The Diversity Trust is very disappointed by the decision made by the Department of Health and Social Care to indefinitely ban puberty blockers for use in people with gender dysphoria.
The announcement made by the UK government directly discriminates against Trans & Non-Binary young people and continues the hostile treatment of Trans & Non-Binary youth and the availability of gender affirming medicine as a whole in the UK. Lack of access to gender affirming health care is already documented as causing serious harm to young people with gender dysphoria.
The ban is based on recommendations made in the heavily criticised Cass Review, which has been extensively critiqued by medical practitioners and the Trans & Non-Binary community, as well as by experts working in transgender healthcare, endocrinology, psychology, and neuroscience.2 What’s wrong with the Cass Review? A round-up of commentary and evidence – Dr Ruth Pearce
Central to this “debate” is a misunderstanding of the purpose of puberty blockers. One of the central findings used to justify the ban (from the University of York’s evidence review for the Cass Review) is that there is “no demonstration of changes in gender incongruence and/or gender dysphoria or body satisfaction as a result of using puberty blockers”.
This misunderstands the point of the medicine. Puberty blockers do not cure gender dysporia, rather they pause any unwanted physical changes, and prevent the increase of gender dysphoria as puberty progresses. This life saving, reversible care gives valuable time for young people to consider all their options and seek support and guidance to enable them to make an informed decision about further transition.
This ban discriminates against young Trans & Non-Binary people as the decision is not a blanket ban on puberty blockers – puberty blockers will still be available for the treatment of precocious puberty and endometriosis. If the concern is that puberty blockers are inherently unsafe then it makes no sense that the ban applies only to their use in transgender healthcare.
Wes Streeting, has made the decision to discriminate against young Trans & Non-Binary people under the guise of “protecting” them, despite numerous international bodies working in trans healthcare disagreeing with this decision and other countries including France, Germany, New Zealand, Australia, and Canada rejecting the approach,
The associated move to make puberty blockers available only as part of a clinical trial has also been criticised by experts in the field. The Council of Europe’s Committee of Experts on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and Sex Characteristics (ADI-SOGIESC) has raised concerns that this approach violates medical and research ethics by making access to care contingent on participation in research, thereby violating patient’s rights to free and informed consent.3 https://transsafety.network/posts/new-puberty-blocker-trial-violates-trans-kids-human-rights/
At the Diversity Trust we have previously asked our local MPs to show solidarity and support to their Trans & Non-Binary constituents and whilst some have spoken in opposition to this move from the government, others’ silence or even vocal support shows how little care is given with regards to the best outcomes for Trans & Non-Binary young people.
The use of puberty blockers in transgender healthcare is safe, controlled, and reversible, and we therefore call on the government to reverse this decision.