Queer community organisations and protest groups intend
to hold a Hīkoi from Waitangi Park to Parliament Lawn on
Sunday, 23 March. The march is to be part of the annual
Wellington Pride Festival, and is organised by a coalition
of groups including several high school Queer Students’
Associations, Queer Endurance in Defiance, Pōneke
Anti-Fascist Coalition, Wellington Pride Festival,
Wellington Pride Parade, and the International Bolshevik
Tendency.
Queer Endurance in Defiance press
spokesperson Wyatt Dawson said marchers demanded “puberty
blockers and hormones on demand.”
of previous rallies organised by Queer Endurance in Defiance
(Photo/Supplied)
Many
of the same medications are more easily available to
cisgender minors in need of gender affirming care, such as
for early-onset puberty or conditions affecting hormonal
regulation. Dawson says this exposes the reason behind the
restrictions as “political, not about kids’
health.”
“Our current government has
been further restricting access our rangatahi have to
puberty blockers, ignoring their bodily autonomy and the
pleas of our trans community. This is life changing and life
saving medical treatment for our youth, and these
restrictions—made based on ideology not medical
evidence—are tantamount to banning puberty blockers
outright.”
Map (Photo/Supplied)
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The Hīkoi
is intended to pressure the Government and Ministry of
Health to reverse moves towards restrictions, and guarantee
access to puberty blockers and hormones. While framed as
improving service quality, the suggested changes impose such
a high standard of expert review that medical professionals
and activists worry they will effectively make prescriptions
impossible. The restrictions were inspired by the
much-criticised Cass Review of transgender healthcare in the
UK, and have been described as unnecessary by the
Professional Association for Transgender Health
Aotearoa.
Protesters are set to assemble at 10am at
Waitangi Park, before marching through the city to the
Parliament steps, where organisers have arranged for
performances, and speeches by high schoolers, protestors,
and politicians who agree with their demand. A bus will be
provided for some of the protestors unable to make the
walk.
