One of Britain’s most respected doctors has corrected hospital chiefs who claimed newborns were ‘assigned’ a gender at birth – telling them that babies are ‘born as male or female’.
Bosses at the James Paget Hospital in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, issued advice on ‘inclusive language DOs and DON’Ts’ to ensure staff used correct LGBT+ terminology.
In guidance titled Celebrating Pride, they told staff to use the phrase ‘assigned female/male at birth’ as this more ‘accurately depicts’ what happens when a child is born.
But Professor Karol Sikora, a leading cancer specialist and consultant oncologist, posted on X: ‘The NHS should not be disagreeing with the fact that babies are born as male or female – they are not ‘assigned’ at birth.’
Professor Sikora, who earned a distinction in obstetrics during his clinical training, added: ‘Having delivered multiple babies myself, I can fully assure you that they arrive already male or female.’
Bosses at the James Paget Hospital in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, issued advice on ‘inclusive language DOs and DON’Ts’ to ensure staff used correct LGBT+ terminology
Staff were told to use the phrase ‘assigned female/male at birth’ as this more ‘accurately depicts’ what happens when a child is born
Hospital employees were also told to avoid terms such as ‘ladies and gentlemen’, as well as titles including ‘mailman’, ‘fireman’ and ‘policeman’.
They were urged to steer away from ‘both genders’ and ‘opposite sexes’ – and not to use the term ‘homosexual’ as this ‘often connotes a medical diagnosis or a discomfort with gay/lesbian people’.
Medical staff were also told to refer to certain people by using ‘ze’ or ‘zir’ pronouns because they are ‘gender neutral and preferred by some trans people’.
The document, which was produced by the communications department at the hospital and is still on its website, was published in 2021 and had a ‘review date’ of June this year.
Rupert Lowe, the MP for Great Yarmouth, exposed the NHS Celebrating Pride document, which he described as ‘bonkers’, telling the Great Yarmouth Mercury: ‘It’s astonishing that guidance from a hospital, which is full of doctors and nurses who have spent years studying, does not seem to know what happens when a baby is born.’
Rupert Lowe MP giving a speech at the Reform UK party conference 2024
Hospital chiefs claimed newborns were ‘assigned’ a gender at birth – saying that babies are ‘born as male or female’
He added: ‘We aren’t ‘assigned’ male or female at birth. We are male or female at birth.
‘There are sexes. We must not be afraid to say that.’
Helen Joyce, director of advocacy at the human-rights charity Sex Matters, said: ‘It’s hard to fathom that any hospital is still promoting trans-activist language more than two years after the then health secretary instructed the NHS to return to biologically accurate language.
‘It is also frankly embarrassing to see a hospital – a place where medical knowledge matters – making the ridiculous argument that people are ‘assigned’ female or male at birth rather than simply being female or male, as a matter of material reality.
‘The leadership at James Paget Hospital needs to get a grip, say no to its trans-activist staff and return to recognising that accurate language about the two sexes matters in healthcare.’
The James Paget Hospital declined to respond to Professor Sikora’s comments last night.
