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Stella O'Malley

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Stella O'Malley
O'Malley in 2024
Born1973 or 1974 (age 50–51)[1]
Dublin, Ireland[2]
Occupation(s)Psychotherapist and author
Known forPsychotherapy and mental health
Websitewww.stellaomalley.com

Stella O'Malley is an Irish psychotherapist and author, with three books on parenting and mental health.[3][4] She is a regular contributor to Irish national newspapers, podcasts, and TV. She made a documentary about gender dysphoria in children for Channel 4, and is the founder of Genspect, a self-described gender critical organisation opposed to gender affirming care.

Early life

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O'Malley is the third child in a family of four children, with one older sister and brother, and one younger brother.[5]

O'Malley grew up in Dublin in the late 1970s. In her documentary Trans Kids: It's Time to Talk she states that from the ages of 4 to 13 or 14, she insisted that she was a boy, that as puberty developed she felt there was no other option and stopped telling people she was a boy, and at 16 she became comfortable with herself as a woman. She believes that if she had been born 35 years later she would have insisted she was a trans boy and transitioned.[1][6] During the 70s and 80s when she grew up, this was instead understood by those around her as her being a very eccentric, unusual kid, and she states, "I don't think [my parents] gave it much focus."[7]

Published works

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Books

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O'Malley has written several books, all of which were on the Irish best sellers list.[8][9][10][11]

  • O'Malley, Stella (2015). Cotton Wool Kids. Mercier Press. ISBN 9781781173206.
  • O'Malley, Stella (2017). Bully-Proof Kids. Gill Books. ISBN 9780717175420.
  • O'Malley, Stella (2019). Fragile. Gill Books. ISBN 9780717183227.
  • O'Malley, Stella (2023). What your teen is trying to tell you. Gill Books. ISBN 9780717196050.[12]
  • When Kids Say They're Trans: A Guide for Thoughtful Parents - Stella O'Malley, Sasha Ayad, and Lisa Marchiano, Pitchstone Publishing (31 October 2023), ISBN 978-1634312486

Film

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In 2018 her Channel 4 documentary Trans Kids: It's Time To Talk[13][14] aired. The documentary addressed transgender children and their gender dysphoria, expressing concerns that too many children were transitioning and doing so too young. In the documentary, she interviewed transgender children and adults as well as a detransitioned woman, all of whom said they didn't regret their decision to medically transition. Transgender groups and charities she approached had refused to speak to her; she said they accused her of questioning whether transgender children exist. She was criticised for interviewing James Caspian and "trans-critical" feminists who oppose the right of transgender people to self-identify, one of whom asserted there is no scientific evidence anyone is "born in the wrong body". In the film, O'Malley states that she had called herself a boy until puberty, which she retroactively considers gender dysphoria and believes would have led her to transition if born later, but felt comfortable as a girl after puberty.[15][6][1][16]

Some critics praised the documentary, others criticised it for uneven coverage, asking if children and adolescents are being "groomed" into believing they're trans, and O'Malley's conclusion that transgender children "are lost and are being led".[15][6][1][16] Dr Helen Webberley, a UK based GP and gender specialist who had declined to participate in the film, criticised it for not including any trans adults who had transitioned as children.[6] Sarah Carson concluded in her review that "a film like this that tries to prove that to be transgender can be "a phase" – with few statistics and not enough concrete evidence – could do more harm than good".[15]

TV

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She has been the resident psychotherapist for two TV programmes, Raised by the Village,[17] on Irish TV channel RTÉ1, and on a TG4 parenting show in Irish, Cad Faoi Na Tuismitheoirí.[18]

Podcasts

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Exploratory therapy, Genspect and SEGM

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See also: Genspect

O'Malley advocates for "exploratory therapy" in support of gender dysphoria and has written and testified about how some conversion therapy bills also risk limiting access to exploratory therapy.[19][20][21] On 9 August 2021, O'Malley co-authored an opinion letter titled "Bill to ban conversion therapy poses problems for therapists" alongside psychologist Jacky Grainer and GP Madeleine Ní Dhailigh for the Irish Times in reference to the Prohibition of Conversion Therapies Bill 2018. In the letter, she criticized the inclusion of "suppression of gender identity" in the bill's definition of conversion therapy.[20] The Union of Students in Ireland subsequently announced that it was boycotting the Irish Times until it apologised for the article.[22] The Trans Writers Union also announced a boycott of the paper due to what they characterised as advocating conversion therapy and a pattern of transphobic behavior.[23][24] In an interview with O'Malley in Undark Magazine published in April 2022, O'Malley stated that she opposes all medical treatment for teens under 18.[25]

