Stephanie Rodgers

The text of my submission to the Ministry of Health’s unnecessary and politicised review of the use of puberty blockers for young trans and nonbinary people in Aotearoa is below. But you should also read Jen’s: Transgender kids deserve access to healthcare.

I am a 40-year-old cisgender woman from Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington. I am many things: a mother, a daughter, a political activist, a public servant and a board game nerd.

I have no medical training, so my opinion on the efficacy of puberty blockers is irrelevant. I am not a statistician, so I cannot weigh up the validity of research which has been undertaken into the use of puberty blockers. I am not trans nor nonbinary, so I have no direct experience of gender-related healthcare.

There is no real reason why my submission to Manatū Hauora’s Consultation on safety measures for the use of puberty blockers in young people with gender-related health needs should carry a single milligram of weight with the Ministry, the Government, nor any other group.

Yet, I make this submission, to ensure there is an opposing voice to those who are equally unqualified and uninvolved, who will be flooding this consultation with disinformation, thinly-veiled bigotry and baseless fearmongering. I know and love many trans and nonbinary people, and I have seen the tragic and unforgivable consequences for members of those communities when they are denied appropriate healthcare and support.

Globally, trans and nonbinary people’s lives are under attack, by a coordinated and disingenuous campaign which seeks to impose a rigid gender binary on society and reduce people – specifically, those assigned female at birth – to their reproductive function. The ability and freedom for trans and nonbinary people to even exist in public has been threatened by moral panics around bathrooms and sports teams. Dogwhistles and other forms of propaganda are deployed to insinuate that trans and nonbinary people are dishonest, confused, brainwashed or predatory.

The reality is that trans and nonbinary people have existed throughout history in many forms, and have often been embraced and celebrated by their communities. Their sense of gender is valid and real. They face tremendous obstacles to accessing the care and support, be it medical, social or financial, to live good lives as their authentic selves. They are subjected to horrific levels of discrimination and violence and, as a predictable outcome, experience high levels of mental distress and self-harm.

For trans and nonbinary youth, puberty blockers buy time. Time to figure out any other concerns in their lives, time to reflect on their identity and reality, time to make informed decisions about their future. Puberty blockers represent a safe and cautious approach to treating trans and nonbinary youth.

They are only facing this level of scrutiny thanks to the dedicated efforts of a coordinated conservative campaign to foment panic and anxiety around the existence of trans and nonbinary people, in order to create a “culture war” wedge driving our political discourse further to the right.

Healthcare should never be politicised. In directing Manatū Hauora to conduct public consultation on gender-related healthcare, that is what the Government is doing. As a result, they endanger not only trans and nonbinary youth but anyone else whose medical needs are subject to moral panics and insincere campaigns of disinformation and bigotry.

We would not hold public consultation on whether sick people deserve anaesthesia during surgery, nor whether cancer patients have had enough counselling before starting chemotherapy. We should not be turning young trans and nonbinary people’s necessary healthcare into political punching bags.

I urge Manatū Hauora to disregard the voices of those who have no stake in this decision and no qualifications to comment on the science, medical policy, or the lived experience of young people with gender-related health needs. Please focus on those young people, their whānau, and ensuring that Aotearoa is a safe and healthy place for them to be. Listen to actual experts, not the self-appointed pants police.

Further reading

I fully support the statements and submissions of Gender Minorities Aotearoa, PATHA, Jennifer K Shields, and Queer Endurance/Defiance.

Ngā mihi

Stephanie Rodgers