Thread by @Bernard_Lane

Here are parents' voices, rarely heard in mainstream media, warning that "conversion therapy" bans will make it harder to ensure that troubled kids get honest, thoughtful help from those who love them, and expert, cautious care, not just uncritical "gender affirmation". THREAD

A mother of a trans-identifying teenager (with mental health problems and school refusal) points out the brain does not fully develop until the mid-20s, and children need “the support, guidance and education from the mature minds of their parents, therapists and carers."

“(The latest Australian conversion therapy ban) is eroding the role and responsibility of parents as children and teenagers navigate the most vulnerable years of their lives,” this mother tells @australian

theaustralian.com.au/nation/gender-…

“Parents are being targeted by seemingly anonymous influences via social media, influencing children and teenager who may have disconnected from their peers due to underlying mental health issues.”

She says it was difficult to get any professional help that was not going to push her child down the gender affirming path to lifelong medicalisation, and it took time before Asperger’s syndrome was diagnosed as underlying her child's gender confusion.

"Jules", a lesbian grandmother with medical science qualifications, says gay or lesbian conversion therapy has not been practised for “many decades” and neither is there any evidence to support a law locking in "gender identity".

"There is not one piece of valid credible medical or psychiatric evidence to support the ‘gender affirmation’ model in children or adults,” she says. “If health practitioners advise a wait-and-see approach (to youth gender issues) in a particular case, could they be prosecuted?"

“Are teachers at risk of litigation if they do not comply with the gender affirmation model? At best, this (latest conversion ban) is meaningless; at worst, it could be unnecessarily litigious for health practitioners, & dangerous for children, teachers & the community.”

A father who has emerged from a family breakdown in which his trans-identifying step-child with Asperger’s made unsubstantiated allegations of emotional and anti-trans abuse, says conversion therapy bans will further weaponise Family Court conflict.

He says this political "anti-conversion" campaign is “dangerous because it’s limiting the support that a parent can give to their child — they’ve got the threat of legal action hanging over their head but all they’re trying to do is love their child”.

Not a hint of bigotry from these parents, who have no problem with kids not fitting into white bread gender roles. What these parents resist is rushed medicalisation of children based on poor evidence and with the risk of irreversible harm.
theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/paren…

Yes, there are parents who champion the trans-identity of their children, say they've never been happier, and that medical treatments appear to help. Of course their stories should be told, but they have dominated the media & the culture for years now.
theguardian.com/society/2019/s…

But there must be other voices too: parents against medicalisation, teens sceptical of the uncritical pro-trans social world they cannot escape, "detransitioners" who suffer regret & harm & wish adults had slowed them down, told them difficult truths.
crowdjustice.com/case/challenge…

Instead, we get more of the same. Most media outlets are not telling parents & young people the full story, because trans has been framed as "progressive". The latest news on @jk_rowling has the familiar, content-free script: is her tweet "transphobic"?
smh.com.au/culture/books/…

Of the 340 words in this news item, the only hint of the global medical & ethical debate about youth gender clinics is the fleeting line that Rowling has "argued some young women may be being rushed into medical transition". Readers might wonder what that means.

But her detailed concerns about gender clinics -- concerns clearly informed by medical & clinical experts from around the world -- are still largely unreported in mainstream media.
jkrowling.com/opinions/j-k-r…

No doubt it's difficult for the media to catch up & put this in context for readers, because most journalists have ignored the issue, while some choose to showcase the "trans rights" narrative in which rare sceptical coverage is demonised.
theguardian.com/society/2019/a…

That latest Rowling report in the @smh comes from Reuters, part of @thomsonreuters which helped write a manual advising trans activists how to lobby while keeping “press coverage to a minimum" because media “misinterpretation” can generate opposition.
spectator.co.uk/article/the-do…

Thomson Reuters also happens to be a world-leading provider of "LGBT-inclusive (news) products". thomsonreuters.com/en/about-us/so…

And so, here we are.

theaustralian.com.au/nation/under18…