Child gender transition should be banned says Family First in wake of open letter to the PM

Child gender transition should be banned says Family First in wake of open letter to the PM

Family First has renewed its calls for a ban on transitioning children’s gender.

This comes as 100 prominent Australians, including medical doctors, have written to the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and State Health Ministers calling for a public inquiry into the practice.

While this is a worthy initiative, there is no need for more investigation.

As one of the letter’s signatories, Dr Andrew Amos told Sky News, the international evidence of harm to children from gender-bending chemicals that cause sterilisation and mutilating surgery is in.

“It doesn't help their health, it doesn't help their mental health, and it does cause significant physical and mental side effects, particularly things like broken bones, infertility, sexual dysfunction and the breakdown of social relationships,” Dr Amos said.

The open letter was signed by former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, former deputy Prime Minister John Anderson, 40 doctors, around 20 members of Parliament and other campaigners.

The letter states that "such an inquiry will need to consider how this (harm to children) was allowed to happen."

Family First agrees and notes that the answer to that question lies in large part with LGBTIQA+ political activists like Anna Brown from Equality Australia, Rodney Croome and NSW MP Alex Greenwich, all prominent leaders of the 2017 campaign to redefine marriage.

They are virtually the last standing in defence of child gender transitioning, having lied their way through the marriage campaign by saying that same-sex marriage would not have consequences for children.

Weak politicians and an incurious media captured by LGBTIQA+ ideology are also a major reason behind the "how” question.

With gender diversity made a non-relevant criterion for marriage in law, activists set about making children's gender fluid with a government-funded indoctrination program called "Safe Schools".

While "Safe Schools" started before the marriage law was changed, the play for children's gender was turbocharged by the success of the Yes campaign in the 2017 marriage plebiscite.

Concerns raised by the No campaign about a looming move (as a consequence of redefining marriage) to indoctrinate children into the LGBTIQA+ activists’ lie that gender was fluid, were ignored or suppressed.

Redefining marriage and redefining gender were always a package deal.

This has been a long fight. This letter is a major development but Family First suspects there will now be a fierce battle for it's request to be heeded.

The Australian newspaper’s reporting of the letter today was good, except the journalists used the pejorative "so-called" when referring to detransitioners such as Mel Jefferies who as an 18 year old had both her breasts removed so she could present as a male.

She bitterly regrets this decision which ideologically motivated medical practitioners pushed her in to.

Calling her a "so-called" detransitioner is akin to calling a victim of sexual abuse a "so-called" survivor.

Again, it is evidence of the ideological capture that was completed when our marriage law changed.

Below is a full copy of the letter:


Dear Prime Minister,

cc: Opposition Leader The Hon Peter Dutton MP, Federal Health Minister the Hon Mark Butler MP, Shadow Health Minister Senator the Hon Anne Ruston MP, all State and Territory Health Ministers and Shadow Health Ministers

RE: Urgent Call for Public Inquiry into Youth Gender Medicine

We are writing as concerned citizens to call for an immediate public inquiry into youth gender medicine in Australia and a pause on all medical gender transitions for children and young people until this inquiry is complete.

Worldwide concerns about ‘gender-affirming’ treatment

Recent developments globally have exposed serious concerns about the ‘gender-affirming’ approach to treating gender-confused youth and there is now a bipartisan consensus in many countries that major changes to practice in this area are needed.

The UK's comprehensive Cass Review (April 2024) found no reliable evidence base for gender transition interventions in young people.

The review found:

  • No clear evidence supporting ‘gender-affirming’ interventions for children
  • Poor quality evidence for puberty suppression and cross-sex hormones
  • No reliable support for claims that these treatments reduce suicide risk
  • Social transition may significantly affect psychological functioning
  • Treatment should not be based on the ‘gender-affirming’ model currently used in Australia

Medical interventions including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries can cause irreversible harm, including physiological damage (bone density loss, infertility, sexual dysfunction), issues concerning brain development and social and relational difficulties.

