Brisbane Rallies To Support Mother of Trans Child Suing QLD Govt Over Trans Healthcare Ban

Brisbane Rallies To Support Mother of Trans Child Suing QLD Govt Over Trans Healthcare Ban
Image: Magandjin People's Pride/Instagram

Crowds gathered in Brisbane today for a community rally, standing in solidarity with a mother who has taken the Queensland Government to the Supreme Court over its suspension of public access to gender-affirming healthcare for trans youth under 18.

Held on the lawns in front of the Supreme & District Courts, the rally brought together LGBTQIA+ community members, allies, and advocates from across Queensland, calling for the reinstatement of gender-affirming healthcare for young people.

Protesters held signs and placards urging the government to protect trans rights, as speakers urged the state government to overturn the controversial directive that halted treatment access for new patients under 18.

While, due to being about a minor, the courts held a closed session, the protestors said they were there to show the mother and child there was lots of LGBTQIA+ folks and allies who support them.

Magandjin People’s Pride — a grassroots collective dedicated to supporting queer and trans First Nations people and broader LGBTQIA+ communities in Queensland — coordinated the rally in response to what they describe as “a devastating and discriminatory act of government overreach.” It was also attended by organisers of Trans Justice, and other LGBTQIA+ organisations and collectives.

“Health minister, Tim Nicholls, is playing with kids’ lives,” said spokesperson Piper Valkyrie. “When he announced this ban, he did it without any consultation, without any scientific or evidence based backing, on a claim that still hasn’t been authenticated at all.

“491 kids who have been waiting for treatment for months, or even years, suddenly [lost] access to that, and for trans youth, that can be so devastating, when rates of self harm and suicide are high.”

Throughout the afternoon, speeches from parents, trans advocates, and healthcare workers highlighted the emotional and medical toll of the ban.

“It’s appalling that a mum has needed to sue the government just to get healthcare for her child. This is an important case for the entire trans community,” said Trans Justice Australia Campaigner, Jodie Hall.

“Over the last nine months the Queensland government has refused to engage with the clinicians, young people, and parents that have been impacted by this directive.

“All young people deserve a health system that supports them to grow up healthy, happy and with the freedom to be themselves.”

The Supreme Court case over QLD’s youth gender-affirming care ban

The landmark Supreme Court case was launched by the mother of a transgender teenager, who challenged the Queensland Government’s January decision to suspend access to hormone treatments and other gender-affirming care for new patients under 18.

The LGBTI Legal Service, a community legal centre, filed the application on the parents behalf, arguing that the decision was an improper exercise of power and unlawfully restricts access to essential medical care.

The case followed legal action against names Queensland Health Director-General Dr David Rosengren, over his directive prohibiting gender-affirming treatments for new patients under 18.

Solicitor Matilda Alexander, representing the mother, said in May that the government’s move “undermines the rights and responsibilities of parents, and denies children safe and effective medical care which is accessible in every other state and territory.”

The mother said in a statement at the time that no access to adequate healthcare has been “shattering” for her child.

“This is the most intimate and private matter for my family and yet these politicians, who have never even seen or spoken to my child, are telling me how to be her mum,” she told media.

“How can they possibly make such a personal decision about the private medical care of a child they have never met and whose experience of growing up is so different to their own?”

How did the youth trans healthcare care ban in QLD come about?

Health Minister Tim Nicholls has maintained that the suspension was triggered by an investigation into “unauthorised provision of paediatric gender services” at the Cairns Sexual Health Service, where 17 young patients reportedly received hormone therapy outside approved governance frameworks.

It’s understood two separate reviews are underway, but the ban is expected to remain while findings are assessed.

An independent review released last year found that the Queensland Children’s Gender Service was delivering safe, evidence-based care consistent with national and international standards. At the time of the ban, around 450–500 young people were on the service’s waitlist.

The decision has sparked widespread condemnation from medical experts and LGBTQIA+ advocates and organisations.

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