Understand the LGBTQIA+ news: Hundreds of Trans patients are being refused hormone replacement therapy by GPs

This week we're publishing an investigation with data from Trans Actual that shows how widespread stories we've been hearing for some time have become.

In it, we'll detail how hundreds of transgender adults are being denied more than just new gender-affirming care prescriptions. Notably, GPs are denying some trans people hormone replacement therapy (HRT), which gender identity clinics have prescribed.

Emboldened by the Cass Review and similarly biased professional bodies' stances since its release, many of the GPs we cover in the investigation are doing so with their personal beliefs about transgender healthcare as the only reason to deny people the care they deserve, in some cases defying NHS England guidance.

These personal beliefs have become enough alone for GPs to deny HRT despite trans patients having been through the multi-year wait and the extended medicalised process of getting gender-affirming care prescribed from a gender identity clinic.

To put this story together, we have had our ears to the ground, gathering, looking for and collecting personal stories and accounts for months. We then had to go to all the professional and local care bodies involved. We worked closely with transgender podcast What The Trans to share information and leads. Now, with the addition of Trans Actual's incredible data set and summary report, we're bringing this to you in a concise story, including ways to fight back against this if it happens to you.

Journalism like this demands tremendous resources, not least in time and effort, especially from those gathering the information. We take this work on at significant cost.

One of our sources said this work has kept them up at night thinking about all the fellow transgender people who will be devastated by the report.

We're here to provide the kind of queer accountability journalism you deserve so our readers can use information as a tool for liberation.

We do all of that without adverts to keep that work free from outside pressures so we can focus on what counts for the community, not what drives clicks.

Understand the LGBTQIA+ headlines and keep track of the latest queer content and perspectives. The QueerAF newsletter is written by Jamie Wareham and a different queer creative each week.

💬 This week:

• GPs refusing HRT: Exclusive - We've seen data from Trans Actual, who've gathered the experiences of hundreds of transgender patients who have been refused gender-affirming care by their GPs - we help you understand why.
• Italy: Making it one of the strictest approaches in Europe, Italy's far-right PM has introduced restrictions on LGBTQIA+ parents - we explore what they mean.
• Septums: The importance of appropriation goes beyond respecting cultures and communities; it's also about safety - as Damisola Sulaiman sets out in our lastest UK Black History Month Queer Gaze article.

Skip the doomscrolling and support queer creatives instead. We are QueerAF – and so are you.

Revealed: Over 200 Transgender patients have been refused hormone care by GPs

TL;DR: New data from Trans Actual seen exclusively by QueerAF and What The Trans shows that hundreds of trans people are being refused hormone care, sometimes because of GP’s personal beliefs alone. These decisions, which include people who have been on HRT for over five years, could essentially force people to de-transition.