Rainbow Wellington decries Health Minister’s puberty blocker ban during Trans Awareness week

“It is deeply upsetting that Simeon Brown has decided to halt the prescribing of certain puberty blocker medicines to trans young people, especially during Trans Awareness Week,” says Sam French, Chair of Rainbow Wellington.

“The fact that the Minister believes these medicines are safe for cisgender young people, but not trans young people, suggests his reasoning is ideological, not medical or logical.

“We defer to the expert opinion of Dr Elizabeth McElrea of the Professional Association for Transgender Health Aotearoa, who says that these medicines have been prescribed safely to young people for decades and banning their use will lead to profound distress in this already vulnerable group.

“We believe the best people to make decisions about young people’s healthcare are the young person, their whānau, and their doctors, not Simeon Brown.

“For trans young people concerned by this announcement, we refer you to the information released by Gender Minorities Aotearoa – there are still treatments available to you – there are other medicines which block sex hormones, and other hormone therapies available which are not affected by this ban.”