While lifelong impacts are yet to be fully understood, regret is real, and a growing number of detransitioners believe their gender distress masked other co-morbidities, including autism, untreated sexual trauma, and discomfort with their sexuality.

UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, Reem Alsalem, noted the Cass Review's global implications, citing its demonstration of "devastating consequences that policies on gender treatments have had on human rights of children."

Responses from governments

As a consequence, the National Health Service has halted the use of puberty blockers outside clinical trials. The issue transcends politics. The Cass review has bipartisan support and the new Labour Health Secretary Wes Streeting has imposed an indefinite ban on private or offshore prescribing of blockers.

He said it was “a scandal that [puberty blocking] medicine was given to vulnerable young children without the proof that it is safe or effective or [without going] through the rigorous safeguards of a clinical trial.”

Numerous US states and Scandinavian countries have restricted or banned these practices as well, following careful reviews of the available evidence showing a lack of benefit to children’s and young people’s mental health.

The situation in Australia

Despite these developments, Australian politicians, clinicians and relevant institutions have been slow to act. Worse, some have sought to undermine the significance of these developments and their direct relevance to Australia.

The Cass Review specifically evaluated Australia's current treatment guidelines and gave them a poor rating for quality overall. These standards are based on guidelines from the now discredited World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH).

On 2 November 2024, two leading Australian clinicians along with over 20 international authors released a paper demonstrating just how inadequate Australia’s response has been compared to the international community in relation to the mounting evidence against the ’gender-affirming’ model of care. They also express strong concern that ‘conversion therapy’ laws – which five out of eight Australian states and territories have adopted – impede neutral exploratory psychotherapy for gender-confused children and young people.

The need for a public inquiry

If this issue were just about a dispute between medical professionals, it might be considered inappropriate for governments to get involved. However, leaked documents from WPATH reveal that clinicians privately acknowledge the harmful impacts of this treatment protocol on youth and the lack of evidence for benefit but continue to publicly recommend it.3 Evidence has also emerged of political interference in the work of WPATH in revising its guidelines and making recommendations.

This is a potential public health disaster of generational significance demanding an independent public inquiry. Until an inquiry is complete, all ‘gender-affirmation’ interventions for children and young people (including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgeries) must be paused to prevent further harm.

Scope of the inquiry

An independent public inquiry needs to be carried out at the federal level with the cooperation of the states and territories, involving an expert, or panel of distinguished experts, independent from the practice of gender medicine.

Such an inquiry will need to consider how this was allowed to happen, the impact on the children and their families, and make recommendations as to how to protect other children from harm.

Such an inquiry does not need to ‘reinvent’ the wheel in terms of the medical and scientific evidence, for this has been systematically reviewed multiple times by different expert bodies, with the same conclusion. What the inquiry needs to do is to consider whether, in the light of the evidence, current ‘gender-affirming’ practices should continue, and, if so, to what extent.

The safety and wellbeing of Australian children depend on a swift response to this public health crisis.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Dr Jillian Spencer MB.BS BmedSci FRANZCP Cert. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Cert. Forensic Psychiatry Grad Dip For Beh Sci

Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist

 

Dr Andrew Amos MB.BS FRANZCP

Psychiatrist

 

Prof Dianna Kenny PhD MA (Sch Couns) BA (Hons) Dip Ed Grad Dip FDR FAPs MAPA

Consulting Psychologist, Psychotherapist, Family Therapist

 

Dr Dylan Wilson

MB BCh MRCPCH FRACP

Paediatrician

 

A/Prof Peter Parry MB.BS Ph.D FRANZCP Cert. Child and Adolescent Psych (RANZCP)

Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist

 

Professor John Whitehall BA MB.BS FRACP

Paediatrician

 

Dr Alison Clayton

MBBS MPM FRANZCP

Psychiatrist

 

Dr Shannon Abeywardena MD RACGP

General Practitioner

 

Dr Cary Breakey MB.BS FRACGP DPM

Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist (retired)

 

Dr Michael Paul Burt MB.BS BS FANZCA FCICM

Anaesthetist

 

