Tuesday, 14 May 2024

Gender identity

Bev McARTHUR (Western Victoria) presented a petition bearing 1437 signatures:

The Petition of certain citizens of the State of Victoria draws to the attention of the Legislative Council grave concerns that medical treatment protocols initially designed for genuine gender dysphoric adults are being implemented upon a demographic of children and adolescents who for reasons unexplored wish to self-identify as transgender or gender diverse. Nordic countries and the United Kingdom have introduced limits on these interventions and have stopped routinely administering puberty blockers due to uncertain long-term outcomes, broad knowledge gaps, and lack of clarity and rationale in this novel area of medicine. Meanwhile treatment continues in Australia. Our country’s busiest gender clinic, Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital, has reportedly seen over 10 years, a dramatic 1100 per cent increase of children on their waiting list. An interviewee on Channel 7’s Spotlight program De-Transitioning stated that “I was totally lied to, even by doctors. I was sold this thing that isn’t possible”, while another shared that her diagnosis took “under an hour” and that she was “worse off” from taking testosterone and undergoing a double mastectomy. A paediatrician on the program stated that “sterilising children and leaving them sexually dysfunctional for the rest of their lives on the basis of their declared identity is a medical scandal.” Our children deserve better. A thorough investigation is required into the current clinical evidence upon which gender treatments are founded including profits involved and evidence-based clarity and rationale around why gender ideation is medically fixed for children, yet gender ideation is touted as also being fluid.

The petitioners therefore request that the Legislative Council call on the Government to implement an urgent, impartial, transparent, ethical, independent inquiry into gender identity services for children and adolescents, and consult with medical professionals and young people and their families who have lived experiences about the current end to end treatment process.

Bev McARTHUR: I move:

That the petition be taken into consideration on the next day of meeting.

Motion agreed to.