Gaston urges Health Minister to ‘listen to the public, not lobby groups’ on funding of gender services

North Antrim TUV MLA Timothy Gaston pictured on Monday in Stormont with petition opposing annual funding of a new gender identity service.

North Antrim TUV MLA Timothy Gaston has presented a petition to the Northern Ireland Assembly with more than 3,300 signatures opposing the annual funding of a new gender identity service.

Speaking in the Assembly on Monday morning, 15 September, Mr Gaston criticised Health Minister Mike Nesbitt’s decision to fund the “Lifespan” Gender Identity Service, which he said would cost £806,000 per year.

“I present this petition on behalf of over 3,300 citizens, parents, and taxpayers who are deeply concerned about the Health Minister’s decision to fund the so-called ‘Lifespan’ Gender Identity Service,” he said.

The TUV representative argued that the funding came at a time when the health service is under severe pressure.

“This scheme commits £806,000 every year — money our struggling health service cannot spare. While cancer patients wait, while mental health services collapse, Mike Nesbitt has chosen to bankroll a controversial project built on ideology, not evidence,” Mr Gaston stated.

He also accused the Minister of outsourcing public health policy to lobby groups, pointing in particular to the Rainbow Project’s role as a co-design partner.

“Yet the Minister invited the Rainbow Project — a radical activist organisation that rejects those basic realities — to act as a ‘co-design’ partner. That is outsourcing public health policy to lobbyists.”

Petition highlights three concerns

Mr Gaston said the petition raised three central issues: the lack of medical evidence, the vulnerability of children, and the misuse of public funds.

Referring to the Cass Review into gender identity services for young people, he said:

“The Cass Review found the evidence base for child gender services to be ‘poor quality’ and ‘insufficient’. The Minister’s hasty ‘rapid review’ announcement, made only after this petition began gaining traction, merely proves he acted first and thought later.”

On the issue of children and consent, he added:

“Young children are still developing. They cannot meaningfully consent to lifelong consequences. Referrals at such an age pushes them down a path from which they cannot return.”

An FOI request, Mr Gaston said, had revealed that the funding was not a one-off but an ongoing commitment, with additional costs expected as GP involvement is introduced in a second phase.

“Minister, listen to the public, not the Rainbow Project. Heed parents, not activists. Stand with basic biological truth, not ideology,” he concluded.

The Department of Health has said the Lifespan Gender Identity Service is intended to improve access to care and support for individuals in Northern Ireland, but the funding and design of the service have been the subject of ongoing political and public debate.