On May 31st, letters went out from NHS England to parents of trans youth stating that they must immediately stop taking puberty blockers, and that possession will be considered a crime.
She probably would: she has already told a politician to hold off her ban on conversion therapy.
And she has been doing multiple 180's since her damaging report came out, so she either doesn't care what she says, or her opinions is dependent on how well she got up in the morning.
I mean, in her report she even makes the dumb argument that transboys don't have to be put on puberty blockers: "There is little to no evidence that puberty blockers help in growing taller".
Which well, any endocrinologist would be able to tell her that: it just doesn't make sense to say "Hey, puberty blockers don't do X or Y" because it's literally genetics that determine how tall you get.
Someone I only know by name, as a transwoman got taller (on average) than most women get (though looking at the women at the place I work, she is very much average :P ) even having been on puberty blockers simply because cross-sex hormones made her become as tall as her genetic programming made her.
I on the other hand, went through boy puberty and got shorter than her.
Next to that: It's also quite cruel to say "Oh, let's just have transboys experience periods" (and thus mental distress) "and make them have more surgery to have their breast tissue removed because of the fact we didn't prevent their breast growth with puberty blockers".
I was so devastated when my period started, I locked myself in the bathroom that day and screamed at my mother that I wanted a sex change. I had no idea where that came from or what it was ... in 1970. I didn't know it even existed. My soul was screaming and knew. Took me another 50 years to figure out what was going on and do something about it. Never mind why it took that long; it just did. I also thought I would get pecs, because I thought I was a boy. When boobs showed up, I didn't like them either.
While it is obviously not possible for me to relate to something like that, I experienced the weird twist of fate of knowing what puberty screening looks like as a boy->girl transchild.
But it wasn't because I was trans: it was because I was below average in body height, and there were concerns my body was halting puberty on it's own (oh the irony of them looking into a hormonal problem at the time).
The story about growing breasts while expecting something else however did resonate with me: I experienced gynecomastia (I hope I spelled that right in English, my spelling correction of my OS suggests I'm not but that has a tendency to be wrong :P ).
I was thrilled to feel the pain of literally anything hitting there, thinking I was growing breasts.
The first thought right after was one of absolute terror: "OMG, this should not be happening!? I'm a boy!"
And then there was the, about 3-month long period in which I checked if you could see anything of the little lumps when wearing clothes.
At the same time I was relieved you could not see anything, I also felt remorse because you couldn't see anything.
When it disappeared, I felt relieved it was gone, but I also felt so bad that I apparently was NOT getting breasts.
Upon starting a testosterone blocking drug, about 1 month in the first viciously painful stab in my left breast started and *WHAM* I was 14 again.
By the way, I grew up in the 1990's, and when I was 3 or 4 years old I found a naked woman in a mailorder catalog (probably from something like Neckermann or something).
While I can't recall the memory myself, my mom still does: I happened to slap the magazine down on the table and asked my mom if I were to get "all that when I'm older" while pointing at the woman's breasts and genital area.
My mom explained I wouldn't "since you are a boy".
Something to which, to this day she recalls me responding with defeat and anger by saying something like "Oh.....BUT I LIKE HERS MORE!!!" while stomping my feet.
She feels a deep regret never having asked on what that was about.
But then again, it was the beginning of the 90's: the attention for transchildren was barely there.
Only a TV program around that time, in which the hostess of the program who is now our demissionary minister of Health, Wellbeing and Sports followed transchildren shed some light on it for the first time, and then another report happened, and after that the documentary about a Dutch transperson in which this person was followed for over 10 years.
I also by the way had no clue that it existed: it was the documentary I just mentioned that made me realize "Oh god...those feelings have a name?"
But some of the things I do remember are looking at my reflection in the mirror and it somehow not "feeling right".
What it was however: no clue. What to change to combat that feeling? No clue either.
The most annoying thing of all right now is the experience I had during puberty screening: I knew full well what was heading my way, and I was none the wiser why I only wanted to become taller, and rather not have to experience the rest...
In informational lessons in which I volunteered as a guest speaker on high schools in my city, I tend to notice this difference a lot: for most children, a lot of the things that are the result of puberty are completely disconnected from it.
A lower voice doesn't happen because of puberty "but simply because you are a boy".
I still wonder if that is the result of me having had the screening and knowing exceptionally well what was to start when, and if my body wasn't going to figure it out itself when what hormones were going to do what.
When I was approaching puberty #1, I thought a penis would grow and I was latent getting one. Imagine my surprise when that didn't happen. I paid 0 attention to what sex education was telling the girls, because I was listening for what they told the boys. I had something embarrassing happen with my budding female chest, too, and stopped playing football with the boys down the street. I've told that story so many times, I didn't put it in here.
