#wes streeting

[useless-englandfacts]

for those thinking it was all too good to be true: labour deciding to permanently keep the tories' ban on puberty blockers for under 18s

[our-trans-punk-experience]

regarding the puberty blocker ban

i just posted an angry incoherent rant about this, and wrote this to post just afterwards, largely to be shared by @our-trans-youth-experience

for any who don't know, puberty blockers have been banned across the United Kingdom largely on the orders of Health Secratary Wes Streeting. The previous post was my words as a trans person, these are my words as an informant and an advocate for trans youth.

Trans youth you are loved and cared for, I promise you that. Our community has survived long before puberty blockers were invented and we will survive this as well. Turn to your friends, your allies, your family if that applies. This is heartbreaking, and whether you feel grief, or fear, or anger, you are justified in that. But don't lose hope, don't stop loving, and don't stop fighting.

always in solidarity

Trans Punks

[fuckyeahmarxismleninism]

Trans Kids Deserve Better are occupying Wes Streeting's Office at Ilford North (London). London folx, get down there and support!

Today young activists from Trans Kids Deserve Better established an encampment outside the constituency office of Wes Streeting the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.

The decision to take up camp outside his office was made after the health secretary announced the permanent ban on the prescription of puberty blockers in the House of Commons.

The ban, based on the widely discredited Cass Review has stripped trans+ youth of one of the only sources of medical care that we have access to, including from private providers.

"Wes Streeting has chosen politics over our lives. We are being put through an experiment, but the experiment is to deny us healthcare, not to provide it. He wants to see what happens to us when we grow up permanently altered in ways we never wanted, and we never consented to be part of that." - Grin

[notasapleasure]

Statement and Open Letter organised Labour for Trans Rights:

We were upset, if not surprised, to hear Wes Streeting’s announcement yesterday that puberty blockers for young trans people - absolutely vital healthcare - will be banned indefinitely across the UK. [...] Our open letter to the Health Secretary on this dreadful decision is only 150 signatures away from reaching 10,000. The most impactful thing you can do right now is get your CLPs, trade unions branches and other organisations to sign this open letter

UK PEOPLE SIGN AND SHARE

[fascistsarefreefood]

So when I wanted birth control pills I went to my local pharmacy and asked for them, I'm very lucky I have this option to autonomy over my body however it's important to note that birth control pills can have a lot of side effects that aren't properly investigated because of how underfunded reproductive health research is. Side effects of the contraceptive pill include (according to the patient information leaflet):

Serious: blood clots (in leg or foot ie DVT, in a lung ie PE, heart attack, stroke, mini stroke, clots in eye liver stomach or intestine, allergic reaction, breast cancer, cervical cancer, severe liver problems

Less serious: feeling sick, stomach ache, putting on weight, headaches, depressive mood or mood swings, sore breasts, being sick, fluid retention, migraine, loss of interest in sex, breast enlargement, skin rash, poor tolerance of contact lenses, weight loss, increase interest in sex, vaginal or breast discharge, bleeding and spotting between periods, chloasma, occurrence or deterioration of movement disorder chorea, crones disease or ulcerative colitis

In the UK if you want birth control you can go directly to some pharmacies and get it or you go to one GP appointment and get it even if you are under 16

Alternatively you might want an iud. iud insertions are painful women are told to just take an ibuprofen (which some research shows is less effective in women but again that hasn't been fully investigated) during insertion women have reported crying and passing out due to pain levels but it is still not advised that GPS use local anaesthetic during insertion. And again since there is no age restriction for contraception in the UK people under 16 also have to go through this. But that's considered totally acceptable.

