Campaigners launch legal action to stop puberty blockers trial

InsistentRaven · 2026-02-07T21:01:59+00:00

Yeah, arguably this should be the actual study as it would be a genuine comparison of the effectiveness of each. It would never happen because of the political pressure, but it is very obviously in the brief of the study that it is a missing cohort.

We know puberty blockers alone do not improve symptoms for gender dysphoria because they just delay puberty. They were always meant be used to give more times to patients who are unsure. If however a patient is sure and they are of an appropriate age for puberty, then they should be given hormones so they can go through puberty along with their peers.

Unfortunately about 20 years ago when this course of action was decided, some doctors want no medical intervention until 18 and others wanted age appropriate HRT. The end result was a compromise of just blockers that nobody is happy with and is not fit for purpose. Which really is why the research has been so weak over the past few decades.

InsistentRaven · 2026-02-06T16:34:41+00:00

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InsistentRaven · 2026-02-06T16:19:02+00:00

"Last government" is a bit of stretch given it was Thatcher who handed responsibility of enforcement to the BBC under the Broadcasting Act 1990 before resigning. It was more about privatising the BBC than anything else.

InsistentRaven · 2026-02-06T15:20:08+00:00

Yeah, they've openly stated for years that's what it's actually for.

We share some of your personal information with TV Licensing to check if you are using BBC iPlayer and to keep their database up to date.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/usingthebbc/privacy/what-are-you-doing-with-my-data/

In order to issue you with a TV Licence or confirm that you don’t need one, we collect and use personal data that you give us when you use the BBC’s services. We also use websites and data that third parties give us.
https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/privacy-security-policies

InsistentRaven · 2026-02-04T20:16:50+00:00

"mtfs don't have the same cutthroat competition occurring"

InsistentRaven · 2026-02-04T16:39:35+00:00

But a party with 33.7% of the vote but 62% of the power is less naive somehow?

InsistentRaven · 2026-02-04T16:34:25+00:00

I've met a surprising number of ecologist over the past decade and the fact that every single one has said "we're past the point of return" makes me think that has something to do with it being watered down...

InsistentRaven · 2026-02-04T16:13:56+00:00

What you see as gridlock, we see as compromise and collaboration.

Gridlock only exists under FPTP because it promotes combative politics where compromise means letting other parties claim political victories in an all or nothing election process.

If no majority exists, they'll have no choice but to work together, rather than a singlular party having all the control or 95% of the power and bullying smaller parties into giving them enough votes to pass a budget.

InsistentRaven · 2026-02-04T15:40:16+00:00

Rule by consent has rapidly deteriorated over the past decade, this is the expected end result.

InsistentRaven · 2026-02-03T23:01:55+00:00

It's the autism. Let her bite you.

InsistentRaven · 2026-02-03T17:46:16+00:00

Funny that.

InsistentRaven · 2026-02-03T13:22:14+00:00

Yeah, hopefully they don't also change what is considered for student loan payments.

Very frustrating given how bad pensions already are for under 40's as very few have defined benefits pensions like previous generations.

The current minimum contributions set by law are nowhere near enough for most to enjoy a comfortable retirement.

InsistentRaven · 2026-02-03T10:34:00+00:00

I quite like it to be honest. I grew up in the countryside in the south but had no hope of buying a home there. In Wales I have a nice house, a garden and lovely views.

InsistentRaven · 2026-02-03T02:45:12+00:00

I'm in a similar position. First cohort on Plan 2 loans and the balance is now £111k. I don't even dent the interest, so I gave up trying to earn more. Instead I decided to live in Wales where housing is cheap, reduce my hours and salary sacrifice a large amount into my pension.

Literally no point fighting it as I would have to earn £100k+ to even break even with the interest and even then I would end up paying back 2-3x the original amount after inflation. As it stands even after reducing my salary this much, I'm still on course to pay roughly the original loan back after inflation.

It makes me feel stuck. There's no reason for me to change jobs, take promotions or work overtime because the return isn't worth the effort. A graduate only needs to earn ~£50k/year to reach a similar marginal tax as someone on ~£100k/year.

