PinkNews is facing a fresh wave of public scrutiny after platforming Health Secretary Wes Streeting in a column on trans youth healthcare.
The internationally-read LGBTQ+ news media brand, which claims to “inform and inspire” millions of readers worldwide, has garnered widespread backlash after platforming the Ilford North MP in an opinion piece published on Friday (3rd of April).
Streeting, 43, defended his decisions on trans healthcare as Secretary of State for the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), which included permanently extending a ban on life-saving puberty blockers for trans under-18s, claiming he was focused on ensuring the “safety and respect” of trans youngsters.
“We have a collective responsibility to make sure care is safe, compassionate and truly in your best interests, both now and in the years ahead,” he wrote.
In response, members of the public and LGBTQ+ rights organisations have called for a boycott of PinkNews for choosing to platform a minister that has on mulitple occasions said he does not believe trans women are women.
In just days, nearly 2,000 users on Bluesky alone blocked PinkNews according to analytics site ClearSky. In the day following the article’s publication, PinkNews became the sixth most blocked account on the platform with at least 1,116 blocks in 24 hours.
The company also saw dips in its follower metrics on Instagram and Facebook according to SocialBlade. Its Instagram account incured a loss of 612 followers over the weekend alone.
Among those vowing to boycott the brand is Trans+ Solidarity Alliance, a UK-based trans rights non-profit, which refused to work with the publication and vowed to cut all communication unless leadership changes course.
“We deserve better from our community’s news outlets, and others provide vital coverage while respecting queer journalists, operating ethically and speaking truth to power,” a spokesperson wrote in a statement published earlier this week.
PinkNews plans for ‘reporter-free newsroom’ sparks concerns
The backlash comes just a week after almost all of the organisation’s Editorial team, including its only transgender journalist, were made redundant in what is reportedly the third major wave of layoffs since late 2023.
Reports stemming from Novara Media suggest the wave of redundancies is part of a broader editorial move to create a ‘reporter-free newsroom’ – a term which has sparked mass confusion.
Insiders close to the situation shared fears with QueerAF in March that PinkNews’ future content strategy was not only unclear but would likely heavily impact the quality of its news output.
A mixture of financial difficulties and controversies have decimated the organisation’s reputation over the past few years. It began losing money in 2023 after its reliance on third-party platforms collapsed, resulting in major losses across the first six months of the fiscal year.
Founder and Chief Executive Benjamin Cohen told Press Gazette at the time that “previously robust revenue lines” had been impacted by challenges to referrals across social media platforms which were being felt across the media industry.
Things took a turn for the worse later that year after an anonymous ‘whistleblower’ account made multiple accusations against PinkNews’ senior leadership, which the company refutes, before being shut down just months later.
Former staff members raised further accusations of misconduct in 2024, alleging to the BBC that senior staff had behaved inappropriately towards younger male employees. PinkNews issued a statement vehemently denying these accusations.
Chief Operating Officer and Cohen’s husband, Dr Anthony James, told Press Gazette that the redundancies were part of a structural shift, which he said would reduce “duplication in how content is produced and published.”
“Our focus as a publisher remains the same, and our team of over 25 journalists and producers will continue to deliver the news, pop culture and entertainment content our audiences expect across video, social and written formats,” he said.
Trans youngsters will be referred to ‘mental health’ teams, Streeting claims
Writing in the PinkNews column, Streeting claimed trans youngsters who are currently unable to access life-saving care had not been “forgotten” and would instead be forced to go through paediatric mental health teams rather than receive care.
“We know many young people in this space are also dealing with other challenges, including anxiety, depression, neurodiversity,” he wrote. “This is about surrounding you with people who listen without judgement, who take your experiences seriously, and who want to help you feel safe in yourself.”
Outstanding psychiatric issues such as anxiety, depression, or neurodevelopmental conditions such as ADHD or autism are routinely used by anti-trans lobbyists to call for a reduction in medically-proven care for trans people, particularly youngsters.
Clinicians historically used outlying mental health conditions to gatekeep potentially life-saving care by claiming either through malice or ignorance that patients were too “unstable” for medical interventions or were not ‘truly trans’, according to sociologist stef shushter.
However, research published by trans academic Dr Natacha Kennedy in late 2024 found that the government’s ban on puberty blockers was having “serious adverse effects” on the UK’s young trans population, with many becoming depressed, anxious, and even suicidal as a result of an inability to access care.
Streeting also made reference to the recently stalled NHS PATHWAYS Trial – a £10 million study into the effectiveness of puberty blockers – claiming it was paused to improve the “design and safety” of the trial.
A report from Good Law Project published in March suggested Streeting paused the trial in response to concerns held by professor Jacob George – a cardiologist who was removed from the project over trans-exclusionary posts he made online.
What The Trans!? has contacted PinkNews and the Department of Health and Social Care for comment.