What isn't acceptable according to the labour party, are puberty blockers which were obtained by first having a referral to a GP followed by appointments with a multidisciplinary team including a clinical psychologist, child psychotherapist, child and adolescent psychiatrist, family therapist and social worker over three to six months where their then mainly offered psychological treatment finally if your very lucky and also haven't already finished puberty by the time you get to this stage (because NHS waitlist are crazy) you might be sent to a hormone specialist where you might have been given puberty blockers which yes are indeed reversible (the onse that cause irreversible change are oestrogen and testosterone) you can read more about this topic here but this is no longer a possibility because puberty blockers are now considered too dangerous and why is this? What side effects could be worse than the ones caused by contraception that is also available to understand sixteens well apparently puberty blockers are oh so dangerous because they affect bone density. So AFAB people both adults and minors have to suffer from lots of side effects from birth control and no one ever once thought to try create a better version of the pill or they suffer large amounts of pain during iud insertion where again hardly anyone will get anaesthetic however puberty blockers are these terrible things because they may cause bone density issues if that were the case for contraceptives we'd be told to take some calcium and stop whining. Both contraceptives and puberty blockers perform essential functions that save lives and both deserve to be made as safe as possible but this is not about safety this is about hoping trans people will just disappear.

[yourdailyqueer]

You might want to put Wes Streeting on the nope list, as he's banned puberty blockers for all trans kids in the UK. I think that should be enough to count him as transphobic IMO. Here's some sources:

https://transwrites.world/uk-puberty-blocker-ban-extended/ https://transactual.org.uk/blog/2024/10/18/trans-community-letter-to-secretary-of-state-for-health-wes-streeting/

Just looked through that and did my own research and I will add him to nope list shortly and delete his post.

[sen-thebootmutt]

Just FYI, Wes Streeting, Hilary Cass, and every single MP who stood in agreement with Streeting’s statement to the UK Parliament today will be responsible for the death of every single trans kid in the UK going forward.

Every.

Single.

One.

[getpoliticaluk]

10 days later

Fuck the Labour Party, fuck Wes streeting, fuck keir stalmer, it’s an election year remember this do not give them your vote, your support because they don’t support you

[mxactivist]

An open letter for people in the UK, regarding the current ban on puberty blockers

Open letter to the new Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who plans to maintain the Tory ban on puberty blockers for trans kids and teens.

We, the undersigned, are calling on you to immediately withdraw your support for the ban on puberty blockers for trans young people. International evidence shows that puberty suppressing hormones are a safe and effective way to temporarily pause a young person’s puberty, giving them time to consider their options for transition. Much of the concern around their use stems from the idea that those who take puberty blockers go on to use cross sex hormones as part of their transition. We do not think that trans young people growing up to be happy and healthy trans adults is a bad outcome while rates of de/retransition are exceptionally low. Rather than honouring Labour’s manifesto commitment to “remove indignities for trans people who deserve recognition & acceptance,” you have decided to strip trans young people of their bodily autonomy, undermining important medical principles, such as Gillick Competence, in favour of upholding the Conservative approach of politicising the lives of trans people. Even the widely discredited Cass Review does not go so far as to recommend the criminalisation of puberty blockers for trans young people. Court documents show the former Health Secretary’s decision was motivated by her personal view, rather than on the basis of best available evidence.

[convertgrapeling]

Wes Streeting is an evil pick-me freak and should not be allowed a moment's quiet until trans kids have access to the treatment they need.

[useless-englandfacts]

i don’t know what they thought would happen if they gave the british public a say over the nhs but there are some incredible responses coming in

[rollerska8er]

britain is a now a country where politicians split hairs over whether their policies are causing suicides rather than not implementing policies that might cause suicides

[feckcops]

Starmer’s so-called “landslide victory” is built on sand

A deeply unpopular leader, Starmer has not secured the resounding endorsement his 412 seat tally would suggest, while record numbers of Green and independent MPs could pose a robust leftist challenge to Starmer’s Government ­– if they get organised

Keir Starmer, an ersatz Blair without a hint of his charisma or vision, is now Prime Minister, despite securing a vote share six percentage points lower than Jeremy Corbyn in 2017. These results expose the widespread disillusionment, if not outright resentment, towards both Labour and the Tories. Smaller parties and independents had a great showing, with shock wins for Greens and pro-Palestine independents, but also Farage's Reform Party (if indeed you can call a limited company with a CEO and no membership a party). However, a large minority of eligible voters chose not to vote at all, with turnout dropping to 60 percent. This matches the record low set in 2001, when everyone knew Blair was set to be re-elected on a landslide. In elections expected to produce a new government, turnout usually rises – but not so this time. Shockingly, Labour’s mantra of “false hope is worse than no hope” failed to inspire any hope for real change.

