Information on puberty blocker medication used to delay the onset of puberty.
The changes to your body that happen during puberty can be distressing if they are not in line with your gender. Puberty blockers can help relieve this distress. Delaying puberty gives you more time to explore your gender identity, before changes happen to your body that can’t be reversed.
If you are under age 19, the criteria for getting a prescription for a puberty blocker are:
a long-lasting and intense pattern of gender non-conformity or gender dysphoria.
gender dysphoria emerged or worsened with the onset of puberty.
coexisting psychological, medical, or social problems, if any, are stable enough to start treatment.
the adolescent having given informed consent. The consent of your guardian is preferred but not absolutely necessary under the BC Infants Act
Usually an endocrinologist (hormone specialist) monitors puberty blockers and hormone therapy for youth, due to changing needs during adolescence. The endocrinologist can work with your primary care provider for routine monitoring.
The puberty blocker used most often in BC is called Lupron Depot. It is given through a monthly injection in the thigh. Lupron Depot is quite expensive; it costs around $400 a month. It is covered by BC PharmaCare; some families have the cost covered by the PharmaCare Plan G. Extended health care plans may also cover this medication.
Effects of puberty blockers
If you were assigned male at birth, puberty blockers will stop or limit:
growth of facial and body hair
deepening of the voice
broadening of the shoulders
growth of Adam’s apple
growth of gonads (testes) and erectile tissue (penis)
If you were assigned female at birth, puberty blockers will stop or limit:
breast tissue development
broadening of the hips
monthly bleeding
In both cases, puberty blockers will temporarily stop or limit:
growth in height
development of sex drive
impulsive, rebellious, irritable or risk-taking behaviour
accumulation of calcium in the bones
fertility
There are no known irreversible effects of puberty blockers. If you decide to stop taking them, your body will go through puberty just the way it would have if you had not taken puberty blockers at all.
Risks of taking puberty blockers
Puberty blockers are considered to be very safe overall.
We are not sure if puberty blockers have negative side effects on bone development and height. Research so far shows that the effects are minimal. However, we won’t know the long-term effects until the first people to take puberty-blockers get older.
If you have erectile tissue (penis) and think you might eventually want to have a vaginoplasty, talk with your primary care provider or endocrinologist for more information. Vaginoplasty is the surgical procedure that creates a vagina. If you start taking puberty blockers early in puberty you might not be able to have the vaginoplasty surgery that is most commonly used in Canada, later as an adult. There are alternative techniques available, such as the use of a skin graft or colon tissue.
Risks of withholding puberty blockers
Health care providers refusing to provide puberty blockers to youth can cause additional distress, and may lead to anxiety and depression.
Withholding puberty blockers and hormone therapy is not a neutral option and can result in an increased risk of mental health issues.
I have been writing that this is about enforcing a 1950s society by demanding gender roles stereotypes of that time, removing civil rights for minorities, removing visibility of minorities, and removing anything but heterosexuality in public or media. It started with trans, as they are the smallest part of the LGBTQ+ and the most easily attacked. The right used the idea of protecting the children, which is what the religious hate groups have been pushing forever, that changing social norms are somehow dangerous and bad for children. That is false, and an old trope used forever against people these hate groups have targeted. This is about removing any LGBTQ+ from public and society. This is about enforcing a return to a conservative religious lifestyle, removing all progress of society to regress to a time when misunderstandings and misinformation was king, to a time when Christianity was equated with automatic good, Christianity was the only religion represented in public, White men were in charge, women were second to men who were in charge in public along with in the home, and only straight white couples were in the media of the time with blacks as servants and any representation of gays were as villains. This is the goal that people like DeathSantis and his supporters such as Lib’s of Tic Tok or the Mom’s of Liberty are pushing, which they have shown they are willing to force this ideological indoctrination in all schools both public and private. They are willing to force their views on all of the public, even though the majority doesn’t agree with them. Because they are the Christian Taliban. Hugs
Ron DeSantis just signed a new law requiring all transgender ADULTS in Florida to obtain “written consent” from multiple oversight boards whose members are appointed by DeSantis in order to get gender-affirming care.
