The ABC has published an article and is preparing to screen a Four Corners episode about gender affirmation care in Australia.

Pat Karvelas is one of the authors but does not disclose that the ABC is subscribed to ACON nor that she hosts events and lends her support to ACON events. 

The language and tone of the article reveals bias toward affirming the lie that people can change sex and attempts to garner sympathy for young people who desire to appropriate stereotypes of the opposite sex. 

The story is set around the Westmead Children’s Hospital gender clinic. 

Only three new patients have been seen at Westmead Children's Hospital's gender clinic this year due to a lack of staff and a string of resignations. Last year, they saw 88 new patients.

Despite the clinic receiving an annual budget of $1.5 million, they have very small staff numbers.

Some staff have left following the publication of controversial research endorsed by the hospital hierarchy. The research was initiated in 2013 and current frontline staff from the gender unit were not involved.

The writers of the article claim “the research is being weaponised by anti-trans activists and proponents of alternative forms of gender care.”

They also deceptively write: 

Gender-affirming care can include puberty blockers to suppress puberty for young people distressed by their changing body. In some cases, this is followed by cross-sex hormones to allow people to transition into the gender they identify with.

The reality is over 95% of children placed on these drugs do go on to cross-sex hormones, not merely “some” as the article misleading states.  

The drugs are used off-label and have never been approved for such use in Australia. No thorough or rigorous study has ever been conducted on the use of these drugs for gender dysphoric children.

Countries such as the UK, Sweden, Norway, Finland and some states in the US have all paused or halted the issuing of such drugs to children because of the lack of research and lawsuits.

The Westmead clinic is yet to be fully operational and “deprioritises children on its wait list who are well advanced into puberty or post puberty.”

The service also does not provide cross-sex hormones to children, leaving families with the difficult decision of leaving kids on puberty blockers longer, or navigating expensive and difficult to navigate private pathways to help their children transition.

The report includes recommendations that trauma and other issues be addressed before heading down “affirmation” pathways. The report also notes a significant number of children desist and that area has not been studied enough. Rapid onset gender dysphoria, known as a social contagion, is also a factor that needs examining. 

Some medical experts in Australia openly oppose the affirmation model.

Dr Jillian Spencer, a senior psychiatrist at the Queensland Children's Hospital has been stood down from clinical duties for questioning the affirmation model.

She is contesting the allegations and has lodged a complaint with the Queensland Human Rights Commission, saying she should have a right as a doctor to object to the affirmation model for children.

Dr Spencer instead supports the "watchful waiting" model.

"That would involve engaging with them, treating mental health comorbidities, and engaging them in therapy, and family therapy if need be, optimising their school functioning and engagement, and trying to get them connected to peers and activities that help them to feel good about who they are.

Psychologist Dianna Kenny is a member of a group that backs research into alternatives to gender-affirming care and is an ambassador for lobby group Binary Australia.”

She provides "gender exploratory therapy".

"It is not conversion therapy. It provides a safe exploratory space for children to look at themselves and to gain a greater understanding," Dr Kenny said.

"The aim of the therapy that I practice is for the young person to know their true feelings and to express them whatever they turn out to be."

The current climate surrounding gender ideology is dangerous and harmful for children. Politics and ideology are standing in the way of evidence-based medicine. It is time for a thorough and rigorous investigation into all gender practices in this country. It is time that taxpayer funded organisations like the ABC get out of ACON and get back to reporting facts without bias or favor.