Wes Streeting is the UK Secretary of State for Health and Social Care under the Keir Starmer Labour government. Despite being an openly gay man, he has become one of the most prominent political figures implementing anti-trans healthcare policies in the UK.
Twitter: @wesstreeting
On March 9, 2026, NHS England paused new prescriptions of cross-sex hormones (estrogen and testosterone) for 16 and 17-year-old trans youth. This is an escalation beyond the puberty blocker ban.
Professor James Palmer, national medical director for Specialised Services at NHS England, claimed: "The available evidence does not support the continued use of masculinising or feminising hormones to treat gender incongruence or dysphoria for young people under 18."
The pause will last 90 days before longer-term guidance is decided. Trans youth already receiving hormones will continue treatment, but new patients cannot start.
Trans advocate India Willoughby responded: "What's happening here is a Trump-style rewriting of medical fact to match their views. The people Wes has put in charge of NHS Gender Services are all transgender-critical – a deliberate move."
Attitude: NHS England pauses new prescriptions of cross-sex hormones for trans youth (March 2026)
NHS Sussex threatened to close WellBN GP Practice — which serves 26,000 patients — for continuing to prescribe puberty blockers and hormones to under-18 trans patients who were already on treatment before the ban.
Despite the government stating that "NHS patients who are already receiving these medicines for gender incongruence and/or gender dysphoria can continue to access them," NHS Sussex:
Impact on families:
One parent described their daughter as "on suicide watch" after the forced detransition threat: "My child stopped eating and was going to take her own life. She couldn't look in the mirror and [imagine] having a deep voice and beard."
Another parent: "Forced detransition for all under 16's, well those who can't afford to go private... We did exactly what we were told to do and now we are being treated like criminals for it."
Dr Sam Hall, who worked at WellBN, stated: "This is a bullying tactic designed to scare them into withdrawing life-saving care, despite warnings from coroners about the risk to life for trans young people."
Northwest Bylines: NHS threatens GP practice over trans care (November 2025, archived)
After barely surviving reelection in the 2024 general election, Streeting made the Conservative Party's emergency puberty blocker ban permanent. The ban:
PinkNews: Puberty blockers ban extension (August 2024)
Following the Cass Review on children's services, NHS England announced a similar investigation into adult transgender healthcare.
The Guardian: Adult transgender clinics face inquiry (April 2024)
In June 2024 (before the election), Streeting met with members of the Bayswater Support Group, an organization that has been accused of promoting conversion therapy for trans youth.
In a video interview with the "What is a Woman" campaign (a gender-critical group using the common anti-trans dog whistle as its name), Streeting expressed sympathy for Bayswater parents, saying the experience of having a trans child had been "traumatic" for them.
QueerAF: Streeting met with pro-conversion therapy parents group
A July 2024 investigation by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism revealed that in Bayswater-run Discord channels, parents shared stories of:
Streeting met with this group and expressed sympathy for them.
Bureau of Investigative Journalism: Inside the Bayswater Support Group (July 2024)
India Willoughby noted that "the people Wes has put in charge of NHS Gender Services are all transgender-critical – a deliberate move, first started by Kemi [Badenoch]. They do not believe trans people are 'real'."
The NHS has also shifted language from "trans children" or "children with gender dysphoria" (recognized medical terms) to "gender-questioning children" — the phrase used by conversion therapists to imply confusion rather than identity.
Followed by:
Met with:
Implements policies from:
Streeting is part of the Starmer Labour right wing that has adopted anti-trans positions despite the party's historical support for LGBTQ+ rights. He won his Ilford North seat in 2024 by only 528 votes (1.1% majority), suggesting his anti-trans stance may carry electoral risk.
Streeting demonstrates how the UK's anti-trans movement has captured even openly gay politicians within the Labour Party. Under his leadership:
As India Willoughby warned: "The next step will be extending the bans on HRT to adults."