Whether or not you’re well-versed in British politics, you’ve probably heard the United Kingdom described as TERF Island. Trans people make up a tiny percentage of the population—so tiny that they haven’t even been properly counted—yet they’re used as punching bags by mainstream media, their rights debated constantly by cis middle-class newspaper columnists.
The last 12 months in particular have seen a crackdown on trans youth. Early last year, the U.K. government ordered a temporary ban on the prescription of puberty blockers for trans youth. In June, the new Labour government upheld this ban. In December 2024, the ban was made permanent. Currently, the only way to access a new puberty blocker prescription is by agreeing to be part of a future clinical trial, an unethical stipulation that makes access to vital healthcare conditional on your willingness to be studied. Meanwhile, blockers are still prescribed to cis children experiencing precocious puberty, and there’s a growing body of evidence to support the claim that changes caused by blockers are reversible.
Notably, the voices of actual trans kids have been absent in these debates. But slowly, that’s starting to change.
In late June 2024, a handful of masked trans teenagers scaled the walls of the National Health Service (NHS) London headquarters, climbing high atop the building and remaining there for four days. Their fists raised triumphantly, they unfurled a banner with a clear statement: “WE ARE NOT PAWNS FOR YOUR POLITICS.” “The amount of trans joy being hurled up to this ledge is beyond incredible,” said one of the protestors. “We’ve never felt more loved or more powerful. The community is rising, and we’re not backing down.”
This was the world’s first introduction to Trans Kids Deserve Better, a national protest network fighting for the rights of trans youth. In less than a year, they’ve built regional branches in Scotland, London and the Midlands, drawing on the protest techniques of queer pioneers past and present. In November 2024, trans teenagers spread their motionless bodies across the floors of London’s Victoria train station, mimicking the die-ins held by the AIDS activists of ACT UP. Earlier that month, they caused chaos at the annual conference of the notoriously anti-trans organization LGB Alliance, by unleashing 6,000 crickets throughout the venue. “Squash them,” screamed one of the speakers. “Kill them, kill the buggers!”
Credit: Trans Kids Deserve Better
These protests are objectively newsworthy, yet 17-year-old Blue, who joined Trans Kids Deserve Better late last year, tells Xtra that they’re surprised by the lack of media coverage. “Here we have a ragtag group of transgender youngsters making a ruckus,” she explains. “The fact that none of the news companies or newspapers have decided to report on this is surprising. I think it’s strategic. I feel like they’re trying to ignore us for as long as they can.”
The voices of trans youth are similarly absent in policy-making decisions. The aforementioned puberty blocker ban was a direct result of the long-awaited Cass Review, published in April 2024 and compiled by pediatrician Dr. Hilary Cass. The in-depth report was commissioned with the aim of improving gender identity services, and making recommendations for higher-quality care. Despite these goals, the review was compiled without trans people in key research, analysis or oversight roles, and trans youth themselves weren’t consulted on a report that would drastically impact their rights and access to healthcare. Trans-led organizations were quick to point out inconsistencies, ethical concerns and missing evidence, with advocacy organization TransActual describing the review as “fundamentally flawed.” Soon afterward, Dr. Cass published a statement through human rights organization Amnesty International, condemning “sensationalized coverage” and the “weaponization” of the review by anti-trans groups.
The youth of Trans Kids Deserve Better—and they’re all trans youth, with the joining criteria being that you’re under 17 years old—have nevertheless fought to have their voices heard, highlighting that puberty blockers can be life-saving. They’ve painted coffins with messages such as “Kids Cannot Be Kids if They’re Dead” and “Every Flower at a Trans Child’s Funeral Is a Symbol of Your Complicity,” shared regularly to a dedicated Instagram account. In December 2024, they built an encampment outside the office of U.K. health secretary Wes Streeting. As we speak, they’re teaming up with Trans Matters, a support and education group, to crowdfund a documentary with the working title Dear Wes. The interlinking thread of these actions is simple: Trans Kids Deserve Better are inserting themselves into the so-called “debates” on their rights, which continue to erase their voices.