I found out transmen existed when I saw Chaz Bono on Dancing With the Stars. That was 2011 or 2012. I was dumbfounded that there was a word for it. There was absolutely 0 talk of trans anything in the 1960's. Military sent me to the Bay Area, and I have no idea how I missed knowing all those years. When I saw Chaz, my whole life flashed in front of my face and I remembered everything I ever thought about myself as a youth.
I told my cousins when I was 18 that I was going into the military for them to make me a better man. Now, I don't remember saying that, but they did. Little things like that kept slipping out, and I remember how I felt being put on the female side of the military. I hated it and I hated the uniforms. I wanted to be trained with men, not women. When I got to my duty station, I didn't have to wear those damn skirts anymore and bought several uniform pants.
I had such a low voice as a child, people mistook me for a boy. I'd be insulted, but secretly loved it. Then I would get in these mental fights with myself about the back and forth I did about being a boy or a girl.
I was at least 54 when I saw Chaz on that TV show. Started my transition at 58. So, be lucky you had some resources when you were younger. I thought I was a lesbian all of my adulthood, when I was just a man who loved women. LOL
I just received this email today and they asked me to provide my child's details since the email they have is a parent one. I will not do that. I have come to distrust the NHS now, even though I moved from the US to the UK to get away from the oppressive systems for non-men, non-white people. And I trained the next generation of therapists for the NHS. Trust has been eroded.
One thing that was maybe not mentioned in the article was the threats against parents as they said that it could be a "safeguarding issue" if parents were allowing their children to access these medications. So that's fun!
That’s absolutely terrorizing. It feels like the country has been progressively imploding on itself in many ways since the Brexit vote. I’m so sorry you and your family are being subjected to this.
This is awful. We were removed from the list prior to Cass coming out as my child was coming up to 17. I know why now after the plans for the new 17-25 service. We must campaign to get Labour to stop this being carried beyond 3 September
Damn, good thing you told them NOTHING! Texas tried that shit, in an effort to get information about who has trans children. Luckily, those efforts were blocked by judges. Who knows how long that will last, since they'll push the button if the clown gets elected. SMFH
The fascist government of the Netherlands that we got after disastrous elections in 2023 has upped their transphobia within 3 months.
Within 3 months 700% more transphobic motions have been filed.
All with the goal of targeting transchildren's medication, calling transwomen rapists, killing of the democratic process for a law-change that would allow transpeople to self-ID (destroyed by a party called NSC, New Social Contract that campaigned hard on the idea "The Dutch State should never ever have the opportunity again to retaliate against a group of citizens" due to their leader being responsible for shedding light on an AI-driven tax agency scandal plummeting thousands of people into crippling debt).
This law change didn't even make it through first-term. And the party killing it also campaigned hard on the idea "That politics should become trustworthy again, without the cheap tricks that disrespect the democratic process. Laws and law-changes will be discussed in full and with the care they deserve".
This party has the troublesome abbreviation NSC, which differs only 1 letter from the party in The Netherlands that, during the years 1940-1945 was the only party allowed: NSB, National Socialistic Movement.
That party was responsible for collaborating with the German occupational forces, and creating the lists of Jewish, Roma, Sinti, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Trans- Intersex- and queer-people and all the other people that they didn't want in society, that made the razzia's that more powerful and coordinated.
With the troublesome party NSC as the second biggest, next to a party easily capable of being compared to the ultra-extreme MAGA-bunch in the US (look up Geert Wilders, he is the leader of this party, listening to the name Party for Freedom, while having as much a disdain for freedom as the MAGA-idiots), they have now been proposing some troublesome things.
At the 15th of Februari 2024, within 1 month of forming a new House of Representatives, this party filed 2 motions: 1 to investigate puberty blockers (while heavily suggesting they are out for banning them, because they used the Cass Interim Report, even though the representative stated she was not out for changing healthcare "at all", while debating 2 reports meant to combat the long waiting lists....).
The representative was ignoring or unaware that this research is currently ongoing in one of the biggest gender clinics in The Netherlands.
So that appears to very much be a case of "Look at me being supereffective into taking children's safety seriously!"
But the scariest motion was this one: Create a database of transchildren and have patient-doctor confidentiality revoked for those transchildren.
Our current demissionary Minister of Health, Wellbeing and Sports had to explicitly warn the House of Representatives that this motion would lead to the ability of these children being exposed, because of the patient-group being so small that it would be in no way impossible to make this data anonymous.
The representative decided to stay her motion: probably for filing it again once government here upped it's intrinsic, vicious hate of transchildren.
And now they have also presented a mainline agreement for the Chamber of Cabinet stating that "Sexual education needs to be proven effective, and politically neutral, and align better with the age of the students, especially in elementary school."
LGBTQI+ support groups have already raised concerns that this is meant to prohibit schools from giving sexual education at all, or at least, if still allowed to give it, make it strictly hetero- and cis-gender normative.
