Criminalising and eliminating affirmative healthcare: Trans childhood in a moral panic

Trans children in the UK are the targets of an escalating moral panic, centred around access to affirmative adolescent healthcare. Combining moral panic theory with a theory of cis-supremacy, we examine the ways in which trans children’s healthcare has become a central pillar of a moral panic driven by, and sustaining, cis-supremacy. We draw upon primary data from adolescents and families directly impacted by current criminalisation, illuminating how the moral panic dominates trans childhood, crushing trans possibilities whilst perpetuating cis domination. This case holds lessons for childhood studies, calling attention to the need to better recognise, identify, and resist child-focused moral panics.