Dr Jacqueline Condon BMedSci MD FRANZCP MHL Cert. Forensic Psych Grad Cert FMH

Psychiatrist

 

Dr Gerald Fogarty BSc MB.BS FRANZCR PhD

Radiation Oncologist

 

Dr Rachel Hannam PhD MPsych BSocSci MAAPi

Clinical Psychologist

 

Dr Guy van Hazel MB.BS FRACP FRCP

Medical Oncologist

 

Dr Christine Huxtable MB.BS FANZCA DipPOM MRCS DRACOG

Anaesthetist

 

Dr Randy Juanta BMBS

Medical Doctor

 

Dr Vincent Keane MB.BS DipRACOG MPH&TM (USA) FAFPHM (RACP)

Public Health Medical Doctor

 

Dr Chris Kennedy MB.BS MPH&TM FRAGP FRACMA Hon Doctor Medicine OAM

Rural General Practitioner and Medical Administrator

 

Dr Deirdre Little MB.BS DRANZCOG FACRRM GCBioeth

General Practitioner

 

Dr T. John Martin MD FRACP FAA FRS AO

Emeritus Professor of Medicine

 

Dr Stephen Milgate AM

Medical Association Executive – Health Policy Research

 

Dr George L. Mendz MSc MBioeth PhD

Professor of Medicine, University of Notre Dame Australia

 

Dr Shannon Morton BSc MB.BS FRANZCP Cert. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist

 

Dr Luke O’Regan B Med FRANZCP

Psychiatrist

 

Dr Catherine Peterson MB.BS FRACGP

General Practitioner

 

Dr Nic Rosoman MB.BS

Medical Doctor

 

Dr Carl Scott MB.BS FRANZCA FCICM

Anaesthetist and Intensive Care Specialist

 

A/Professor Mike Sladden MB ChB MAE MRCP(UK) FACD MRCGP FRACGP DRCOG

Dermatologist

 

Dr Julie Sladden MB.BS BMedSci PGDipMedEd

Medical Doctor

 

Professor David Torpy MB.BS PhD FRACP

Endocrinologist

 

Dr Joseph Turner MB.BS PhD DRANZCOG (Adv) FRACGP-RG FACRRM

General Practitioner/Rural Generalist

 

Dr David Ward MBCHB MRCPSYCH FRCPSYCH FRANZCP

Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist

 

Dr John Warlow MB CHB BIRM FRANZCP

Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist

 

Dr Danielle Collins BMBS FRACGP

General Practitioner

 

Dr Sean Leow BSc MD MS(Plast)

Surgical Registrar

 

Dr Megan Richardson BAppSci MB.BS FRANZCP Cert Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist

 

Dr Elvis Seman MB.BS FRANZCOG EUCOGE FRCOG NFPMC PhD

Obstetrician and Gynaecologist

 

Dr Geoff Holloway

Sociologist and Editor of United Tasmania Group Journal

 

Dr Shirley Prager MB.BS FRANZCP

Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist

 

Dr Mei Ling Doery MBBS BMedSci MPH

Medical doctor, Public Health Expert and Advocate

 

Dr Sandra Pertot

BA MPsych PhD FCCLP

Clinical Psychologist

 

Dr Petra Bueskens

Clinical Psychotherapist

 

Courtney Coulson

Detransitioner

 

Mel Jeffries

Detransitioner

 

Jay Langadinos

Detransitioner

 

Hon Tony Abbott AC

Former Prime Minister of Australia

 

Hon John Anderson AC

Former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia

 

Clive Hamilton

Professor of Public Ethics, Charles Sturt University

 

Dr Peter Koopman

Professor Emeritus of Developmental Biology, University of Queensland

 

Hon Greg Donnelly

Member of New South Wales Legislative Council, Labor Party

 

Sall Grover

CEO and Founder, Giggle for Girls

 

Joe McCrackin

Member of Victorian Legislative Council, Liberal Party

 

Madeleine Beekman

Professor Emerita of Evolutionary Biology, University of Sydney

 

Tim James

State Member for Willoughby, Liberal Party

 

