In this run-down, working class seaside resort, rife with child abuse and poverty, referrals to gender clinics are almost four times higher than the national average. Why?
Julie Bindel Dec 06, 2025
When Janice*, a schoolteacher in Blackpool, first encountered transgender ideology it was from a group of 11-year-old girls.
‘My class was lovely,’ she says. ‘The girls were straight from primary school, and not bothered as yet about their appearances or interested in boys. But even before they reached puberty, some of them started going on about how they weren’t girls and that they wanted to be called ‘Ben’ or Luke’ or whatever.’
Janice was told that one of the girls claiming to be trans had looked online and found one of the several charities in Blackpool that claim to support ‘trans-children’ as young as ten. The charities are local to Lancashire, and rely on funding from the Lottery Fund, and local and national government. Some will have contact with schools, and will provide advice to teachers regarding ‘trans students’.
There are many wonderful things about Blackpool, such as the party atmosphere, its mile long golden beach, and the iconic Ballroom, celebrated every year in a dedicated episode of Strictly Come Dancing.
But it is also a town mired in deep problems. It is one of the poorest in England. It has three times the national average of children-in-care. And, in a way that I believe is linked, it is home to well over 800 high-risk convicted sex offenders. It was from Blackpool, too, that the highest number of sexual offences were referred to the Crown Prosecution Service in England and Wales last year.
There is another statistic – again not unrelated to some of the above, I believe – that makes Blackpool stand out from similar sized towns elsewhere in the UK. The number of referrals – from Blackpool GPs and local Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services – to the Gender Identity Clinic based at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust in London, and with a satellite branch in Leeds, is almost four times higher than the national average.
GIDS has been beset with problems since it began to be scrutinised by parents and campaigners that were concerned about its practice of ‘instant affirmation’ of children presenting to them with unease about their bodies. An independent review concluded that the service be closed by Spring this year and replaced with regional services. The treatment of gender dysphoric children will be integrated within other paediatric mental health services to ensure the same standards of care as for any other child accessing mental health care services. The separation of gender dysphoria into a specialist area has led to the profound failings of a service which has replaced normal levels of care with a fast-track medical transition service for ‘trans kids.’
The number of girls wishing to become boys is particularly high.
In the last 10 years gender clinics in the U.K. have seen a 4,400% increase in teen girls presenting as transgender. Prior to about 2006, most adolescents presenting with gender dysphoria were males.
This might come as a surprise to those with a passing interest in this subject. After all, the voices we usually hear on the trans issue belong to upper- and middle-class kids raised in liberal families.
But these figures are not surprising to those of us who follow the pattern of child referrals to the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS). In 2010/11, 16 referrals were recorded in the North West. But a year later that figure had rocketed to 78.
Curious to see why this crumbling seaside town appears set to become the trans-child capital of Britain, I travel to Blackpool to meet with professionals and activists that might be able to shed a light.
One of the first things I note is that there appears to be a very receptive local press in Blackpool when it comes to reporting on trans issues, in particular children who seek to change sex.
In 2021, the Blackpool Gazette ran a story on Jacob, 30, and his ten-year wait for hormone treatment on the NHS. Jacob, who had ‘come to terms with his transgender identity when he was just 12-years-old, but hid the truth from his family and friends due to fear of rejection and violence’, had lived as male for nearly a decade and changed his name by deed poll in 2016.
Then in May last year, the paper featured 22-year-old Colby who ‘came out’ as trans aged 16. Colby was crowdfunding £3,500 in order to pay for a double mastectomy in Turkey, having been on the NHS waiting list for this ‘treatment’ for five years.
‘Top surgery is a type of gender-affirming reconstructive surgery to remove breast tissue. It is available on the NHS, however waiting lists extend for up to two years for some surgeons,’ reads the article in the Blackpool Gazette.
Within weeks, Colby had reached their target with one supporter writing on the page: ‘So many people are so incredibly proud of you and we are with you every step of this journey. Keep being the positive inspiration that you are Colby!!! YEEEEET THE TITTTTTS!! Xx”, which means the removal of Colby’s breasts.
