How you can stand up for trans kids being targeted by this government

Something you might not know about but need to know about!

Kia ora, four months ago I shared an explainer on puberty blockers and gender affirming care. It followed a guest post in May, from a parent who had a child who had used puberty blockers, then changed their mind.

You might be wondering why I so vocally support the trans community and parents of trans children. For me, it’s an issue of justice and fairness and also I can’t help but think about my experience as the parent of a medically fragile child.

For twelve years I’ve had to make difficult medical decisions on behalf of my child. It was always with a team of specialists and experts. I cannot imagine having to put these choices to a public vote - especially given I don’t think New Zealanders at all want to be put in the position of deciding whether a child gets the medical care they need or not.

We know there are people out there obsessed with trans children and adults. I cannot say this enough - these people need to be kept away from children, not actively invited to provide their feedback about the healthcare of those children.

So the decision by this reactionary government to open up for consultation further restrictions to access puberty blockers is beyond horrifying. It blows my mind. There are were just 113 families who accessed puberty blockers for their child this year. Now they and every family in the future will face having the general public give feedback on their child’s private healthcare.

Many cisgender children need puberty blockers. Only trans children are being targeted.

Photo by John Cameron

This move by the Government and the Ministry of Health is an act of discrimination, attempting to introduce restrictions on one population’s right to access healthcare.

Trans children and adults are a minority group already exposed to increasing levels of hatred and disinformation, and the Ministry of Health is just encouraging more of it.

Here’s where you come in. Can you help to provide another voice? Because we are facing just seeing feedback given by those whose sole job seems to be complaining constantly on Twitter that their rights are being infringed by using a toilet with children.

You can engage in the submission process, but it’s important to look beyond that, too. I talked to Jennifer Shields the president of the Professional Association for Transgender Health Aotearoa (PATHA) and healthcare lead at Qtopia NZ a social support service for the whole LGBTQIA+ community about what we need to know about the consultation and next steps.

Emily: Hey! Thank you for helping us with this. What will happen once the consultation closes on 20 January?

Jen: The Ministry will use the consultation findings to present advice to Minister of Health Shane Reti and Associate Minister of Health (with the Mental Health and Rainbow Health portfolios) Matt Doocey, who will then work with them to present a paper to Cabinet. Unfortunately, as we’ve all seen this year with tobacco, this Cabinet doesn’t seem to value the advice the Ministry of Health gives them.

So - make a submission during the consultation process, but you should also talk to your local MP and write to Ministers Reti and Doocey. It’s important that they understand the impacts that this consultation process and any restrictions on access to healthcare would have.

How do we submit?

There’s an online form at the Ministry’s consultation website but it’s been written in a way that is confusing and biased towards further restrictions. You can email your submission directly to pbconsultation@health.govt.nz instead.

What are the most important things we should cover in our submission?

Like with other submissions, your own voice will be strongest. Here are some things you might want to include - you could include these in letters to Ministers Reti and Doocey, too:

There should be no restrictions on access to puberty blockers for the trans young people who need them.

The government should be increasing resourcing to ensure trans people, no matter where they live, can access the healthcare they need. Access to gender-affirming care nationally is still a postcode lottery - there are many places in Aotearoa where puberty blockers are all-but impossible to access already.

Restricting access to a clinical trial is absolutely inappropriate and totally unethical - the Aotearoa National Ethical Standards for Health and Disability Research, the NZ Health Research Council, and the World Medical Association’s Declaration of Helsinki on medical research are all absolutely clear that participants in medical research must give voluntary and informed consent. You cannot voluntarily agree to participate in a trial if that trial is the only way to access care.

International evidence is clear that the introduction of restrictions on gender affirming care have atrocious impacts on the mental health of our young people - one American study found a 72% year-on-year increase in suicide attempts in trans young people.

You could also talk about the way the Government is carrying this out. A public consultation process on a medical matter for a minority population already subjected to increasing amounts of hatred and disinformation is totally inappropriate.

Two months over the summer break is not enough time to consult meaningfully with those substantially affected by this proposal (as required under the Medicines Act). The Ministry of Health needs to be taking the time to consult safely with those most affected - which is trans children. This is a process that needs to be careful and take time - how do you ‘safely’ ask children how they feel about their right to access healthcare being restricted?

Many areas of healthcare also have “low quality” evidence - the Government is holding trans healthcare to a standard other areas of health do not meet, which is discriminatory.

If you’re filling out the online form, Gender Minorities Aotearoa has a great step-by-step guide to these terribly framed questions.

Photo by Nina Strehl

What else can we do?

Now, more than ever, support the trans children in your lives, and support their parents and whānau. We know that this consultation process alone is affecting the mental health and wellbeing of trans children around Aotearoa. If the government moves to implement restrictions, those harms will amplify.

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Thank you for reading. I know everyone has submissions fatigue after the disability taskforce survey and the Treaty Principles Bill submission. But this is so important. Remember, your submission by email doesn’t have to be long.

If you’d like to read more - ka pai! Here’s my suggested reading list:

• Gender-affirming care affects a small minority – so why the public consultation?

• Queer Endurance In Defiance’s Statement On The Proposed Restriction Of Puberty Blockers

• What are puberty blockers? What is gender affirming care?

• My child went on puberty blockers, then they changed their mind

• RNZ: Ministry of Health releases long-awaited puberty blockers evidence brief

Please stand up for families who are already going through hell facing bullying and misinformation from the alt right. We can opt out of this culture war BS they’re trying to import into Aotearoa. We can say that Aotearoa’s kids won’t be used to push alt right conspiracy theories.