Protests held as puberty blocker ban extended to NI

Protests have been held in Dublin and Belfast after a temporary ban on the sale or supply of puberty blockers was extended to Northern Ireland.

First Minister Michelle O’Neill had defended Sinn Féin's position after criticism of the party's stance.

She said her party wants "the best possible medical support for children and young people who need trans healthcare".

BBC News NI understands Michelle O'Neill and Deputy First Minister Emma Little- Pengelly approved a request from the health minister to extend the ban without wider Stormont executive approval.

The matter was dealt with by way of urgent procedure.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) - which holds the deputy first minister role - said extending the ban was "a sensible decision based on expert medical opinion".

Around 100 people gathered for a protest against the ban at Belfast city hall on Tuesday evening.

Several speakers addressed the crowd from 17:30 BST.

Chants of "when trans rights are under attack, stand up, fight back" as were other chants directly addressing leading politicians.

Keighley Duffy from the ROSA Socialist Feminist Movement told BBC News NI that "we are as much a part of this country as anyone else, we deserve to have access to that healthcare".

"Our message is that trans youth, trans kids, they deserve access to health care the same as anyone else...puberty blocker bans that we are seeing do not match that," Keighley continued.

She said the reason for being at the protest was "to ensure that trans youth have access to potentially life-saving health care."

"It's important that we ensure that they have access to the health care that they need and taking that away from them can have devastating consequences as we have seen with far too many examples," Keighley said.

"People talk about, you know, permanent changes but there's few things more permanent than puberty in a young person".

In response to Michelle O'Neill defending Sinn Féin's position on the ban, Keighley said: "If that is their sentiment, then these actions are not the right way to go about it... I fear that it is more so a way to point score politically."

Abigail Clinch and Evangelia Zacharopoulou said they were there "to rally against what Sinn Féin has decided to put through” and that they felt angry and "devastated" at the decision to pass the ban.

Evangelia said: “I can’t understand their lack of care for every member of society especially when they claim they want unity”.

Abigail said: “So many people are struggling to get decent healthcare anyway why section off another section [of society]?”

Evangelia described how the mental health care system here is already struggling and said the government's ban is " just going to make it worse”.

Abigail described how she felt the government "decided they know better than doctors on what care to give certain people”.

About the government, both said "they're not medical professionals".

Meanwhile in the Republic of Ireland, protests were held outside Sinn Féin's Dublin office.

Ruth Coppinger, a Socialist party politician, said she came "to show solidarity and support" with the protest and called on Sinn Féin to reverse the ban.

Speaking in a video posted on X, formerly Twitter, she called it a "purely political decision".

"Is this their policy now in the South of Ireland?...The LGBTQ+ community will want answers to these questions.

"It should be the choice of the person themselves to make an informed decision, obviously with their medical practitioner," she continued.

Puberty blockers suppress the release of hormones and can be prescribed to children questioning their gender.

In May, the Conservative government tightened rules on the drugs, introducing an emergency ban on them being prescribed by private and European prescribers.

That ban has been renewed and came into effect in Northern Ireland on Tuesday.

The move to ban the drugs came after a report into children's gender services - the Cass Review - found "remarkably weak" evidence on treatments such as puberty blockers.

Critics of Sinn Féin have said the ban signals a shift in the party's stance on transgender healthcare and its commitment to LGBT rights.

At the Pride Talks Back event in 2023, when asked if the party supported transgender teenagers being given access to puberty blockers, Sinn Féin MLA for Mid Ulster Emma Sheerin said: "Yes."

On Tuesday, Sinn Féin deputy leader Ms O’Neill said the temporary ban on puberty blockers was "based on clear and unequivocal advice from the chief medical officer pending review".

“Children, parents and clinicians need to have full confidence in the effectiveness and safety of medical treatments," she said.

"Health care and clinical decisions need to be based on the scientific and medical evidence.”

On Saturday, Green Party leader Mal O'Hara said he was "hugely disappointed by the executive parties" over the ban.

As well as Sinn Féin and the DUP, the executive has ministers from the Alliance Party and the Ulster Unionist Party.

Mr O'Hara attended the Foyle Pride parade in Londonderry on Saturday, where he said there was "palpable anger at the executive parties, particularly Sinn Féin, for the banning of puberty blockers".

He posted a photo of a sign which read: "Hey Sinn Féin. Do you support LGBTQ+ people?"

The Irish Labour Party's LGBTQ+ group also called for an "all island approach for LGBTQ+ people, with a gender-affirming healthcare system for all".

Posting on X, the party said: "We must also hold parties like Sinn Féin to account in their attacks on trans youth.

"We need to stand by our trans siblings and youth."

In Northern Ireland, puberty blockers were only available on NHS prescription for under-18s, for those young people who were accepted onto the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services Gender Identity Service endocrine pathway prior to March 2020.

It is understood children already on this medical pathway will continue to receive treatment.

Hormone suppressors also remain available for patients receiving the drugs for other uses, such as early-onset puberty.

The Cass Review was led by leading paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass and prompted the last government to ban the use of puberty blockers for under-18s questioning their gender – a move which was then supported by Labour when it won the general election in July.

Transgender youth support charity Mermaids said it was "very disappointed" by the decision to extend the ban to Northern Ireland as it "sets a worrying precedent".

DUP health spokesperson Diane Dodds said the decision to extend the ban was "a sensible decision based on expert medical opinion".

"Our position on the provision of puberty blockers has been clear and given the lack of long-term evidence of their safety it is right that the most cautious approach is taken," she said.

She added that ensuring NI was included in the ban was "the most sensible outcome" and she is "glad that we have finally arrived at that destination.