“Their ignorance has finally yielded innocent casualties”
It seems we have been sleepwalking. Lethargy cradling our weary bones, dragging our shackled feet backwards with each staggered step we take. The constant bombardment of hopelessness. Constant reminders of our less-than-human treatment. Our eyes have glazed over in desensitisation, cataracts etched into our vision, distorting all before us to become more palatable. We must wake up. The oppressors will not quit, so we must not allow them the privilege of an easy fight. Yesterday, December 11th, it was announced that puberty blockers would be banned from being prescribed to patients with gender dysphoria under the age of 18.
“Now that it’s passed I’m just disappointed. Unfortunately, conflict breeds escalation, and this just solidifies how against transgender people and their rights this nation is, or at least the people who were put in charge of it.”
I am astounded at the lack of outcry. The lack of outrage. Where is our compassion and our camaraderie?
The seed of this bill was planted by Tory governing, but the fact that this bill has been passed under a labour government is a mockery of the ‘left-wing’. Starmer, even before becoming prime minister, has been creeping further and further right. The Labour Party becoming centrist by definition. Leaving the UK robbed of the promised left-wing government we voted for.
Let’s dissect this bill momentarily: Puberty blockers: a reversible treatment, used to prevent or even simply delay a permanent change.
https://www.gendergp.com/are-puberty-blockers-reversible/#:~:text=Transgender
Said permanent changes have the capacity to perpetuate long-term emotional distress. Puberty blockers beyond the age of 18 are essentially obsolete for those suffering from gender dysphoria. Puberty’s infrastructure has already dug its roots. Secondary sex characteristics blossom to the dismay of the soul within.
Puberty blockers are used for a wide range of reasons; treating prostate cancer, endometriosis and precocious puberty to name a few. The ban in question specifically targets under-18s experiencing gender dysphoria. This idea that the left wants to doctor the bodies of children and push life-changing decisions on 10-year-olds is fear-mongering. Another attempt to sway the attitudes of the public. The demonisation of puberty blockers as a whole has entirely clouded what they are. Manipulation of attitudes to further deplete an already vulnerable community.
There is no question over who this ban was tailored to target. We are watching a witch-hunt before our eyes. Constant hounding, invalidating and dismantling of the trans experience seems to be fetishised within current politics. Trans rights seem to be a ‘hot topic’ within politics. Words strewn across the parliamentary floor and only picked up when wanting to define a party's stance. This even transpired to Sunak making cheap jives at now prime minister Kier Starmer in the face of the grieving Ghey family in February of this year. Mocking Starmer, ridiculing him and questioning whether he “[knew] what a woman is”. The government’s persistent discrimination against an already vulnerable demographic is abhorrent. Denying access to safe medical care simply breeds dangerous, self-inflicted alternatives.
Across recent years, the UK has watched a persistent incline in the number of transgender youth seeking their own medical care, outside of the NHS. This includes not only a huge profit margin for private healthcare but also the scarier side of things; self prescribed medication. Historically we have seen this countless times. Prohibiting neccessities and the demands of a society simply breeds back-alley innovation. Desperation is not halted at dismisal. Needs are simply fulfilled in an unregulated manner, the desolate marginalised. The surmounted hopelessness in any progress or change is becoming tangible. Air hangs heavy around my peers scrolling past terrifying headlines, engraned within our daily routines. We see apathy branching out, suffocating those unprotected under the law until each breath of survival is a chore. Is it any surprise that such hopelessness has warped into self-prescribed hormone therapy?
“[For] the transgender community, there’s now no other choice but to seek self-prescribed medication and HRT. I personally was quite afraid of doing it at the start of this year, but my other options were to spend a lot of time feeling shit about myself while I wait, or spend a lot of money to jump the queue. So eventually, I got desperate enough to hit ‘fuck it’ and do it myself, and I’m so glad that I did, else I’d have spent all year waiting for nothing.”
Seeing people risk their health, by injecting and injesting unregulated drugs of which they don’t know the ingredients or source with certainty. This should have been seen as a pleading. The vulnerable begging to be seen, heard, and helped. This should have provoked a visceral reaction from people in power who had facilitated this. In response; the government laughed in the faces of suffering and ousted them.
“The source I get my stuff from has, in the past, said that they are getting overwhelmed with the amount of people coming to them for the medication they offer. I fear this will get worse for them and others as the effects of the ban ooze into society.”.
Intrigued by the thoughts and reactions of the public, I turned to instagram to seek responses. I asked for people’s thoughts on the new bill. Here is a collection of the general reaction of the public:
“Disgusting, literally as simple as that” - A
"It’s completely wrong - people realise that they’re born into the wrong body at a much younger age and by stopping hormone blockers until the age of 18 means that they’re being forced to go through puberty as a gender they don’t identify themselves as. It would be argued that they may not be certain or it may be a ‘phase’, but if after a prolonged period of time their mannerisms are of the other gender and they act and identify as such, shouldn’t they be able to express themselves and begin a transition earlier, even if it’s only hormone blockers until then? I think individuals should be able to have access to hormone blockers at a younger age with the same consensus that it would have to be approved or signed (supported) by a parent or guardian, as according to the law they are still a child. Other than that, these things should not be held/ taken away from people who need them to live their life as their gender" - A
“What's the point of banning it for under 18s when that's the peak of puberty hormones?” - X
“A full-on ban is nonsense. Reviewing prescriptions on a case-to-case basis I get, but a full ban?” - W
“Only banned for kids with gender dysphoria. Almost like it’s about ideology and not protecting anyone” - P
“I think we have bigger issues to worry about, not children being who they wanna be” - S
'i am aware that this is coming from a point of extreme privilege as i am not being direct effected by it at all and i don’t actually have much knowledge on the mental effects that would follow. i think a few years ago i would have been angry at the government but i think that simply comes down to age, a few years ago i was in my late teens/early 20s so i would have viewed it as an attack on young people , as in the government insinuating that young people can’t make decisions. however now i am more aware of how young 18 is. 18 year old are like baby adults, 18 is the start of life in some ways. for example under 18 you can’t *legally* get a tattoo or do any other adult stuff so i do kinda get why it has been changed, that doesn’t take away that it is a massive hindrance for trans kids going through puberty. i would love to believe that the government are looking out for kids and trying to get them to be 100% sure before they transition but idk if i can trust the government that much & im also on the fence with the argument ‘its their decision to make, regardless of if it’s the right or wrong decision & if they grow to regret it or not" - H
"I think it’s a good thing just because I’ve experienced it myself? I went to a all girls school and it got to a point where being gay and trans were trendy like wtf?? I had two of my friends come out as trans, cut off their hair and everything, and today they are more girly than me, it’s crazy" - G
Please feel more than welcome to discuss further by adding comments on this post :)
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Francine, let's talk about this. I'm 14. I'm seeking gender affirming care in the UK. I've attempted to take my own life 3 times due to my clinical depression and gender dysphoria. I can't even look in the mirror without feeling like I'm a shell of a person. I can't listen to my own voice without feeling like I'm going to end it all. Is that okay with you?
Best wishes,
Abby <3
This is a good thing, we don’t need under 18 children wrecking themselves physically and mentally so they can wear cat ears and hug plush sharks like freaks. Stay out of bio female places, FULL STOP. MTF here.