In July 2022, another story appeared in Gazette about a crowdfunding appeal for Perry, who had ‘come out’ as a trans boy aged 14 to raise £9,000 for a double mastectomy. Notably, all of the above are girls transitioning to boys.
Nic, a 17 year old from Blackpool, tried transitioning when she was 15 years old.’ I was unhappy at home, I hated myself, I was being bullied both in the house and at school, and wanted to runaway. Instead, I decided to create a completely new persona for myself, and decided to start dressing as a boy, and demanded that the teachers and oh the students referred to me as’ Lucas’. It didn’t last very long because it was obvious I wasn’t serious, but the teachers all ran around after me as though I was something special. It felt nice for awhile.’
What is it about Blackpool that has led to such a spike in referrals of girls wishing to transition? Could it be that many of these girls have been subject to sexual violence and exploitation. It is a very grim thought, but could the sex offending rates here mean girls are choosing literally to erase their sex in order to get away from a pervasive culture of abuse?
Until recently, Barbara* worked as a paediatric nurse in Blackpool. ‘In the past two or three years, I came across at least one girl who was saying she was either trans or non-binary during every shift,’ she says. ‘And all of them had been abused or mistreated is some way.’
Barbara calls their desire to transition from girl to boy a form of ‘abandoning’ their bodies. The tragedy is that the current fashion for quickly ‘affirming’ children’s apparent desire to transition means we are failing to look for the real reasons for it.
‘The more commonplace it is, the less compassion and empathy there will be for these girls,’ says Barbara. ‘As identifying as transgender becomes as common as a broken bone, medical professions will be less likely to see it as anything significant, or to look for the underlying causes of girls wishing to abandon their own bodies.’
Barbara tells me about one patient, a 14-year-old girl who ‘100 per cent had been sexually abused’. Barbara says: ‘She had self-harming scars, refused to take her hoodie off, and crossed her arms over her chest to hide her breasts. She demanded to be referred to as “they/them”.’
Another girl, aged 15, was suicidal and had been admitted after she had overdosed. ‘She was threatening to jump out of the window, and had a male name which she insisted we use. This was a damaged child, but no-one examined what was going on for her that meant she wanted to become a boy,’ says Barbara.
‘It’s a real warning sign when girls hate their bodies so much that they want to have healthy body parts removed.’
The latest data on sexual violence and exploitation in Blackpool makes for seriously sober reading. Research by Victim Support Lancashire shows that, in 2021-22, the number of sexual violence referrals increased by 27 per cent to 2,685 – the highest number since the service began in 2017. Of those, 521 referrals were for young victims of sexual abuse.
My theory is that girls want to opt out of being female in order to escape all this. It sounds like something out of a dystopian novel – a state of affairs so cruel and wicked it couldn’t possibly be true – but the clues are all there if only we’d look for them.
For example, two thirds of referrals to the three gender clinics that cater to children in the UK (aside from GIDS in Leeds and London there is also the Sandyford Clinic in Glasgow) are from teenage girls with no history of gender dysphoria – that is, feeling as though their body does not reflect who they are – before puberty. This is a fact noted by the campaigning group Transgender Trend, whose membership comprises British parents, professionals and academics who are concerned about the current fashion to diagnose children as transgender.
And yet we are often told that boys who want to be girls have had this ‘feeling’ since birth. Why should it be different for girls?
Not everyone agrees with my theory. Carolyn Mercer is a 75-year-old transwoman who was Chair of Lancashire LGBT, and one of the original members of the Stonewall Trans Advisory Group. Mercer is a retired secondary school teacher who has lived as a woman since 2002. I ask her what she thinks about the Blackpool referral figures to GIDS, and tell her my theory about high levels of sexual abuse and poverty being drivers for girls wanting to opt out of being female.
‘Is it possible that some girls in those circumstances are encouraged, enticed internally to feel it might be safer to live as boys? Probably yes. Is it the case for all girls? No.’
We talk over fish and chips with the sound of gulls permeating our conversation.
‘Going through any kind of gender reassignment surgery is lengthy, traumatic, can be painful, stigmatised, all of those things,’ says Mercer. ‘So we know that girls aren’t going to choose this unless they really mean it.’
