Unherd: NHS puberty-blocker ruling will save lives debunked.
Content warning – suicide.
On March 13, 2024, the right-wing website Unherd published an article authored by Victoria Smith with the headline “NHS puberty-blocker ruling will save lives”.
“In my opinion, the headline is irresponsible and is one of the most misleading articles I have ever read. Indeed, the question should be asked if it is deliberate misinformation?
It’s important to note that Sir Paul Marshall, a prominent figure in the media, owns and publishes Unherd. He has also invested in another right-wing rag, GB News.
Tim Montgomerie, a conservative British political activist, co-founded Unherd and apparently serves as its editor. It is reported that he worked within the Conservative Party, serving as a speechwriter for leaders William Hague and Iain Duncan Smith. Apparently, he also played a role in outreach efforts to faith-based groups, and unsurprisingly, there is a “faith” section on the Unherd website.
Interestingly, the Unherd London office is located at 2-6 Old Queen St, Westminster, and (conveniently) it is within easy crawling distance of those other “Christians”, the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), whose office is located at 16 Old Queen St. They even share the same postcode, SW1H 9HP. In the US, the ADF are a named hate group by the human rights organisation SPLC.
Go a little further down the road, and you reach the Queen Elizabeth Conference Centre, the home of the LGB Alliance conference. Just a couple of hundred yards further down the road is the home of all the idiots of the right— the Tufton Street gang.
In this article, I won’t bother debunking the vast amount of ‘froth’ Victoria’s article contains, but I will emphasize the evidence to give a counter-view.
Now, to be absolutely clear, no trans child has ever died because they took puberty blockers (technically called GnRH agonists), which are also used in the treatment of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), endometriosis and precious puberty. Consequently, it really is hard to understand the headline; in particular, there is well-documented evidence from Coroners Courts recently that the absence of trans healthcare has sadly been a factor in trans suicides.
Puberty Blockers have been prescribed since the mid-1980s, and as Scientific American reports, they DO work, so the allegations often made by gender-critical ideologists that they are “experimental” are also totally untrue.
GnRH agonists are considered very safe and will continue to be prescribed to children by the NHS suffering gender dysphoria, subject to them agreeing to take part in a research trial. Many believe this condition is a human rights violation, and time will tell if it is challenged in the courts.
Sickenly, Victoria even appears not to understand what “gender dysphoria” is, writing it is “a fancy term for distress at being the sex you are, which explains precisely nothing.”
Perhaps she needs to talk to trans kids?
Or even speak to me? I suffered from gender dysphoria for over half a century.
Assuming she won’t (she blocked me on X, assumably because I have called her out before), I will suggest some adjectives that she can use in the future to describe gender dysphoria.
Desperation,… wrongness, …. jealousy, …self-loathing,,…sadness,…. disgust,….hopelessness, …self-hate,… drowning.
And even more disturbingly, rejection, homelessness …………and suicide.
Victoria, probably like the owner and editor of Unherd, is Tory “gender-critical”, and despite her denial in her article, it most certainly seems to stoke the culture war targeting trans people.
We shouldn’t be surprised, of course.
After fourteen years of this Conservative government tragedy, lies, and corruption, what else have they got left except even more lies?
Quoting rather dubious sources, she meekly fills this sad article with references to Brexit and the classic gender-critical narrative “Humans cannot change sex.” All so predictable and, frankly, boring.
In society, who cares?
Here are some facts about puberty blockers, their use, children with gender dysphoria, etc.
Fact 1: British right-wing media pushes the narrative of an explosion of trans kids. There are some 8.5 million kids in England & Wales, and just 0.09% of those kids are on the GIDS (Gender Identity Development Services) waiting list – that is roughly one in every thousand children. The census proved that 0.5% of the population is transgender. Consequently, we should ask where the other 0.41% of kids are.
Fact 2: The global consensus is that puberty blockers are safe and reversible.
Fact 3: Because the NHS has no effective service to treat children suffering from gender dysphoria, there is no chance that they will be prescribed puberty blockers before reaching Tanner stage two. After that point, they become somewhat useless.
Fact 4: It is reported that just one hundred children are currently on a course of puberty blockers courtesy of the NHS.
Fact 5: All medicines have side effects; for patients and prescribing doctors, it is a matter of risk vs. benefit.
Fact 6: All medicines are under constant review regarding their safety and effectiveness.
So, to conclude this hastily written blog, here is one final comment. Victoria writes this:
“Right now, social media is awash with ideologues insisting that children will die because of this decision. On the contrary: lives will be saved”.
No, Victoria Smith, they won’t.
Transgender kids will continue to suffer, as they have done for over a decade.
But it won’t be your kids, will it?
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Both Unherd and Victoria Smith were approached for comment, but at the time of publication, neither had replied.
Unherd: NHS puberty-blocker ruling will save lives debunked.