As a young, confused lesbian I would have chosen puberty blockers – impressionable kids should not be given that option
I WILL not be alone in feeling enormous relief at the ruling this week by a High Court judge that banning the prescribing of puberty blocking drugs for children was a perfectly legal move.
The judge said that Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who supported the policy following Dr Hilary Cass’s report in April, and the Government were “entitled to rely on the precautionary principle” which is that very little is known about these extremely potent drugs that have been given to children, sometimes after only their first appointment at a gender clinic.
There is growing evidence that these drugs can cause serious harm, such as reduced bone density and damaged cognitive development (i.e. a lower IQ).
A number of mental health professionals, including those who have worked within gender clinics, have repeatedly warned that pausing a child’s puberty can be psychologically harmful.
It has also been found that puberty blockers do not alleviate negative thoughts in children with gender dysphoria.
Something wrong with you
Almost every child who takes puberty blockers goes on to use cross sex hormones, which cause some irreversible changes, as soon as they are old enough.
Growing up as a young lesbian in the 1960s and ’70s, I know only too well how easy it is for outsiders to become convinced that, if you are not a feminine girl or a macho boy, there is something wrong with you.
As a teenager, I was distressed that I was attracted to girls and had no interest in boys.
Like many other girls, I was envious that my brothers had freedom to stay out late, climb trees and do all the other things that are deemed unsuitable for girls. I would have taken the opportunity to become a “trans boy” as soon as it was offered to me.
Recently, I have been making a podcast about the effects of transgender ideology on parents and their children.
I have encountered deep levels of trauma among these families, all of whom have desperately tried to protect their children from being told, or even groomed into believing, they are the opposite sex.
Some of these children are on the autism spectrum; a 2020 study found transgender people are three to six times more likely to be autistic. Meanwhile, many of these kids are simply lesbian or gay.
It is dangerous to tell these children they are trapped in the wrong body, and that to change sex (which is impossible) is the answer to their problems.
Handing out puberty blockers like sweets will neither address the troubles these children are facing, nor help them feel better about themselves.
The idea that “gender dysphoria” means they are transgender or trapped in the wrong body is an outrage.
Julie Bindel
All these blockers will do is prevent young minds and bodies from developing as they should.
The idea that “gender dysphoria”, experienced by many girls and a smaller number of boys, means they are transgender or trapped in the wrong body is an outrage and has no place in an intelligent society.
A legal challenge was taken by the Good Law Project, led by Jolyon Maugham KC, a trans activist who often refers to feminists such as me as “transphobic” for speaking out against the medicalisation of children.
The GLP took the case on behalf of the lobby group Trans Actual. Such groups have long argued that refusing to prescribe puberty blockers will lead to the suicide of these children — an irresponsible assertion, which has been strongly refuted.
The Government was so concerned about these cavalier claims that it commissioned Louis Appleby, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Manchester and head of the Centre of Mental Health and Risk, to carry out an urgent review of all available data on the deaths of current and former patients of the Gender Identity Development Service.
Ignore evidence
Prof Appleby found that: “The data does not support the claim that there has been a large rise in suicide by young patients attending GIDS since 2020 or after any other recent date.”
Maugham, notorious for bragging that he had clubbed a fox to death with a baseball bat while wearing his wife’s kimono, has encouraged parents to travel or move abroad so that their young children can still access the drugs.
In my view, Trans Actual and similar lobby groups are willing to ignore evidence that these drugs cause harm to children, and will claim that the reason they are banned is nothing more than anti-trans bigotry.
Schools should not be teaching about gender reassignment, nor should children be asked by teachers if they consider themselves to be a boy or a girl.
While making my podcast, I have heard so many terrible stories, including from parents of nursery school children who say their toddlers were asked about their gender identity.
I have heard about social workers threatening to remove — and then actually remove — children from parents who refused to affirm that their autistic child was transgender.
Please can we consign puberty blockers and the notion that kids can be trapped in the wrong body to the dustbin of history.