Yet only a tiny percentage go through surgical intervention, opting instead for puberty blockers which inevitably, in almost all cases, lead to them taking cross-sex hormones such as testosterone, a powerful drug with irreversible effects, such as a gruff voice, beard, vaginal atrophy (thinning, drying and inflammation of the vaginal wall)and infertility.
In 2012, GIDS took the decision to prescribe them to children as young as 10 (down from 15) presenting with ‘gender dysphoria’, although, with the closure announced and the service winding down its practice, it is thought to be unlikely any children are currently being started on such a course of action.
I think it is also highly relevant that children in care are over-represented at GIDS, and that many of them have complex mental health histories prior to referral, and many have been in and out of the care system. These girls will be in contact with social workers – one of the groups of professionals that, according to evidence, is enraptured by transgender ideology.
‘I never came into contact with any girls who wished to become boys until the past three or four years,’ says Audrey*, a senior social worker in Blackpool who has worked with ‘dozens’ of under 18-year-olds in local authority care.
‘But recently, I have been inundated with girl after girl telling me they are boys and insisting I say “he”. Every single one of these girls has been sexually exploited. Most have been brought up in chaos. There has to be a connection.’
‘This town is a hotbed of child sexual abuse and violence,’ says Audrey. ‘But we have more training on trans stuff, such as the language to use, and how we should never question anyone who is demanding to be addressed as the opposite sex, but rather just go along with it.’
Audrey tells me she is ‘upset’ that more time and effort appears to be put into what language should be used about trans people than how to identify sexual predators, and other pressing matters when it comes to child protection.
