I have been processing the judgement on puberty blockers in trans children, like many I am concerned. Here are a few reasons. Short thread.

In the U.K. we already have a legal frame to assess children’s capacity to consent to medical treatment and interventions. It’s called the ‘Gillick competence’ framework.

Children under 16, have long consented to their own treatment if they're assessed to be have the ‘intelligence’, to understand & fully appreciate what the treatment involves...

OTHERWISE...(that is if they are assessed as not having competence, someone with parental responsibility can consent for them). It is rare that courts are involved (it does happen) even when the medical intervention/treatment carry significant risks. Including long term.

There is therefore no rationale to treat trans children differently as far as I understand. That is not to say, the need for court intervention may not be required, in some instances, the concern for me is the routine new blanket legal requirement. To me discriminatory.

I know many ppl have said in support of the judgement 1)well do not know the future or long term impact of puberty blockers & so these drugs are ‘experimental’.

I do not buy this argument.

If this concern was really about uncertainty & long term impact...then 1) ALL children subject to experimental or newly established drugs or treatment would be subject to court approval. Thus, the courts would have needed to establish a new consent framework.

That is to say...2) the Gillick competence framework would need to be revised for this new requirement to be added. This is not what the court found? The court put this requirement only for trans kid & hormone treatment. The definition of discrimination.

I don’t think it is right to put a blanket requirement which will have adverse consequences more than it is likely to protect.

Some have argued...well let them wait! Better safe than sorry. Again, I do not agree with this take.

1) trans kids wait do...years for medical support, many don’t make it to adulthood. Because of suicide. So put that in the balance. There are kids that will die because of this.

The final common argument is, ‘changing’ gender is SO...radical, such a transformation in life, it is only right that we deny trans children, their wishes until they are 18. This is a cisheteronormative take.

Which shows zero understanding of trans experience.

Finally a reminder that we deem children at 16, to be competent enough to go to war and to kill other humans in this country.