MEDICAL DAMAGES OF GENDER AFFIRMING CARE
Introduction
Testimonies at legal hearings from communities, expert witnesses, and coalitions—comprising Detransitioners, Trans individuals, parents with Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria (ROGD) children, teachers, and LGB groups—highlight the medical damages associated with gender affirming care.
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Community Perspectives
Organisations such as LGB Defence, LGB Alliance Australia, LGB Tasmania, Coalition of Activist Lesbians, and Active Watchful Waiting (AWW.org.au) equate the gender affirmative model to a new form of conversion therapy for gays. They are calling for a parliamentary inquiry into the medical harms of gender affirming care and the burgeoning gender industry. These groups are particularly concerned about the funnelling of vulnerable youths—including LGB, autistic individuals, and those with a history of health issues—into gender clinics.
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On the front page of AWW, the following statement highlights the physical harms:
"Gender identity affirmation, marketed as ‘being your authentic self,’ is predicated on the belief that individuals are 'born in the wrong body,' necessitating 'gender affirming care.' This care includes the use of pharmaceutical products like puberty blockers and hormones, as well as extensive body modifying surgeries, to align one’s appearance with their subjective 'gender identity'—an inner sense of self as the gender opposite to one’s biological sex.
There is a new industry around gender affirming care, and when made mandatory in law via conversion therapy bans by gender it ensures the purchase of hormones and drugs throughout a youth's lifetime. This is highly profitable for the pharmaceutical industry, doctors, and LGBT+ organisations that are funded to market this branding promote transgenderism and prioritise the ‘T’ over the LGB.
​ But the surge in young Australian & New Zealanders particularly young girls identifying as transgender means that the number of people harmed by automatic gender-affirmation will increase."
Health Consequences
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The consequences of ‘gender-affirming care’ are serious:
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Sterilisation of LGB, Autistic and troubled young people with issues of abuse, self-hate, trauma, internalised misogyny, victims of trans-indoctrination or internalised homophobia.
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Surgical removal of breasts; denying women full sexual pleasure in adulthood, as well as the ability to breastfeed should they become mothers.
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Impaired sexual function from surgeries, puberty blockers and hormones
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Surgical removal of reproductive and sexual organs, and erogenous zones initiated for children as young as 9 to 13 years old not mature enough to give meaningful informed consent.
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Irreversible body modification such as facial hair, male-pattern baldness, permanently deepened voice and enlarged clitorises in women.
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Negative health effects from chest binding that may not show for years
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Years spent suffering depression, and mental health problems because comorbidities were not accurately assessed or responded to with appropriate therapies
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Female-to-male genital reconstruction surgery that has a high negative outcome rate, including urethral compromise and worsened mental health.
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A range of negative health outcomes from transition surgeries is outlined here and here.”
Expert Testimonies
Dr. Michael Laidlaw presented "Medical Dangers of Gender Affirmative Therapy" to the Florida House of Representatives Health and Human Services Committee on January 21, 2023. His presentation includes critical insights into the implications of gender affirmative therapy, long-term mortality risks associated with cross-sex hormones and surgeries, and the problematic nature of puberty blockers. View the presentation here.
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Dr. Michael Biggs also testified on the same date, focusing on the shifts in puberty blocker usage in Europe and their associated risks. View the presentation here.
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Further Resources:
Lesbians United produced Puberty Suppression – Medicine or Malpractice
The Gay Network produced a Fact Sheet – Puberty Blockers
These resources aim to provide comprehensive information on the medical and ethical concerns associated with gender-affirming care, advocating for more informed decision-making in this highly sensitive area.