Greg Abbott is taking a brief pause from using immigrants as political pawns to attack trans kids in yet another Republican-led effort to harm LGBTQ+ people in America.
The gay-hating Texas governor announced yesterday that he plans to sign Senate Bill 14 into law ASAP. The bill, which is currently en route to Abbott’s desk, blocks trans kids from receiving gender-affirming care and effectively forces those already in the process of transitioning to de-transition and start over after they turn 18.
“I’m not going to make any secret about it. I’ll be signing it. This is about protecting children,” he misled reporters on Thursday. “A person under 18, they don’t have the mental capacity to make a life-changing decision.”
Authored by New Braunfels Republican Sen. Donna Campbell, SB 14 would prohibit trans Texans under the age of 18 from accessing transition-related medical treatments including puberty blockers, hormone therapies and surgeries — though surgeries are rarely performed on kids.
The bill would also require trans youth who are already getting this care to be “weaned off” in a “medically appropriate” manner. This is slightly out of step with the abrupt cutoff mandated by the version the Senate approved last month, but the upper chamber has chosen not to ask for a conference committee to iron out the difference.
Other states have passed similar legislation but the laws have been stalled in the courts. The same will likely happen in Texas as the ACLU, Transgender Law Center, and Lambda Legal have already announced plans to sue, citing the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
“These laws are patently unconstitutional,” Paul Castillo, senior counsel for Lambda Legal, told reporters this week. “They interfere with the decisions of families in consultation with their doctors, and certainly no care should be stopped.”
Given the number of these laws being passed, as well as the number of lawsuits challenging them, it’s likely the matter will eventually end up at the U.S. Supreme Court, where things have gotten so chaotic that it’s hard to say which way the high court might rule on it.
Pollsters say the wave of bills targeting transgender healthcare in red states could backfire on Republicans in 2024 the same way the Roe v. Wade debacle backfired on them in 2022.
Things are certainly backfiring on Abbott and his colleagues on Twitter right now. Here’s what folx are saying…
Republicans are against big government unless when they want to make the lives of the LGBTQ community miserable
I want to point out that DeathSantis like all republicans when it comes to social medical matters lies about it. At one point, he claims that:
DeSantis said the push for the care was by an “ideologically charged small group of folks” and this is why he was signing Florida Senate Bill 254 into law to grant courts temporary emergency jurisdiction to intervene in some procedures.
“That is not based on science; that is not based on evidence,” DeSantis said …”
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association support gender-affirming care, which includes the surgical procedures and prescriptions for blockers or hormone antagonists that DeSantis and Florida Republican legislators are standing against.
DeathSantis also said this about being polite enough to call people by what makes them happy instead of being an asshole to others. DeSantis said the new law makes sure that Florida students and teachers will never “be forced” to declare pronouns in schools or “be forced” to use pronouns “not based on biological sex” as part of an “indoctrination” effort known as transgender ideology and gender theory. “We never did this through all of human history until like what two weeks ago, now this is something? They are having third-graders declare pronouns. We are not doing the pronouns Olympics in Florida,” DeSantis said.
The idea that kids, even little kids, do not understand pronouns is stupid. Teacher Miss or teacher Mrs / Mr clearly establishes gender. Boys bathroom, girls PE, when they are read a story they hear he, she, they, them. He ran, she jumped, they carried, someone spoke to them. See it is all around us, kids see and hear pronouns / gender identifiers all the time. Just as most kids know their sexual orientation and who they’re attracted to. To deny that gay kids exist and that gay / same sex married teachers are not a thing is harmful. It deprives these kids of seeing people like themselves, who have their feelings, just so the Christian conservatives can push being gay is shameful and bad. It isn’t as we know now, and gay kids shouldn’t be traumatized by being made to feel they are wrong and broken. We have lived through that, we have progressed social beyond that, and medical science has shown that people are born gay / trans.
