It’s a SLAPP: Stella O’Malley Targets Psychotherapist and Rights Advocate Leonie O’Dowd

The CASE Coalition has recognised the legal actions launched by Stella O’Malley and her organisation Genspect against psychotherapist Leonie O’Dowd as a SLAPP.

Last year, Leonie O’Dowd, a semi-retired psychotherapist, long-standing member of the Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (IACP), and active member of Mammies for Trans Rights, authored an article for the IACP’s Winter 2024 journal in an edition devoted to LGBTQI+. In the course of the article she raised legitimate clinical and professional concerns about the approach of O’Malley and her organisation Genspect – a self-described gender critical organisation opposed to gender affirming care – to working with trans people, highlighting the promotion of concepts that lack scientific credibility and could in her view be harmful. Among other issues, the article aimed to inform psychotherapists, psychological and  medical professionals, academics, and students about potential risks inherent in such approaches.

The article was published in December 2024 and taken offline in the same month by the IACP following a complaint from O’Malley. The IACP informed Leonie O’Dowd and asked her to make a number of deletions, which she agreed to in full. The article was never reinstated. Despite this, O’Malley and Genspect threaten O’Dowd. In July O’Dowd received letters from solicitors notifying her of two separate allegations from Stella O’Malley and Genspect of defamation and demands for apology and retraction, substantial damages and legal costs, and High Court actions if these were not forthcoming.

The broader implications are serious. SLAPPs like this target vulnerable individuals. In addition to being a respected professional, Leonie O’Dowd is a semi-retired, 70 year old grandmother, living on a modest pension. She would be seriously impacted by, if not unable to pay, elevated legal fees. By filing these claims, O’Malley and Genspect are attempting to chill public debate on matters of significant societal and medical importance.

Such lawsuits undermine public participation and the ability of professionals and civil society to share information, critique practices, and hold influential actors accountable. Moreover, they threaten academic freedom – the peer review process and the broader pursuit of truth in scholarship — as authors may fear legal retribution.

The CASE Coalition condemns these SLAPP proceedings and stands in solidarity with Leonie O’Dowd. Professional critique and informed discussion about health, psychology, and human rights must not be obstructed by abusive legal threats.

Additional Notes

Leonie O’Dowd is a semi-retired psychotherapist and accredited member of IACP since 1984. She was head of training at the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre for over 20 years, is a human rights activist and is an active member of Mammies for Trans Rights. 

Stella O’Malley and Genspect ally with and platform individuals known for bullying and transphobic rhetoric, including Graham Linehan and Helen Joyce, demonstrating the broader context of aggressive and harmful speech that underpins these legal threats.