And then there are other concerns about "Broadening the requirements for organisations with ideological backgrounds or targets in order to receive funding or be accredited as lawful, and lessening the restrictions on regulation meant to label organisations terrorist organisations."
Some LGBTQI+ support groups have been concerned this is meant to legislate them out of existence for having their status removed on the basis of being able to get labeled terrorist organisations.
My country has been looking at the US and UK and decided: Hey, that's exactly the type of fascism this country is in dire need of!
While dealing with the worst types of crises ever concerning climate change, the housing crisis, distrust in politics, they thought it was really important to make legislation or regulation meant to target less than 0,000006% of the Dutch population EACH YEAR.
Imagine being in politics and just flat out saying "Nah, I'm not going to change healthcare". I always thought that going in to politics meant you might want to change things for the better...
The most awful thing is that the biggest party (the one from Geert Wilders, who by the way signalled quite clearly who his biggest hero is, by wearing the same clothes as Trump and it's cult-followers) has been shouting for 20 years that "the biggest danger to Dutch norms, values and culture is islamic extremism".
Which, obviously, is bullshit right from the start.
But it is maddening to see that they themselves are the most dangerous to those exact same norms EVER.
Oh by the way, the NSC party, the person filing those 2 motions.
The most insane thing here: She is a former microbiologist.
To me that seems to be used to do 2 things:
1. Validate her lies more/better because "I studied for good research so I know what I'm talking about" and hopefully reach an audience that thinks "Oh wow, she must understand it well then!"
2. Uses her title to suggest the Interim Report (or the Cass Review, it doesn't matter, the results are both harmful) is a valid piece of research by using it.
I decided to ask her and another party member from a party that are the hardcore religious people in my country (women can not be an active member of their party and have only been allowed to vote in member-support situations since like 5 years or something) who basically called for research as well the following question:
"If there are serious, concerning and damaging results to be expected from not-treating children, results for which we do not need further research to prove these drugs are safe, are you still out on banning them?"
To which the former microbiologist responded that "no, banning them would be unethical." (riiiight, that's why you used the Interim Report...and you spread lies about the dangers of these drugs and the rising numbers of referrals being turned into intakes and amount of treatments).
She then proceeded to say that she just wants more research done into the effects into transchildren.
I then knew she fell for it: no where in my question did I label children as transchildren. I asked about precocious puberty situations, and she immediately jumped to conclusions.
The other party did the EXACT same.
I decided to email them back thanking them for their response, and also thanking them for point-blank proving to me that it's not about the drug, but about the particular group of children that get's it.
Doesn’t matter what those MF’s do for a living. It’s all superseded with hatred & bigotry. The most dangerous people in the world. They aren’t Christians. They’re Lucifer in the flesh. Talk about a bunch of anti-Christs running around the planet.
I've been seeing kids posting on Reddit asking what they're supposed to do. It always brings me back to the shame and fear I felt as a child, watching my body betray me. To have a lifeline like those kids, and to think you don't have to go through the wrong puberty only to have it ripped away... the cruelty of this can't be overstated. The ones who are lucky might be able to afford surgery to fix the damage. Most are just going to be permanently hurt.
The difference is, I was repressing. I wasn't loudly proclaiming who I was. I was never *placed on puberty blockers.* The trauma of not knowing what was possible is very different from what it would be like to think you've managed to save yourself and then have it ripped away. The cruelty's on another level. These kids know exactly what's happening, and they know that it's happening to them because the state decided to do it.
Out-of-pocket costs for FFS over there are also far and away beyond what it costs here with insurance. It's signficantly harder to fix than it is here. Even here, those of us who can afford it are not the majority and highly privileged.
That's true, of course. But there were also an unknown number of us who decided, tragically, not to continue struggling with the constant dysphoria and associated trauma. I fear that this monstrously cruel and appalling intrusion of extreme politics into critical and individual healthcare decisions will result in despondent trans youth in the UK losing hope and choosing a similarly lamentable path.
The bastards pushing this agenda will likely have blood on their hands as a result, and they will likely be just fine with that since they are hateful, callous monsters.
When I think of what this kind of pernicious evil will do to these struggling, vulnerable UK children and their desperate parents, it breaks my heart.
Well, yeah, I did it. Only because I didn't have language to explain what was going on with me. In my case, ignorance was kind of bliss. If I had known, and couldn't do a thing about it, that's a different story. It was the 1960's when I became aware there was something I thought was strange about me, but of course I didn't have any articulate words to describe it. I survived, but was a very confused kid. During puberty, I definitely knew my body had betrayed me, and I was upset for a while.
