UK charity Mermaids, an organisation founded in 1995 to support trans and non-binary young people and their families, has recently launched a crowdfunder to ensure they will be able to continue to provide their services.
With the current climate of increased transphobia and difficulties in accessing healthcare, organisations like Mermaids play an instrumental role in supporting trans youth in the UK and beyond.
Commenting on the current situation, the organisation stated: “Huge waiting lists for accessing healthcare. Bullying in schools. Increasing media transphobia. An emergency ban on puberty blockers. It feels like things are getting worse and worse for trans young people and it’s getting harder for organisations like ours to support them. That’s why we need your help.”
Clarifying the need for the launch of the crowdfunder, Mermaids mentioned an ongoing Charity Commission inquiry, which is contributing to weakening their services, staff wellbeing and finances. Moreover, the charity is also experiencing shortages on funding from corporate partners who worry that support for an organisation working with trans youth will receive backlash.
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The charity’s statement continued: “Trans young people and their families are at breaking point. We need to act urgently to ensure that our staff can continue to pick up the phone to more people in need, to robustly hold the new government to account for improving the lives of trans youth and to finally achieve the mission we set out to achieve 30 years ago.”
The launch of Mermaids’ crowdfunder comes after NHS England stopped prescriptions of puberty blockers for trans youth earlier this year. The move followed a report first published in June 2023 in which the NHS declared it would stop prescribing puberty blockers to children and adolescents.
They claimed that although puberty blockers are physically reversible, the psychological effects are unknown. This has been determined to be untrue according to numerous medical studies.
Puberty blockers are known to be an essential part of gender-affirming care and the NHS’s decision to block access to them will impact trans youth in other countries, including Ireland, whose current model for transgender healthcare has been identified as the worst in the EU as of 2022.
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On July 4 this year, the UK’s Labour Party, headed by soon-to-be Prime Minister Keir Starmer, emerged successful from the general election, toppling a Conservative majority that has held strong in the UK for the last 14 years. While Labour has frequently claimed to be pro-LGBTQ+, the party has lost the support of many members of the queer community in recent months, with many stating that they couldn’t trust the party with their votes, given the soon-to-be Prime Minister’s shoddy record on trans rights.
If you wish to support Mermaids, you can find their crowfunder at this link.
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