Young trans activists have scaled the NHS headquarters (2024)

2July 2024

At 1pm on Saturday (June 29), two young trans protestors scaled the Wellington House NHS England building to demand better healthcare for trans youth.

The action, organised by the Trans Kids Deserve Better network, is calling for improved “access to gender-affirming healthcare for trans children and young people, protection from discrimination and disrespect in their daily lives and the right to be heard in all decisions that affect them.”

Other teenage protestors affiliated with the Trans Kids Deserve Better action network have since joined the activists on the ledge; at present, seven activists are camping out on the building’s ledge, with others supporting the protest from the ground. A banner hung from the ledge reads “we are not pawns for your politics”, while letters stuck to the windows of the NHS offices spell out “trans kids deserve better”.

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Their protest comes in the wake of the government banning all access to puberty blockers in the UK. It’s a move that was supported by Labour’s Wes Streeting, who is likely to be the next Secretary of State for Health. In addition, shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has agreed to meet with vocal transphobe JK Rowling to give her “assurances” that Labour will protect “women-only spaces”, while just this morning Labour leader (and, if the polls are correct, soon-to-be Prime Minister) Keir Starmer stated that he does not believe trans women have a right to access women’s spaces even if they have a Gender Recognition Certificate.

17-year-old Zeds was one of the first two protestors to scale the building. Speaking to Dazed from the ledge, they explain that they’re taking this action to demand real change. “Trans young people are denied life-saving healthcare, and stripped of our autonomy in decisions about our own lives,” they say. “We are used as political pawns and bargaining chips in culture wars, all while being denied a voice in every single conversation about us, from the media to court cases,” they continue. “We are taking back our power, and reminding everyone that trans kids deserve better. We need change, and this is where we start.”

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23-year-old Angus Natalie joined supporters on the ground on Sunday and Monday after hearing about the protest on social media. “I went because as a trans person myself, I am immeasurably exhausted by the government’s approach to talking about the spectrum of gender that exists, our bodies and portraying us as aggressors and a societal problem,” they explain. “But I also went because gender-affirming care – life-saving care – has been of abysmal standard for absolutely years now. It’s inexcusable. I had to attend this protest because I feel a sense of duty to stand with my people, make noise and be totally visible, especially as the government and recently released Cass report have made us feel so silenced, unseen, and covered.”

They add that they have had first-hand experience of the inaccessibility of gender-affirming care in the UK. “I waited five years for my first appointment at a gender identity clinic. That wait is an immeasurable disgrace and totally unacceptable,” they say.

Olivia Campbell-Cavendish is a human rights and civil liberties lawyer and founder of the Trans Legal Clinic which is supporting the protestors. “In the run up to this election, trans children have been used as a political football,” she says. “From the Cass review to the suspension on vital, evidence-based, life-saving puberty blockers these children are being hounded by right-wing media outlets and desperate failing politicians whose decaying political careers depend on demonising trans people to create division and win votes.”

“These are people’s children, siblings, nephews, nieces, friends. These are children with a legitimate urgent medical need, as recognised by the World Health Organisation.”