• The teenager is being assisted in his fight for action by The Good Law Project
• It says the NHS has ‘legal obligation’ to provide specialist care within 18 weeks
• But the average waiting time for a first appointment is 18 months, group says
• NHS England insists an independent review into the service is already underway

A transgender teenage boy is launching legal against against NHS England over delays to gender reassignment treatment, having waited more than a year for a referral to the specialist clinic.

The 14-year-old is being assisted in his fight by The Good Law Project, which says the NHS has ‘a legal obligation’ to provide specialist care, or an alternative, within 18 weeks.

However, the average waiting time for a first appointment with the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS), based at London’s Tavistock Centre, is 18 months, the organisation says, with some even waiting up to four years.

This is not even to actually get what the NHS describes as fully reversible puberty blockers, but just to begin the process of being assessed for eligibility.

Some 10,000 more young people have been referred to the already over-subscribed GIDS, according to figures obtained by the BBC.

NHS England says an independent review into the service has been launched, and insists any legal action ‘will only cost taxpayers’ money and not help the actions already under way’.

The service, which is run by the Tavistock and Portland NHS Foundation Trust, provides support to people under the age of 18 who experience difficulties related to their gender identity.

Reece, who came out to friends and family in primary school, told the BBC he would not want to bring such action ideally, but felt he didn’t have a choice as ‘nobody else is sticking up for trans young people’.

He added: ‘I know more than 30 trans people, from school and LGBT groups. Everybody’s been waiting for months, or even years, but nobody’s been able to get in yet.

‘It’s scary because it shows the service isn’t available to the people who need it.’

In a statement he added: ‘The length of the NHS waiting list means the treatments which are essential for my wellbeing are not available to me.

‘By the time I get to the top of the list it will be too late, and in the meantime I suffer the fear and terror that gender dysphoria causes, every day.’ 

Gender dysphoria is when a person feels a sense of unease because of a mismatch between their biological sex and their gender identity.

The NHS announced in September that an independent review into GIDS would be carried out.

An NHS England spokesman said it would include ‘how and when’ young people are referred to specialist services.

Jolyon Maugham QC, director of the Good Law Project said: ‘Whatever your views about the right treatment regime for young people with gender dysphoria, it can’t be right that they face lengthy waiting lists – on some reports up to four years – for a first appointment.

‘Children are losing the opportunity to be seen within a window in which they can secure effective treatment and so are, in practice, being denied access to that treatment.’

The Good Law Project said the case was not about the treatment GIDS should provide, but the ‘lengthy delays’ in accessing it.

The GIDS’ website says it is aware that young people are having to wait a ‘long’ time for their first appointment. 

An NHS England spokesperson said: ‘There has been more than a 500% rise in the number of children and young people being referred to the Tavistock’s gender identity service since 2013 as more people come forward for support and treatment.

‘The NHS has already asked Dr Hilary Cass to carry out an independent review including how and when children and young people are referred to specialist services, so legal action against the NHS will only cost taxpayers’ money and not help the actions already under way.’

The post Transgender boy, 14, launches legal action against NHS over delays to gender reassignment treatment after waiting more than a year for referral to clinic appeared first on MyMedicPlus.

An employment tribunal has recently considered whether a gender fluid/non-binary employee falls within the definition of gender reassignment in order to benefit from protection under the Equality Act 2010.

Taylor v Jaguar Land Rover ET1304471/2018

Facts

The claimant worked as an engineer for the company for almost 20 years. She began identifying as gender fluid/non-binary in 2017 and usually dressed in female clothing. She was subjected to insults and abusive jokes in the workplace and experienced problems in relation to the use of toilet facilities. She pursued claims of harassment, direct discrimination and victimisation on the ground of gender reassignment, in addition to claiming constructive unfair dismissal. Her employer resisted the claims on the grounds that she did not fall within the definition of gender reassignment under the Equality Act 2010.

