Unit 3

 Puberty Blockers: Our Future Is Now In Question

Difference has never easily been accepted in our society. With difference comes unethical reasoning and oppression, which neither is new to this world. For hundreds of years, minority groups have been brutally mistreated and targeted for being different from the dominant community. This still continues today, regardless of many attempts to fix the injustice and to bring forth equality to all. Sexual minorities, those who are not the “standard” herterosexual-cisgendered male or female, are also targeted. Individuals who have identified as LGBTQ+ in the past were met with violence, mutilation, death, prison, and even concentration camps. Today, our LGBTQ+ community still often finds themselves thrown into violence, kicked out of their homes by family, and sometimes even killed out of hate, regardless of the laws that have been put out to protect them. Those who have a hard time accepting differences, like sexual orientation, use their power to make the lives of the LGBTQ+ much harder. Governments have passed laws and rulings that oppress the rights of the LGBTQ+ community in ways that slide under constitutions’ radars. These laws are presented in ways that seem to be about different issues entirely. This makes the laws seem justifiable, and those who aren’t concerned do not notice that they’re infringing on another person’s rights. 

A recent ruling in the United Kingdom has left transgender children in the dark, which was then followed by a Texas bill in the Unites States that targets their parents. This particular ruling is about puberty blockers. Puberty blockers are a medication for children, commonly used by those who believe that they’re transgender, that delays hormones from puberty. The ruling stated that children under 16 are not permitted to use puberty blockers as they are too young to consent to medications and understand their gender identity. Following this decision, many people are putting parental rights in question. In Texas, a new bill claims it is child abuse to allow your child to take puberty blockers. In her article Gender-Affirming Medical Treatment for Transgender Kids Would Be Considered Child Abuse under texas Senate Bill (2021), business development intern at New Enterprise Associates and The Daily Northwestern's campus editor Megan Munce asserts that the new Texas bill is one of the many bills that are soley aimed to strip away transgender rights by addressing how this treatment is not harmful or permanant, how these treatments have been used on cisgendered children for decades, and that this bill will cause depression rates and suicide rates in transgender children to increase. By supplying the reader with information about these medical treatments and the backlash that this bill has received already, Munce builds her claims about this bill being unethical and only used to hurt the transgender community. Munce wishes to convey to readers the importance of medical research in order to stop the spread of misinformation. Governments feed off of misinformation for power and followers, and have for as long as anyone can remember. This is no exception. Legislators from the Senate committee for this Texas bill “... claimed [that] many transgender children ceased to experience gender dysphoria later in life[, but it was found that] many of the studies they cited have been widely critiqued for casting wide nets for participants that often include children who may act gender non-confirming — for example, Linnell explained, a young girl who enjoys playing with trucks — but do not identify as transgender” (Munce, par. 7). By using children that are not transgender, the studies are false and have created a misconception to feed to the public, which will then push the public’s opinion to match the legislators. Puberty blockers are indeed reversible and have common, temporary, side effects -- just like any other medication.  Munce states that “According to Marjan Linnell, a general pediatrician, puberty suppression treatments are completely reversible and have been used for decades to delay early onset puberty. While other treatments such as hormones and surgery may cause irreversible changes, Linnell said the risks are discussed extensively with children and their parents before the procedures, which is typically only performed after puberty” (Munce, par. 6).  With that being said, risks of taking these blockers are known and understood by both the child and the parents, and all would know exactly what to do in case of an emergency. It is also evident that in the case of a child deciding that puberty blockers are not right for them, or if they no longer have gender dysmorphia later down the road, they can easily get the blocker taken out or can wait for their effects to wear off. 

Getting ahold of these medications, though, can be strenuous. Children who feel that they are transgender have to be psych-evalutated and have written consent from a therapist or psychologist who believes that they are transgender before they can start the process of receiving puberty blockers. Puberty blockers are not the first step in transitioning, just as medical surgery for the transgender community is not. It’s possible that those who helped pass the Texas bill believed that these puberty blockers would rush our youth into irreversible surgical procedures too early. To get surgery, most trans kids have to wait until they’re eighteen years old. But if given consent by a parent or guardian before age eighteen, they may be able to get the surgery that they desire. To receive this surgery with the consent of a parent or legal guardian, one would have to go to constant sessions with a therapist, psychologist, and have multiple evaluations done. They would need written approval from each one to prove that they have gender dysmorphia and that they are, without a doubt, transgender. Of course there are tomboys, or tomgirls, or kids who just want to like what they like, without being labelled, who aren’t transgender. Liking what the opposite gender likes does not mean that you’re transgender, hence why children need to be evaluated. There is no way for someone to rush into this, as the process time can take many months or even years. The Texas bill is redundant. 

Regarding the Texas bill on another note, parental and legal guardians have the right and responsibility to look after their children and to provide for them. Parents and guardians are given the right to consent to medical care for their children as long as it is in their best of interests. The Texas bill has overstepped a boundary by putting question to and restriction to a parent or guardian’s right to oversee their children. 

 Puberty blockers have been around and used for decades, to which no one has disapproved of until now; nobody had a problem with the usage of these blockers until members of the transgender community started to use it to help their youth. A very close friend of mine was only ten years old when she hit puberty, and puberty wasn’t easy on her. Her emotions were out of control and her periods could last up to a month, with only a week or so in between getting it once again. Her bleeding was irregularly heavy and her mother was very concerned. She eventually brought my friend to the doctors, where my friend was then prescribed a medication that prevented hormonal influxes until her periods were on a normal, regulated schedule. Like my friend, many cisgender children have irregular hormones, either due to puberty or disorders like Central Precocious Puberty (CPP), and it is not uncommon for them to use hormone blockers to help. It seems very hypocritical, doesn’t it? Using puberty blockers on certain children, but denying it to others who are labelled as different.

The question is this: What should we do moving forward? In his article Backlash for anti-transgender laws falls short of real repercussions for U.S. states (2021), editor and bureau chief with The Associated Press David Crary asserts that the United States alone will face many tragedies if we the people do not put pressure on government authorities to repeal anti-transgender laws. Medical associations are concerned of rising suicide rates among transgender children, and many American’s aren’t aware of these issues to begin with. Although big companies such as Tesla and American Airlines have sent their written support of trans-rights to Congress, we are uncertain that these laws will be nullified. Can you imagine the damage that’s going to happen worldwide? 

We the people of this world need to learn how to accept change and difference. The world is always changing and we cannot stop it, but we can help it be for the better. We can start off by spreading awareness of the injustice given to the transgender community. We can’t fix an issue if others don’t know that it’s happening. Secondly, as Crary had stated, we need to put pressure onto our governments around the world to get these laws overruled or invalidated. And lastly, stop preaching about the world becoming a dangerous place if you’re one who is spreading hate instead of love. 

Works Cited:

Munce, Megan. “Gender-Affirming Medical Treatment for Transgender Kids Would Be Considered Child Abuse under Texas Senate Bill.” The Texas Tribune, The Texas Tribune, 27 Apr. 2021, www.texastribune.org/2021/04/27/texas-senate-transgender-child-abuse/.

Crary, David. "Backlash for Anti-Transgender Laws Falls Short of Real Repercussions for U.S. States." The Globe and Mail, Apr 28, 2021. ProQuest, https://libezproxy-syr-edu.libezproxy2.syr.edu/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.libezproxy2.syr.edu/newspapers/backlash-anti-transgender-laws-falls-short-real/docview/2518913981/se-2?accountid=14214.