The issue of sex and gender has been in the South African news recently, as well as on social media, with various postings and articles published. The response to these by the public (judging by the numerous comments) has been significant, which indicates that people are very interested in and concerned about the issue.
What is the role of the media in response to this? Hopefully it is to provide the public with articles that are evidence-based and provide a diversity of perspectives. Uri Berliner, a veteran journalist at the US-based NPR, said recently that the network lost the trust of the public when it started telling listeners how to think.
He concludes his article by saying that what has most damaged the network is the absence of viewpoint diversity. NPR is similar to the BBC in the UK, both being government-funded and very influential.
The media have a role and responsibility and mechanism for addressing the big questions in society, which includes publishing articles that let evidence, rather than ideology, lead the way.
Following the publication of an article by Shawn de Waal in the Daily Maverick commenting on JK Rowling, the UK supreme court ruling, and Helen Zille’s social media statement, First Do No Harm Southern Africa (FDNHSA) would like to add to the lively public discussion and try to set the record a bit straighter on these topics.
FDNHSA is a voluntary association of South African professionals advocating for evidence-based care of children and youth with gender distress,
Encouraged
Members of FDNHSA are encouraged by the UK Supreme Court judgment of 16 April 2025. What this extremely consequential judgement makes clear is that sex means biological sex, and that a woman is a biological female. This is a landmark judgement which is likely to have far-reaching consequences.
In effect, the UK court has ruled that sex means exactly what most people thought it did, before the wholesale onslaught by transgender ideologues on language and women’s rights. It is now clear that men who call themselves “trans women” or “women” are not legally women in terms of the 2010 Equality Act, and that sex is not determined on the basis of “gender identity”.
It is encouraging that the international tide seems to be turning, and reality is again being acknowledged and restored.
FDNHSA would like to clarify that transgender ideation should not be conflated with being lesbian, gay, or bisexual. It is clear that the medicalising with puberty blockers, hormones, and surgeries of minors who have gender-related confusion or distress does great harm to people who otherwise would likely have grown up as heterosexual, bisexual, gay, or lesbian adults, with their gender-related problems resolved.
Adolescents and vulnerable adults similarly need appropriate safeguards. We believe that all people, including those who are lesbian, gay, and bisexual, as well as people who identify as transgender, should be supported and not marginalised or discriminated against.
Sex is binary
We agree that sex is binary and cannot be changed, and we share concerns about the life-long medical harms caused by “gender-affirming care”, which is being promoted by various activist clinicians, doctors, and lobbyists in South Africa.
We applaud Helen Zille’s courage in making this public statement, at a time when saying anything publicly about this complex and controversial issue can have deleterious consequences for the people or organisations concerned, whether in the Global North or South Africa.
The transgender lobby in South Africa is extremely active and quick to respond to anything which challenges their beliefs on sex and gender, usually in a way that raises the emotional temperature of the discussion and deliberately targets anyone who does not adhere to transgender orthodoxy.
We appreciate Helen Zille’s calm, considered, and thoughtful approach to this complex issue. Members of FDNHSA have experienced how difficult it is to communicate a reasoned response to the issue of “gender-affirming care” even when based on the most recent scientific evidence, and in opposition to the “affirmative only” approach espoused by transgender activists for the care of gender-questioning children and adolescents.
Several FDNHSA members who have authored articles published in both the mainstream media and medical journals have been reported to the Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA) by transgender activist organisations, in an attempt to intimidate individual doctors for raising this issue in the public domain.
Concerned
FDNHSA is concerned that the Democratic Alliance-led provincial government in the Western Cape has supported transgender ideological approaches in schools, universities, and the health department. FDNHSA has engaged with various stakeholders in these departments, and it is clear that they are responsive to, and under the influence of, trans activists and organisations such as PATHSA, (who have actively promoted the transitioning and medicalisation of vulnerable children, adolescents and adults with gender-related confusion or distress), GenderDynamix, and others.
The DA will have to take a stand on this issue at some point.
FDNHSA believes that the majority of voters would appreciate the restoration of reality regarding sex and gender, based on scientific evidence and biological reality. The implications of confusing sex and gender for children at school, students at higher education institutions and in the general population, are very significant, and can undermine the safety of women-only spaces.
FDNHSA has been one of the very few voices speaking out publicly for the safeguarding of children and adolescents with gender dysphoria. It is time for more medical doctors, academics and political leaders to show courage and provide leadership and clarity on this issue.
The views of the writer are not necessarily the views of the Daily Friend or the IRR.
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