I've just reached out to a dear friend in Edinburgh, Scotland, with a trans nonbinary 17-year-old. She said her child is among the 1% of trans kids getting puberty blockers through the national health service (NHS). She said the vast majority of UK families go to a private GP - a single private GP - who will prescribe blockers to trans kids. "This is a specific target against this GP," she wrote. Also, fortunately for my friend and her child, Scotland allows 17-year-olds to start hormone therapy, which England doesn't.
She said right now there is a mad scramble among the parents of trans kids to try to get meds for them, and that people are considering flying abroad to get them.
And then, "Oh! I see Erin Reed posted about it - she's so incredible. She's been a great support reporting about this stuff when no one in the UK would say a peep. Maddening"
It's only a matter of time before they go after adults, too. These people aren't slick and are duplicating what they're doing here in the U.S. My God, how can we ever get in front of this when countries around the world are gunning for us? Geeeeeeeeeesh!
UK governments have long had strong fascist streaks, perhaps a legacy of monarchy. In any case, here’s that fascist streak roaring through and aimed squarely at trans folks. And although the Tories will lose the upcoming election, I don’t hold much hope for Labor to change this.
In The Netherlands, people simply voted fascism into power. 3 parties, at least, all at once. The 4th made the DIRE mistake of not keeping the door to extreme-right closed, and has been calling the new House of Representatives and the Chamber of Cabinet centre-right ever since, and has been keen on rewriting history.
The US is far from perfect, but (so far at least), it’s not anywhere close to the disaster we are witnessing unfolding in the UK. But I am sure that conservative politicians here are licking their chops at the prospect that someday soon, they will be able to do the same thing in the US.
I never thought they'd go this far. Obviously there is a group of politicians who have conspired to railroad this through the normal channels. A desperate power grab wielded by members of a righteous religious group similar to the Federalist society in the U.S. we need to follow the trail of money and influence and ask ourselves who stands to gain or fulfill their agenda by this.
I had young kids on ADHD drugs for many years. They are considered a controlled substance in the U. S. It was hell getting their prescriptions filled every month. No refills allowed. Every month a new original hand written prescription necessitating a doctor's visit. Pharmacy never had enough on hand to fill a whole month's supply. You can't leave town in the middle of a refill cycle or you will run out and no advance is allowed to complete your time away. The cruelty and inconvenience seems to be the object.
As a trans person in my twenties I was unable to find a doctor to prescribe estrogen so I ordered through a biological laboratory supply company. They didn't succeed in stopping me. They succeeded in pushing me to risk my life by experimenting on myself.
Very distressing news. I had heard that parliament was disbanded, but had no idea what that meant. Thank you Erin for explaining it all. It seems everyone has to move to be happy. From red states in the US to blue states. From the UK to other countries. Heart breaking. 💔
This is quite possibly the most hateful, callous example of extremist politicians wielding hate as a legislative cudgel that I've ever witnessed post Nazi Germany. My rage is as white-hot as my heart is broken.
Thank you for shining a much-needed light on this atrocity, Erin. I donated *immediately* after reading this.
The Netherlands has a party that has called for creating a database of transchildren, and revoke their patient-doctor confidentiality.
This party is called New Social Contract, which abbreviates to a problematic degree to NSC.
Differing only one letter from the Nazi-collaboration party NSB in The Netherlands, which helped to create lists of Roma, Sinti, Jewish, Gay, Lesbian, Bi, Trans- Intersex and Queer people in order to facilitate the razzia's.
The press was eerily silent on such an attempt of targeted legislation.
I sincerely hope my country is not considering the UK to be the prime example to follow, but since the same party considers Cass to be their hero, I'm scared.
Further proof that the killing of Alan Turing was not a one-off. I hate that my family comes from the UK now. Like I needed another reason not to go there. Good lord....
The Tories (Conservatives) turning up the evil at the last possible moment before the parliament went home for the election campaign. An election the Tories will duly be humiliated in, and deservedly so. But the Labour Party has shown how little it cares for trans and non-binary people by jogging alongside the Tories on trans issues, and not wanting to lose the TERF guardian-reader vote.
The absolute failure of politicians to work with the actual science and the actual studies, preferring instead to work with monomaniacal bigots, is staggering. In the end they have taken decisions like this because they do not like us, they cannot and do not want to understand us. They view us as less than human. Fuck them.
Same thing here in the states. Politicians making their choices on the advice of preachers and doctors of philosophy, while ignoring all expert testimony and scientific studies.
Heartless.
Fucking.
Monsters.
It's so callous and dehumanising to tell a trans person that they can "safely stop their medication and do not need to be weaned off"
What kind of safety is this?
I'm not sure even Cass would make a statement like this.
She probably would: she has already told a politician to hold off her ban on conversion therapy.
And she has been doing multiple 180's since her damaging report came out, so she either doesn't care what she says, or her opinions is dependent on how well she got up in the morning.