‘In my view, this is a disgrace of epic proportion. We are sacrificing the safety and well-being of our most vulnerable children at the altar of extreme trans activism.’
*Some names have been changed
https://juliebindel.substack.com/p/why-do-so-many-girls-in-blackpool-a6a?triedRedirect=true
度假勝地充斥著兒童虐待與貧困問題，轉介至性別診所的案例數幾乎是全國平均值的四倍。為何如此？
茱莉·賓德爾 2025年12月6日
當布萊克浦的教師珍妮絲*初次接觸跨性別意識形態時，對象是一群11歲女孩。
「我的班級原本很可愛，」她回憶道，「這些女孩剛從小學升上來，既不介意外表，也不對男孩感興趣。但還未到青春期，其中幾人就開始宣稱自己不是女孩，要求被稱作『班』或『路克』之類的名字。」
珍妮絲得知，其中一名自稱跨性別的女孩上網搜尋後，找到黑池當地數間聲稱支援十歲以上「跨性別兒童」的慈善機構。這些機構隸屬蘭開夏郡，資金來源包含彩票基金及地方與中央政府撥款。部分機構會與學校聯繫，並就「跨性別學生」問題向教師提供建議。
布萊克浦擁有許多美好之處，例如歡慶氛圍、綿延一英里的金色沙灘，以及每年在《舞動奇蹟》特別節目中亮相的標誌性舞廳。
然而這座城市也深陷多重困境。它是英格蘭最貧困的地區之一，兒童福利院收容人數達全國平均值的三倍。更值得注意的是，當地居住著超過800名高風險性犯罪者——我認為這與上述問題存在關聯。去年英格蘭及威爾斯地區提交給皇家檢察署的性犯罪案件中，黑池的案件數量高居榜首。
另一項數據——我認為同樣與前述問題存在關聯——使布萊克浦在英國同等規模城鎮中顯得格外突出：當地全科醫生及兒童青少年心理健康服務機構轉介至倫敦塔維斯托克與波特曼國民保健信託基金會性別認同診所（該診所在利茲設有分支機構）的案例數量，幾乎是全國平均值的四倍。
自家長與倡議者開始質疑該診所對身體不適兒童實施「即時認同」的做法後，GIDS便深陷爭議漩渦。獨立審查報告最終決議於今年春季關閉該服務，改由區域性服務取代。性別焦慮症兒童的治療將整合至其他兒科心理健康服務體系，確保其獲得與其他兒童心理健康照護同等標準的服務。將性別焦慮症獨立為專科領域的做法，導致該服務出現嚴重缺陷——以「跨性別兒童」為名，以快速通道醫療轉換服務取代常規照護水準。
渴望成為男生的女孩比例尤為突出。
過去十年英國性別診所接診的跨性別少女數量激增4,400%。而在2006年前，多數出現性別焦慮的青少年皆為男性。
對僅略知此議題者而言，此現象或許令人詫異。畢竟我們通常聽聞的跨性別議題發聲者，多來自自由派家庭的中上階層子女。
但對持續追蹤兒童轉介至性別認同發展服務處（GIDS）模式的我們而言，這些數據並不意外。2010/11年度，西北地區僅記錄16例轉介案例。然而一年後，該數字已飆升至78例。
為探究這座衰敗濱海小鎮何以成為英國跨性別兒童之都，我親赴布萊克浦，拜訪可能提供線索的專業人士與倡議者。
首先注意到的是，當地媒體對跨性別議題——尤其是兒童變性需求——顯得格外熱衷報導。
2021年《布萊克浦公報》刊載了30歲雅各的故事，描述他苦候十年才獲英國國民保健署（NHS）批准荷爾蒙治療。雅各自12歲便「接受了自己的跨性別身份，卻因恐懼被排斥與暴力而向親友隱瞞真相」，以男性身份生活近十年，並於2016年通過法定文書更改姓名。
去年五月，該報又報導了22歲的寇比，她16歲時「出櫃」為跨性別者。科爾比正透過群眾募資籌集3,500英鎊，以支付在土耳其進行雙側乳房切除術的費用，因其在國民保健署的此項「治療」等候名單上已排隊五年之久。
《布萊克浦公報》文章指出：「頂部手術（Top surgery）是一種性別確認重建手術，旨在切除乳房組織。此手術雖可透過國民保健署進行，但部分外科醫師的等候名單最長可達兩年。」
短短數週內，科爾比便達成募款目標。一名支持者在頁面留言寫道：「無數人以你為榮，我們將伴你走過每一步。繼續做那個積極向上的靈感來源吧科爾比！！！耶——乳房去啦！！Xx」此處暗指科爾比將切除雙乳。
2022年7月，《公報》再度刊載眾籌報導，主角是14歲出櫃為跨性別男孩的佩里，為籌措9,000英鎊雙側乳房切除術費用發起募款。值得注意的是，上述案例皆為女性轉男性的案例。
