Motion #20
The Green Party has stood in support of Transgender people for a long time. Our trans healthcare policy is long out of date and supports the continued segregation of trans members. This policy would bring us into the 21st century and provide much needed support to all trans people.
The current policy reads as following:
RR532 The process of transitioning through the NHS should empower rather than demean trans people. Gender Identity Clinics should consult service users on how to better recognise trans people’s own expertise and experience in service provision.
RR533 The NHS should better recognise the increasing need for Gender Identity Clinics and increase service provision, across the country
RR534 The NHS should remove barriers to accessing services for trans people, with thorough review of access to services for Children and Young People and for those who have self prescribed or self funded gender treatment in the UK or abroad
We would remove these 3 policy statements and instead add:
RR532 The process of transitioning through the NHS should empower rather than demean trans people. Segregated healthcare does not empower anyone. The Green Party calls for a desegregation of transgender healthcare. This does not only include transition, but the ongoing treatment of transgender patients.
RR533: The Green Party supports an informed consent system within primary care. We call for Gender Identity Clinics (GICs) to be closed, and instead for GPs to be provided the proper training and support to prescribe gender affirming treatments such as hormone replacement treatment, as GPs already prescribe to cisgender patients, and be able to refer transgender patients to further treatment such as supportive therapists and surgeons, bringing the NHS in line with standard practice in many other countries.
RR534: We recognise that waiting lists for NHS GICs are longer than for any other form of healthcare in the UK and that these elongated wait times, both for care to begin and for further appointments, has lead to the deaths of many trans people, especially young trans people, and have led many others to self-medicate. Moving this care to primary care doctors would reduce this wait time to manageable levels, while still ensuring proper oversight and review. The process of transition may require medical assistance to achieve a positive outcome, but this should be centred on the individual’s informed choices as many other healthcare concerns are; such as abortion care and contraception.
RR535: The Green Party calls for the support provided by the NHS to be expanded; to include a wider range of gender affirming treatments, and for ongoing fertility preservation, such as long term gamete storage, for everyone who wants it. The Green Party supports bodily autonomy for all, not just those who can afford it. We also support the many transgender patients who do not undergo specific treatments and still need access to cervical screening, abortion care, contraceptive care, and other ‘gendered’ healthcare- while allowing them the dignity of being referred to and supported in the way they desire. We call for an overhaul of the way the NHS records and refers to trans patients as they transition.
RR536: We call for transgender people to be treated with dignity and respect when accessing NHS services; including when this is not related to transition. This should be patient led. Many trangender people find that their health needs are not listened to and understood, or are linked to their transition with no medical relevance. We call upon the NHS to involve transgender people when reviews of best practice are made.
RR537 The NHS should remove barriers to accessing services for trans people, with thorough, independent review of access to services for Children and Young People - that includes and prioritises trans voices. We support children and young people who wish to transition socially without requiring input or medicalisation, and treatment that supports and respects their identity before they are too old to benefit from it. We support the use of puberty blockers, for those who are of a relevant age. Gillick Competency should continue to be recognised and utilised for appropriate use of hormones and other treatments. Not only does this give young people the space to decide what their future will look like, it reduces the need for many surgeries and other interventions as adults.
RR538: We call for those who have self medicated or self funded gender treatment in the UK or abroad to receive proper care and treatment without judgement, so that their ongoing treatment can be supported and reviewed.
RR539: Conversion therapy is one of the most dangerous forms of coercive behaviour forced upon trans people, especially trans youth, and leads to depression, detransition, and suicide. We call for a comprehensive ban of all conversion therapy, for all members of the LGBTIQA+ community.
RR540: We also call for a full, public, independent inquiry, supported by Parliament, and lead by transgender experts, of past actions by the NHS in gender related healthcare, to best support those who have gone through harmful, damaging processes, including conversion therapy. This includes a review of individual practitioners, management, and the influence of governments and media to the formation of treatment plans.
RR541: We seek to support those who have medically transitioned and then detransitioned, to better understand the reasons and the impacts this may cause. While regret rates for trans affirming healthcare is the lowest of almost all forms of healthcare, and the detransition rate is very low, it is important that these members of the trans community are not forgotten, and are given proper support and care.
Renumber the further parts of the Trans Rights policy section as appropriate.
Last updated on 2024-09-08 at 15:20