It is a damning indictment of our voting system that a party can win over two thirds of seats and celebrate a “landslide victory” after winning over just one in five eligible voters. (Out of the 60 percent who voted, Labour only won a third of the vote.) Thanks to our twee unwritten constitution, this technical win grants Keir Starmer the right to form an electoral dictatorship for the next five years. However, the results do offer some silver linings...

Corbyn won his seat as an independent with a 7,250 vote lead over Labour, after he was blocked from running as Labour’s candidate in Islington North, a seat he'd held for 40 years. Labour also lost Chingford and Woodford Green to Ian Duncan Smith, after Faiza Shaheen was similarly blocked by Labour on dubious grounds and continued her campaign as an independent – ultimately this helped IDS win with around 17,200 votes, compared to Faiza Shaheen and the Labour candidate who each got around 12,500 votes. Shadow cabinet minister Jonathon Ashworth lost his seat to a pro-Palestine independent, along with three other Labour MPs, while another pro-Palestine independent left prominent Terf and shadow health minister Wes Streeting clinging on by a thread. Israel's brutal escalation of its 75 year-long genocide in Palestine has not only dismayed Muslims and anti-Semites, as the media love to imply, but a diverse coalition of people united by their outrage at leading politicians excusing, if not actively cheerleading, such barbarity. These results prove there is an electoral cost for enabling rogue states to commit crimes against humanity.

Beyond the three largest parties, the balance of power in Parliament now lies with a socialist, environmentalist, pro-Palestine left. The Greens won all four of their target seats – not only in the young, urban constituencies of Brighton Pavilion and Bristol Central, but also in the rural, once solidly Tory constituencies of Waveney Valley and North Herefordshire – an achievement few really thought possible. (Greens and pro-Palestine independents also came second in a record number of constituencies, laying the ground for more gains next time.) Those four Green MPs, along with Corbyn and the other four pro-Palestine independents, make up nearly double Reform’s five MPs. As such, we will have a principled leftist grouping in Parliament, not beholden to the Labour whip, to hold Starmer to account.

There is hope the new pro-Palestine independents can put aside subtle philosophical differences and work together to offer a robust left opposition to Starmer. We could see Corbyn and other independents join the Green Party. This would be a strategic move; they could still reasonably claim to be independent voices for their constituents as Green MPs, as the Green Party does not whip its MPs like other parties. Meanwhile, they would benefit from this established party’s resources, networks and mass membership. The highly democratic structure of the party means, if they brought a lot of their voters with them, new Green MPs could even secure a change to any Green policies they disagreed with. As for socialist Labour MPs, we could even see some defect to the Greens now they've secured their seats, especially if Labour remains a deeply hostile environment for them. Defections from Labour seem unlikely at this stage, but they cannot be ruled out.

More than anything, we should take heed that our best chance of enacting real change lies in our communities, through grassroots organising and direct, solidaristic action. Green and pro-Palestine independents only won by rooting themselves in their communities, engaging with the voters they hoped to represent, and inspiring masses of people to join their campaigns. We cannot rely on career politicians, whose class interests are diametrically opposed to ours, to protect us and our interests.

There's more to politics than elections, which only come around every few years and, all too often, seem to yield no real change. Real progress does not come from above. It is not gifted to us by the powers on high. It is fought for, from the ground up. In the words of Frederick Douglass, power concedes nothing without a demand. We must keep faith, keep fighting and keep organising. This election shows us that hard work can bear fruit. We know a better world is possible, but we won't achieve it by just voting. It’s on us to bring it about.

[thetardisisnotourdivision]

Thank you so much to everyone who voted

I have grown up knowing nothing but Tory rule. I had no idea how a government was actually supposed to function, and I'm only realising now how apathetic my whole generation is because of that.

The junior doctors are going on strike. And as a result the government is... Responding? There's a result? The government is meeting with the doctors to negotiate. And that... Ok. That's happening.

And the education secretary... Went to a state school, like me? And is talking about why she wanted specifically to be education minister, rather than just taking the role as a stepping stone to a higher job. And they're... Actually doing stuff to help people???

