by LILY WAKEFIELD

Thousands of trans people have just lost access to vital healthcare and medication after spate of articles about private provider GenderGP. GenderGP is a private “online health and wellbeing service, which provides advice and support to members of the trans community, and those who care for them”.

A spate of anti-trans media coverage has targeted the service, including a piece by the The Times, which reported that parents of trans kids were able to use GenderGP to “avoid some checks and safeguards that protect children who are referred for NHS treatment”, and an investigation by the BBC’s Panorama in 2019. Another “investigation” was conducted by a journalist at The Sunday Mirror, who carried out an “undercover operation” in which, according to GenderGP, she “posed as the parent of a 12-year-old child, in a bid to get access to puberty blockers”. The story was never published.

In a statement on Wednesday (7 October), the healthcare provider announced: “As a result of the recent negative press attention our prescribing chemist has been told they are unable to fulfil the prescriptions of the thousands of trans patients who use GenderGP.” Read more via PinkNews

Media attacks just cost thousands of trans people failed by the NHS access to healthcare. But we will never desert those in need

by ADI DALY-GOURDIALSING

After thousands of trans people lost access to their healthcare thanks to relentless anti-trans media coverage, Adi Daly-Gourdialsing, head of patient services at GenderGP, explains why the private clinic is unwavering in its commitment to providing healthcare for the trans community.

This week, the UK media reached a new low point as it once again attacked services providing support to trans youth.

Along with GenderGP (which is no stranger to the firing line), transgender youth charity Mermaids and trans-friendly pharmacy Clear Chemist came under attack.

Shockingly, Mermaids’ private forums were infiltrated, breaching the confidentiality of those who rely on this support group to help them through the challenges they face as parents of trans youth. Clear Chemist has been reported to its regulator, the General Pharmaceutical Council, and now feels limited in its ability to dispense to GenderGP patients for no other reason, it would seem, than the fact that they are transgender.

The media revealed (shock, horror) that waiting years for help leaves parents and their young people feeling abandoned by the NHS, that they are desperate for support and that in their desperation they turn to other parents for advice and guidance on how to navigate this incredibly stressful situation. Read more via PinkNews