A group of concerned parties are pursuing legal proceedings in the High Court to stop a trial of puberty blockers for children from going ahead.
The trial, which is costing the taxpayer £11 million, should never have been approved and comprises government-funded experimentation on young children, the claimants say.
One of the claimants, James Esses, is a psychotherapist who works with patients with gender dysphoria.
“We have given Wes Streeting and the relevant bodies every possible opportunity to pull the plug on this abhorrent trial,” he said.
Esses, along with Bayswater Support Group (which represents approximately 800 parents of children and young adults who identify as trans or non-binary) and Keira Bell (who was given puberty blockers as a teenager), are suing the Health Research Authority and the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.
“We will do everything in our power to stop this trial,” Esses said.
Claimant Keira Bell was given puberty blockers and testosterone as a teenager before undergoing a double mastectomy at age 20. Two years later, she stopped taking hormones, realising her transition was “a big mistake”. She has since made the decision to detransition.
“My belief and my respect for God, my respect for nature, was a big factor in why I stopped the process and ensured that my story was heard,” Bell told en. “I saw this was a much bigger issue than me. God called me to do that, to allow others to speak out and defeat this. I do believe it is evil to flip something so sacred upside down, especially when it comes to children.”
When it comes to the trial, Bell said it is “obvious” that the involved children can’t consent.
“There either has to be a blatant misunderstanding, or willful ignorance from those heading the trial, that the children or families who are requesting their child to be put on puberty blockers are any different from people like me,” she said. “I remember how urgent I was to start cross-sex hormones and that is not indicative of a ‘transgender child’ as they claim. It’s indicative of mental ill health.”
Bell also criticised the use of experimental drugs to stop “a natural, healthy, necessary part of child and adolescent development.”
“Children confused with their gender require familial support to coach them through the difficult period of puberty, just as with any other issue,” she said.
