‘It’s illegal to question my gender-confused daughter’ warns Australian mum

A mother of a gender-confused teen living in the Australian state of Victoria says the Government has passed a law that “amounts to child abuse” and has called for an “immediate inquiry into this Orwellian law”.

The law she’s referring to is her State's extreme conversion therapy law, which came into force last year. Regarded by activists as the ‘gold standard’, Victoria’s conversion therapy law makes it illegal for parents to refuse to support their children’s request for puberty blockers.

In a letter to think tank Women’s Forum Australia, the distressed mother condemns the State’s harmful approach to children struggling with gender dysphoria.

She revealed that her daughter’s school had, on more than one occasion, allowed the gender-confused teen to see a doctor about transitioning without parental consent or notification.

The mother asked:

“Why are children being coached to hide things from and lie to their parents? What if unforeseen complications arise? What if they self-diagnose gender dysphoria and seek treatment with cross sex hormones and surgery and then go on to de-transition a few years later because they then regret that decision? This horrifies me.

“Teenagers are not allowed to drink alcohol, or get face tattoos, or rent a car, or vote. If they are not considered physically, emotionally, or intellectually mature enough to make these decisions, how can they be considered mature enough to make life changing decisions such as cross-sex hormone treatment without parental knowledge, counsel, or consent?”

Despite this, LGBT activists in the UK repeatedly hold up the law in Victoria as the model to be followed.

Official guidance in Victoria also lists as an “illegal practice”:  “not affirming someone’s gender identity”.

Commenting on this, the mother expressed: “I am also deeply concerned at the mandatory affirmation required for children and teenagers with gender dysphoria who say they don’t identify with their biological sex. …I …absolutely do NOT accept that putting a vulnerable and inexperienced young person down this path of no obstacle is always in their best interests.”

She stated: “Decisions have been made that may be legal, but it doesn’t make them ethical.”

She raised fears about the lack of acknowledgment from the Victorian Government and the media “of the hard road back for the people who realise too late that they’ve made a mistake”. And pointed out that realising too late would mean people are left with permanent catastrophic changes.

She said: “Letting teenagers make these decisions is like putting them in a car they don’t know how to drive, giving them the key and saying ‘well you know where you want to go, don’t worry about any road signs or directions or warnings, just put your foot on the accelerator, you’ll be fine, and don’t worry, I’ll cut the brakes so you can get there faster’” and then walking away and never checking up on them.”

She challenged the politicians that “approved the law that makes it illegal for me to ask my daughter to really think about why she might feel the way she does or the pros and cons of wanting to be a boy” and said it was “unconscionable behaviour and amounts to child abuse”. 

She added: “If my daughter transitions because a government made it illegal for me to counsel her, my beautiful and precious child who I love more than my own life and welfare, and then she realises too late that it wasn’t what she really wanted, then our names will be on the court sheet against this government and those involved.

The mother asserted: “Parents should have the right to have hard conversations with their own children about their future without the threat of imprisonment.”