On 28 April 2025, we sent the list of 704 signatories by registered letter to Prime Minister Bart De Wever and to Deputy Prime Minister of Social Affairs and Public Health Frank Vandenbroucke. In an introductory letter, we once again expressed our concerns and asked them not to ignore this any longer.
We received the following response from Prime Minister De Wever: We share the view that every policy in healthcare must be based on a scientific basis. The coalition agreement therefore provides that the Federal Knowledge Centre for Healthcare (KCE) will be charged with conducting a study into the use of hormone inhibitors in young people in the context of gender dysphoria. In such a study, the KCE has the task of collecting extensive international scientific evidence. The literature cited in your letter, with the reservations and objections raised therein, naturally belongs here. This KCE study and the resulting report will provide direction for future, scientifically substantiated policy in the context of gender dysphoria.
On the one hand, it is positive news that the federal government is aware of the problem, and that a study will be outsourced to the KCE, and that it will no longer rely solely on the expertise of the gender clinic at Ghent University Hospital. On the other hand, outsourcing this study is an unnecessary step. The British Cass report is clear enough, and the work should not be redone. It seems like ‘winning time’ to reassure all parties.
We were turned down by Minister of Public Health Frank Vandenbroucke. Our registered letter was refused by the Vandenbroucke office. In the past, we had already emailed the minister about the gender issue, but we never received a response. By refusing our registered letter, he makes it clear that he is not prepared to hear a counterargument. We find this disrespectful.
When we asked Minister Vandenbroucke's spokesperson why the petition - a registered dispatch - was refused and returned without reply, an evasive answer was given. He promised to investigate the matter, but his answer was not forthcoming. There was also no answer to the question of whether the minister wanted to put the treatment of minors with gender dysphoria on the political agenda. An expert in the cabinet was supposed to look into this, but she turned out to be on vacation.
Doorbraak.be published this incident: Petitie ouders van trans kinderen vangt bot bij minister Vandenbroucke. ().
On 28 April 2025, we sent a registered letter with the list of 704 signatories to Prime Minister Bart De Wever and Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Public Health Frank Vandenbroucke. In an introductory letter, we reiterated our concerns and asked them to stop ignoring this issue. We hope for a constructive response.
The letter to the ministers can be found here as a PDF document.
A brief explanation of gender clinics in Belgium
In order to address the long waiting times for transgender care, Minister Frank Vandenbroucke called on hospitals in December 2023 to apply as a ‘centre for transgender care’. This call did not go unanswered, Flanders now has seven centers for transgender care: UZ Ghent, UZ Antwerp, ZAS Antwerp, VITAZ Sint-Niklaas, UPC KU Leuven, AZ Groeninge Kortrijk and ZOL Genk.
In order for a clinic to comply with conventional transgender care, they must have a multidisciplinary team (coordinating doctor, clinical psychologist, case manager and a social worker). Of course, this is nothing more than a smokescreen. The diagnostic term 'gender incongruence' must also be in line with the WPATH 'Standards of Care 8' recommendations.
UZ Gent is recognized in its expert role. Every other convention center must follow mandatory visiting sessions, individual coaching and intervision with the gender team of UZ Gent for three years. With this, the government wants to guide the other centers in their mission.
Six gender centres in Belgium are already accredited: UZ Ghent, CHU Liège, ZOL Genk, VITAZ Sint-Niklaas, ZAS Antwerp and CHTI Erasmus Anderlecht. Four centres also offer paediatric gender care: UZ Ghent, ZAS Antwerp, CHU Liège and Erasmus Hospital Anderlecht (in collaboration with HUDERF).
It should be clear that this project – financed by the government – is ideologically, and not scientifically, driven.
The petition ‘Stop gender ideology in healthcare’ started on 10 May 2024 and ended on 31 March 2025. We collected 704 signatures. Our goal was to hand over 2,500 signatures to the federal parliament. We did not achieve this goal. Nevertheless, we would like to thank everyone who signed our petition.
This is not the end of the story, the work is not finished. Under the guise of gender identity, children and vulnerable adults are being medically mutilated as so-called care. And this is happening on an unprecedented scale, in broad daylight, without anyone noticing.
Journalist and columnist Jan Kuitenbrouwer put it this way:
‘That is my main motivation: there is a silent medical disaster unfolding, and I am trying to draw attention to it. Long before we look back with amusement at the postmodern fictions with which this began, we will look back with shame at the valley of tears into which they degenerated. And God knows how many ruined lives.’
One year after the publication of the Cass report, we in Belgium continue to ignore its findings. This report made it clear that the healthcare provided to young people with gender confusion was guided by activism based on ideology. It showed that there is no scientific basis to justify a medical transition. Nevertheless, Belgian gender clinics continue to hide behind the ‘Standards of Care’ of WPATH, an ideologically driven interest group. What WPATH calls gender care is neither science nor medicine.
Email us at contact@cryforrecognition.be and we will keep you updated.
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT – MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD IN THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION
The European Commission has opened a public consultation on the future EU LGBTIQ strategy. The decision to hold a consultation is good news; it was done before in 2024, but by then the report had already been written. However, with a change of commissioner and increasing public pressure on gender issues, it seems that the Directorate-General for Justice wants to gauge public opinion once again... (perhaps they want an excuse to drop the most controversial elements - such as self-ID and the ban on conversion therapy). We cannot leave this up to rainbow NGOs. Therefore, submit a request and share it as widely as possible! The consultation runs until 24 June 2025.
De duur van de petitie werd met enkele maanden verlengd om nieuwe acties te kunnen opstarten voor het bereiken van het streefdoel van 2.500 ondertekenaars.