Employment tribunal decision

The tribunal upheld the claims, finding that the claimant’s status as gender fluid/nonbinary fell within the definition of gender reassignment under the Equality Act 2010. With reference to comments recorded in Hansard during parliamentary debates on the Equality Bill in 2009, the tribunal considered gender to be a ‘spectrum’, with gender reassignment being a personal journey moving a gender identity away from birth sex. The tribunal held that it was beyond any doubt that the claimant was covered by the Equality Act 2010. At a subsequent remedies hearing earlier this month, the respondent agreed to pay the claimant £180,000 in compensation. In addition, the respondent consented to the appointment of a Diversity and Inclusion Champion and to the commissioning of a report by a recognised diversity organisation to investigate diversity and inclusion throughout the respondent’s business and setting out the necessary steps to becoming a “standard setting organisation” across all protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010. An annual report into progress in achieving this will be produced for a period of five years.

Consequences

This is a first instance decision of the employment tribunal, meaning that it is not binding on other tribunals. However, it suggests that tribunals will be prepared to find that individuals with complex gender identities are protected under the Equality Act 2010 alongside those who elect to reassign their birth sex to a binary gender. The high level of compensation agreed by the respondent reflects the tribunal’s finding that aggravated damages were appropriate due to the egregious way the claimant had been treated and the insensitive stance taken by the respondent in defending the proceedings. Note, the tribunal’s full written reasons have not yet been published in this case.

The post Employment Law Update – Gender reassignment under Equality Act 2010 appeared first on MyMedicPlus.

Born male, Trinty would dress up in her mum’s clothes and adamantly express that she was a girl.

Trinity was then taken to a specialist child therapist who confirmed that she had gender dysphoria, but by then Trinity’s mental wellbeing was being impacted.

At four years old, Trinity began socially transitioning into a girl and her family accepted her.

Mum DeShanna bought her a pink dress to mark the occasion, which left Trinity in tears as she finally felt accepted. .

‘It made me feel so happy,’ she explained. ‘And mum said I was crying because of my happiness.

‘It wasn’t right for me in that body. It felt awful, I wasn’t even happy. I was always sad and angry.’

When she turned 12, Trinity made history by becoming the first child in Delaware to have their medical transition covered by Medicaid, a state program that offers health insurance coverage for lower-income families.

Although Trinity was initially denied puberty blockers by Medicaid, DeShanna fought for almost a year to get the treatment her daughter needed.

Now, Medicaid will be covering Trinity’s gender confirmation surgery. At 16 years old, she will be one of the youngest in her state to undergo this life-changing surgery.

At the time, it was difficult for DeShanna to come to terms with Trinity’s choice but the therapist helped her see the way.

She was asked: ‘You have to make a decision here. Do you want a happy little girl or a dead little boy?’

Though she came to terms with it, DeShanna wants more mainstream acceptance.

She added: ‘What makes it harder, it’s not because she’s trans but because I have to fight to make people and society see she’s a person that deserves dignity and respect like anybody else.

‘I would love to see black and brown trans people portrayed in a positive loving life.

‘They’ve been victims of violence, murder – I want to show that our family is a loving family.’

Speaking about her upcoming bottom surgery, Trinity said: ‘I want to actually be a girl, completely, even though I am a girl. I want to have this removed I am tired of it.

‘I want to be myself, I don’t want to be someone I don’t want to be. Because if I get this [surgery] done I can show those people who hate, I will show them that no matter how much you hate us, we will still beat you.

‘We are just all human I don’t know why we have to hate each other, it is not right, we are all supposed to be loved, we all should love ourselves.’

Trinity’s surgeon, Dr Sherman Leis, specialises in transgender surgeries.

He claims that minors undergoing gender confirmation surgery is becoming more common, however, they are still the minority.

According to Dr Leis, before any patient can undergo genital reassignment surgery, they must have been taking hormones for at least one year and be living as their desired gender for three.

They must also have clearance from two mental health specialists who have been trained to deal with gender dysphoria.

He said: ‘I don’t have one patient that regrets they did the surgery, not even one. That’s absolutely the truth – but I know that overall it’s about an incidence of 1% of patients that regret that they did the surgery.

‘I don’t think there’s another profession in the world, in or out of medicine that has the ability to bring such a profound improvement in a human being’s life as transgender surgery.’

The post Transgender teen who began transitioning at four is having gender reassignment surgery appeared first on MyMedicPlus.