17歲的布萊克浦少年尼克，15歲時便嘗試性別轉換。我在家中感到痛苦，厭惡自己，無論在家或學校都遭受霸凌，曾想過離家出走。最終我決定為自己塑造全新身份，開始以男孩裝扮示人，並要求師生稱呼我為「盧卡斯」。這段經歷並未持續太久，因為顯然我並非真心如此，但當時所有老師都圍著我轉，彷彿我是什麼特別的存在。那感覺很美妙，至少一時如此。」
布萊克浦究竟有何特殊之處，竟導致渴望性別轉換的女孩轉介案例激增？難道是因為許多女孩曾遭受性暴力與剝削？這想法雖令人沮喪，但此地的性犯罪率是否意味著女孩們正選擇徹底抹去自身性別，以逃離無所不在的虐待文化？
芭芭拉*曾任職於布萊克浦的兒科護理師。她表示：「過去兩三年，每班值勤至少會遇到一名自稱跨性別或非二元性別的女孩，而她們全都曾遭受某種形式的虐待或不當對待。」
芭芭拉將她們從女孩轉變為男孩的渴望稱為「拋棄」自身軀體的行為。悲劇在於當今社會急於「肯定」兒童表面轉變意願的風潮，使我們未能探究背後的真實原因。
「這種現象越普遍，人們對這些女孩的同情與理解就越少。」芭芭拉如此警示。「當跨性別認同變得像骨折般普遍，醫療專業人員便更不可能視其為重要現象，或探究女孩們渴望拋棄自身軀體的深層根源。」
芭芭拉向我提及一名14歲患者，她「百分之百曾遭受性侵」。芭芭拉描述：「她身上有自殘疤痕，拒絕脫下連帽衫，雙臂交叉遮掩胸部，堅持要求以『they/them』代稱。」
另一名15歲少女因服藥過量入院，當時正處於自殺邊緣。「她威脅要跳窗，並堅持要求我們使用男性名字。這孩子身心受創，但無人探究她渴望成為男孩的深層原因。」芭芭拉強調。
「當女孩厭惡自身到想切除健康肢體時，這無疑是極其嚴重的警訊。」
布萊克浦最新性暴力與性剝削數據令人震驚。蘭開夏郡受害者支援組織研究顯示，2021-22年度性暴力轉介案件激增27%達2,685宗——創2017年服務啟動以來新高。其中521宗涉及未成年性虐待受害者。
我認為女孩們想逃離女性身份，正是為了擺脫這一切。這聽起來像反烏托邦小說的情節——殘酷邪惡到難以置信的境況——但只要我們願意尋找，線索早已無所不在。
例如，英國三家兒童性別診所（除利茲與倫敦的GIDS外，格拉斯哥尚有桑迪福診所）收到的轉介個案中，三分之二來自青春期前從未出現性別焦慮（即身體與自我認同不符的感受）的少女。倡議組織「跨性別趨勢」已指出此現象，該組織成員包含關注當前兒童跨性別診斷風潮的英國家長、專業人士及學者。
然而我們常聽聞「想當女孩的男孩」自出生便懷有此「感受」。女孩為何就不能如此？
並非所有人都認同我的觀點。卡洛琳·默瑟是75歲的跨性別女性，曾任蘭開夏郡LGBT主席，亦是石牆跨性別諮詢小組創始成員之一。這位退休中學教師自2002年起以女性身份生活。我詢問她對布萊克浦轉介至GIDS案例數量的看法，並闡述我的理論：高發性虐待與貧困可能是促使女孩選擇「退出女性身份」的驅動力。
「那些處境中的女孩是否可能受到內在驅動，認為以男孩身份生活更安全？很可能。但這適用於所有女孩嗎？不。」
我們在魚薯店邊吃邊聊，海鷗鳴叫聲穿透對話。
「任何性別重置手術都漫長、創傷、可能痛苦、受污名化，諸如此類。」默瑟說。「因此我們確信，女孩們除非真心如此，否則不會選擇此路。」
然而僅有極少數人接受外科手術，多數選擇青春期阻斷劑——這幾乎必然導致她們後續使用跨性別荷爾蒙（如睪固酮）。這種強力藥物會引發不可逆的副作用：嗓音粗嗆、鬍鬚生長、陰道萎縮（陰道壁變薄、乾燥及發炎）以及不孕症。
2012年，GIDS決定將處方年齡下調至10歲（原為15歲）以治療「性別焦慮症」的兒童，但隨著該機構宣布關閉並逐步終止服務，目前應已無兒童開始接受此類治療。
值得注意的是，GIDS收治的兒童中，寄養兒童比例異常偏高，且多數在轉介前已有複雜心理健康病史，許多人更在寄養系統中反覆進出。這些女孩將接觸社工——根據證據顯示，此專業群體正是沉醉於跨性別意識形態的群體之一。
「直到過去三四年，我從未接觸過任何想成為男孩的女孩，」奧黛麗*表示。這位在布萊克浦擔任資深社工的專業人士，曾協助「數十名」由地方政府照護的未滿18歲青少年。
「但最近，我被接連不斷的女孩淹沒，她們告訴我自己是男孩，並堅持要我稱呼『他』。這些女孩無一例外都曾遭受性剝削，多數成長於混亂環境。兩者必然存在關聯。」
「這座城鎮是兒童性虐待與暴力的溫床，」奧黛麗指出，「但我們接受的培訓卻更多聚焦跨性別議題——例如該使用何種稱謂，以及絕不能質疑任何要求以異性身份被稱呼者，而應無條件配合。」
奧黛麗向我坦言，當兒童保護議題面臨性侵者辨識等迫切問題時，社會卻將更多時間精力耗費在跨性別用語規範上，這令她「深感憤慨」。
「在我看來，這是史詩級的恥辱。我們正將最脆弱兒童的安全福祉，獻祭在極端跨性別運動的祭壇上。」
*部分姓名已作更改
陳旭@perth 