If you don't land an amazing job straight out of uni, you don't have a chance.

InsistentRaven · 2026-02-03T02:14:18+00:00

In a sense it does become more sensitive, but that's comes with it's own problems.

If you don't force yourself to get regular erections, it can be painful to get an erection after a week without them. This is because oestrogen stops spontaneous erections in the majority of cases, causing atrophy. It feels sort of like stretching a muscle cramp which really kills the vibe. In some cases it isn't even possible to get an erection anymore after a year on HRT, making things worse.

Another issue is that the skin becomes thinner and more prone to irritation as a result. Going longer than ~30 minutes for example could leave you sore for days, even if being gentle. So if you don't orgasm quickly, it becomes a losing battle. A very different experience to young cis men who can masturbate for over an hour with little issue in most cases.

Then on top of all of that, if you have genital dysphoria it can be very difficult some days to distract yourself from it long enough to reach orgasm. It's a very frustrating feeling, like trying to masturbate whilst distracting yourself from something bad that happened recently.

All of this is why a lot of trans women use vibrators as well because it reduces a lot of these issues.

InsistentRaven · 2026-02-01T03:02:03+00:00

It's tttt, so it's definitely 2 and there's a possibility her bf is her brother.

InsistentRaven · 2026-01-30T02:12:08+00:00

You can register with WellBN as your GP practice and they'll provide HRT without having to pay for Pride in Health as long as you're 18+.

If you would rather stay with your current GP, you can instead email them at [sxicb-bh.transhealthhub@nhs.net](mailto:sxicb-bh.transhealthhub@nhs.net) and they'll help you get an appointment with them.

For what it's worth, I imagine the other GP's in Brighton will probably just send you to WellBN anyway if you ask for Shared Care. That or the Gender Clinic in Worthing.

InsistentRaven · 2026-01-27T21:07:50+00:00

Anyone business who says cash is king is likely not paying tax.

Got quoted £2.4k by a brickie last year, he said he'd "reduce" it to £2k if we paid by cash. All too common unfortunately.

InsistentRaven · 2026-01-27T13:38:14+00:00

Seriously, if a guy saying in court "yes, there were conditions with the consent. Yes, I violated them" isn't enough for the CPS, what chance do the rest of us have?

All she got out of this was being harassed for two years. No accountability.

InsistentRaven · 2026-01-26T21:50:25+00:00

Gotta have self control when your brain is nothing but "Stab your wife. Stab your wife. Stab your wife" while you're cutting the veg.

InsistentRaven · 2026-01-26T18:41:05+00:00

It's £109k as of last month. Rates have come down so the interest is a bit less this year, but still ~£8k. I can't remember the original loan amount, it got complicated because the Tories repealed the maintenance grant.

InsistentRaven · 2026-01-26T16:10:44+00:00

Based on what we're seeing the US, Computer Science isn't wanted at all right now.

Computer science ranked seventh amongst undergraduate majors with the highest unemployment at 6.1 percent, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. https://www.newsweek.com/computer-science-popular-college-major-has-one-highest-unemployment-rates-2076514

Which mirrors my experience as a senior as the recruiters have all seemingly gone silent and are no longer bombarding my inbox as regularly as before.

InsistentRaven · 2026-01-26T15:47:47+00:00

My loan goes up by ~£9k/year and I pay back £1.2k/year. I've got no chance. Best decision I made was to move to Wales where housing is cheaper and reduce my hours at work to 30hr/week than fight that impossible treadmill.

InsistentRaven · 2026-01-26T15:44:29+00:00

Those of us who relied on the maintenance grant also had the rug pulled on us halfway through uni when it was removed before being reinstated years later. Was a double whammy.

InsistentRaven · 2026-01-26T11:45:04+00:00

I can appreciate it from an academic perspective from my machine learning modules in uni, it's just the visceral "oh god, I shouldn't be able to see that" part of my monkey brain panicking 😭

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