As for the bans on drag shows, remember there are already laws against taking minors to sex shows, adult entertainment, strip shows. These laws are about keeping kids from seeing men dressed as women and women dressed as men. That is what it is about. That is why they are singling out drag shows which are not sexual, especially the family friendly or drag queens story hours. See it is hard for conservatives to enforce gender stereotype norms from the 1950s. The old men were men trope. Hugs
LOL the USPS certainly has a terrific sense of irony, I just wonder how long it will take DeSantis to try TRY to outlaw these for “indoctrinating children”. Love it! Buy’em up! Mail Ronny boy a letter with these!
DeSantis signs 5 new laws, including expansion of law critics know as ‘Don’t Say Gay’
Gov. Ron DeSantis visits a Christian school on Wednesday morning in Tampa. (Copyright 2023 by WPLG Local10.com – All rights reserved.)
TAMPA, Fla. – During his Wednesday morning speech, Gov. Ron DeSantis criticized gender-affirming care, a medical intervention when an individual’s gender identity is different than the one assigned at birth.
While at a non-denominational Christian private school in Tampa, DeSantis stood on a stage behind a “Let Kids Be Kids” sign to say that a “rogue element of the medical establishment” was engaging in “basically the mutilation of minors.”
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DeSantis said the push for the care was by an “ideologically charged small group of folks” and this is why he was signing Florida Senate Bill 254 into law to grant courts temporary emergency jurisdiction to intervene in some procedures.
“That is not based on science; that is not based on evidence,” DeSantis said during his visit to the Cambridge Christian School, a college preparatory school accredited by Christian Schools of Florida.
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association support gender-affirming care, which includes the surgical procedures and prescriptions for blockers or hormone antagonists that DeSantis and Florida Republican legislators are standing against.
“This is going to create a way to recover damages for injury or death resulting from mutilating surgeries or these experimental puberty blockers that are given to a minor,” DeSantis said adding, “They go through this, then they get older and this is a huge problem. They should be able to sue the physician who hurt them.”
DeSantis also signed a bill into law that he described as an extension of the Parental Rights in Education bill, which critics nationwide have consistently referred to as the “Don’t Say Gay Bill” and an attack on the LGBTQ community.
DeSantis said the new law makes sure that Florida students and teachers will never “be forced” to declare pronouns in schools or “be forced” to use pronouns “not based on biological sex” as part of an “indoctrination” effort known as transgender ideology and gender theory.
“We never did this through all of human history until like what two weeks ago, now this is something? They are having third graders declare pronouns. We are not doing the pronouns Olympics in Florida,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis also said it was “sad” that he had to also sign Senate Bill 1438: Protection of Children into law. The American Civil Liberties Union referred to it as “The Anti-Drag Show” bill. DeSantis said it was necessary because it was “inappropriate” to have minors at drag shows, which he described as “sexually explicit” and “adult entertainment.”
“We passed two years ago the Fairness In Women’s Sports Act to say we are going to make sure our girls and our women athletes are able to compete with integrity. And you can’t be competing on the men’s team for three years, switch to the women’s, and what, all of a sudden you are the champion? That is not right,” DeSantis said adding the new law “imposes oversight” over the Florida High School Athletic Association.
Activist Luka Hein, who has been traveling around the country to oppose trans care, was among the speakers DeSantis introduced at the school. Education Commissioner Manny Diaz, Jr., and the Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Jason Weida were also at the school at 6101 N. Habana Ave.
“While I am not from Florida, I am someone who went through the gender-affirming care industry as a minor,” Hein said adding this resulted in “health issues,” so the limits are not “about hate.”
DeSantis also recently signed bills against Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion educational programs, as part of the Republican legislature’s fight against “wokeness” in schools. For that signing event, DeSantis introduced Christopher Rufo, a conservative activist from California who has been traveling around the country to oppose “divisive” critical race theory and DEI in education.
