‘Children unsure about their gender need time and space — I paid a big price for saying so,’ says psychotherapist

Jacky Grainger questioned if an outright ban on ‘conversion therapy’ was wise and was subjected to a hate campaign

Jacky Grainger says trans extremists are harming young people in need of help. Photo: Steve Humphreys

Jacky Grainger

On August 9, 2021, The Irish Times published an opinion piece that led to the newspaper being boycotted by the Union of Students in Ireland (USI), individual student unions and some college newspapers, writes Mark Tighe.

The article was written by Jacky Grainger, a psychotherapist, and co-signed by two other clinicians — and ran under the headline “Bill to ban conversion therapy poses problems for therapists”. It argued that a bill promised by Equality Minister Roderic O’Gorman to ban conversion therapy practices being carried out on gay or transgender people risked curtailing what the women said are normal exploratory practices for treating those presenting as gender-questioning.