‘Eunuch’ should be recognised as a gender, according to Scottish NHS: Fury as document reveals plan to allow men who ‘desire to have their testicles surgically removed’ to use ‘barbaric’ 4000-year-old term to self-identify
- Information was on the National Gender Identity Clinical Network for Scotland
- Documents stated ‘eunuch-identified people’ were the ‘least visible’ trans group
- Eunuch is a man who has been castrated – historically servants against their will
- But there have been growing self-choice eunuch movements – including ‘Nullo’
- NHS Scotland and Scottish Government say upload of documents was ‘mistake’
An NHS Scotland website published documents saying that eunuchs should be recognised as a formal gender identity, prompting an apology from officials.
Health chiefs say an investigation will be launched into how the documents were uploaded on to The National Gender Identity Clinical Network for Scotland (NGICNS).
It comes after the Daily Telegraph reported how the website shared claims from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) about ‘eunuch-identified people’.
A eunuch is a man who has been castrated. Historically eunuchs would be servants or slaves who had been castrated against their will.
But they have also historically served religious roles and in some cultures engaged in espionage and clandestine work.
Famously the actor Conleth Hill played the eunuch spy master Lord Varys in the television series Game of Thrones. His character was forcibly castrated as a child.
However the term eunuch can encompass those who have been chemically or surgically castrated, including due to illness.
There are also modern eunuchs who desire to be physically castrated by choice, including those who are part of the growing ‘Nullo movement’.
It comes after the Daily Telegraph reported how the website shared claims from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) about ‘eunuch-identified people’ (pictured: A screen grab from the WPATH website showing its new chapter about eunuchs)
Health chiefs for NHS Scotland (pictured: Library image) say an investigation will be launched into how the documents were uploaded on to The National Gender Identity Clinical Network for Scotland (NGICNS)
It comes after police arrested seven men including a suspect in his sixties allegedly linked to a ‘bizarre’ castration cult who have intimate body parts removed live on pay per view streams all orchestrated by a ringleader nicknamed ‘The Eunuch Maker’.
It also comes amid a debate over the SNP reforms which seeks to makes the process for acquiring a gender recognition certificate (GRC) easier for trans people.
What is a eunuch?
In the simplest definition of the term, eunuchs are men who have been castrated.
The first recorded practice of castration to intentionally produce eunuchs dates as far back as 2,000BC – more than 4,000 years ago – in the ancient city of Lagash – located in what would now be modern day Iraq.
An illustration of the Chief Harem Eunuch, depicted by a seventeenth-century British observer
Eunuchs would usually be servants or slaves who had been castrated to make them less threatening servants.
But they have also served religious roles and in some cultures engaged in espionage and clandestine work.
Famously the actor Conleth Hill played the eunuch spy master Lord Varys in the television series Game of Thrones. His character was forcibly castrated as a child.
In Roman times, emperors were surrounded by eunuchs for such functions as bathing, haircutting, dressing and in the Byzantium empire there were groups of eunuchs who held official functions in the city of Constantinople – now Istanbul.
In China, castration was also considered one of the five great punishments, and a means of gaining employment in the Imperial service.
Like in the Byzantium empire, eunuchs, due to their closeness to those in power, occasionally gained great influence, including the eunuch Zheng He during the Ming dynasty – who was said to have than high ranking officials.
Though castration began to phase out in many parts of the world through the Medieval period, it was still practised officially in the Ottoman empire, even up until the 20th century.
Eunuchs, in a modern sense, can include those who have been castrasted for health reasons, such as to treat cancer.
But there has been a growing number of people choosing to be castrated.
The Nullo movement has grown in popularity in recent years. There are extreme cases where people are castrated for cannibalistic or sexual desires – but the majority remove their genitals because they don’t identify as male or female. Many opt for a ‘smoothie’ – a procedure that leaves them with a fully smooth groin.
More than half of those people use amateur ‘cutters’ – often doctors or vets – or do it themselves.
There are an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 voluntary ‘Nullos’ worldwide, though the true number is unknown. Two thirds never tell anyone they have no genitalia, including their families, a 2014 academic study found.
Earlier this week David Parker, a lead clinician at the NGICNS and a WPATH member, called on MSPs to the reforms.
According to reports, the NGICNS website included material from the WPATH saying ‘eunuch-identified people’ were the ‘least visible’ trans group.
But the paper was deleted on Wednesday night. The Scottish Government issued an apology, claiming it had been published by mistake.
However campaigners have reacted with fury over its inclusion on the NHS Scotland website.
Susan Smith, of the For Women Scotland campaign group, told the Telegraph: ‘We are disgusted that NHS Scotland thinks that it is appropriate to align with any organisation pushing ‘eunuch identity’, let alone host a paper about it on their website.
‘This is a barbaric practice which, for centuries, was used to demean and abuse young men and boys.’
According to the paper, the document described a eunuch as ‘an individual assigned male at birth whose testicles have been surgically removed or rendered non-functional, and who identifies as a eunuch’ and ‘individuals who feel that their true self is best expressed by the term eunuch’.
It also reportedly stated that eunuchs ‘generally desire to have their testicles surgically removed or rendered non-functional. and that ‘surgical intervention’ should be offered if withholding treatment could lead to them attempting to carry out a medical procedure themselves.