I mean, in her report she even makes the dumb argument that transboys don't have to be put on puberty blockers: "There is little to no evidence that puberty blockers help in growing taller".
Which well, any endocrinologist would be able to tell her that: it just doesn't make sense to say "Hey, puberty blockers don't do X or Y" because it's literally genetics that determine how tall you get.
Someone I only know by name, as a transwoman got taller (on average) than most women get (though looking at the women at the place I work, she is very much average :P ) even having been on puberty blockers simply because cross-sex hormones made her become as tall as her genetic programming made her.
I on the other hand, went through boy puberty and got shorter than her.
Next to that: It's also quite cruel to say "Oh, let's just have transboys experience periods" (and thus mental distress) "and make them have more surgery to have their breast tissue removed because of the fact we didn't prevent their breast growth with puberty blockers".
I was so devastated when my period started, I locked myself in the bathroom that day and screamed at my mother that I wanted a sex change. I had no idea where that came from or what it was ... in 1970. I didn't know it even existed. My soul was screaming and knew. Took me another 50 years to figure out what was going on and do something about it. Never mind why it took that long; it just did. I also thought I would get pecs, because I thought I was a boy. When boobs showed up, I didn't like them either.
While it is obviously not possible for me to relate to something like that, I experienced the weird twist of fate of knowing what puberty screening looks like as a boy->girl transchild.
But it wasn't because I was trans: it was because I was below average in body height, and there were concerns my body was halting puberty on it's own (oh the irony of them looking into a hormonal problem at the time).
The story about growing breasts while expecting something else however did resonate with me: I experienced gynecomastia (I hope I spelled that right in English, my spelling correction of my OS suggests I'm not but that has a tendency to be wrong :P ).
I was thrilled to feel the pain of literally anything hitting there, thinking I was growing breasts.
The first thought right after was one of absolute terror: "OMG, this should not be happening!? I'm a boy!"
And then there was the, about 3-month long period in which I checked if you could see anything of the little lumps when wearing clothes.
At the same time I was relieved you could not see anything, I also felt remorse because you couldn't see anything.
When it disappeared, I felt relieved it was gone, but I also felt so bad that I apparently was NOT getting breasts.
Upon starting a testosterone blocking drug, about 1 month in the first viciously painful stab in my left breast started and *WHAM* I was 14 again.
By the way, I grew up in the 1990's, and when I was 3 or 4 years old I found a naked woman in a mailorder catalog (probably from something like Neckermann or something).
While I can't recall the memory myself, my mom still does: I happened to slap the magazine down on the table and asked my mom if I were to get "all that when I'm older" while pointing at the woman's breasts and genital area.
My mom explained I wouldn't "since you are a boy".
Something to which, to this day she recalls me responding with defeat and anger by saying something like "Oh.....BUT I LIKE HERS MORE!!!" while stomping my feet.
She feels a deep regret never having asked on what that was about.
But then again, it was the beginning of the 90's: the attention for transchildren was barely there.
Only a TV program around that time, in which the hostess of the program who is now our demissionary minister of Health, Wellbeing and Sports followed transchildren shed some light on it for the first time, and then another report happened, and after that the documentary about a Dutch transperson in which this person was followed for over 10 years.
I also by the way had no clue that it existed: it was the documentary I just mentioned that made me realize "Oh god...those feelings have a name?"
But some of the things I do remember are looking at my reflection in the mirror and it somehow not "feeling right".
What it was however: no clue. What to change to combat that feeling? No clue either.
The most annoying thing of all right now is the experience I had during puberty screening: I knew full well what was heading my way, and I was none the wiser why I only wanted to become taller, and rather not have to experience the rest...
In informational lessons in which I volunteered as a guest speaker on high schools in my city, I tend to notice this difference a lot: for most children, a lot of the things that are the result of puberty are completely disconnected from it.
A lower voice doesn't happen because of puberty "but simply because you are a boy".
I still wonder if that is the result of me having had the screening and knowing exceptionally well what was to start when, and if my body wasn't going to figure it out itself when what hormones were going to do what.
When I was approaching puberty #1, I thought a penis would grow and I was latent getting one. Imagine my surprise when that didn't happen. I paid 0 attention to what sex education was telling the girls, because I was listening for what they told the boys. I had something embarrassing happen with my budding female chest, too, and stopped playing football with the boys down the street. I've told that story so many times, I didn't put it in here.
I found out transmen existed when I saw Chaz Bono on Dancing With the Stars. That was 2011 or 2012. I was dumbfounded that there was a word for it. There was absolutely 0 talk of trans anything in the 1960's. Military sent me to the Bay Area, and I have no idea how I missed knowing all those years. When I saw Chaz, my whole life flashed in front of my face and I remembered everything I ever thought about myself as a youth.