“A lot of the time, [the people writing this research] don’t consult people,” says Sylv, who uses hij/hem pronouns, a 17-year-old activist leading the Scotland branch of Trans Kids Deserve Better. “One of the studies used in the Cass Review was this really shoddy experiment done on a couple of tiny mice, saying ‘puberty blockers might have this effect on you, because a mouse reacted like this once.’ We’re people with emotions, we’re here and we exist.”
“There are so many negative elements of the trans experience that could be avoided by empathy and understanding, by the government seeing us as genuine people.”
Sylv cites another study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association’s Pediatrics journal, which found that 97 percent of young trans people prescribed puberty blockers went on to access hormone therapy. “If someone is in crisis, they need these resources,” hij explains. “It’s a form of suicide prevention, at the end of the day. It’s such a wonder that [those who have access to blockers] never had to go through the wrong puberty, they didn’t have to feel like their bodies were being stolen from them in that way. There are so many negative elements of the trans experience that could be avoided by empathy and understanding, by the government seeing us as genuine people.”
Blue echoes these sentiments, adding, “If puberty blockers are banned on safety grounds, why are they still prescribed for precocious puberty?”
Unsurprisingly, statistics routinely show that young trans people in the U.K. are more likely to live with poor mental health. “When the Cass Review came out, the effect that it had on the trans experience in Scotland was basically overnight,” recalls Sylv. “I knew people who had been on waiting lists for years. They had been promised gender-affirming care, so to have that door closed felt like such a betrayal.” Sylv believes an organization like Trans Kids Deserve Better has been years in the making, describing “decades of pent-up rage and frustration.”
Another under-discussed element of the trans youth experience is isolation. In December 2023, the then U.K. government issued non-statutory school guidance, which discouraged teachers from using children’s “preferred pronouns,” and essentially encouraged teachers to out trans kids to their parents, “except in exceptional circumstances where this risks significant harm to the child.” These aren’t “exceptional” circumstances—outing a trans kid can lead to alienation, abuse and even abandonment.
This guidance cemented a culture of secrecy in schools, meaning that many trans kids—Sylv and Blue included—don’t know many other trans young people, if any at all. That’s why Trans Kids Deserve Better isn’t just an action network, it’s a growing community rooted in care. Friendships have blossomed, vital resources have been shared in private group chats and a series of creative arts sessions have resulted in the network’s first-ever art show, taking place in Brighton later this month. “I live in a rather rural area where there aren’t that many trans folk,” says Blue, “so having a place where I can connect with like-minded trans people is definitely important.” Sylv describes the “sense of community” as “amazing—it properly fills my heart. We talk to each other, and we have these little art groups where we just share stuff. As much as we are primarily an action network, we are still friendly people, so it’s great to get to know each other.”
“I know there are people out there fighting for kids like me. I finally have this sense of community, this sense of being in this together.”
Already, Trans Kids Deserve Better has built an impressive network rooted in the values of solidarity and mutual aid, staging punchy, memorable actions inspired by queer solidarity movements of the past. Everyone contributes as much or as little as they’re able, chipping in to help with graphic design, social media, protest-organizing and more. Both Sylv and Blue describe the network as a lifeline, and a bridge to lifelong friendships with other young, politically involved trans people.
The support they’ve received has served as an antidote to helplessness; a reminder that, beyond the rage-bait headlines and government crackdowns, there’s a wide web of supporters willing to stand alongside and support this game-changing, trans-led movement. “Before Trans Kids Deserve Better, I remember feeling so hopeless,” Sylv concludes. “I knew the government hated me, and I was scared to walk down the street. Now, I know there are people out there fighting for kids like me. I finally have this sense of community, this sense of being in this together.”
“Exactly,” adds Blue. “There’s a sense of solidarity.”
You can support Trans Kids Deserve Better here.
Why you can trust Xtra
