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Transgender activist says all children should be on puberty blockers until they can 'offer informed consent'

The popular activist made the statement shortly after a court case involving a 23-year-old biological female was filed for having been prescribed puberty blockers when she was 16-years-old, which she now regrets

A transgender activist, in a controversial statement, has called for all children to be put on puberty blockers until they are able to decide on their own which gender they want to be. The activist, Lauren McNamara, also known as "Zinnia Jones" by her followers, earlier this month, argued that children should be legally permitted to consent to the administration of puberty blockers since they already consent to the "permanent and irreversible changes" that come naturally to them through puberty.

McNamara took to Twitter December 2 to write: "If children can't consent to puberty blockers which pause any permanent changes even with the relevant professional evaluation, how can they consent to the permanent and irreversible changes that come with their own puberty with no professional evaluation whatsoever?" She also argued that "an inability to offer informed consent or understand the long-term consequences is actually an argument for putting every single cis and trans person on puberty blockers until they acquire that ability."

The popular activist made the statement shortly after a court case in the UK involving a 23-year-old biological female, Keira Bell, who filed a lawsuit against the British National Health Service's gender-identity youth clinic for prescribing her puberty blockers when she was 16-years-old. Bell, who regrets being a male now, argued that the clinic did not do enough to "challenge" her transition decision. Judges, in the case, ruled in the suit that "it is highly unlikely that a child aged 13 or under would be competent to give consent to the administration of puberty blockers" and "it is doubtful that a child aged 14 or 15 could understand and weigh the long-term risks and consequences of the administration of puberty blockers."

However, "in respect of young persons aged 16 and over, the legal position is that there is a presumption that they have the ability to consent to medical treatment," the ruling read.

McNamara, in her tweets, argued that puberty became "optional" when technology was developed to "enable deliberate choice between natal puberty and puberty induced by cross-sex hormones." She wrote on Twitter: "Natal puberty became optional the moment technology became available to enable deliberate choice between natal puberty and puberty induced by cross-sex hormones. It became a choice when it *became a choice* and I am really profoundly sorry if you cannot understand that."

The activist's YouTube fan page describes her as an atheist American commentator who has "posted numerous videos critical of religion, especially in regards to its attitudes towards LGBT people. Zinnia is openly transgender and has been on hormone replacement therapy since September 2012."

"Zinnia was assigned male at birth and given name Zachary Antolak in 1989 in Chicago," but she "became aware of her sexuality as a gay male at an early age," her profile states. "After years identifying as a gay male, Zinnia finally came to the conclusion that she was actually a trans woman in 2011 and started a romantic relationship with her close friend and lesbian Heather McNamara, becoming an adoptive mother towards Heather's two children. Zinnia is currently in a polyamorous relationship with Heather and another trans woman named Penny," the page adds.