Thread by @TeamGender

Yesterday I felt physically sick hearing that NHS England may be about to threaten supportive parents of trans children with ‘safeguarding protocols’ if they go outside the NHS for gender care. 1/14

We love our teen to bits. This is not what parents want for their children, constant despair that they may struggle to live their life. They tell us & demonstrate clearly every day that this is what they NEED. 2/14

Families often hold off affirming their child (6 years in our case) Yes, they worry it could be a phase & reassure them they’re perfect as they are but continuing to do this leads to distress & depression. It’s harmful & cruel to deny them their identity 3/14

Parents have long said that GIDS was not fit for purpose but @thecassreview has so far achieved nothing positive. Just to effectively freeze their access to healthcare. 4/14

Some parents do help their young ppl gain private access but this is BECAUSE the NHS has failed them. Affirming care is what they NEED & a majority of international specialists agree. Furthermore, even where families request to return to NHS care they are denied. 5/14

There’s been no ‘rushing children to to accept medical intervention.’ Most families spend years with GIDS being questioned, assessed, undergoing therapy & exploring their gender identity. For R it’s been 7 years now. 6/14

NHS England have no clue what they are doing in trying to set up alternative provision. The situation is shambolic. They have no staff, structure or established protocols in place. Many children are currently left with no support at all. 7/14

R is fortunate to have had good family & school support but they still face many barriers. My heart breaks for those with little home/school support & no hope of accessing the health care needed. It puts them at a high risk of developing mental health issues & homelessness 8/14

I can’t forgive the anti-trans individuals & orgs responsible for this. Whether their claims are concern for safeguarding or that women’s/girls rights are being eroded, that’s bullshit. It’s grounded in transphobia. 9/14

I think we’re resigned now to the likelihood that R will never have access to NHS gender care until they’re at least into their twenties because of course, adult services have very long wait lists too 10/14

Anti-trans, TERF, GC, transphobes, bigots, fascists, they all know that trans adults were once trans children. Provision of affirming care prevents mental & physical suffering & possibly unnecessary future surgeries but the above excuses for human beings don’t care. 11/14

They’re orchestrating a complete shut down of all support for trans kids, in the home, at school, in healthcare, in sport etc. because they don’t want them to exist. In doing this they aim to discredit all other services e.g. Mermaids to attempt to cut social support too. 12/14

Families in the UK living under this threat have nowhere else to go. We’ll continue to support our children in every way we can because no child (or adult) should be FORCED to be someone they’re not just to please others. Trans kids exist, always have & always will. 13/14

#TransRightsAreHumanRights #TransKidsLiving #SupportTransKids #TransHealthNow #AlliesSpeakUp @Mermaids_Gender @GenderGP @Genderintell @stonewalluk

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