One author describes the current treatment of transgender children as “the greatest experiment since frontal lobotomies”
In July 2021, a coalition of Australian citizens released a new, comprehensive document addressing the impact of transgender ideology: Australian Perspectives on Transgendering Children & Adolescents: Policy & Practice Implications. Written by Australian medical, psychological, legal professionals, and parents, this resource provides a range of perspectives and policy proposals, designed to raise awareness of the dangers of “gender transitions” for minors. The authors highlight the lack of scientific evidence and “lack of data on the long-term consequences of medical/surgical gender affirmation protocols,” the resulting legal issues regarding parental rights and women’s equality, and the hypocrisy of physicians claiming to follow the Hippocratic oath (“Do no harm”) while very clearly doing substantial physical harm to young and healthy bodies.
The document highlights the harm caused by the transgender movement in a variety of ways, from moving personal testimonies, summaries of educational policies and the law, and shocking statistics on the rapid rise of young people identifying as transgender. In addition, it provides a thoughtful legal analysis that critiques current Australian laws and offers well thought out, straightforward solutions.
The Australian experts point to the role of the Australian school system in promoting gender ideology (a similar situation exists in American schools). The document analyzes “Bulletin 55” (2014), which addresses transgender students in schools. The bulletin’s vague language and broad implications have resulted in gender ideology being taught at schools “without parliamentary oversight, parental knowledge or consent, public awareness, or media scrutiny” (8). As one author writes, “Bulletin 55 is an egregious example of policy capture by transgender ideologists. It is deeply concerning that such guidelines are being implemented in our schools with little oversight” (12).
The transgender-promoting policies in Australian schools have contributed to “social contagion,” and a rise in transgender identifying adolescents, in 2013, no children sought “gender” treatments, but by 2018, 650 children had sought “gender-affirming” interventions at Australia’s Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) clinics. By 2020 that number had more than doubled, with 1,473 Australian children seeking treatment in GIDS clinics (63).
This rapid rise in adolescent transitions is the reason many Australians are now sharply critical of the dangerous, “gender-affirming” approach to gender ideology. Multiple authors describe the support for gender ideology as “cult-like,” citing the lack of evidence, and the threats faced by those who do not play along with the “affirmation” approach to transgender persons. Many medical professionals are hesitant to take on a “transgender” patient for any reason, for fear of the legal issues that may arise. To speak out against gender ideology is to put one’s reputation and career on the line.
Despite this threat, over 50 MDs signed a letter, reproduced in the document, that calls for a new approach to medical transition, one based in evidence that heeds the long-term consequences of medical transition procedures. These MDs also call for those involved in transitions to be held accountable for “the long-term consequences of their actions,” amid concerns for how the current approach will negatively impact the next generation. One author describes the current treatment of transgender children as “the greatest experiment since frontal lobotomies” (91).
With this document, Australia joins the growing list of countries responding to the negative legal, medical, educational, and psychological impacts of the “gender-affirming” approach to identity distress. Medical professionals around the world increasingly recognize that adolescents lack the capacity to understand and consent to the body-damaging, fertility-destroying “gender affirmation” treatments. A growing coalition of parents has testified to the damage this approach has caused to their families; many of them draw attention to the harm caused by “education” on gender ideology, which typically occurs in schools and counseling offices without their knowledge or consent. This publication, representing the diverse views of a range of Australian professionals and parents, adds to the growing body of literature that underscores the harm of medical or surgical “gender transitions” for minors, and the accompanying need for better psychotherapy and alternative treatments.
