It’s insane to provide life-altering medical procedures on minors who may end up resolving their gender dysphoria if given therapy, according to a local advocate who is against gender reassignment among children.
“When you have fully transitioned, you pretty much can't detransition other than trying to do your best to live your life as someone who was previously a male or female,” said Chris Barrett, chapter leader for Gays Against Groomers Missouri.
Barrett was responding to the news that the St. Louis County Council approved a resolution supporting puberty blockers, and hormones for minors.
“The resolution sends a message that this is no problem and it’s totally a problem,” Barrett told the St. Louis Record. “Why on earth would you be in favor of something like that?”
The resolution was introduced following a whistleblower report that the Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital was prescribing puberty blockers to children instead of providing counseling even in cases where the drugs were questioned by family members, according to media reports.
The four Democrat council members who approved it singlehandedly want to ensure that LGBTQ+ patients are not discriminated against when seeking medical care or forced into medically unsound programs, according to the resolution.
“Improving access to gender-affirming care is a necessary component of improving health outcomes for the transgender population and receipt of gender-affirming care has been linked to dramatically reduced rates of suicide attempts, decreased rates of depression and anxiety, decreased substance use, improved HIV medication adherence, and reduced rates of harmful self-prescribed hormone use,” the resolution states.
Councilmembers Lisa Clancy, Rita Heard Days, Kelli Dunaway, and Shalonda Webb voted in favor while Republican council members did not support it.
“We must reject and condemn efforts by politicians and the government to insert themselves into clinical decision-making, force physicians to disregard clinical standards of care, or prevent medical providers from fulfilling their ethical duty to act in the best interest of their patients,” the resolution further states.
The resolution was approved at a time when the Senate Emerging Issues Committee approved a proposal that would bar minors from gender transition procedures and medications.
“The reason Gays Against Groomers exists is that we have this group of gay and trans people who realize we shouldn't be doing this stuff to kids because if you leave kids alone when they have gender dysphoria and give them some therapy, 80% to 90% of them will desist from having gender dysphoria,” Barrett said in an interview. “It will just resolve on its own.”
Known as Senate Bill 49, the Missouri Save Adolescents from Experimentation Act (SAFE) was passed 5-2 last week.
If approved by the General Assembly, physicians would be subjected to discipline by their professional licensing board if they violate the law.
"I'm definitely in favor of that, and Gays Against Groomers would be as well," Barrett added. "Gays Against Groomers is working to stop this in all 50 states. We're interested in trying to get legislation passed so that this type of stuff would be illegal nationwide."