In the UK, Trans Youth Left Out in the Cold by Labour Government
Youth activists camped out at the office of Wes Streeting, the Labour MP who recently decided to make permanent a ban on puberty blockers outside of a state-sanctioned research study, denying any hope of evidence-based treatment to youth with gender dysphoria under the age of 16.
by S. M. Walker
Over the course of the consultation on access to puberty blockers, young trans people have tried everything to try and get their identities respected and secure access to appropriate medical care. From scaling buildings to marching in the streets, and releasing crickets at an anti-trans conference, they have tried desperately to be heard, repeatedly warning UK Health Secretary and Labour MP Wes Streeting, of the dangers of the ban on puberty blockers.
According to the government press release, the ban will be total outside a single NHS research study. An NHS study is in the planning phase and has not yet begun accepting patients.
The decision to ban puberty blockers across the UK by the incumbent UK government has been met with stiff opposition by all who it would affect; with young people once again taking to the streets to re-assert their belief that the ban singles out trans youth for unethical treatment.
I say 'the streets'- One street, actually: Woodford Avenue in Ilford, where ban architect and Labour MP Wes Streeting has his constituency office.
Self-organised youth group 'Trans Kids Deserve Better' (TKDB) are camped outside the Labour MPs office overnight on December 11th to 12th, demanding the government abandon plans to force participation in medical trials which intend to with-hold puberty blockers to some participants in an attempt to prove that the established treatment, with decades of research and proof of effectiveness, isn't necessary. The group's website contains a poignant quote by TKDB member Grin, stating that they feel that "Wes Streeting has chosen politics over our lives. We are being put through an experiment... to deny us healthcare, not to provide it. He (Streeting) wants to see what happens to us when we grow up permanently altered in ways we never wanted, and we never consented to be part of that."
As justification, decision makers point to the Cass Review, which has been rejected by experts from the U. S., France, and Australia.. Critics, including a group of Yale researchers, suggest the report was poorly researched. A recent joint statement from political LGBTQ+ groups, with the notable exception of Labour and the Conservatives, described it as "cherry-picked for political purposes; its scientific literacy on the level of the anti-vax movement." going on to assert that it further "targets neurodiverse trans youth with "infantilization and pathologizing while ignoring Gillick competency" - the principle of being capable of making decisions and understanding your choices in a medical scenario. They go on to condemn Wes Streeting as an "unqualified non-clinician making pseudo-scientific decisions" who is setting "dangerous precedents" pointing toward politicisation of NHS health provisions and the undermining of Scottish and Welsh devolution by the UK Labour Government in making a unilateral decision without consulting the devolved Health Secretaries and Parliaments.
The review recommends forcing patients to engage in a medical trial to access a treatment for which there is over 40 years of evidence in favour of its overwhelming safety. These trials, the aforementioned statement by LGBTQ+ political allies states, would be "grossly unethical and medically incompetent, with the proposal of double-blind tests going against any standard practice for a medical trial of this kind." This refers to commonly accepted norms in ethical research practices; a double blind design is unethical when it is likely to harm patients who are denied the mainline treatment, and coercing patients into participating in research is never ethical.
There have been repeated accusations made that Hilary Cass, made a Baroness following the report, favoured the opinions of known advocates of conversion therapies over the a huge raft of responses by trans people, medical specialists and parents. Dr Cal Horton, who was invited to give expert evidence in the closed consultation, says they highlighted "significant harms" if the ban was introduced. On Bluesky, Horton posted "In the UK we are bled dry with consultations, and always ignored. They don't care what the costs are. They don't care about the evidence. They certainly don't care about trans youth."
Assigned Media’s own Evan Urquhart also responded on Bluesky, pointing out that, whilst not made clear in the Cass Report itself, "...within the appendices, you'll find they reviewed thousands of patient records but failed to find a single example of anybody being harmed by puberty blockers, and fewer than 10 occurrences of detransition" in the entire cohort.
Wes Streeting failed to meet with protestors in Ilford this morning, instead sending the police to disperse and move them along before the offices opened to the public. But the message from trans youth, written on a 15ft banner hung from his signage, is very clear: "We aren't pawns for your politics"
S. M. Walker (Sammy) is a transitioned woman in her mid 30's, who shot to prominence within the LGBT sports community in the late 2010s for playing football at a high level, as well as featuring in articles and community events on inclusivity in sport. Retiring after injury, and seeing the hostile landscape developing, Sammy now lives in rural Scotland, writing on civil rights issues and caring for her (at the last count) 47 chickens.