I don’t want to argue, but this below is actually true. Also, I feel the thread is meant to be about Morrissey’s views, not an overall discussion about ‘practices’.
Some people may have felt rushed or confused, the communication may have been difficult, they themselves may have been convinced that it was a good decision to make, or they didn’t have time to make an informed decision. There is nothing sinister about the Tavistock, overall, taking puberty blockers shouldn’t be ‘normal’. People who felt pushed into taking puberty blockers may have made a mistake, in retrospect, mistakes and regret are part of life unfortunately.
For some people it works, is beneficial and is helpful, but there are undeniable pros and cons to the drug, and for the vast majority of people it is completely unneeded and alien, not suitable.
The ‘puberty blocker’ is actually a drug used in other areas of treatment and medicine, it lowers the production of natural sex hormones and is commonly used for the treatment of early onset puberty in children and young people, unrelated to sex change, and is most commonly used in treatment for prostate and breast cancer in adults. Puberty ‘blocker’ is a medical and media slang term, but the drug was not made specifically for transgender people, and is not as harmful as it sounds. Like most medicine, the effects of the drug depend on how mentally and physically healthy the person is before they take it, and also their life circumstances. It isn’t normal to take puberty blockers or lower sex hormones, and it shouldn’t be pushed or rushed. For a very small amount of people it is normal and doesn’t feel completely wrong.
You did make a good point about the use of the word treatment because it does imply that something is wrong with them, and of course there is nothing wrong with children who grow into themselves and not into the conventional model of men and women, which is still widely unattainable for the best of us. Even then it’s still the blueprint model for girls and boys, and still strangely desirable and attractive and safe, as it still persists. It’s like the default version of men and women. It is hard to describe what transgender is, and I don’t think ‘transgender’ or ‘trans’ is a very nice name for people, it almost sounds derogatory. I cannot summarise what it means to be alive and how society has formed itself, maybe that’s why religion is still around today. I think its called treatment to avoid the concept of ideology in medicine and therapy or councilling.
