsty-mctear.bsky.social · 21d
DISGUSTING BBC…

I got a response to the slurs in BBC coverage Lineham case…

According to them, describing a trans-woman as “a biological male who identifies as a woman”, is intended to be clear and explanatory & easily understood by a wide audience.

#TRANSAPARTHEID #TRANSERASURE #TRANSRIGHTS
December 9, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Reposted by Helen Bowes-Catton (she/her)
jessothomson.co.uk
Mini thread on the ET decision in Peggie

Top line: It says exactly what we have been saying for months. The decision of the Supreme Court was not to turn the Equality Act 2010 into a nationwide bathroom ban - regardless of how anti-trans organisations have sought to misrepresent the law.

🧵👇
December 8, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Reposted by Helen Bowes-Catton (she/her)
goodlawproject.org
Remember: the EHRC's Interim Guidance, and we understand the draft statutory guidance too, recommended a trans bathroom ban. Two tribunals have now disagreed.
goodlawproject.org Jolyon Maugham KC @goodlawproject.org · 22d
This is the second decision - both first instance - since the appalling For (Some) Women Scotland decision to find that there is no trans bathroom ban. www.gov.uk/employment-t...
B M Kelly v Leonardo UK Ltd: 8001497/2024
Employment Tribunal decision.
www.gov.uk
December 8, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Reposted by Helen Bowes-Catton (she/her)
mimmymum.bsky.social
The judgement on the Peggie v Fife Health Board and Dr Beth Upton tribunal case has been announced.

Here's what has actually been said...

Full Judgement: www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/u...

🧵 See thread for summary....
www.judiciary.uk
December 8, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Reposted by Helen Bowes-Catton (she/her)
kaycrosby.bsky.social
Taking the latest GP Patient Survey’s estimate that 0.88% of the population is trans, we would expect to find approximately 4,500 trans people working in UK Higher Education. In fact, data from Advance HE finds there are only 1,525 out trans people working in the sector.
cheesecakechik.bsky.social Samantha Burns @cheesecakechik.bsky.social · 29d
And this is ignoring that this is the world’s most obvious targeted campaign to demonize and remove trans people from visible positions in society.

This is an absurd overreaction and manufactured outrage over something that shouldn’t even remotely be in the news
December 1, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Reposted by Helen Bowes-Catton (she/her)
abalkina.bsky.social
Happy Advent! !!!🎄✨
Welcome to a new edition of the Research Integrity Advent Calendar.
Each day brings a small challenge: spot the problem, detect inconsistencies, and sharpen your skills.
Enjoy the season and the daily puzzles!
Day 1. papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
December 1, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Reposted by Helen Bowes-Catton (she/her)
preciouschatd.bsky.social
Funded collaborative PhD opportunity on contested memory with me in @oupolitics.bsky.social and Arthur Dudney at Arcadia:

granduniondtp.web.ox.ac.uk/contested-hi...

Deadline 7th Jan, please share!
Contested histories: cultural memory, narratives and archives
granduniondtp.web.ox.ac.uk
November 28, 2025 at 3:47 PM
hbowescatton.bsky.social
Oh, I like this much better than Whamaggedon! Will mostly be substituting hot Ribena but it still works!
melindasalisbury.com Melinda Salisbury @melindasalisbury.com · 29d
This year we're doing Whamutopia. Every time you hear Last Christmas you have to have a mulled wine at your earliest convenience and toast George Michael, because he was a lad
December 1, 2025 at 10:07 AM
Reposted by Helen Bowes-Catton (she/her)
tristangrayford.scot
TW: Suicide and transphobia

A trans woman died in Scottish prison after spending *nine weeks* in isolation as discussions over being transferred to a women's prison "dragged on" in 2019.

The inquiry ended this month.

insidetime.org/newsround/tr...
Trans woman took her own life after being refused move to female jail
A transgender women took her own life in the segregation unit of a male prison after being denied a move to a female establishment. Sarah Jane Riley died in January 2019 at HMP Perth, where she was…
insidetime.org
November 28, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Reposted by Helen Bowes-Catton (she/her)
reactiveashley.cat
1/🧵 The good people of the Cabinet Office has found a copy of the Department for Education and Employment’s drafting instructions* for the Sex Discrimination (Gender Reassignment) Regulations 1999.

* the Parly Counsel does vetting only in this case, so the instructions is to DfEE’s in-house lawyers
Sex Discrimination Gender Reassignment Regulations 1999 Drafting Instructions - a Freedom of Information request to Government Equalities Office
Please send me copies of the Sex Discrimination Gender Reassignment Regulations 1999’s Drafting Instructions given to the Parliamentary Counsel. If you can’t locate all versions, send me any one of th...
www.whatdotheyknow.com
November 21, 2025 at 5:02 PM