Thank you so much if you voted. I know it was a risk, and many of you voted for a party you had no faith in, but the outcome really is amazing for people like me - people who can't remember another government ever being in power.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Michael Searles

Published: Dec 10, 2024

Puberty blockers are to be permanently banned in Northern Ireland to block attempts by trans activists to “exploit a loophole”.

Members of the devolved government are understood to have voted unanimously to make a temporary ban on the drugs permanent to keep it in line with the rest of the UK.

Fears about Northern Ireland becoming a “back door” for puberty blockers to be distributed across the rest of the UK are understood to have triggered the decision.

Activists including Susie Green, the former chief executive of trans charity Mermaids, had planned to use Northern Ireland as a gateway to England, Wales and Scotland, where the drugs are permanently banned.

The Telegraph revealed in July that the Government would make a temporary ban on the powerful drugs permanent, but it only covered England, Wales and Scotland. The High Court ruled the ban in Britain was lawful after a challenge by transgender rights campaigners.

The same month, Ms Green set up a private clinic called Anne Health in Northern Ireland to provide puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to under-18s.

She told i news that lawyers behind the court challenge had advised her on how to get around the bans.

She consulted David Lock KC, and Jolyon Maugham KC, the director of the Good Law Project, who both agreed the regulations “prohibited the sale or supply [of puberty blockers] – but not the importation”.

Ms Green also planned to hire doctors who are regulated to practise medicine in the European Economic Area rather than the UK because they are free to write prescriptions and “are regulated by their own medical bodies outside of the UK”.

“We’ve got a network of Northern Ireland families who are willing to take receipt of medication sent to them,” Ms Green said. “The families just need to go over there and the kids need to get the medication and if they bring it back it exploits this legal loophole.”

In August, the ban was extended to Northern Ireland temporarily, but the government there had wanted the whole executive to agree on a ban before making one permanent. This had looked unlikely, with some parties within the Northern Ireland Assembly opposing the initial ban.

‘Safety of children first’

However, it will now no longer be legal to prescribe the drugs in Northern Ireland, after Mike Nesbitt, the health minister, pushed through the “indefinite” ban.

After making the ban permanent in the rest of the UK, Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, said he would “always put the safety of children first” and that his approach would “continue to be informed by Dr [Hilary] Cass’s review, which found there was insufficient evidence to show puberty blockers were safe for under-18s”.

The review concluded that there was “remarkably weak” evidence to support their use, and that they put children on an affirmative pathway and “may change the trajectory of psychosexual and gender identity development”.

The drugs will only be available in future in Great Britain through an NHS-run clinical trial, which is due to start next year.

Fiona McAnena, the director of campaigns at Sex Matters, a human rights charity, said it was “a significant shift from the main parties’ stance in favour of blocking the puberty of healthy children”.

“It is now untenable for any government to back the prescription of puberty blockers to children with gender distress,” she said.

“NI’s sensible decision will be a huge blow to private clinics such as Susie Green’s Anne Health, which had planned to use the country as a loophole to avoid the GB ban so that they could distribute banned medications privately across the UK.”

‘Significant step in safeguarding’

Keith Jordan, the co-founder of Our Duty, a support and advocacy group for parents with gender-questioning children, said: “We applaud the Northern Ireland Executive’s decisive leadership in implementing an indefinite ban on private prescriptions of puberty blockers.

“This marks a significant step in safeguarding children, preventing Northern Ireland from becoming a ‘back door’ for these unregulated treatments – a concern highlighted by Susie Green’s earlier attempts to circumvent mainland restrictions.

“However, we must remain vigilant, as the demand for these drugs may drive young people to unregulated, dangerous sources.”

He added: “We urge all policymakers to look at how they might better reduce demand for medicalising gender, in addition to limiting supply of puberty blockers. Safeguarding has to be the priority.”

The Department of Health in Northern Ireland was asked for comment.

==

Reminder that Susie Green is the woman who transed her two-year-old son because his father thought the boy might be gay, and whisked him out of the country to have his penis cut open and inverted in Thailand for his 16th birthday.

[purpleillusn]

If I say what I think should happen to Wes Streeting and every single person who supports his transphobic violence, I fear I might be banned, so I will simply on an unrelated note bring up that he and his: are mortal, have a home address, and exist in public.