Many people against the use of puberty blockers (scientifically named gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists) for trans adolescents, will often bring up the fact that some pedophiles use the same drug as what is called chemical castration.
But, this is a red herring that really wants to connect any trans or queer people to pedophilia, which is an age-old trope used to discriminate & criminalize queer & trans people.
Medicines often have multiple applications for a wide-range of unrelated problems.
Puberty blockers = gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists
Red herring fallacy – irrelevant information is presented alongside relevant information, distracting attention from that relevant information
Chemical castration – the use of chemicals or drugs to stop sex hormone production
Other applications for GnRH agonists:
- In vitro fertilization
- Treatment of certain kinds of prostate and breast cancer.
- Children with precocious puberty.
- Management of menorrhagia, endometriosis, adenomyosis, and uterine fibroids for people born female.
- And severe cases of hyperandrogenism.
