Free your faces ladies.

I am being sued for defamation in the High Court by Paul Carruthers. The claim seeks damages of up to £65,000, together with an injunction and legal costs. The case arises from a livestream I made in July 2025 following a court judgment concerning the Gender Plus Hormone Clinic and the CQC. I was talking, angrily and robustly, about what I regard as the medical abuse of children. I have said for years that transitioning children is profound abuse. I believe children cannot meaningfully consent to interventions that may affect healthy bodies, sexual development, sexual function and fertility. I will continue to campaign about that. Carruthers now heads the Gender Plus Hormone Clinic. Gender Plus's own website says its hormone service is available from the age of 16, and describes Carruthers as Director of the clinic and leader of its endocrine pathway. Carruthers is publicly described as a gay man and elsewhere as transgender. I have not independently verified Carruthers’ biological sex. I am, of course, a sex-based campaigner who believes that sex is immutable. The central legal dispute is about meaning. One of the passages relied upon in the claim was: “If you want to know how paedophiles successfully managed to ingratiate themselves into positions of power, this is how. It's just unbelievable.” Carruthers says that those words were a personal allegation about Carruthers. I dispute that. I was not talking about Carruthers when I made that comment. I did not intend to say, or imply, that Paul Carruthers is a paedophile or has a sexual interest in children. The context of the livestream matters. I had been discussing the CQC, the Cass Review, regulatory loopholes and how institutions allow people to gain positions of influence. Immediately afterwards I returned to the court judgment. The claimant's solicitors themselves have proposed that the High Court determine the meaning of the words as a preliminary issue. When I was first challenged about the video, I ensured it was removed from public view and offered a public clarification and apology concerning the disputed implication, together with an undertaking not to repeat it. I did not want litigation. I tried to resolve the dispute. Proceedings were nevertheless issued, and I now have to defend myself. I do not have the resources to fund unlimited High Court litigation. I am therefore acting as a litigant in person, with the assistance of a McKenzie Friend, and I intend to obtain specialist defamation advice and barrister assistance at the stages where it is most important and where the funds allow. That still costs money. A complicated High Court case requires many hours of preparation: understanding procedure, responding properly to the Particulars of Claim, organising evidence, preparing documents and bundles, researching the law, corresponding with the other side and preparing for hearings. Specialist legal advice and advocacy will add substantially to that. I would never ask people to fund me to go looking for somebody to sue. I am the defendant. This fight was brought to me. If necessary, I will stand in the High Court and represent myself. I understand that litigation carries genuine risks and that I could lose. What I want is enough professional support and specialist advice to make sure I understand those risks and put forward the best defence I properly can. I am also going to be careful about what I publish while proceedings are live. This fundraiser is not an attempt to try the case on social media or encourage anyone to contact or target the claimant. The legal questions belong in court. But the wider principle matters enormously to me. People must be able to criticise medicine, regulators and powerful institutions, particularly where children are concerned. Free speech cannot become something only wealthy people can afford to defend. If the financial price of defending controversial speech becomes ruinous, you don't need to formally ban people from speaking. Fear will do the job instead. I am profoundly grateful to everyone who has already supported me. Every donation will help pay for the practical and specialist legal assistance I need to defend these proceedings. I didn't seek this case. But I intend to defend it. givesendgo.com/help-defend-m…