Nieuwe einddatum: 31.03.2025 Handtekeningen op het moment van de wijziging: 517
Young people - especially girls - with doubts about their gender and enmeshed in gender ideology, are confirmed in a gender identity without questioning. Without robust scientific evidence, these young people are irreversibly harmed in gender clinics with hormones and surgery.
We call for an end to these medical treatments, following in the footsteps of other countries such as the UK, Sweden, Finland and the UK,Denmark, and for these young people to receive the same level of care and psychological counselling as anyone else.
Neue Begründung:
The Cass report is the result of a four-year in-depth review of gender care for children and young people in the UK, led by Dr Hilary Cass on behalf of the NHS England (National Health Service). It includes around 9000 patients who were treated at the Gender Identity Development Services at the Tavistock in London. The report assesses negatively how health care for children with gender confusion has been guided by activism, based on an ideology and has put kids on a life-changing trajectory, instead of being based on robust evidence. The outcome of the report is clear: there is insufficient evidence to justify the use of medical interventions to treat gender dysphoria (i.e., a feeling of dissatisfaction with one’s biological sex).
Studies show that in most cases gender dysphoria is a temporary phase, often associated with neurodiversity, mental health issues, childhood trauma or same-sex attraction. There is no reliable method to know who will and who will not outgrow it. How can it then be medically justified the prescription of hormonal and surgical interventions that cause irreversible damage to brain development, fertility, bone density, mental health, and sexual functioning, among other things?
The often-heard argument – that transition is lifesaving – has been knocked down. The systematic reviews failed to provide evidence that interventions with puberty blockers and hormones reduce suicide rates. In addition, the number of suicides after the medical transition is worrisome. A long-term study from 2011 found that people who transition to a medical term are more than 19 times more likely to die by suicide than the general population.
The report also addressed social transition – i.e., treating the child as if they were of the opposite sex – concluding that this cannot be considered a neutral intervention since it can have consequences in psychological functioning, posing a significant risk in the long term. The report advises not to follow this path, especially in the case of young children, as it can profoundly change their developmental trajectory.
Detransition – i.e., regretting transition – is becoming a growing phenomenon that can no longer be ignored. A recent American study, that followed patients who underwent medical transition for an average of four years, shows that 30% stopped this process.
The Cass report recommends a total overhaul of the medica care and societal support offered to children and young people with gender issues. These young people deserve to be treated with the same level of scientific rigorousness as anyone else and not as a separate project driven by activists seeking affirmation of their own adult identity and believes.
Currently, the NHS plans to extend the research to gender clinics for adults. Whistleblowers confirm that young adults aged 18 to 25 in particular are often psychologically vulnerable, and deserve similar protection to minors.
The Cass report has global implications. Following in the footsteps of other countries, such as the UK, Sweden, Finland and now the UK,Denmark, it is time to impose a moratorium on these experimental treatments in our country as well.
It is our hope that this report will be a turning point in which common sense and scientific rigour prevails, and where the doctor's oath 'Primum non nocere' (First, do no harm) will once again become the guiding principle.
New deadline: 25.11.2024 Signatures at the time of the change: 177
One detail : 'or same-sex attraction' in stead of 'and same-sex attraction'.
Neue Begründung:
The Cass report is the result of a four-year in-depth review of gender care for children and young people in the UK, led by Dr Hilary Cass on behalf of the NHS England (National Health Service). It includes around 9000 patients who were treated at the Gender Identity Development Services at the Tavistock in London. The report assesses negatively how health care for children with gender confusion has been guided by activism, based on an ideology and has put kids on a life-changing trajectory, instead of being based on robust evidence. The outcome of the report is clear: there is insufficient evidence to justify the use of medical interventions to treat gender dysphoria (i.e., a feeling of dissatisfaction with one’s biological sex).
Studies show that in most cases gender dysphoria is a temporary phase, often associated with neurodiversity, mental health issues, childhood trauma,trauma andor same-sex attraction. There is no reliable method to know who will and who will not outgrow it. How can it then be medically justified the prescription of hormonal and surgical interventions that cause irreversible damage to brain development, fertility, bone density, mental health, and sexual functioning, among other things?
The often-heard argument – that transition is lifesaving – has been knocked down. The systematic reviews failed to provide evidence that interventions with puberty blockers and hormones reduce suicide rates. In addition, the number of suicides after the medical transition is worrisome. A long-term study from 2011 found that people who transition to a medical term are more than 19 times more likely to die by suicide than the general population.
The report also addressed social transition – i.e., treating the child as if they were of the opposite sex – concluding that this cannot be considered a neutral intervention since it can have consequences in psychological functioning, posing a significant risk in the long term. The report advises not to follow this path, especially in the case of young children, as it can profoundly change their developmental trajectory.
Detransition – i.e., regretting transition – is becoming a growing phenomenon that can no longer be ignored. A recent American study, that followed patients who underwent medical transition for an average of four years, shows that 30% stopped this process.
The Cass report recommends a total overhaul of the medica care and societal support offered to children and young people with gender issues. These young people deserve to be treated with the same level of scientific rigorousness as anyone else and not as a separate project driven by activists seeking affirmation of their own adult identity and believes.
Currently, the NHS plans to extend the research to gender clinics for adults. Whistleblowers confirm that young adults aged 18 to 25 in particular are often psychologically vulnerable, and deserve similar protection to minors.
The Cass report has global implications. Following in the footsteps of other countries, such as Sweden, Finland and now the UK, it is time to impose a moratorium on these experimental treatments in our country as well.
It is our hope that this report will be a turning point in which common sense and scientific rigour prevails, and where the doctor's oath 'Primum non nocere' (First, do no harm) will once again become the guiding principle.
New deadline: 25.11.2024 Signatures at the time of the change: 174
