cross-posted from: https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/post/13847307
Taken from a Press Release by the group:
LONDON, 1 July 2024—Two young trans activists scaled the NHS England’s London headquarters at 133–135 Waterloo Road in London on Friday to stage a protest and have remained there ever since. The group, now made up of seven young protesters, all 18 or under, has one simple message: Trans Kids Deserve Better: we are not pawns for your politics.
The powerful direct action has been organised by the “Trans Kids Deserve Better” network, which is calling for: access to gender affirming healthcare for trans children and young people, protection from discrimination and disrespect in their daily lives and the right to be heard in all decisions that affect them.
Their protest comes in the wake of the government using emergency powers to ban all access to puberty blockers in the UK, a move that was supported by Labour’s Wes Streeting, likely to be the next Secretary of State for Health. It also comes in the context of a General Election campaign where trans people and trans youth have been used as ‘culture war’ talking points, but not allowed to speak for themselves.
“We are staging this protest to remind politicians and voters that we’re real kids, not just political talking points. We may not have a vote, but it is our lives that are at stake,” said one of the activists staging the protest. “Gender-affirming healthcare is a matter of life and death for us, and we hope that our actions will bring awareness to this fact and encourage others to fight for the healthcare and dignity that we are so shamefully denied.”
What the fuck? “Forcefully injected with opposite sex hormones”? You mean, just going through puberty naturally?
Obviously you automatically think I’m transphobic purely because I don’t subscribe to everything the hardcore trans activists come out with, and because I think there should be a balanced outcome that helps kids but also protects them. As opposed to any kid saying “I’m trans” and suddenly we have to throw medication at them without questioning if it’s something they actually want or are just being contrarian. Let’s be honest, there are always kids who want to be different and will latch on to things like this, even if it’s not genuine.
But you’ll probably tell me that’s transphobic too, because obviously kids fully understand all this stuff. 🙄