I told my cousins when I was 18 that I was going into the military for them to make me a better man. Now, I don't remember saying that, but they did. Little things like that kept slipping out, and I remember how I felt being put on the female side of the military. I hated it and I hated the uniforms. I wanted to be trained with men, not women. When I got to my duty station, I didn't have to wear those damn skirts anymore and bought several uniform pants.
I had such a low voice as a child, people mistook me for a boy. I'd be insulted, but secretly loved it. Then I would get in these mental fights with myself about the back and forth I did about being a boy or a girl.
I was at least 54 when I saw Chaz on that TV show. Started my transition at 58. So, be lucky you had some resources when you were younger. I thought I was a lesbian all of my adulthood, when I was just a man who loved women. LOL
I just received this email today and they asked me to provide my child's details since the email they have is a parent one. I will not do that. I have come to distrust the NHS now, even though I moved from the US to the UK to get away from the oppressive systems for non-men, non-white people. And I trained the next generation of therapists for the NHS. Trust has been eroded.
One thing that was maybe not mentioned in the article was the threats against parents as they said that it could be a "safeguarding issue" if parents were allowing their children to access these medications. So that's fun!
That’s absolutely terrorizing. It feels like the country has been progressively imploding on itself in many ways since the Brexit vote. I’m so sorry you and your family are being subjected to this.
Yes, the Brexit referendum was a fascist takeover simulation which was validated and evolved. We've been here 17 years and it's awful to see.
This is awful. We were removed from the list prior to Cass coming out as my child was coming up to 17. I know why now after the plans for the new 17-25 service. We must campaign to get Labour to stop this being carried beyond 3 September
Damn, good thing you told them NOTHING! Texas tried that shit, in an effort to get information about who has trans children. Luckily, those efforts were blocked by judges. Who knows how long that will last, since they'll push the button if the clown gets elected. SMFH
What they do over there will come back and be done here. What they do to children will be done to adults. This is a very grim sign.
The fascist government of the Netherlands that we got after disastrous elections in 2023 has upped their transphobia within 3 months.
Within 3 months 700% more transphobic motions have been filed.
All with the goal of targeting transchildren's medication, calling transwomen rapists, killing of the democratic process for a law-change that would allow transpeople to self-ID (destroyed by a party called NSC, New Social Contract that campaigned hard on the idea "The Dutch State should never ever have the opportunity again to retaliate against a group of citizens" due to their leader being responsible for shedding light on an AI-driven tax agency scandal plummeting thousands of people into crippling debt).
This law change didn't even make it through first-term. And the party killing it also campaigned hard on the idea "That politics should become trustworthy again, without the cheap tricks that disrespect the democratic process. Laws and law-changes will be discussed in full and with the care they deserve".
This party has the troublesome abbreviation NSC, which differs only 1 letter from the party in The Netherlands that, during the years 1940-1945 was the only party allowed: NSB, National Socialistic Movement.
That party was responsible for collaborating with the German occupational forces, and creating the lists of Jewish, Roma, Sinti, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Trans- Intersex- and queer-people and all the other people that they didn't want in society, that made the razzia's that more powerful and coordinated.
With the troublesome party NSC as the second biggest, next to a party easily capable of being compared to the ultra-extreme MAGA-bunch in the US (look up Geert Wilders, he is the leader of this party, listening to the name Party for Freedom, while having as much a disdain for freedom as the MAGA-idiots), they have now been proposing some troublesome things.
At the 15th of Februari 2024, within 1 month of forming a new House of Representatives, this party filed 2 motions: 1 to investigate puberty blockers (while heavily suggesting they are out for banning them, because they used the Cass Interim Report, even though the representative stated she was not out for changing healthcare "at all", while debating 2 reports meant to combat the long waiting lists....).
The representative was ignoring or unaware that this research is currently ongoing in one of the biggest gender clinics in The Netherlands.
So that appears to very much be a case of "Look at me being supereffective into taking children's safety seriously!"
But the scariest motion was this one: Create a database of transchildren and have patient-doctor confidentiality revoked for those transchildren.
Our current demissionary Minister of Health, Wellbeing and Sports had to explicitly warn the House of Representatives that this motion would lead to the ability of these children being exposed, because of the patient-group being so small that it would be in no way impossible to make this data anonymous.
The representative decided to stay her motion: probably for filing it again once government here upped it's intrinsic, vicious hate of transchildren.
And now they have also presented a mainline agreement for the Chamber of Cabinet stating that "Sexual education needs to be proven effective, and politically neutral, and align better with the age of the students, especially in elementary school."
LGBTQI+ support groups have already raised concerns that this is meant to prohibit schools from giving sexual education at all, or at least, if still allowed to give it, make it strictly hetero- and cis-gender normative.
