The GMC Won't Silence Me
Over the last 2 years, the GMC has done everything in the their power to silence my fight against colonialism, white supremacy, capitalism and the patriarchy. They won’t succeed, and they never will. Here’s why…
The Situation So Far
A few weeks ago in my podcast, I talked about the latest events in the ongoing case of the GMC Vs Dr Asher Larmie. For those who don’t know, the General Medical Council (who are responsible for my licence to practice medicine) have been investigating me for over two years.
It all started with two separate complaints made by Deanne Jade, Founder and Principal of the National Centre for Eating Disorders, and Dr Adrian Brown, Senior Specialist Weight Management and Bariatric dietitian and Senior Research Fellow/Lecturer at UCL.
Both did their utmost to have me removed from the medical register, accusing me of all sorts. Most of their claims have been found to be baseless during the ongoing investigation. But one thing has stuck.
My hearing is today
I now have to attend a hearing on the matter today, Monday the 3rd June. According to the GMC, I made some “inappropriate and/or offensive” remarks about cisgender white men and women. And that, they say, is a line that no doctor may cross:
“The GMC’s interest is around the manner of his expression of views, in a way that could affect public protection, and public confidence in the profession. In our view, a doctor making comments of this nature, about being anxious around people of a particular race, on social media, does have the potential to adversely affect the public protection.
We consider there to be a real risk that a member of the public reading Dr Larmie’s views would be concerned that they would be treated in an unfair or less favourable way, based on their ethnicity, gender or sexuality. Dr Larmie himself has referred to evidence of some groups having less trust in doctors than others.
Although we do appreciate that Dr Larmie’s comments are about marginalised groups, we consider the same principle (that individuals with certain characteristics might feel at risk of less favourable treatment from doctors, on the basis of their ethnicity, gender or sexuality) to apply to the comments he made, and to be a real possibility arising from the manner in which Dr Larmie has expressed his views.”
And here it is folks!
“For example, a cisgender, white, heterosexual male reading Dr Larmie’s comments about disliking his ’species as a general rule’ and him having to ‘work real damn hard to get into my good books’ might reasonably impact the confidence that such an individual would have that they would receive fair treatment from Dr Larmie.”
They went on to say:
“We have however taken into account that the allegations are about comments made rather than about individual patients being treated unfavourably, and that there is no evidence before us that the risks to public protection or public confidence have been realised. We also acknowledge Dr Larmie’s submissions of testimonials from people, at least one of whom attended seminars run by Dr Larmie, confirming that they did not feel they had been treated unfavourably as white, cisgender women. These testimonials provide some relevant context that reduces the risk to public protection.”
The GMC Wants To Silence Me
Two tweets – that’s it. It all comes down to two tweets. One in which I expressed my legitimate fear of white, cisgender men. And one which was taken completely out of context. I cannot begin to tell you how profoundly this two-year-long witch hunt has impacted me. The damage it has done to my mental, emotional and social wellbeing. The practical AND psychological cost.
For two lousy tweets. On a twitter account that ceased to exist over a year ago. They want me to express remorse. To bend the knee and beg for forgiveness. They say it themselves:
“Accepting that Dr Larmie does not accept that his comments were inappropriate, we cannot conclude from the information before us that he has insight into the concerns.”
What’s actually going on here
Oh, I have insight alright. Don’t you doubt that for a second. My insight is simple. The GMC has proved time and time again that its number one priority is to serve and protect the interests of the white, cisgender, heterosexual man (and to a lesser degree, woman).
The GMC has a racism problem. The GMC has a sexism problem. The medical profession clearly has a transphobia problem. And the GMC has demonstrated zero interest in addressing this.
Oh sure, they’ll write statements like:
“Everyone has the right to come to work without fear of racism. We recognise the unacceptably high levels of racism directed toward staff in healthcare settings and support a zero-tolerance approach to racism.”
But their registrars have demonstrated that they still don’t understand the definition of racism, calling comments I made about white women “racist”.
And when an openly transphobic complaint is lodged against me, the GMC do not even acknowledge it. They can’t understand why a Transgender doctor may wish to express his fear of cisgender people, even though they are fully aware of the amount of hate I receive online simply for existing.
The truth about “justice”
And now these very same people get to decide whether or not my comments are “offensive and/or inappropriate” enough to impact the public’s trust in the profession. And in particular, their trust in me.
I have never once had a complaint from a patient indicating that they couldn’t trust me. Instead, I produced pages and pages of statements from people I have worked with or follow me on social media who made it clear that my content is the very reason that they do trust me.
But that’s not good enough. Their voices don’t count when there is a theoretical risk to the voiced that do.
People trust me because I am committed to standing up against the negative effect that colonialism, white supremacy, capitalism and patriarchy continue to have on the medical profession. And I refuse to be silenced. I will not allow anyone to police my thoughts, opinions, or tone for that matter.
Free Palestine
Medicine is no longer a safe profession for me. My colleagues and employers made that clear long before the GMC began threatening me. A month ago, I received notification that the GMC have opened a separate investigation into me, this time for the comments I made on Threads and Instagram about Palestine.
My Grandfather, a German Jew, was born in a town called Gelsenkirchen in West Germany. He survived the Holocaust. My mother lived as a refugee, first in Brazil, and later in the colonialist state of Israel. I have visited my family in Israel many times, staying a mere 20 miles from Kibbutz Be’eri.
From what I can tell, all of my mum’s side of the family are Zionists. My Dad’s side are Armenian, and experienced their own genocide a couple of decades before the Jewish one.
I will not apologise for being me
I am proud to say that I spoke out openly for Palestine on the 9th October 2023. I am ashamed to say it took me that long. Once again, I will not allow anyone to police my thoughts, opinions, or tone on this matter. Especially people who don’t have skin in the game.
This is personal for me. My mother was an Israeli citizen. My cousins believe that the Palestinian genocide is justified. Is there a single member of the GMC who can say the same thing?
Yes my comments often come across as “offensive and/or inappropriate”. That is the whole point.
The GMC may feel uncomfortable when I speak out in defence of innocent Palestinians, or Fat people, or Trans people, or Black people, but I am uncomfortable when they don’t. They can remain ensconced in their privileged little bubbles and stay “neutral” for the sake of whatever it is that they believe. But I won’t.
They can do whatever they want to silence me, but they can’t. Because when it comes down to a choice between keeping my medical licence and speaking out against injustice, we all know where I stand.
thank you for all you do!!!
I appreciate you!