On 11th December 2024 the Department of Health and Social Care extended its temporary ban on puberty blockers for trans youth. The ban will now be indefinite, and will not be reviewed until 2027.
NSUN stands with all trans people, and will continue to fight against transphobia and trans hostility; in general terms, and particularly in healthcare settings. We affirm our commitment to working toward healthcare that is safe, accessible, and appropriate for all.
The Government is justifying the indefinite ban on the basis of the Cass Review; a supposedly-independent inquiry into healthcare provision for transgender youth. We wrote a detailed response to the review when it was published, echoing widespread concerns about both its ethics and methodology. These concerns have not gone anywhere. Instead, the Government has decided to indefinitely deny people care on the basis of a flawed and controversial research project that it paid for itself.
Our initial response to the Cass Review highlighted its emphasis on psychological treatment as an appropriate replacement for trans-affirming healthcare. We highlighted the ways in which mental healthcare — assumed to be safe and accessible to trans people — was being weaponised to gaslight trans people and discourage them from transitioning.
Once again, we will continue to call out and challenge dangerous transphobic rhetoric and healthcare policy which causes distress, trauma and worse mental health. We will resist the ways in which mental healthcare is positioned as a replacement for gender-affirming medical support. Above all, we will tell the truth — that this is not about evidence or medicine, this is about rising trans hostility and a Government that is too afraid or too unwilling to assert that trans people deserve better.