Puberty Blockers are a Human Right
When I was growing up, trans people were primarily relegated to daytime trash TV, movies about serial killers, and murder victims on Law and Order. There weren’t any trans role models I could look up to until I was already an adult. I didn’t have the opportunity to see myself in any media because depictions of trans people were always horrible, devastating, or blatantly offensive. Documentaries about trans children tended to be damaging and exploitative, and talks of puberty blockers revolved entirely around cisgender kids experiencing precocious puberty.
That is all to say, trans people in my generation had little opportunity to be appropriately treated for gender dysphoria. Unless you were a toddler screaming about your gender identity, you didn’t get the help you needed. Resources were largely unavailable, and the context to explore my gender identity wasn’t something I experienced until college.
Now, I am usually very hesitant to speak on the trans issues making headlines. Discussions about trans women in sports, bathroom bills, the aptly dubbed the “don’t say gay” bill, and the draconian laws coming out of Texas right now are extremely weighty topics that invite a level of debate and scrutiny that I prefer to keep out of. But right now, trans kids are at the forefront of the trans rights movement, which sees conservative politicians going as far as demanding that trans kids begin detransitioning immediately.
But what is transition for a child?
For trans kids under the age of 18, transitioning isn’t the big bag boogeyman that bigots are making it out to be. Nobody is suggesting that children have surgeries or permanently alter their bodies. When we speak of a child transitioning, we are largely referring to social and aesthetic transitioning: i.e., name changes, use of affirming pronouns, and gender-affirming wardrobes, all of which are entirely benign and harmless. And then we get to the bogeyman part: puberty blockers.
A lot of disinformation is flying around right now about the dangers of puberty blockers. The fact is that puberty blockers have been used for decades on cisgender children who start puberty earlier than expected. Sometimes children simply aren’t ready to begin puberty, and blockers can be a very important medical intervention for cis and…
