Streeting has said the blockers present ‘an unacceptable safety risk for children and young people
LGBT+ Labour has expressed ‘deep concern’ about the health secretary Wes Streeting’s indefinite ban of puberty blockers for the treatment of gender dysphoria.
The party’s LGBTQ group has said that prohibiting the use of blockers, which have been in use since the 1980s, “will have a detrimental impact on the mental health of young trans people”.
In an open letter to the health and social care secretary, LGBT+ Labour said that puberty blockers “represent an important medication” for many children and young people as part of their gender transition.
The medication, known scientifically as Gonadotrophin-releasing hormone analogues, work to stop the rise in sex hormones – oestrogen and testosterone – at the onset of puberty.
In a statement, Wes Streeting said “children’s healthcare must always be evidence-led”.
Streeting noted that “The independent expert, Commission on Human Medicines, found that the current prescribing and care pathway for gender dysphoria and incongruence presents an unacceptable safety risk for children and young people.”
He added: “Dr Cass’ review also raised safety concerns around the lack of evidence for these medical treatments . We need to act with caution and care when it comes to this vulnerable group of young people, and follow the expert advice.”
LGBT+ Labour said it believes in evidence-based policy making and welcomes the commitment that NHS England will carry out a clinical trial on the effectiveness of puberty blockers next year.
However, it said it is concerned about the lack of information on these clinical trials.
They said that trans adolescents must now be provided with further resources elsewhere to support them.
Streeting said: “We are working with NHS England to open new gender identity services, so people can access holistic health and wellbeing support they need.
“We are setting up a clinical trial into the use of puberty blockers next year, to establish a clear evidence base for the use of this medicine.”
Georgia Meadows, who is the National Trans Officer for LGBT+ Labour, has written her own separate letter, stating on social media that she had been “completely and utterly ignored” by LGBT+ Labour and that their open letter was “shockingly poor”.
Meadows has called on Streeting to reverse his decision, and “commit to, at least, a temporary ban along with a swift and comprehensive clinical trial to affirm the internationally understood safety of the drugs”.
Puberty blockers for the treatment of gender incongruence and dysphoria in under 18s were initially banned on a temporary basis in May 2024 after the Cass Review found there was insufficient evidence to show they were safe.
The legislation has now been updated to make the order indefinite. It will next be reviewed in 2027.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
NHS puberty blockers ban: Fresh party trans row as LGBT+ Labour sounds alarm
Labour’s stance on puberty blockers has sparked a row in the party, with the party’s LGBT+ group expressing “deep concerns” at the move to permanently ban them for children.
LGBT+ Labour itself has also come under fire though from its own trans officer for not challenging the Health Secretary more. Gender-critical activists within the party welcomed the announcement, however.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting announced yesterday that a ban on puberty blockers for under-18s will be made permanent.
The Department of Health and Social Care said that the decision was made following advice from independent expert advice that claimed there was an “unacceptable safety risk in the continued prescription of puberty blockers to children”.
Streeting said: “Children’s healthcare must always be evidence-led. The independent expert Commission on Human Medicines found that the current prescribing and care pathway for gender dysphoria and incongruence presents and unacceptable safety risk for children and young people.
“We need to act with caution and care when it comes to this vulnerable group of young people and follow the expert advice.
“We are working with NHS England to open new gender identity services, so people can access holistic health and wellbeing support they need. We are setting up a clinical trial into the use of puberty blockers next year, to establish a clear evidence base for the use of this medicine.”
READ MORE: New Labour MP embroiled in trans rights row
However, the move has been criticised by LGBT+ activists and organisations, including LGBT+ Labour, which said the ban would “have a detrimental impact on the mental health of young trans people”.
In an open letter to the Health Secretary, LGBT+ Labour said: “Puberty blockers represent an important medication for many children and young people with gender dysphoria both in the UK and the rest of the world, as part of their gender transition. Trans adolescents must now be offered further resources elsewhere to support them.”
LGBT+ Labour welcomed the news of a clinical trial on their effectiveness, to begin next year, but called for greater information about the nature and scale of the trials.
The organisation’s response to yesterday’s announcement has itself sparked controversy, however, with the national trans officer for LGBT+ Labour Georgia Meadows taking to social media to describe their comments as “shockingly poor”.
“LGB Labour have completely lost the confidence of the trans community,” Meadows wrote.
They claimed to have been “ignored” in the process of drafting the statement, posting online the version they had suggested they should make.
LabourList has approached LGBT+ Labour for comment.