In February 2020, O'Malley tweeted "I hate the phrase gender critical but I am making a list! A large number of people contact me seeking help and I don't know enough Irish therapists who can provide compassionate and nuanced therapy." This was described as compiling a list of Irish gender critical therapists, which some Twitter users equated with conversion therapy.[26]

In June 2021, O'Malley founded Genspect.[27][28] Genspect has supported numerous legal complaints against clinicians and has supported parents trying to prevent children from socially transitioning at school without full parental support. Genspect also "stands in full solidarity" with Our Duty, an organisation that advocates an immediate moratorium on gender-affirming healthcare for anyone under 25 and public funding for gender-affirming healthcare at any age. The group recommends talk therapies where the stated goal of any treatment regimen must be "swift desistance from transgender ideation". Genspect has advised parents against using trans children's chosen names and pronouns, recommended that schools ban "tucking" and "binding", as well as use "biologically accurate language in all cases" and not punish students for misgendering other students. Genspect also stated that "acceptance of the reality of their biological sex" should be the first treatment for gender variant children.[29] Jenn Burleton, Executive Director of TransActive, described Genspect as "an anti-trans, 'gender critical' organization ideologically affiliated with TERFism, ROGD [Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria], and Alliance Defending Freedom".[30]

O'Malley is a clinical advisor to the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (SEGM).[31] She also helped found the International Association of Therapists for Desisters and Detransitioners (IATDD) and the Gender Dysphoria Support Network (GDSN) in 2020.[19][31][32]

In March 2022, O'Malley would have appeared at an NHS conference on gender dysphoria at Great Ormond Street Hospital, alongside paediatrician Hilary Cass, journalist Helen Joyce, CEO of Mermaids, Susie Green, and fellow Genspect advisors Sinéad Watson, Stephanie Davies-Arai, and Lisa Littman. The event was cancelled following complaints by NHS whistleblowers, researchers, and trans rights activists, who accused a majority of the speakers as having a "record of extreme prejudice towards trans people". In particular, opposing inclusion of protections for trans people under the UK conversion therapy ban, intervening in a court case in Arizona in defense of the state's Medicaid ban on trans healthcare, and arguing gender-affirming care for transgender youth is "abusive".[29]

On 6 May 2022, Gay Community News (Dublin) published an article about concerns people raised over O'Malley being invited to address an Education and Training Boards Ireland (ETBI) conference on managing gender issues in schools. In the article, O'Malley was characterised as an anti-trans conversion therapy advocate whose views were misinformation.[23] On 10 May 2022, TD Mick Barry raised issue with O'Malley's invitation to the conference, referring to a Twitter Spaces conversion in which she stated "I don't think you need to give empathy at all, none, zero. I think I should because I'm trying to understand them" when asked why woman should have sympathy for who they describe as autogynephiles.[33][34] LGBTQIA+ activist Izzy Kamikaze also shared link to the released audio. O'Malley has sent a legal letter to Barry accusing him of defamation and sent similar language to Kamikaze for sharing the link.[35]

