Queer community organisations and protest groups intend to hold a Hīkoi from Waitangi Park to Parliament Lawn on Sunday, 23 March. The march is to be part of the annual Wellington Pride Festival, and is organised by a coalition of groups including several high school Queer Students’ Associations, Queer Endurance in Defiance, Pōneke Anti-Fascist Coalition, Wellington Pride Festival, Wellington Pride Parade, and the International Bolshevik Tendency.

Queer Endurance in Defiance press spokesperson Wyatt Dawson said marchers demanded “puberty blockers and hormones on demand.”

Many of the same medications are more easily available to cisgender minors in need of gender affirming care, such as for early-onset puberty or conditions affecting hormonal regulation. Dawson says this exposes the reason behind the restrictions as “political, not about kids’ health.”

“Our current government has been further restricting access our rangatahi have to puberty blockers, ignoring their bodily autonomy and the pleas of our trans community. This is life changing and life saving medical treatment for our youth, and these restrictions—made based on ideology not medical evidence—are tantamount to banning puberty blockers outright.”

The Hīkoi is intended to pressure the Government and Ministry of Health to reverse moves towards restrictions, and guarantee access to puberty blockers and hormones. While framed as improving service quality, the suggested changes impose such a high standard of expert review that medical professionals and activists worry they will effectively make prescriptions impossible. The restrictions were inspired by the much-criticised Cass Review of transgender healthcare in the UK, and have been described as unnecessary by the Professional Association for Transgender Health Aotearoa.

Protesters are set to assemble at 10am at Waitangi Park, before marching through the city to the Parliament steps, where organisers have arranged for performances, and speeches by high schoolers, protestors, and politicians who agree with their demand. A bus will be provided for some of the protestors unable to make the walk.

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