‘My body is not your political playground’: The uninvited amplification of the anti-trans healthcare agenda

Across the world, gender-affirming care is being stripped back, or at least heavily questioned. And while transphobia has been echoed in New Zealand Parliament for years, the politicisation of transgender bodies is blaring.  

On March 23rd, a hīkoi to defend trans healthcare marched to the Parliament grounds. Pink, blue and white, the colours of the trans flag, covered the lawn. Fear and hope consumed attendees – many of which had their lives saved by puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapy (HRT).  

The hīkoi comes in response to the Government ordered Ministry of Health evidence brief and position statement released last year, which “examines the safety and long-term impacts of puberty blockers when used in the context of gender-affirming care".  

The position statement, said, “Noting that the Government has signalled an intent to consider regulating puberty blocker prescribing in gender-affirming care, clinicians should exercise caution in prescribing.” 

The ministry recommended that clinicians who initiate puberty blockers should be experienced in providing gender-affirming care, and be part of an interprofessional team offering a range of support to youth presenting with gender-related issues. 

Puberty blockers are a standard part of gender-affirming care, delaying puberty to allow individuals the time to explore their gender identity. Sources like the Harvard Medical Journal and The Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health have said the effects of puberty blockers are not permanent.  

However, the ministry's report said a lack of evidence means it cannot say that puberty blockers to treat gender dysphoria in adolescents are safe or reversible.  

The ministry’s public consultation asking whether “additional safeguards” are needed for puberty blockers closed on January 20th. Public submissions will be analysed before providing advice to the Government. 

Seren, a 23-year-old protester, was on puberty blockers as a teen. He said the medication gives children the time to figure out their gender identity before their bodies develop faster than their minds. 

“It's ridiculous to restrict something that is just so neutral. It's not a transition, it's just a pause.” 

“I went on blockers, and I was so happy to just have something start happening. It didn't mean that I had to make any permanent changes.” 

Seren felt our Government was "just trying to copy America. They're like ‘that's a hot topic, lets jump on that too'”. 

Max from Queer Endurance and Defiance saw things in similar light, emphasising the path Aotearoa is stepping into. Addressing the crowd of hundreds, Max said, “Seemingly everywhere in the world, there some growing section of the political landscape deathly hostile to trans existence.”  

“What we experience here is not yet on the level of the US, but do not think for a moment that the New Zealand state is immune to such horrors.” 

Countries like the UK, USA, and Sweden have tightened restrictions on puberty blocker use. In 2022, Sweden halted hormone therapy for minors, with exceptions for rare cases. Top surgery for AFAB (assigned female at birth) teenagers hoping to transition is also limited.  

Since March last year, the UK government banned the use of puberty blockers for treating under-18s with gender dysphoria, following safety concerns raised by the Commission on Human Medicines and the Cass Review. Minors with early onset puberty are still allowed the medication.  

Infamously, US President Donald Trump’s administrations have moved trans women into men’s prisons, banned schools from helping students' transition, and reverted gender markers in federal documents of trans people back to their sex assigned at birth. 

And now, the campaign against trans healthcare has reached a new level in Aotearoa. 
 
With this in mind, Max continued, “The Government will have blood on their hands if they institute restrictions.” 

“All the rights we have been granted came from struggle, and in the absence of struggle they can be taken away. Do not accept it.”  

Greens MP Benjamin Doyle, the first openly non-binary MP, ruthlessly called out the Government at the hīkoi. “This government is gutless. It is attacking rainbow rights and stirring up imported rhetoric from fascist groups and political tyrants overseas.”  

The attack Boyle described on the rainbow community is something they have experienced first-hand. In the past two weeks, deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has targeted Boyle.  

A few days after the hikoi on March 29th, Peters questioned Doyle’s private social media username, and the Green MPs past posts of their child. Peters wrote, "BibleBeltBussy — what the name really means and the posts — some of which have apparently been deleted". The term “Bussy" is used by members of rainbow communities, meaning a boy pussy, or a man's anus. Unsurprisingly, Peters repeatedly misgenders Doyle, as the MP uses they/them pronouns.  

Peters continued two days later online saying, "What we are saying is there are many questions that the Green Party and Doyle need to answer as elected representatives including the appropriateness of his posts, his language, including what “Bussy" and "Bussy Galore" mean, what the symbols he uses mean, and in particular using that language and innuendo with the nature of the pictures he posted — and why he has deleted 52 of those posts."  

At the hikoi, Doyle reprimanded the government for even questioning trans healthcare in the first place. “How dare they call the public consultation on whether we deserve to have lifesaving treatment. How dare they target trans and non-binary people’s rights as though we are up for debate. How dare they attempt to deny children healthcare.” 

“This is not some radical new approach. The government is just transphobic.” Puberty blockers have been used since the 1980s to treat early onset puberty in children. Since the 1990s, they have been used for trans minors seeking gender-affirming care. 

“Access to healthcare is a human right. Period.” 

Despite Doyle's statement, gender-affirming care has historically been extremely difficult to access in New Zealand.  

Alice, also from Queer Endurance and Defiance, shared her negative experience receiving care with the crowd. Alice said she was mocked by a psychiatrist about her experience being sexually assaulted, and “whether or not that caused my transness”.  

Due to the limited healthcare professionals qualified to help trans patients, Alice was left with few options. She said her endocrinologist left both her puberty blocker and HRT dosages at dangerously wrong levels for over a year, causing permanent liver damage and stunting feminising development.  

“I know from discussions with my peers, that my experiences are far from unique.”  

Alice emphasised that if more restrictions are made, it will be detrimental to trans youth. “This is a ban dressed up in confusing words, and it will kill people.” 

For trans youth, suicide is a heavy risk. 19.8% of trans secondary-school students have attempted suicide, according to a 2014 study by Youth’12. Whereas in America where anti-trans legislation spirals, 40% of trans individuals have attempted suicide, particularly youth, according to the study, Suicidality Among Transgender Youth: Elucidating the Role of Interpersonal Risk Factors. 

Risks like these is something politicians like Peters don't have to face. And yet for many protestors, puberty blockers were the difference between life and death.  

Cleopatra, a 19-year-old student, told Massive, “Puberty blockers saved my life, and I would be dead without them.” While Cleopatra is worried what the future holds for trans tamariki, and people like her who stay up at night agonising, politicians say very little on the topic.  

“I'm almost 20 so I won't be affected, but three years ago I would of. There are children out there right now who might die, and I can't let that happen.” 

It's easy for our country to follow the same path as other western countries and call it right. But the result could be deathly. But while the underlying fear was palpable at the Wellington hīkoi, so was the overwhelming feeling of community, hope, and endurance.  

One sentiment was clear: Trans bodies are not a political playground.