And then there are other concerns about "Broadening the requirements for organisations with ideological backgrounds or targets in order to receive funding or be accredited as lawful, and lessening the restrictions on regulation meant to label organisations terrorist organisations."
Some LGBTQI+ support groups have been concerned this is meant to legislate them out of existence for having their status removed on the basis of being able to get labeled terrorist organisations.
My country has been looking at the US and UK and decided: Hey, that's exactly the type of fascism this country is in dire need of!
While dealing with the worst types of crises ever concerning climate change, the housing crisis, distrust in politics, they thought it was really important to make legislation or regulation meant to target less than 0,000006% of the Dutch population EACH YEAR.
Imagine being in politics and just flat out saying "Nah, I'm not going to change healthcare". I always thought that going in to politics meant you might want to change things for the better...
Good God Almighty! This is insane and makes it all the more clear that the people responsible for all this bullshit are moving around the world. UGH
The most awful thing is that the biggest party (the one from Geert Wilders, who by the way signalled quite clearly who his biggest hero is, by wearing the same clothes as Trump and it's cult-followers) has been shouting for 20 years that "the biggest danger to Dutch norms, values and culture is islamic extremism".
Which, obviously, is bullshit right from the start.
But it is maddening to see that they themselves are the most dangerous to those exact same norms EVER.
Oh by the way, the NSC party, the person filing those 2 motions.
The most insane thing here: She is a former microbiologist.
To me that seems to be used to do 2 things:
1. Validate her lies more/better because "I studied for good research so I know what I'm talking about" and hopefully reach an audience that thinks "Oh wow, she must understand it well then!"
2. Uses her title to suggest the Interim Report (or the Cass Review, it doesn't matter, the results are both harmful) is a valid piece of research by using it.
I decided to ask her and another party member from a party that are the hardcore religious people in my country (women can not be an active member of their party and have only been allowed to vote in member-support situations since like 5 years or something) who basically called for research as well the following question:
"If there are serious, concerning and damaging results to be expected from not-treating children, results for which we do not need further research to prove these drugs are safe, are you still out on banning them?"
To which the former microbiologist responded that "no, banning them would be unethical." (riiiight, that's why you used the Interim Report...and you spread lies about the dangers of these drugs and the rising numbers of referrals being turned into intakes and amount of treatments).
She then proceeded to say that she just wants more research done into the effects into transchildren.
I then knew she fell for it: no where in my question did I label children as transchildren. I asked about precocious puberty situations, and she immediately jumped to conclusions.
The other party did the EXACT same.
I decided to email them back thanking them for their response, and also thanking them for point-blank proving to me that it's not about the drug, but about the particular group of children that get's it.
I've been blacklisted ever since probably...
Doesn’t matter what those MF’s do for a living. It’s all superseded with hatred & bigotry. The most dangerous people in the world. They aren’t Christians. They’re Lucifer in the flesh. Talk about a bunch of anti-Christs running around the planet.
I've been seeing kids posting on Reddit asking what they're supposed to do. It always brings me back to the shame and fear I felt as a child, watching my body betray me. To have a lifeline like those kids, and to think you don't have to go through the wrong puberty only to have it ripped away... the cruelty of this can't be overstated. The ones who are lucky might be able to afford surgery to fix the damage. Most are just going to be permanently hurt.
This is the devastating crux of the issue.
The difference is, I was repressing. I wasn't loudly proclaiming who I was. I was never *placed on puberty blockers.* The trauma of not knowing what was possible is very different from what it would be like to think you've managed to save yourself and then have it ripped away. The cruelty's on another level. These kids know exactly what's happening, and they know that it's happening to them because the state decided to do it.
Out-of-pocket costs for FFS over there are also far and away beyond what it costs here with insurance. It's signficantly harder to fix than it is here. Even here, those of us who can afford it are not the majority and highly privileged.
Yes absolutely !
That's true, of course. But there were also an unknown number of us who decided, tragically, not to continue struggling with the constant dysphoria and associated trauma. I fear that this monstrously cruel and appalling intrusion of extreme politics into critical and individual healthcare decisions will result in despondent trans youth in the UK losing hope and choosing a similarly lamentable path.
The bastards pushing this agenda will likely have blood on their hands as a result, and they will likely be just fine with that since they are hateful, callous monsters.
When I think of what this kind of pernicious evil will do to these struggling, vulnerable UK children and their desperate parents, it breaks my heart.
Well, yeah, I did it. Only because I didn't have language to explain what was going on with me. In my case, ignorance was kind of bliss. If I had known, and couldn't do a thing about it, that's a different story. It was the 1960's when I became aware there was something I thought was strange about me, but of course I didn't have any articulate words to describe it. I survived, but was a very confused kid. During puberty, I definitely knew my body had betrayed me, and I was upset for a while.
OMFG.
