Australian News Station Reports on Childhood Gender Dysphoria like a Liberal Tabloid Version of a Fox News Show

Opinion

by Justine Kreher

In tabloid-style, a national Australian news station (ABC) commented on the child/teen social and medical transition movement. More minors are being socially and medically transitioned to treat gender dysphoria in all western countries. The tone of the “media watch” segment is one of moral superiority. The content could be considered news-ish, rather than straight news. It is reminiscent of a Fox News O’Reilly Factor episode, only a left-wing version.

The show starts off quoting a native of the country who hates The Australian, a conservative paper. The Australian has recently published commentary from doctors and scientists who are alarmed by some aspects of pediatric medical transition. This is done to set the stage in everyone’s mind that everything the paper printed about safety and ethical issues should be discounted.

They proceeded to quote Benjamin Law, a gay man, and writer, who is part of ABC staff. Benjamin Law is dismissive of any points that raise red flags about pediatric transition. These include the possibility that early transition may prevent desistance, side-effects of hormone blockers, and large increases of female teenagers coming out as trans. He has been on social media calling for boycotts of The Australian and painting anyone with concerns as “transphobes.”

Benjamin Law, Australian LGBT rights activist

I have sent him numerous examples of liberal-minded, pro-LGBT health professionals, raising all of the same concerns raised by The Australian. I pointed out that false positives resulting from transitioning children, teens, and young adults will fall disproportionately on gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth, as GD happens in those populations, but transition may not be the best option. Despite presenting him with cited quotes from gender dysphoria professionals and research data showing an association with childhood GD and adult homosexuality, he had no interest in addressing these points. Instead, he prompted me to read his document that brushes aside any desire to consider negative outcomes as “moral panic.” One has to pay for it to read it.

The comments he refers to by saying “not sure your comments really cut it” were from the most experienced gender clinicians in the world who support transiting youth. They just acknowledge there are risks to grey-area young people, as gender dysphoria exists more as a spectrum than an either-or situation. There is no attempt to engage honestly with this topic with people of a certain mindset. There is plenty of evidence that there are grey area, dysphoric youth who may resolve GD with less drastic measures. Diane Ehrensaft, the most enthusiastic promoter of early social and medical transition, admits there are “fruit salad” children.

Benjamin Law does not know the effects of the push to socially transition small children on them.

Benjamin Law does not know the effects of giving children hormone blockers at the crack of puberty on them.

No one knows these answers, not Law, not pediatric transition enthusiasts like Johanna Olson-Kennedy, Dianne Ehrensaft, or Norman Spack. And not the Gender Health Query organization. One would have to have studies with control groups.

Benjamin Law doesn’t address the ethics of sterilizing and destroying the sexual function of minors while many trans adults make the choice to have children or don’t get bottom surgery. Benjamin Law does not engage with information sent to him about young, detransitioned people, physically altered with regrets. ABC in Australia has no interest in any of this either even though accessing this information is very easy.

These individuals are interested in exclusively protecting one group of youth, youth who are certain to identify as trans as children and adults. People with professional backgrounds, parents with desisted children, or detransitioners who say other vulnerable youth (LGB, autism spectrum, youth with trauma) may be hurt are irrelevant. And if anyone is concerned about those youth they will paint them as an evil cartoon villain tying children to railroad tracks. The irony is a gay man is doing this. Instead of promoting this baseless outrage towards safety skeptics Law and others who engage in this behavior should just promote what their argument really is:

• Trans youth are at risk for suicide ideation and mental health problems so we support the full affirmation of trans youth who will have stable identities.

• Whatever damage that may result from this is morally acceptable.

• We will attack you if you attempt to discuss that potential damage or damage that has already happened.

That is the honest argument and that is exactly what has been happening elsewhere.

Someone is going to have to be around to care about collateral damage. This collateral damage will likely be ignored by WPATH. Youth who have been harmed by this will be treated horribly by the contemporary “queer” community, as they will be viewed as the enemy of trans people. That is already happening.

The news presenter went on quoting a doctor (“They are castrating children”) in a mocking tone because the news station believes this man should be viewed by all as ridiculous:

While surgery doesn’t happen until age 18 in Australia, gender clinics are castrating children. Hormone blockers are a form of chemical castration. They are given to sex offenders to eliminate their sexuality. The blockers stop the normal adolescent process of puberty. There is information that these drugs have dangerous side effects. If a male youth goes on hormone blockers, and then onto cross-sex hormones, the cognitively immature minor may have permanently ruined their sexual function. Both sexes will be sterilized if they do this. Many trans adults say they want biological children. No one knows the cognitive effects of blockers that may influence gender identity by shutting down a youth’s physical maturation and burgeoning sexual identity. None of this is of any interest to ABC.

Another comment from Benjamin Law:

It is dishonest to paint people worried about pediatric transition as “fringe extremists.” They include some of the most experienced gender experts. Dr. Wren, Dr. Charmicheal, Dr. Steensma, Dr. Zucker, Dr. Susan Bradley and others have all stated there is a possibility that early social and medical transitions may lead to inappropriate transition of cognitively immature minors.

But the Australian’s coverage is shamelessly one-eyed.

The newscaster went on an ad hominem attack against John Whitehall while failing to discount Whitehall’s statements. And then goes on to promote WPATH’s statements. This is a trans advocacy organization and not an unbiased source.

Then there was the one-sided appeal to emotion argument in a parent’s response. It’s not that parents’ responses are invalid. They are valid. It’s choosing a statement that says questioning the safety of drastic body modifications is “demonizing trans children” that is the problem. It is an appeal to emotion argument, hyperbole, an ad hominem attack on people raising legitimate concerns, and a red herring that does nothing to prove that giving 11 year olds hormone blockers is safe. It may not be. There are also increasing numbers of parents who could make statements that their children have been harmed by the culture’s current focus on gender and medical transition.

This is the current and likely future reality:

• A culture that is very supportive of extreme medical body modification on cognitively immature youth will dominate due to fears of suicide risk. This risk is often exaggerated but is real, and transition may help these youths.

• The fact that these treatments are profitable to those offering them is also likely a factor in why they are promoted.

• A desire to protect trans youth will create a situation where any youth who may be harmed or already have been will be treated as inconvenient collateral damage that should essentially shut up and be pushed under the rug.

• Any individuals who do express concerns for youth who may be harmed or already have been will be painted as cartoon villains by large swaths of society (mostly on the left).

• The collateral damage will fall disproportionately on LGB youth, autism spectrum youth, and youth with trauma and other mental health problems. This collateral damage will be considered worth trans-positive health care.

Stating The Australian biased skepticism and not the positive data in its reporting is a fair criticism. The Australian has not been centering affirmative model arguments in their recent stories but have been focusing on some concerns, rare in current western media. But this almost clownish ABC segment pretended there is nothing to worry about here rather than present the honest viewpoint that they believe the youth who may be hurt aren’t worth worrying about enough to due even the most rudimentary level of research and reporting.

In Gender Dysphoria Youth, LGBT Trans Conflict Tags trans activism priorities, raising youth trans