Protesters carry placards against the ban on puberty blockers and for accessible trans healthcare. (Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
A protest has been held in Belfast following an emergency ban on puberty blockers being extended to cover Northern Ireland.
The Department for Health announced last week that it had renewed the ban on the private sale and supply of the medication, and that it now covers private prescriptions in Northern Ireland.
The medicine is primarily used by those under the age of 18 to delay unwanted elements of physical puberty.
Following the ban’s extension, protests have been held in Dublin and Belfast, with about 100 people gathering outside Belfast City Hall on Tuesday (27 August).
Mammies for Trans Rights, a group of mothers and parents in Ireland, who campaign in support of trans youth, joined the protest and the crowd could be heard chanting “when trans rights are under attack, stand up, fight back,” BBC News reported.
Members of the group wrote on X/Twitter: “This will be a distressing time for many affected. Our trans loved ones need our vocal, visible allyship now more than ever.”
Protesters posted images on X showing people holding placards that read “keep your transphobia out of our healthcare,” “trans power” and “trans liberation now.”
Claire Flynn, a founder of Mammies for Trans Rights, has previously told PinkNews that the movement began because of the “terrible fear, upset and distress” felt by trans youth in Ireland and beyond.
Following the ban’s extension, activists have criticised the UK government, with LGBTQ+ advocacy group, TransActual, describing the decision as dangerous.
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