Sinn Féin changes tack on puberty-blockers

Sinn Féin has backed away from a controversy over gender-changing puberty-blockers for children, opting to abide by the advice of the North’s Chief Medical Office to ban their use in the North in line with Britain.

In a statement, the party played down the u-turn and said the issue is being “kept under review until a definitive policy decision has been made”.

Puberty blockers suppress the release of hormones and are controversially administered to children questioning their gender identity, with LGBT activists arguing they help to tackle sexual confusion and ease the transition for many children to becoming transsexual adults.

Critics have described the process as a form of chemical castration and a violent intervention in the development of pubescent children who are too young to be making such life-altering decisions.

Medics are divided on the issue, with the British Medical Association currently reviewing their stance.

All of the parties in the North except Alliance support the ban, which was formally requested this week by the Six County Health Minister Mike Nesbitt and jointly approved by Sinn Féin First Minister Michelle O’Neill and DUP Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly.

LGBT activists held a protest outside Sinn Féin headquarters in Dublin against the decision. Ruth Coppinger, a Socialist party politician, said she came “to show solidarity and support” with the protest and called on Sinn Féin to reverse the ban. She called it a “purely political decision”.

“Is this their policy now in the South of Ireland?...The LGBTQ+ community will want answers to these questions,” she said.

Last year, Sinn Féin Assembly member Emma Sheerin, with the backing of the party leadership, suggested puberty blockers were “normal healthcare”.

But in a statement this week, the party said it was vital that clinicians “engage empathetically” with people seeking “gender-affirming healthcare”.

“We will monitor the conclusions of the BMA review when it is published later in the year,” they said.

“Our position is that clinical and healthcare is best determined by doctors and clinicians - not politicians - and needs to be informed by the clinical and scientific evidence.”

Despite a move towards more neutral positions on this and other so-called ‘culture war’ issues, Sinn Féin remains badly polarised internally.

A Sinn Féin Councillor in Laois announced his resignation from the party on Wednesday, saying he was “being silenced” after clashing with the party on immigration and transgender athletes.

Aidan Mullins, who represents the Portarlington electoral area, said he was suspended for three months after he had shared a news item on biological men being excluded from women’s sports.

“Another member of the party made a complaint about me and accused me of being ‘anti-trans,” he said. “I had never made any comment on the post, I simply reshared the decision.”

“That was the final straw for me,” he added.

Sinn Féin said it had received Mr Mullins’s resignation letter. A spokesperson added: “There have been serious differences on key policy issues and values between the party and Mr Mullins for some time. We have no further comment to make.”

Urgent Appeal