Latest news with #GoodMorningUlster.
BBC News
20-03-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Man believes he was wrong to change his gender
A man who was transitioning to become a woman, has had surgery to reverse the first of a series of planned operations to change his McParland, from Belfast, now says that he believes it was wrong to try to change his gender and that he had been "running away" from problems in his 23-year-old from Belfast said he had been questioning his sex from a very young age, but now believes he was wrong to try and change his December, Stormont introduced an indefinite ban on the supply of puberty blockers to under-18s. Puberty blockers work by suppressing the release of hormones and can be prescribed to children questioning their gender. 'Absorbing people's opinions' Joshua was 17 when he began taking hormones to help his transition."Through primary school people would mistake me for a girl, because I had a high pitched voice and I had long hair," he told Good Morning Ulster."So that's where the confusion of my identity sort of happened… because I looked so feminine."You're like a sponge as a child, absorbing people's opinions."In January 2024 he travelled to Turkey for breast said he changed his mind about going ahead with any more surgeries after becoming a Christian and just ahead of surgery to change his genitals."That was my first time that I was ever honest with myself, that I actually wasn't a woman," insists Joshua."I was also giving up a future, with a family and kids."You are literally mutilating God's creation."It's so wrong. That's my view." The interviews with Joshua McParland and Ash Jones can be heard on BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster. The Rainbow Project, an LGBT campaign group in Northern Ireland, said: "Everyone deserves the space and time to figure out who they are."And should be provided with all the support they need to do so."When asked if he was concerned that many members of the trans community would take offence with his opinions, Joshua insisted he was entitled to his opinion."I've already walked in their shoes," he told Good Morning Ulster."I've been down that path, and now I'm walking a new life with Jesus."In February he had surgery to remove his breast implants and has stopped taking hormones. As a teenager Joshua says he put pressure on his mother to allow him to go ahead with procedures to change his gender. She has also supported him through the process of reversing the changes he had made to his body."As a mother she just wanted to love me," Joshua said."I think as a teenager, you think you know it all, and you really don't."I was partying… I was doing drugs… I was just doing crazy stuff."On its website the Rainbow Project makes clear that how people approach the issue of transition is a personal say: "Some people decide that medical transition is the best thing for them – for others, it isn't a necessary part of the process."It all depends on how you feel about yourself and your body: only you can make the decision that is right for your life."They also point out that it can be quite difficult accessing transgender healthcare in Northern Ireland. 'I am a much happier person' Ash Jones, who is a Green Party representative in Belfast and a trans woman, claims it is becoming more difficult for members of the trans community to access health she argues that public debates about trans athletes and access to spaces like changing rooms has had a negative impact."I came out about eight years ago and honestly it is a much harder place to be trans now than it was then," she told Good Morning Ulster. "We may be more visible but that visibility hasn't brought any real tangible benefits in terms of acceptance."In fact in terms of waiting lists it's so much worse than it used to be."She added she is a "much happier person" after transitioning. "Honestly, transitioning was probably life-saving for me given the mental anguish I was experiencing." Support in NI Northern Ireland's regional gender identity service in Belfast provides care and treatment to adults who are assessed as having gender who use it can also access other services such as hormone treatment and mental health services, but those approved for gender reassignment must travel outside Northern Ireland because there is no surgical service and young people experiencing gender dysphoria can avail of the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust's Knowing Our Identity Service which has a small number of staff with specialised a young person reaches the age of 17 and a half, arrangements can be made for them to move into adult there are long waiting times for assessment and treatment in adult services. The regional gender identity service in NI is currently seeing people referred to them in October move to ban puberty blockers came after a report into children's gender services - the Cass Review - said there were "gaps in evidence" around the drugs.
BBC News
07-03-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Moving Antrim-Armagh to Newry 'very short-sighted'
Former Antrim captain Paddy Cunningham says the Ulster Council's decision to switch the Saffrons' Ulster Senior Football Championship quarter-final against Armagh to Pairc Esler is "very short-sighted and misguided".After a meeting of the Ulster Competitions Control Committee (CCC) on Thursday, Ulster GAA said they "sympathised with Antrim GAA's situation" but that the county must move the last-eight tie from Corrigan Park to Newry in order to accommodate the anticipated crowd for the visit of the All-Ireland response, Antrim GAA have said they "still expect" to stage the game at home, reiterating that it is their "right" to play the game in west a CCC meeting in February, Corrigan Park was the only venue put forward for the match by Antrim GAA delegates and Saffrons panellist Paddy McBride previously told BBC Sport NI that if the game was not held there, the county would "probably not play it"."This has really galvanised the players and I would urgently advise them [the Ulster Council] to reconsider," Cunningham told BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster."Antrim were drawn out of the hat first. The Ulster GAA Championship is sacred. Every team wants to play at home. "It's already going to be a mammoth task for Antrim to get a result against the current All-Ireland champions so every advantage is required for Antrim. Obviously playing at home in front of their own supporters is huge." 'Bigger project is Casement Park' Cunningham added that "the only positive" to come out of the seeming impasse over the venue for the last-eight tie "is that it probably highlights the need for Casement to get off the ground"."This is probably the last straw for Antrim GAA. We've been forgotten about for the past decade and we've had no home. Corrigan has been very kind to us but it is a stop-gap for the bigger project which is Casement Park."Cunningham perceives widespread support for Antrim's stance from across the GAA."There has been support from Gaels not only within Antrim, but across Ulster and across Ireland, and even within Armagh. The only people who seem to be against this is the Ulster Council. "I think the GAA as a whole is solely behind the Antrim players and the Antrim county board. They will need to take stock of this and do the right thing."I feel sorry for Armagh as much as I feel sorry for Antrim given that they are trying to prepare for an Ulster Championship game 35 days away and it's completely up in the air whether this game will take place. It's a very difficult position to put Armagh in too."
