14th of December 2020
by Beatriz Gomes
a protester holding a sign at trans pride 2020 in London, picture by Jessica Girvan
On the 1st of December, the UK banned hormone blockers to teenagers under the age of 16 because the court believes under-16s are “unlikely to give informed consent”. What does that mean for the transgender and gender nonconforming youth in the UK?
Transgender people only became legally recognised in the UK, by the Gender Recognition Act, in 2004. The process to change gender legally is long and outdated. The person needs to present evidence as to how they have been living as their gender for at least two years, prove they intend to live permanently in that gender and provide two medical reports from two different gender specialists confirming they have gender dysphoria. They also need to ask their spouse for permission and pay £140.
Transgender people, to start the process of transitioning, get referred to a Gender Identity Clinic (GIP) by their GP. A GIC is a clinic that provides psychological and medical care to transgender and non-binary people, including hormone management and surgical referrals.
There’s currently one GIC for under 16s in the UK, which recently banned hormone blockers. This means transgender and non-binary youth currently have no access to trans healthcare.
Hormone blockers or puberty blockers help postpone the physical changes that occur during puberty. They can only be taken for 4 years since they can make bones weaker overtime. This delay can be extremely important for a young transgender or non-binary’s transition; it also extends the time to decide whether the young person wants to transition or not.
Keira Bell is a former patient who started transitioning as a teenager and argues she was too young to consent to the medical treatment. Bell acted against the GIC for under 16s claiming that “There will be enormous difficulties in a child under 16 understanding and weighing up this information and deciding whether to consent to the use of puberty-blocking medication.”.
The known long-term effects of puberty blockers are lower bone density, delayed growth plate closure, which leads to above average adult height and less development of genital tissue, which can limit gender affirming surgery. This means that there are no harmful long-term known effects of puberty blockers. If a person decides to stop taking the hormone blockers, then they will go through puberty as they would if they didn’t start taking them.
The transitioning process is extensive and strict, therefore the detransitioning percentage is small (between less than one percent and five percent) and it can happen due to several factors such as: surgery regret (either a specific surgery or the end results), the individual doesn’t identify any longer as the gender they transitioned to or due to transphobia, discrimination, and lack of support by society and close ones, which research show to be the highest reason for detransition.
A fight against detransition percentages should also be a fight against transphobia and discrimination. Gender discovery can be confusing, and everyone should have the space and support to experiment and defy social norms and expectations.
The discrimination and lack of understanding of trans and gender non-conforming people affects more than these individuals. The confusion between gender and sexual identity lead people to form harmful stereotypes around other LGBT+ members, such as thinking every gay man must be feminine or every lesbian has to be masculine.
To fight the increased detransitioning rates, young teens should be given a better education regarding gender to help them understand their own gender identity instead of banning crucial trans healthcare.
The UK has a lot of progress to do in terms of being an LGBT ally in their laws. Nevertheless, some organizations are working to make the UK a more accepting country, such as Stonewall, Gender Intelligence, Mermaids, and lots of others.
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