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#Startcisshaming trends after UK court rules against puberty-blocking drugs, Internet suspects 4chan prank

The High Court ruled on Tuesday that children under 16 years old who are considering gender reassignment are unlikely to be able to give informed consent to medical treatment involving drugs that delay puberty

Tuesday, December 1, has been a landmark day in all things gender. ‘Juno’ actor Ellen Page took to Twitter and came out as a trans man, Elliot Page. He said, "Hi friends, I want to share with you that I am trans, my pronouns are he/they and my name is Elliot." But across the Atlantic Ocean in the U.K., something else was brewing.

Britain’s High Court ruled on Tuesday that children under 16 years old who are considering gender reassignment are unlikely to be able to give informed consent to medical treatment involving drugs that delay puberty.

As per news reports, even in cases involving teenagers under 18, doctors may need to consult the courts for authorization for medical intervention, three senior judges have ruled in an action brought against the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust, which runs the U.K.’s main gender identity development service for children.

The claim was brought by Keira Bell, a 23-year-old woman who began taking puberty blockers when she was 16 before "detransitioning", and the unnamed mother of a 15-year-old autistic woman who is on the waiting list for treatment.

The ruling will “protect vulnerable young people,” said Keira Bell, who added that she was “delighted to see that common sense has prevailed.” She further said, “I wish (the judgment) had been made before I embarked on the devastating experiment of puberty blockers. My life would be very different today.” 

Paul Conrathe, the solicitor who represented both claimants, said the ruling was “a historic judgment that protects children who suffer from gender dysphoria … This may have led to hundreds of children receiving this experimental treatment without their properly informed consent.”

Lui Asquith, from the trans children’s charity Mermaids, however, said, “It’s frankly a potential catastrophe for trans young people across the country and it cannot be exaggerated the impact that this might have, not only on the population of trans young people that require hormone blockers, but it may potentially open the floodgates towards other questions around bodily autonomy and who has the right to govern their own body.”

In response to this decision, a hashtag began trending on Twitter. “Startcisshaming,” refers to the shaming of cis-gendered people -- people whose sense of personal identity and gender correspond with their birth sex. But even with more than 15,000 people tweeting under the hashtag, several people criticized the trend.

“A reminder of how actually stupid everyone is on Twitter lmao. Trans rights are human rights all the way but you can’t just turn around and also say 'f*** cis people'. I thought you wanted equality with #TransRightsAreHumanRights. Why start a dumba** #startcisshaming trend?,” wrote a Twitter user. Another Twitter user wrote, “Hot take but #startcisshaming is really f***ing stupid and it's probably not a good idea to shame people for using their preferred gender identity and pronouns....” One Twitter user wrote, “If you unironically used or use #startcisshaming you’re just as bad as actual transphobes. Shut up and leave the community already.”

But soon, many began suspecting that the trend may have been bait, to begin with. People on Twitter suspected that the trend originated from 4chan, the imageboard website that has for the last few years come to be associated with the alt-right movement. In the past, 4chan users have been known to push fake trends on Twitter as pranks. 

“#startcisshaming is probably another 4Chan psyop,” wrote a Twitter user. “I wonder who on 4chan started this to give conservative media outlets ammunition #startcisshaming,” wondered another Twitter user. One Twitter user said, “#startcisshaming screams of 4chan nonsense. I can already see the person who started this be like.” Another Twitter user said, “#startcisshaming is a 4chan raid guys, don't buy into their attempt to gain evidence for propaganda, it isn't worth it.”