Mother Of Transgender Teen Takes Qld Govt To The Supreme Court

The mother of a transgender teenager has launched legal action in the Supreme Court, claiming the Queensland Government acted unlawfully when it suspended public access to hormone treatments across the state.

The woman’s lawyers allege that the decision, made in late January, was an improper exercise of power, and is seeking review from the courts to have the Government’s decision quashed.

The LGBTI Legal Service, a not-for-profit community legal centre, has made the application on behalf of the mother, whose name and that of her daughter have been suppressed by the court.

“The decision to restrict gender affirming care undermines the rights and responsibilities of parents, and denies children safe and effective medical care which is accessible in every other state and territory throughout the country,” said the mother’s solicitor, Matilda Alexander.

“The Government’s decision unfairly singles-out children experiencing gender dysphoria, while still allowing other children to lawfully and freely access these same treatments through the public health system.”

The application was filed in the Brisbane Registry on May 6, following legal action made earlier in the year against the Queensland Health Director-General, Dr David Rosengren, who implemented the directive prohibiting gender-affirming treatments treatments to new patients under the age of 18..

“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,” said the mother.

“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?”

Significant community backlash to ban

Health Minister Tim Nicholls said the ban was triggered by an “apparently unauthorised provision of paediatric gender services” within the Cairns Sexual Health Service, resulting in 17 children receiving hormone therapy that “may not align with the accepted Australian treatment guidelines”.

Two separate investigations will take place into the Cairns Sexual Health Service, one analysing the governance framework and the other investigating the services delivered.

The ban will remain in place until the outcomes of the resulting report are assessed by the government, which will take place within 10 months of a reviewer being appointed.

An independent review published last year found that the care being provided at the Queensland Children’s Gender Service was safe, evidence-based, and adhered strictly to national and international guidelines.

There was no evidence of coercion, malpractice, or inadequate mental health screenings prior to the administration of puberty blockers and other gender-affirming treatments, despite whistleblower allegations.

450-500 children were on the waitlist for the Queensland Children’s Gender Service when the ban was announced in January.

The LGBTQIA+ community has sparked significant public backlash to the ban, with a national day of action to protect trans youth drawing thousands to rallies across the country in February.

Later that month, over 100 organisations and individuals co-signed a letter calling on the Queensland government to reverse its ban on hormone treatments for trans and gender diverse people, deeming the move “unreasonable, unnecessary and disproportionate”.

The ban comes as transgender rights are being stripped away across the globe, with the UK Supreme Court determining only last month that trans women should not be not legally considered women.