Ban ‘flies in the face of Labour’s manifesto’
Labour For Trans Rights condemned the decision by the Health Secretary and said that it amounts to a breach of a manifesto commitment to trans people.
In a statement, the group said: “This move disregards the urgent needs of vulnerable young people and flies in the face of Labour’s manifesto commitment to ‘remove indignities for trans people who deserve recognition and acceptance’.
“The indefinite nature of this ban creates an environment of fear and uncertainty, which is already taking a toll on the mental health of trans youth.
“Trans lives are not a political battleground. We urge the Labour leadership to listen to its membership, to the trans community, and to change course.”
‘Wes Streeting has shown himself as the adult in the room’
The decision has received some praise from others within the Labour Party, including the Labour Women’s Declaration Working Group.
They said: “Wes Streeting has consistently shown himself as the adult in the room on this topic. His commendation of those of us who have spoken out for years about the harms to children and to women’s rights was moving to hear.
“Our welcome of the decision is shared by the majority of the PLP, by Labour members and by the general public. The Cass Review concluded that there is no evidence of their safety or efficacy. Those like Labour for Trans Rights who are still opposing the ban are now the outliers.”
NHS prescriptions of puberty blockers to children at gender identity clinics ended in March, with a government ban following in May, restricting NHS provision to within clinical trials.
Labour bans puberty blockers for under-18s in attack on trans+ healthcare
Transphobes seized on the Cass Review when it was published in April
Protesters on Trans Pride marching through central London in July 2023
Wednesday 11 December 2024
The Labour government has indefinitely banned puberty blockers for trans+ young people under the age of 18.
Health secretary Wes Streeting announced on Wednesday that he would make existing “emergency measures” banning the sale and supply of puberty blockers indefinite.
NHS bosses announced in March that children would no longer be prescribed puberty blockers at gender identity clinics.
The then Tory government claimed it was in the “best interests of the child”—using a transphobic dog whistle of “protecting the children”.
In April, Dr Hilary Cass published her review in trans+ children’s healthcare, which opened the door to further attacks.
The crux of the report’s case rested on studies into puberty blockers being “poor quality”. Such medication, which is reversible, puts on hold the largely irreversible and sometimes distressing physical changes of puberty.
Cass painted a fantasy view of medics handing out puberty blockers to children like sweats and dismissed a vast number of studies that show their benefit.
The announcement came days after a shocking new report found trans+ people are being refused vital hormone treatment or having treatment suddenly withdrawn.
The report was carried out by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. Trans+ people and NHS staff told the report that doctors are increasingly unlikely to prescribe crucial treatment—and others are withdrawing prescriptions without consultation or warning.
More doctors are turning down people who need hormone replacement therapy as part of their transition.
Some doctors blame a lack of funding. This funding crisis is combining with a wider roll back of gender affirming health care since the publication of the Cass Review.
Socialist Worker argued in April that the Cass Review would lead to more attacks on trans+ people.
Doctors now fear that they are no longer allowed to prescribe Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) and are “genuinely scared” of doing something wrong if they prescribe hormone treatments.
Duncan, a GP for Sussex Gender Service, explained that the Cass Review was supposed to be a review of children’s gender services. But it made recommendations for people up to 25. This has left GPs confused and intimidated. “Some staff don’t care about our community”, Duncan said.
“And they can get away with it because they’re emboldened by the rhetoric in society and politics. And I think to be fair they are beleaguered and already overstretched.”
A trans woman, known as Emily, told the report that her life changed with a text message from her GP practice. The HRT which allowed Emily to live her life had been stopped. The text told Emily the GP was unable to “safely support ongoing prescribing or monitoring” of the “specialist drug”.
Emily would have to go private to get her HRT—an option she could not afford. Other trans people are being forced to source the drugs they need from unlicensed suppliers on the internet.
A young trans man, Elijah, told the investigators that he relied on testosterone prescribed by his GP. But when he moved house, he registered with a new doctor who decided to stop his treatment.
Investigators spoke to trans+ people who had had their prescriptions refused even when it had been recommended by a specialist. Others had their prescription cancelled when it had been prescribed for years. The Tavistock and Portman gender clinic said refusals to provide HRT were a “frequent occurrence”.
Kamilla Kamaruddin is a GP who works at the East of England Gender Service. She said, “We are seeing more and GPs refusing to prescribe on the basis that they don’t have the expertise. If a GP didn’t know how to treat a heart condition, they’d ask a cardiologist. They would get advice and guidance but for some GPs this doesn’t seem to apply to trans people.”
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