The governor just signed SB 254 the gender procedures for minors act, HB 1521 the safety in private spaces act, SB 1438, the protecting children from adult entertainment act, and HB 1069, the parental rights and education part 2 bill all this morning. pic.twitter.com/6hZwejyPOr
— Florida Family Policy Council (@FLPolicyInsider) May 17, 2023
The new laws include an expansion of "don't say gay," a ban on gender-affirming care, restrictions on trans people's bathroom use, and restrictions on drag shows. https://t.co/AUDD0OzFkg
Governor DeSantis signed 4 anti-LGBTQ+ bills into law. That includes gender affirming care ban, bathroom ban, restrictions on drag shows and the expansion of Don’t Say LGBTQ. He also signed a bill that impacts the Florida High School Athletic Association. Below is our statement. pic.twitter.com/an35QZBPA0
— Rep. Anna V. Eskamani 🔨 (@AnnaForFlorida) May 17, 2023
A short note. I saw my allergist today. He is the one that called me personally to strongly urge me to go back on my heart rate medication. I was seeing him because I made the mistake of leaving the special soaps he prescribed too long on my face / scalp, and it gave me another bad chemical burn. My face was the worst with first open sores, then red peeling skin as it healed like a bad sun burn. My scalp had sores and was crazy itchy as it heals.
He has prescribed new medications for my breathing and is sending me to a dermatologist as it has become that bad. But the most important part of the exam was when he listened to my chest and asked me questions about my heart / breathing. See the issue was I was on a Beta Blocker to keep my heart rate low, because I was running in the 120s beats per minutes, and when doing things or stressed I would go up into the 150s. But to have the allergy shots I need, I have to stop taking the Beta Blocker medication that slows my heart. So I made my primary doctor remove the medication.
But this time when the medication was removed, my heart rate went much higher and much more out of control than ever before. Plus I started to have serious shortness of breath, to the point where I struggled to breathe just sitting at my desk, while any exertion set off a panic to get air in. So at this doctor’s personal phone call to me, I went back on the medication after a month or more.
Today as part of my exam, he listened to my chest and spent more time doing so than is normal. He went back and forth from my front to my back and only asked me to breathe deep once. Then he asked me how had my breathing been since I went back on the heart rate medication. I told him how it improved but still was worse than it had been before. I described how I still had times of shortness of breath, which means times I feel I cannot get a breath of air in. I told him it happened really bad when I laid on my right side, and if I got excited or was doing stuff. He then asked me a question. Do I ever feel like my chest feels funny when that breathing problem happens? Yes I told him, I feel like there is something inside my chest lurching around. He paused and then told me he wanted me to tell the heart doctor I see on the 30th this, and explained that when he listened my heart was not in complete rhythm. Just sitting there in his office, my heart was not in normal sinus rhythm. It was skipping. He is worried that during that time period I was off that medication with my heart rates in the 140s, I suffered damage to my heart.
Well we will know at the end of the month. I was not surprised by what he said because Ron, my spouse, worked in the open heart ICU for 18 years. When this was happening, he was beside himself trying to get me to go back on the medication. He also has been looking several times daily at my Apple Watch EKG readings and he has been very upset with them, showing me the pauses and different parts that should be differently shown. I was not goods with strips in the ICUs, and so I can not see what he does. He is good with them but like I said he did Open Heart ICU 18 years. I will keep you updated, but that does explain my being so tired, so easily winded, wanting to go to bed so much, and why it is so hard to think some days. Just one more thing to have to deal with. Hugs
When I tell people about this they think I am crazy. This is how far modern religious Puritan morality has pushed into the public. We went from times when boys being nude was OK, fun, and pretty normal to now just the idea of young people seeing a nude statue like David of Michelangelo got a Florida principle fired. How ridiculous has this become. Seeing a nude human, even one in a painting or work of art, will destroy a child? Will cause the downfall of a nation? There are states trying to outlaw watching porn for adults because the religious people have to regulate all behavior, even adults private consensual behavior. It is time to stop this march of the moral vice police / the US Christian Taliban. I know I have enjoyed the times in my life I was able to swim nude, in public and private. I think growing up if more boys had been forced to be nude for more than a quick run under the locker shower, they may have been less self-conscious about themselves and their development. I know it surprised me when I went to church boarding school that the male dorm showers were just a large room with many shower heads on the wall but most of the kids except a few were OK with it. In fact me and my friends often planned our mornings to shower together. And it was not a sexual thing, it was the normal start of the day when we first got together. Hugs
• Naked Swimming In… Part 3- 
Scottie's Playtime 