Author Jacqueline Wilson reveals she’s ‘very, very worried’ about transgender children taking hormones – and the ‘devastating’ consequences of having ‘bits lopped off’ at a young age
- Jacqueline Wilson, 73, is worried about transgender children taking hormones
- Said she thinks people ‘should not try to change themselves physically’
- Explained she thought it was a decision only to be taken once fully mature
Author Jacqueline Wilson has revealed she is concerned about transgender children who take action to transition at a young age.
Dame Jacqueline, 73, said she is ‘very, very worried’ about children who take hormones and warned against the potentially ‘devastating consequences’ of having gender reassignment surgery.
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Dame Jacqueline said she believed such decisions should only be taken in adulthood.
Jacqueline Wilson revealed that she thinks it would be easier if trans people ‘should not change themselves physically’ but rather, act however they wanted to
‘Some people, right from the time that they are toddlers, are aware that something is wrong and they wish that they could be the other sex,’ she said.
‘But I’m also aware that some children feel strongly for a while and then they change their minds.
‘I think it’s a decision that has to be left a while until you are utterly mature and utterly certain you know all the actual consequences.’
The author, who tends to tackle gritty topics in children’s literature, said she wouldn’t be writing a trans character any time soon
She added: ‘Where I would be very, very worried is young children taking any kind of drug, hormones or whatever, the long-term effects of which we don’t know.’
The author said she is particularly concerned about children who undergo gender reassignment surgery, warning it is not as simple as having ‘bits lopped off’ and should not be a decision that’s taken lightly.
The author has sold more than 40 million books in the UK alone and has won a string of prestigious awards.
Jacqueline was awarded the OBE for services to literacy in schools in 2002, and in 2008 she became Dame Jacqueline Wilson
She is known for tackling difficult topics affecting children and young adults, including adoption, divorce, and mental illness.
However she said she finds it difficult to relate to teenagers in 2019.
She also said that unless there was a really strong reason for her to write about a trans child, then she wouldn’t want to ‘jump on the bandwagon’.
Her most recent book, Dancing The Charleston, is set in the 1920s.
In the past, Jacqueline Wilson has not been afraid to tackle controversial topics in her children’s books, including homelessness, bereavement, mental illness and absent parents. But she says she’ll be staying away from writing trans characters
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