SHOCK BOMBSHELL: NT Government Axes Funding for Puberty Blockers and Hormone Treatments for Transgender Kids, Sparking Fury from Advocates
- Health Minister Steve Edgington’s stunning decision will affect “a handful of young teenagers” who relied on publicly funded treatments
- The move follows pressure from the Australian Christian Lobby, which claimed the treatments had “irreversible consequences”
- Transgender advocates slam the decision, saying it will harm the mental and physical wellbeing of trans and gender diverse kids
In a dramatic about-face, the Northern Territory government has announced it will no longer fund puberty blockers or gender-affirming hormone treatments for children, sparking outrage from transgender advocates.
Health Minister Steve Edgington revealed the bombshell decision, saying the government’s public health focus would now “remain on adolescent mental health services”.
“Territory kids deserve to grow up free from these dangerous, ideologically driven practices with irreversible consequences,” Mr Edgington declared.
The move follows in the footsteps of Queensland, where a similar suspension was implemented after a 530-page independent review of the evidence surrounding the treatments.
But transgender advocates have slammed the decision, saying it will have devastating consequences for the mental and physical wellbeing of trans and gender diverse kids.
“There is powerful evidence that gender-affirming support, including affirming medical care, when required, protects the mental and physical wellbeing of transgender, gender diverse, and non-binary individuals,” a joint statement from advocates, including Top End Pride, declared.
The decision has sparked a heated debate, with critics accusing the government of bowing to pressure from the Australian Christian Lobby, which had presented a petition calling for the suspension of the treatments.
But Mr Edgington has insisted that the government’s priority is the health and wellbeing of Territory children, saying the changes will affect only “a handful of young teenagers” who had been accessing the treatments through the NT’s public health system.
As the controversy rages on, one thing is clear: the lives of trans and gender diverse kids in the Northern Territory have just been turned upside down.