This case is interesting to me as my current position on gender related physical interventions is that it should be classified as something in the extreme body modification/cosmetic surgery realm - ie it should be entirely self funded and only available to adults.
But this becomes a bit of an issue in that doctors can’t just be amputating healthy bits on a person’s say so because medical ethics are (rightly!) a thing, so while changing the shape of someone’s nose or breasts for aesthetic reasons is an arguably justifiable endeavour, removing them entirely is not.
This is reflected in current cosmetic surgical practice in the UK, eg a woman can choose to have a breast reduction or enlargement as long as she is an adult, seems mentally competent, has a realistic expectation of the outcome and is able to pay for it.
Whereas ‘top surgery’ (double mastectomy for aesthetic reasons) requires a gender Dysphoria diagnosis and a separate surgical referral (usually from a specialist psychiatrist or clinical psychologist although there are a couple of UK based surgeons who are a bit less stringent re: who the make the referral).
But NICE say there is insufficient/very low evidence that current NHS interventions (hormones/mastectomy/genital modification surgeries) are an effective treatment for gender dysphoria so I’m not convinced that these extra requirements are much more than a buck-passing charade?
Someone I (vaguely) know IRL got a custodial sentence for amputating an ear (and splitting a tongue and removing a nipple).
All of these were ostensibly consensual body modifications paid for by the customers who had signed paperwork stating their consent (the man who had his ear amputated later said he wouldn’t have gone ahead with it if he’d known the legal implications).
None of the customers pressed charges and nothing went wrong with the procedures - however the premises were deemed unsuitable (typical body piercing studio in a retail area so licensed by the council on the basis of cleanliness/sharps disposal etc but not a medical facility).
https://www.expressandstar.com/news/crime/2019/03/21/dr-evil-extreme-body-artist-gets-40-month-sentence-for-ear-and-nipple-removal/
Obvs it’s not safe to be cutting bits and bobs off people in a retail unit without any medical qualifications so I’m not objecting to the prosecution in this case, but philosophically it seems to me to be much more ethical to agree to cut off someone’s ear or nipple because they like the aesthetics of only having one ear or no nipples than it is to agree to cut off someone’s breasts or testicles to ‘affirm’ their cross sex ‘gender identity’.
A castration in a hospital by a qualified doctor is physically safer than a home castration by a castration enthusiast(?) but is it psychologically safer?
I listened to the most recent episode of the Witch Trials of JK Rowling yesterday and the 17 year old transman, Noah, makes a massive deal about how his mastectomy was recommended by doctors as a treatment for medically diagnosed Dysphoria and that because it was approved by doctors and therapists it’s obviously the right thing to do and thus Noah will live happily ever after and never regret anything because: doctors.
At least getting your bollocks chopped off by a hobbiest bollock-chopper in a grubby back bedroom doesn’t come with a load of false promises 🤷♀️