The information was from the The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) – a global body which sets the standards of care for transgender people.
The group have included a new chapter about eunuchs. It has been reported that the paper includes links to Eunuch Archive – an online forum which has peer-to-peer stories from eunuchs around the world.
But the page also contains a section called Eunuch Fantasies, which reportedly hosts a which hosts a catalogue of disturbing fetish stories, some of which feature children.
There is no suggestion that any of this material ended up on either the WPATH or NHS Scotland’s website.
Last night, Susan Buchanan, the director of National Specialist Services Division Scotland, apologised for the documents calling for eunuchs to be recognised as a gender being uploaded in error on the website.
She told the Telegraph the organisation would now commence a full investigation into the incident.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘This material was published in error. The documents have been removed and we apologise to anyone affected.’
MailOnline approached NGICNS for a comment.
It comes as earlier this year police arrested seven men including a suspect in his sixties allegedly linked to a ‘bizarre’ castration cult who have intimate body parts removed live on pay per view streams all orchestrated by a ringleader nicknamed ‘The Eunuch Maker’.
The group is likely inspired by asexual Japanese artist Mao Sugiyama who had his penis and testicles surgically removed nine years ago, aged 23, to serve as a meal to five guests at an exclusive banquet. He would later have his nipples cut off.
The Met Police has revealed it raided a property in Finsbury Park, North London, and spent three days there removing desktop computers, laptops and other items in plastic evidence bags.
It is alleged that removal of body parts were carried out in the basement flat and screened on a pay-per-view basis, via an adult channel boosted by a Twitter account.
A 44-year-old Norwegian man living there has been held on suspicion of conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm. Six other people, aged in their 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s, have also been arrested.
The group have included a new chapter about eunuchs. It has been reported that the paper includes links to Eunuch Archive (pictured) – an online forum which has peer-to-peer stories from eunuchs around the world. But the page also contains a section called Eunuch Fantasies, which reportedly hosts a which hosts a catalogue of disturbing fetish stories, some of which feature children
It comes as earlier this year police arrested seven men including a suspect in his sixties allegedly linked to a ‘bizarre’ castration cult who have intimate body parts removed live on pay per view streams all orchestrated by a ringleader nicknamed ‘The Eunuch Maker’. The group is likely inspired by asexual Japanese artist Mao Sugiyama (pictured) who had his penis and testicles surgically removed nine years ago, aged 23, to serve as a meal to five guests at an exclusive banquet. He would later have his nipples cut off
Famously the actor Conleth Hill played the eunuch spy master Lord Varys in the television series Game of Thrones. His character was forcibly castrated as a child
The alleged ringleader, who lives at the property, is said to have given himself the moniker: ‘The Eunuch Maker’ and is understood to have undergone an amputation himself. The seven suspects have all been released on bail.
The Nullo movement has grown in popularity in recent years. There are extreme cases where people are castrated for cannibalistic or sexual desires – but the majority remove their genitals because they don’t identify as male or female. Many opt for a ‘smoothie’ – a procedure that leaves them with a fully smooth groin.
More than half of those people use amateur ‘cutters’ – often doctors or vets – or do it themselves.
There are an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 voluntary ‘Nullos’ worldwide, though the true number is unknown. Two thirds never tell anyone they have no genitalia, including their families, a 2014 academic study found.
It comes as David Parker, a lead clinician at the NGICNS and a WPATH member, this week called on MSPs to back proposed new SNP gender reforms.
The SNP’s Gender Recognition Reform Bill, if passed, will make it far easier for trans people to change their legal sex to male or female.
Ministers claim the current process for someone to change their legal gender takes too long and is too invasive. The bill removes the requirement of a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria, instead allowing trans people to self-identify.
Mr Parker told a Holyrood committee scrutinising the plans that trans and non-binary people were ‘the experts in their own experience’ and should be ‘recognised as their authentic selves’.
Meanwhile, Professor Sharon Cowan, a professor of feminist and queer legal studies, told a Holyrood equalities committee that reform was an ‘urgent matter’ for many trans people.
However opposition campaign groups and policy analysts have called the bill, first touted back in 2016 by SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon, ‘exceptionally poor and a recipe for bad law’.
The SNP’s (pictured: Leader Nicola Sturgeon) Gender Recognition Reform Bill, if passed, will make it far easier for trans people to change their legal sex to male or female. However opposition campaign groups and policy analysts have called the bill, first touted back in 2016 by SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon, ‘exceptionally poor and a recipe for bad law’
They have raised concerns about women excluding themselves from women-only services, such as refuges, over fears of encountering a transgender individual.
Meanwhile, Harry Potter author JK Rowling, who has been a strong voice campaigning for women’s rights, said that the new laws would ‘harm the most vulnerable women in society: those seeking help after male violence/rape and incarcerated women’.
‘Statistics show that imprisoned women are already far more likely to have been previously abused.’
Ms Sturgeon, who previously said that concerns regarding the reforms to the gender recognition act are ‘not valid’, said she ‘fundamentally disagreed’ with Rowling’s criticism and insisted ‘the rules haven’t yet changed’.
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