Share this page!

Bernard Lane Profile picture
Twitter logo
13 Dec, 10 tweets, 7 min read
In Australia, public media outlet @abcnews has showcased children's hospital gender medicine for years. This treatment was found to be "experimental" in Keira Bell's court challenge to the UK Tavistock clinic. The ruling has global significance, but not on the ABC website.
Even before the Tavistock ruling, the UK had adopted a more cautious approach to this medicalisation. Finland & Sweden have edged away from the "gender affirming" medical model used in Oz. The pioneering Dutch clinic has expressed concern about a shift in patient profile.
But Australian readers were told back in April this was just a rightwing culture war, and that the gender medical model had prevailed. Now this Melbourne newspaper has had a "struggle session" with staff angry it ran the story of a worried (& obviously not bigoted) parent.
.@granskning, Sweden's counterpart to ABC @4corners, has done serious investigative reporting on youth gender clinics, so has @BBCNewsnight. In March, @4corners producer Sally Neighbour featured "generally reversible" puberty blockers and mastectomy for non-binary youth.
In 2019, ABC news told the story of Lottie, 9, whose parents "decided to stop fighting so hard against Lottie's gender identity" after "learning about those dire statistics (on the risk of trans youth attempting suicide)".
abc.net.au/news/2019-04-0…
In the Tavistock case, the judges by implication rejected the suicide narrative: “Apart perhaps from lifesaving treatment, there will be no more profound medical decisions for children than whether to start on this treatment pathway.”

Low quality data:
theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/reaso…
Parents who are fine with gender non-confirming kids but worried about medical treatment say the ABC won't tell their stories. And the ABC panders to the gender clinic narrative that only rightwing bigots are worried.
abc.net.au/news/2018-08-1…
Australia's biggest youth gender clinic, at @RCHMelbourne, has a page featuring its media coverage, which it calls "gender service media advocacy". The ABC accounts for more than half the items.
rch.org.au/adolescent-med…
RCH & the Tavistock know the importance of media coverage & have researched the link between publicity & new referrals to their clinics.

I hope the ABC reports Keira Bell's case. Maybe it's already been on radio or TV, not picked up by website.

THREAD

Correction: Queensland Children's Hospital gender clinic has overtaken RCH as Australia's biggest, according to this data obtained under freedom of info law. See this blogpost by psychologist @dianna_kenny diannakenny.com.au/k-blog/item/15…

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Bernard Lane

Bernard Lane Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @Bernard_Lane

Bernard Lane Profile picture
21 Nov
An American appeals court has ruled that "conversion therapy" bans offend the First Amendment right to free speech in the constitution. Here's a news report with the basic facts -- and significant omissions. This case looks important. THREAD

reuters.com/article/us-usa…
The two therapists who challenged the "conversion therapy" bans say they offer counselling: just talking. The Florida authorities lawmakers argue this does serious psychological harm to minors. Image
But these restrictive "ordinances" give a green light to one form of counselling. This "carveout" is a hallmark of the new-wave "LGBT conversion therapy" bans being pushed by "gender identity" activists around the world. Image
Read 5 tweets
Bernard Lane Profile picture
17 Nov
Canada's Bill C-6 would criminalise "conversion therapy". This is part of an international project pitched as an urgent rescue of "LGBTQ people" from right-wing religious bigots bent on forcibly changing their identity.
cbc.ca/news/canada/br…
If people in the mainstream hear about this new wave of bans on "gay conversion therapy", their reaction is revulsion, then puzzlement: "Surely all that horrible electric shock stuff is a thing of the past? Nobody's even arguing about gay marriage any more."
What's new -- the heart of the controversy about these laws -- is "gender identity", not sexual orientation. It ties in to the global debate about the exponential surge in teenagers seeking to transition with hormonal drugs & surgery to an "inner gender" at odds with biology. Sex researcher James Cantor on the "gender identity&quo
Read 13 tweets
Bernard Lane Profile picture
5 Nov
Australia has taxpayer-funded sport guidelines promoting transgender inclusion, launched in 2019 after "confidential, targeted and respectful” consultations with unnamed groups. But whose idea was this? Senator Claire Chandler asked some months ago & got this answer --
In October, Chandler & Robert Dalton, acting CEO of @sportaustralia, the top government agency, were back in the Senate. In preamble to a question, Chandler reminded Dalton about his agency having kicked off the guideline project.
Dalton said: "If I can correct you ... the guidelines were in fact initiated by the human rights commission ... we supported the human rights commission."
Read 16 tweets
Bernard Lane Profile picture
1 Oct
With transgender lobby @PrideinSportAU, 8 major sport bodies put out a statement on trans "inclusion" @RugbyAU @AFL @NetballAust @TennisAustralia @unisportAU @WaterpoloAus @touchfootyaus @HockeyAustralia Their policy enables male-bodied transfemales to compete in female sport. 1/
They justify this with the suggestion that if trans players are not included, suicide may result. That's a serious issue -- & there are serious questions about activist use of statistics on suicide risk. Did those 8 sporting bodies do their due diligence?
medianet.com.au/releases/19226…
Their statement says: "Data from the National LGBTI Health Alliance state that trans & gender diverse adults are nearly 11 times more likely to attempt suicide than the general population, with 35% of trans & gender diverse adults having attempted suicide in their lifetime".
Read 12 tweets
Bernard Lane Profile picture
17 Sep
No doubt Harvard's @jack_turban has reason to worry about trans people. Many teens in gender clinics present with a host of problems but is there any good data on how much suicide risk is *because* of trans issues versus, say, autism, same-sex attraction or family trauma? 1/
As for this new study, Dr Turban admits it uses a "convenience sample". Suicide risk studies relied on to promote gender clinic medicine typically claim very high risk but are low-quality from a research design point of view. I base this thread on talks with experts & reading.
These trans suicide studies can't be taken to be representative of trans people generally. They recruit participants via sources such as social media & trans activist groups, where the narrative of trans suicide risk circulates and may be reinforced by each successive study.
Read 19 tweets
Bernard Lane Profile picture
29 Aug
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-…
Read 21 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Like this author's thread?

Get emails when @Bernard_Lane has new unrolls!

Check out other threads from @Bernard_Lane!

Read all threads by @Bernard_Lane