ScoMo & Albo have made a show of defying woke gender lingo. In 2018, Morrison disagreed with the idea of "[trans] gender whisperers" in schools. Last month, Albanese said no, men can't give birth. But whatever they say, gender ideology is entrenched in our law & institutions. 1/
In our politics, gender ideology surfaces as a niche issue or a can-you-believe-it quote. In truth it involves big changes but mostly behind the scenes & of little interest to political journalists. Will this change? In the UK, these are serious mainstream policy debates. #AusPol
Three threads follow. No. 1 explains why Australia's top health bureaucrat was struck silent by "the woman question". No. 2 covers Albanese's identity politics dilemma. No. 3 dispels the myth that Australians voted for "same-sex marriage". #AustraliaVotes2022
Actually, it's irrelevant that Murphy is a doc. In 2013, our parliament inserted the nebulous concept of "gender identity" into the Sex Discrimination Act, destabilising the biological reality of binary sex. Little noticed at the time, this "Queering" of the law has consequences.
UK PM Boris Johnson: "I don't think it's reasonable for kids to be deemed so-called 'Gillick competent' to take decisions about...irreversible [medical] treatments [for gender change]. I think there should be parental involvement at the very least." 1/
Johnson gives the impression he has been forced to grapple with this complexity after accepting the argument that "conversion therapy" bans apply to sexual orientation, not to the fluid gender identity of minors, where the effect could be to outlaw ethical exploratory therapy.
In the 1985 Gillick case, the court majority said children under 16 who were mature enough to understand could authorise their own treatment (being the contraceptive pill which Mrs Gillick did not want doctors giving her daughters behind her back). ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…
The US administration has issued a series of statements endorsing medicalised gender change for minors, & claims that puberty blocker drugs & cross-sex hormones are "evidence-based".
In other countries, there's a shift to caution about these interventions. Who's got it right? 1/
Sweden: "The National Board of Health & Welfare in Sweden has urged 'restraint' in the use of hormonal drug treatments for medicalised gender change with minors, warning that the risks appear to outweigh the benefits." genderclinicnews.substack.com/p/sweden-trans…
The UK: "The evidence for using puberty blocking drugs to treat young people struggling with their gender identity is 'very low", an official review has found ... existing studies of the drugs were small and 'subject to bias and confounding'.". bbc.com/news/health-56…
France's National Academy of Medicine goes public with concerns about the "epidemic-like" spread of youth gender dysphoria & calls for "great medical caution" in the use of hormonal & surgical treatments. @acadmed@SEGMtweets#GenderClinics 1/
The academy highlights side-effects of puberty blockers followed by cross-sex hormones -- "such as the impact on growth, bone weakening, risk of sterility, emotional & intellectual consequences & for girls, menopause-like symptoms".
Statement in French - academie-medecine.fr/la-medecine-fa…
The academy advises psychological support for youth struggling with gender & warns parents to monitor "the addictive role of excessive engagement with social media", which plays a "very significant part" in the international explosion of teenage gender dysphoria.
"Rather than weaponizing child protective services against loving families, child welfare agencies should expand access to gender-affirming care for transgender children." President Biden on Texas classifying medicalised gender change as "child abuse". 1/ whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/…
.@POTUS stated that "respected medical organizations have said that access to gender-affirming care for transgender children can benefit mental health, lower suicide rates, and improve other health outcomes".
But there is not really good evidence to support "gender-affirming care" -- i.e. gender change with puberty blockers & cross-sex hormones -- according to Sweden's National Board of Health & Welfare, armed with results of an independent expert review.
Swedish health authorities say the claim of low regret after medicalised gender change “no longer stands unchallenged” & cite Lisa Littman's 2021 detransitioners study, where only 24% went back to the clinic to report treatment regret. #Socialstyrelsen 1/ genderclinicnews.substack.com/p/sweden-trans…
US trans clinician Erica Anderson says the world should pay careful attention to Sweden's new cautious policy on puberty blockers & cross-sex hormones for minors. @eanderh@genspect@SEGMtweets
Dr Anderson says the rushed medicalisation of some young people "raises the prospect of a larger proportion of future detransitioners/desisters". @detrans_voices@FtMdetransed@LisaLittman1