I've just reached out to a dear friend in Edinburgh, Scotland, with a trans nonbinary 17-year-old. She said her child is among the 1% of trans kids getting puberty blockers through the national health service (NHS). She said the vast majority of UK families go to a private GP - a single private GP - who will prescribe blockers to trans kids. "This is a specific target against this GP," she wrote. Also, fortunately for my friend and her child, Scotland allows 17-year-olds to start hormone therapy, which England doesn't.
She said right now there is a mad scramble among the parents of trans kids to try to get meds for them, and that people are considering flying abroad to get them.
And then, "Oh! I see Erin Reed posted about it - she's so incredible. She's been a great support reporting about this stuff when no one in the UK would say a peep. Maddening"
It's only a matter of time before they go after adults, too. These people aren't slick and are duplicating what they're doing here in the U.S. My God, how can we ever get in front of this when countries around the world are gunning for us? Geeeeeeeeeesh!
UK governments have long had strong fascist streaks, perhaps a legacy of monarchy. In any case, here’s that fascist streak roaring through and aimed squarely at trans folks. And although the Tories will lose the upcoming election, I don’t hold much hope for Labor to change this.
In The Netherlands, people simply voted fascism into power. 3 parties, at least, all at once. The 4th made the DIRE mistake of not keeping the door to extreme-right closed, and has been calling the new House of Representatives and the Chamber of Cabinet centre-right ever since, and has been keen on rewriting history.
This hurts to hear. My heart is absolutely breaking for the trans kids affected by this.
The US is far from perfect, but (so far at least), it’s not anywhere close to the disaster we are witnessing unfolding in the UK. But I am sure that conservative politicians here are licking their chops at the prospect that someday soon, they will be able to do the same thing in the US.
Whether its Tories or Republicans, you'll always find sadism.
My rage at the evil they do is incandescent. The excuselessness of what they do is incomprehensible.
No act of resistance against those creating and enacting such policies, within the rules of war, is untoward.
I never thought they'd go this far. Obviously there is a group of politicians who have conspired to railroad this through the normal channels. A desperate power grab wielded by members of a righteous religious group similar to the Federalist society in the U.S. we need to follow the trail of money and influence and ask ourselves who stands to gain or fulfill their agenda by this.
I had young kids on ADHD drugs for many years. They are considered a controlled substance in the U. S. It was hell getting their prescriptions filled every month. No refills allowed. Every month a new original hand written prescription necessitating a doctor's visit. Pharmacy never had enough on hand to fill a whole month's supply. You can't leave town in the middle of a refill cycle or you will run out and no advance is allowed to complete your time away. The cruelty and inconvenience seems to be the object.
As a trans person in my twenties I was unable to find a doctor to prescribe estrogen so I ordered through a biological laboratory supply company. They didn't succeed in stopping me. They succeeded in pushing me to risk my life by experimenting on myself.
Very distressing news. I had heard that parliament was disbanded, but had no idea what that meant. Thank you Erin for explaining it all. It seems everyone has to move to be happy. From red states in the US to blue states. From the UK to other countries. Heart breaking. 💔
This is quite possibly the most hateful, callous example of extremist politicians wielding hate as a legislative cudgel that I've ever witnessed post Nazi Germany. My rage is as white-hot as my heart is broken.
Thank you for shining a much-needed light on this atrocity, Erin. I donated *immediately* after reading this.
The Netherlands has a party that has called for creating a database of transchildren, and revoke their patient-doctor confidentiality.
This party is called New Social Contract, which abbreviates to a problematic degree to NSC.
Differing only one letter from the Nazi-collaboration party NSB in The Netherlands, which helped to create lists of Roma, Sinti, Jewish, Gay, Lesbian, Bi, Trans- Intersex and Queer people in order to facilitate the razzia's.
The press was eerily silent on such an attempt of targeted legislation.
I sincerely hope my country is not considering the UK to be the prime example to follow, but since the same party considers Cass to be their hero, I'm scared.
Further proof that the killing of Alan Turing was not a one-off. I hate that my family comes from the UK now. Like I needed another reason not to go there. Good lord....
The Tories (Conservatives) turning up the evil at the last possible moment before the parliament went home for the election campaign. An election the Tories will duly be humiliated in, and deservedly so. But the Labour Party has shown how little it cares for trans and non-binary people by jogging alongside the Tories on trans issues, and not wanting to lose the TERF guardian-reader vote.
The absolute failure of politicians to work with the actual science and the actual studies, preferring instead to work with monomaniacal bigots, is staggering. In the end they have taken decisions like this because they do not like us, they cannot and do not want to understand us. They view us as less than human. Fuck them.
Same thing here in the states. Politicians making their choices on the advice of preachers and doctors of philosophy, while ignoring all expert testimony and scientific studies.