Parents grief as trans teenager taken into care

The Australian 30 November 2020
Family First Comment: Shocking intrusion in to a family’s life, and a complete denial of biological truth and psychological help for the teenager.
“(The authorities say) we will not allow her to change gender, so it’s dangerous for her to come back to our house because we will mentally abuse her — they want us to consent to testosterone treatment.” The parents said they knew their daughter had been depressed and in need of help, but they wanted an independent psychologist to consider all possible underlying causes, not just gender issues, and to look into non-invasive treatment options.

A teenager has been taken into care in Australia’s first known case of parents being judged abusive and potentially harmful for failing to consent to their child’s self-declared transgender identity and wish for irreversible cross-sex hormone treatment.

A state children’s court magistrate cited the risk of self-harm when making the protection order in October — almost a year after the teenager, who was born female and cannot be named for legal reasons — was removed from the family by police at 15 after discussing suicide online.

“(The authorities say) we will not allow her to change gender, so it’s dangerous for her to come back to our house because we will mentally abuse her — they want us to consent to testosterone treatment,” the father told The Weekend Australian.

The parents, who migrated to Australia a decade ago, said they felt a kind of grief at the loss of their much-loved child, and objected to what they describe as bullying by authorities. The mother said family and friends were shocked at their story — “especially Australians, they just can’t believe that it happens in Australia”.

The parents said they knew their daughter had been depressed and in need of help, but they wanted an independent psychologist to consider all possible underlying causes, not just gender issues, and to look into non-invasive treatment options.

The teenager had lost friends after a family move at age 13, lacked social skills, had anxiety about eating and body image, and a difficult start to puberty, her mother said.

Queensland University’s dean of law Patrick Parkinson, speaking in a personal capacity as a family law expert and critic of “gender affirming” medical treatment for young people diagnosed with distressing “gender dysphoria”, said he believed the child removal was the first of its kind and “a very troubling development”.

Child protection authorities have yet to back hormone treatment and have agreed to the parents’ request for a second opinion before any decision.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/parents-grief-as-trans-teenager-taken-into-care/news-story/45462227e3b87702370fe4e0a95885cd