Gender Affirmation is Gay Conversion

 
Key points

• Gender identity is not the same as sexual orientation – it needs to be removed from the Bill
• Gender affirmation ‘transes away the gay’
• Similar legislation in Victoria is a disaster
• Other countries are backing away from gender affirmation
• Leading gender clinicians say ‘evidence is weak’

The NSW Government is introducing legislation banning ‘conversion practices’ aimed at ‘LGBTQIA+’ children and adults.

If this legislation is similar to laws introduced in Victoria it will be a disaster for gender-confused kids and their parents and carers.

Write to your local MP, Premier Chris Minns and Labor Ministers and tell them:

You support a ban on gay conversion practices

Gender identity is not the same as sexual orientation – it needs to be removed from the Bill

Gender-confused kids need time and love, not hormones!

• Sexual orientation and gender identity are not the same

We know from the leaked consultation paper that this legislation conflates sexual orientation and gender identity.

They are two completely different things.

If your child tells you they are same sex attracted, you don’t have to do anything but love and accept them. But if they tell you they are transgender, it could become illegal not to affirm their new identity. This means you may have to:

• Change their name, their clothing and the pronouns they use
• Instruct their school and their friends to start treating them as the opposite sex
• Take them to a gender clinic or GP, where they may be prescribed puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones.

Any other approach, like counselling or watchful waiting, may become illegal.

Parents facing prosecution

• Parents in Victoria face prosecution if they do not affirm their child’s gender identity

Parents in Victoria have spoken about the impact of similar laws, saying they are afraid of being prosecuted if they don’t immediately let their child change ‘gender.’ The law there is so draconian that just arranging counselling for distressed children could lead to being charged.

It’s now a crime in Victoria to refuse a child’s request for medical treatment such as puberty blockers. And mental health experts are saying they are worried about treating gender-confused kids as they face prosecution unless they immediately affirm them.

Don’t let this happen in NSW!

‘Transing away the gay’

Research shows that the vast majority of gender-confused children will eventually accept themselves as they are. Many of them realise they are actually same sex attracted. If left alone, they will grow up to become gay men and lesbian women.

By rushing to affirm them as the opposite sex, we are ‘transing away the gay.’

We need to protect gender confused children

• A 2021 study found that a high number of trans-identifying children have complications including serious mental illness and history of trauma

There’s been a huge increase in the number of children identifying as transgender in the past decade, particularly among girls. 

Many children and teenagers presenting at gender clinics have other underlying conditions or diagnoses such as autism or eating disorders, or have experienced sexual abuse or other trauma. Not treating these underlying risks turning thousands of children into life-long medical patients. 

Researchers at Westmead Children’s Hospital in Sydney found that issues for the children presenting at the hospital with gender dysphoria were being ignored. These included ‘family trauma, sexual abuse, depression and autism.’ Their report found that the evidence for using puberty-blockers and cross-sex hormones was ‘sparse and contradictory.’

The use of puberty blockers almost always leads to cross-sex hormones which have long-term impacts including permanent facial hair, deepening of voice and vaginal atrophy for girls and women, unusual and early-stage osteoporosis for boys and men, and sterility for both sexes. 

Children do not have the maturity or capacity to understand that they are consenting to. They need the adults in their lives to help them make the right decisions – but this could be impossible to do if these laws are introduced.

Other countries are changing course

As more research is undertaken, more countries are moving away from gender medicine

Countries in Europe including the UK, Norway, Finland and Sweden have wound back or stopped gender affirming care for minors because of the risks and the lack of data to support its efficacy. Some states in the USA have also banned it.

The Cass Review in the UK found there were gaps in the evidence on the use of puberty blockers and limited research on the sexual, cognitive and developmental outcomes on children. The Tavistock Clinic in England was forced to close as a result of the review and up to 1000 families are now considering suing the clinic – joining destransitioner Keira Bell

Experts and destransitioners are speaking up

Detransitioners are individuals who once identified as transgender, often undergoing medical or surgical treatments, but who no longer identifies as transgender.

• Courney Coulson is an Australian female destransitioner who was interviewed in July 2023 by 4 Corners.

• Chloe Cole is a female destransitioner in the USA who has given evidence to the House of Representatives about how transitioning ruined her childhood 
• Professor Dianna Kenny is a psychologist and psychotherapist who has raised serious concerns about gender affirming care. 
• Senior Psychiatrist Dr Jillian Spencer at the QLD Children’s was stood down from her position after objecting to the ‘affirmation first’ model of gender care.
• Gender clinician Dr Stephen Stathis admits there is very weak evidence that affirming children is a good idea.