Moira Deeming MP asks why Trans20 study findings are being withheld

Trans20 is a longitudinal study of 618 gender incongruent youths aged between 3 and 17 years. It has been running since 2017. Trans20 - LifeCourse

Results from the study are being withheld and Victorian MP Moira Deeming has asked the Minster for mental Health to investigate why.

30 days, clock starts now. pic.twitter.com/MrXxu7C0lj

— Moira Deeming MP (@MoiraDeemingMP) November 13, 2024

The request comes on the back of clinicians in the field asking for the results but being refused. Open letter: Australian clinicians call for Trans20 research data to be released

We the undersigned call upon the Melbourne Royal Children's Hospital Gender Service and their partner, the Murdoch Children's Research Institute, to publish interim outcome data from their Trans20 research study and make the data available to other researchers.

On 23 October 2024, a New York Times article [1] revealed that an influential doctor in the US, Dr Johanna Olson-Kennedy, had not published the findings of a National Institutes of Health funded study of puberty-blocking medications because the study did not show benefits, and she feared such findings might be used to support restrictions on youth gender treatments.

We seek to ensure that similar delays in publishing do not occur in Australia.

The Minister for Mental Health in Victoria now has 30 days to respond. 

On the back of the Cass review last year, and now a US study resulting in adverse findings, it is essential the Melbourne Royal Children’s Hospital reveals its findings to date for the sake and well being of children who are being sold the lie they can change their sex with drugs and surgery.

1. Ghorayshi A. U.S. Study of Puberty Blockers Goes Unpublished Because of Politics, Doctor Says. The New York Times. 23 October 2024. Access: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/23/science/puberty-blockers-olson-kennedy.html