Dr Renate Klein

Biologist and Social Scientist

 

Hon Rod Roberts

Member of New South Wales Legislative Council, Independent

 

Hon Heidi Girolamo

Member of South Australian Legislative Council, Liberal Party

 

Dr Chris French

Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Melbourne

 

Holly Lawford-Smith

Associate Professor, University of Melbourne

 

Belle Lane

Barrister

 

Hon Michael Sukkar

Federal Member for Deakin, Liberal Party

 

Dr Xavier Symons

Director, Plunkett Centre for Ethics

 

Senator Matt O'Sullivan

Senator for Western Australia, Liberal Party

 

Louise Elliot

Councillor, City of Hobart

 

Anna Kerr

Principal Solicitor, Feminist Legal Clinic

 

Anna McCormack

Founder, IWD Brisbane Meanjin

 

Senator Hon Matt Canavan

Senator for Queensland, National Party

 

Bronwyn Winter

Professor Emerita, University of Sydney

 

Senator Claire Chandler

Senator for Tasmania, Liberal Party

 

Dr Emma Dalton

Senior Lecturer, La Trobe University

 

Hon Sophia Moermond

Member of Western Australian Legislative Council, Independent

 

Bev McArthur

Member of Victorian Legislative Council, Liberal Party

 

Chris Smith

Journalist and Broadcaster

 

Dr Elisabeth Taylor

Researcher

 

Katherine Deves

Lawyer and Commentator

 

David Limbrick

Member of Victorian Legislative Council, Libertarian Party

 

Hon Tanya Davies

State Member for Mulgoa, Liberal Party

 

Jasmine Sussex

Breastfeeding Advocate

 

Hon Ben Hood

Member of South Australian Legislative Council, Liberal Party

 

Alan Davison

Professor, Australian Catholic University

 

Hon Susan Carter

Member of New South Wales Legislative Council, Liberal Party

 

Judith Hunter

Genspect

 

Hon Laura Henderson

Member of South Australian Legislative Council, Liberal Party

 

Patrick Parkinson

Professor Emeritus of Law, University of Queensland

 

Senator Alex Antic

Senator for South Australia, Liberal Party

 

Dr Caroline Norma

Senior Lecturer, RMIT University

 

Hon Damien Tudehope

Member of New South Wales Legislative Council, Liberal Party

 

Colleen Harkin

Director of Schools Program, Institute for Public Affairs

 

Dr Elizabeth Caballero

Director, Women Speak Tasmania

 

Hon Rachel Merton

Member of New South Wales Legislative Council, Liberal Party

 

Dr Henry Kha

Senior Lecturer in Law, University of New South Wales

 

Nicole Werner

State Member for Warrandyte, Liberal Party

 

Bronwyn Williams

Solicitor, Feminist Legal Clinic

 

Moira Deeming

Member of Victorian Legislative Council, Liberal Party

 

Nicholas Gordon Martin

Professor, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute

 

Georgia Chenevix-Trench

Professor, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute

 

Dr Renee Health

Member of Victorian Legislative Council, Liberal Party

 

Dr Susan Hawthorne

Adjunct Professor, James Cook University

 

Colin Wight

Professor Emeritus, University of Sydney

 

Dr Kate Phelan

Lecturer, RMIT University

 

Rita Panahi

Commentator and Columnist

 

Hon John Ruddick

Member of New South Wales Legislative Council, Libertarian Party

 

Dr Karleen Gribble

Adjunct Associate Professor, Western Sydney University

 

Karen Richardson

Clinical Research Consultant

 

Kirralie Smith

Binary Australia

 

Cordelia Fine

Professor, University of Melbourne

 

Stassja Frei

Host, Desexing Society

 

Catherine Karena

Executive Director, Active Watchful Waiting

 

Dr Megan Poore

Founder, Affiliation of Australian Women’s Action Alliances

Parents of Adolescents with Gender Distress (VIC)

 

Stephanie Bastiaan

Head of Advocacy, Women's Forum Australia

 

Rachael Wong

Chief Executive Officer, Women's Forum Australia