Personal life

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O’Malley lives in Birr, County Offaly with her husband and two children.[2][12]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Kinchen, Rosie (18 November 2018). "Thank God they didn't make this tomboy trans". The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 11 July 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Stella O'Malley". Swift Press. Archived from the original on 29 November 2022.
  3. ^ Singh, Anita (21 November 2018). "Trans Kids: It's Time to Talk, review: a compassionate, if divisive, addition to the debate". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 July 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  4. ^ Hayward, Eleanor (26 March 2022). "Gender event off after trans activists attack 'extreme' views". The Times. Archived from the original on 29 March 2022. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  5. ^ O'Malley, Stella. "Trans Kids: It's Time to Talk - Stella O'Malley". The Ray D'Arcy Show (Interview). Interviewed by Ray D'Arcy. RTÉ.
  6. ^ a b c d Murphy, Sandra. "Irish mother under fire after Channel 4 Trans Kids documentary - Extra.ie". Archived from the original on 19 June 2022. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  7. ^ O’Malley, Stella (28 September 2022). "'Trans Kids: It's Time to Talk,' with Stella O'Malley". YouTube (Interview). Interviewed by Joey Dumont.
  8. ^ "Irish Bestsellers 21st February 2015". Writing.ie. 28 February 2015. Archived from the original on 14 July 2022. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  9. ^ "Irish Bestsellers 2nd September 2017". Writing.ie. 8 September 2017. Archived from the original on 14 July 2022. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  10. ^ "Irish Bestsellers 13th April 2019". Writing.ie. 19 April 2019. Archived from the original on 5 December 2020. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  11. ^ "Irish Bestsellers 8th April 2023". Writing.ie. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  12. ^ a b McCarthy, Mary (19 March 2023). "Stella O'Malley's bible for parents raising troubled teenagers". The Times. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  13. ^ O'Malley, Stella (24 November 2018). Trans Kids: It's Time To Talk. IMDB (Television production). Archived from the original on 9 August 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  14. ^ "Trans Kids: It's Time To Talk". Internet Archive. 24 November 2018. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  15. ^ a b c Carson, Sarah (21 November 2018). "Trans Kids: It's Time to Talk: an engrossing if uneven documentary". Archived from the original on 16 July 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  16. ^ a b Feay, Suzi (20 November 2018). "Trans Kids: It's Time to Talk, Channel 4 — a step in the right direction". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 2 November 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  17. ^ "Raised by the Village". RTÉ. 19 September 2019. Archived from the original on 2 April 2022. Retrieved 2 April 2022. Under the guidance of one of Irelands top child psychotherapists, Stella O'Malley …
  18. ^ "Cad Faoi na Tuismitheoirí?". RTÉ. 6 December 2021. Archived from the original on 19 June 2022. Retrieved 2 April 2022. The Cookes in Kerry benefit from guidance from our parenting expert Stella O Malley who helps them navigate …
  19. ^ a b "'Treat Youth With Gender Dysphoria as Individuals'". Medscape. Archived from the original on 22 June 2022. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
  20. ^ a b Grainger, Jacky; Ní Dhailigh, Madeleine; O’ Malley, Stella (9 June 2022). "Bill to ban conversion therapy poses problems for therapists". Irish Times. Archived from the original on 12 June 2022. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  21. ^ "Stella O'Malley's testimony at the Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Bill - 13 Oct 2021". YouTube. 13 October 2021. Archived from the original on 26 June 2022. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  22. ^ Corr, Julieanne (9 April 2022). "Students union boycotts Irish Times over conversion therapy article". The Times. Archived from the original on 10 April 2022. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
  23. ^ a b Schad, Saoirse (6 May 2022). "Irish education conference faces backlash for talk on "managing gender issues" in schools". Gay Community News (Dublin). Archived from the original on 9 June 2022. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  24. ^ Ferreyra-Carroll, Lilith (21 October 2021). "A state of collapse: Trans healthcare in Ireland is a national emergency". Gay Community News (Dublin). Archived from the original on 4 July 2022. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  25. ^ Klotz, Frieda (6 April 2022). "The Fractious Evolution of Pediatric Transgender Medicine". Undark Magazine. Archived from the original on 14 June 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  26. ^ Kenny, Oisin (5 February 2020). "Graham Linehan calls for list of Irish 'gender critical' therapists for trans children". Gay Community News (Dublin). Archived from the original on 5 March 2022. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  27. ^ Dixon, Hayley (26 June 2021). "CBBC's trans messaging is damaging children, says mother". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 23 September 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  28. ^ Dixon, Hayley (3 August 2021). "Health Secretary intervenes over NHS guidance on transgender patients in hospitals". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 27 September 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2021. Stella O'Malley, a psychotherapist who founded Genspect, a parental support group for those concerned about the treatment that their children are receiving for gender issues.
  29. ^ a b Ferreira, Lou (25 March 2022). "NHS invited speakers with 'anti-trans' links to trans event". openDemocracy. Archived from the original on 7 June 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  30. ^ Rook, Erin (8 March 2022). "Women's group will hold conference to try to convince trans people to "detransition"". LGBTQ Nation. Archived from the original on 5 June 2022. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  31. ^ a b Ault, Alicia (22 March 2022). "Doctors Have Failed Them, Say Those Who Regret Transitioning". WebMD Health News. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  32. ^ Genspect (9 March 2022). "Genspect rebuttal - Genspect". Archived from the original on 26 April 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  33. ^ Clifford, Mick (22 May 2022). "Mick Clifford: Misuse of Dáil privilege in trans debate". The Irish Examiner. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  34. ^ Leveille, Lee (2 April 2022). "Leaked audio confirms Genspect director as anti-trans conversion therapist targeting youth". Health Liberation Now. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  35. ^ Tighe, Mark. "Trans quote wrong, says woman 'defamed' by TD Mick Barry". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Archived from the original on 21 June 2022. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
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