United Kingdom

No, sorry it from an interview he did. The full quote is

When asked if transgender women can be women on a Talkradio interview show, he was applauded by Julia Hartley-Brewer for his response, stating: "Men have penises, women have vaginas; here ends my biology lesson."

Reported in the financial times, but also quoted in the Wikipedia bio https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wes_Streeting

Traditionally, puberty blockers would be used in cases where children start puberty at extremely young ages

Puberty blockers have been prescribed to transgender youth since the 90s, they're use in combating gender dysphoria is just as much a part of the puberty blocker tradition as their use in combating early puberty.

I would not want to be held accountable for the countless stupid things I said or beliefs I held at a young age, so I can see why it is a concern.

This subtle notion that slips into this discourse that being trans is akin to a make-belief thing is deeply frustrating. No, children were not just being given puberty blockers because they suddenly declared that they weren't their assigned gender. Getting puberty blockers required a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, something I can assure you is not an easy thing to get in this country, and even then still needed a specialist's approval.

This is the worst part of this 'debate', people are led to believe that it's the child deciding for themselves that they get puberty blockers despite the very stringent requirements on their use for trans youths. The point of this entire ordeal is not to protect kids (puberty blocker usage has a 4% regret rate), it's to build up the idea that no amount of safeguards can make the prescribing of trans healthcare acceptable to people you don't believe have full bodily autonomy. Where this goes from here is not looking for other areas in which our medical system is failing children, it's expanding the list of trans people who don't have full bodily autonomy. The Cass Review has already said that autistic people need special consideration.

I think allowing a child to make a decision that may impact them for the rest of their lives is a grey area to say the least.

1. It's not a child making the decision. It's typically adults making the decision for the sake of the child, and based on the child's needs. The child is involved but it's not like the adults just go along with a childish whim. The decision is made with caution and care and expert consultation, and it is not made lightly.

2. Deciding to go ahead with puberty is also a decision that impacts a child for the rest of their life. In cases of gender dysmorphia this can cause psychological trauma that won't just clear up, and prolong the agony by forcing the person to live into adulthood with a body that feels deeply wrong. At this point, transitioning can be more difficult because the body may already have taken on pronounced characteristics associated with the wrong gender.

There is very limited data regarding clinical proof that the long term use of puberty blockers is 100% reversible

There is about 40 years of real life use, and I think a good 20 years of study before that?

How much data from clinical studies and real world use do you need to feel comfortable?

Many people don’t trust children to make decisions that could impact them for the rest of their lives

But the permanent effects of puberty blockers are negligible...

What do you think is permanent about them?

I don't think you understand what Puberty Blockers are....

You seem to be wanting to ban something completely different.

Vaccines can have devastating permanent side effects. Should parents no longer vaccinate their children?

The answer for both is:

Whichever option does less harm should be taken. A delayed puberty, despite potential long-term risks does less harm than a trans child going through the "wrong" puberty.

Besides, due to the start of puberty having a pretty large range there should in theory be little harm until the age of 14 or so. And at that age children are much more capable of deciding on medical treatments than as preteens.

If puberty blockers are not reversible and if the person decides that they are not trans in later life, then the consequence would be that they are stuck in a body that doesn't match their self-image.

If that sounds bad to you, well ...

My understanding is by medical standards, the evidence is pretty low quality, which is why GnRH agonists aren't approved by the EMA, MHRA, FDA, or NICE for gender dysphoria.

It highlights a wider issue in medicine though, the obsession with randomised controlled trials, which is basically the only evidence the GRADE method considers "high quality". We are seeing exactly the same problem with MDMA assisted therapy, any therapy where blinding is difficult is dismissed by the medical establishment. NICE dismissed (es)ketamine for depression for the same reason. Add to that the fact that GnRH agonists are off patent, so there's no incentive for industry to fund studies.