More than 120 Australian federal election candidates, including major party sitting MPs, have committed themselves to dangerous “gender affirming care” for minors and far-left biology-denying radical gender ideology.
Labor MPs Josh Burns, Ged Kearney and Sharon Claydon, Greens MPs Adam Bandt, Max Chandler Mather and Stephen Bates, and “teal” independents Zali Steggall, Allegra Spender and Monique Ryan, are among 127 candidates to have signed the Trans Justice Project’s Trans Justice Pledge so far.
No Coalition, One Nation, Libertarian, Trumpet of Patriots or Family First candidates or sitting MPs have signed.
The pledge is a commitment to “protect trans youth from attacks on their health care”, “make trans healthcare accessible and affordable for everyone who needs it”, “support reforms that give trans people the same rights and protections as everyone else”, and “invest in trans lives by combatting homelessness, poverty, and unemployment”.
Director of the Trans Justice Project, Jackie Turner, a biological male who claims to be a woman, told the Star Observer that proponents of radical gender ideology were mobilising in Australia in response to “hateful politics that are playing out in the US”.
“We are showing that whoever is elected, our community is organised, powerful, and ready to hold them to account This pledge is a litmus test for whether candidates will fight for our community, or whether they will sit back and allow cynical politicians to scapegoat our community,” he said.
Mr Turner claimed the pledge has widespread public support, citing polling conducted by homosexual advocacy group Equality Australia in February that found that “86% of Australians agree or strongly agree that government and opposition should not politicise trans issues for political gain”.
However, a survey from The Australian Population Research Institute released in the same month found that only 11% of voters said they thought men who claim to be women should be allowed to compete in women’s sports, and only 25% agreed or strongly agreed with the statement “some people argue that a woman is anyone who identifies as a woman, regardless of their sex when born”.
The Trans Justice Project is a registered charity that runs campaigns to shut down criticism of radical gender ideology and so-called gender affirming care, including the provision of hormones and puberty blockers which can have irreversible effects and cause sterilisation.
The advocacy group recently ran a campaign demanding Queensland reverse its January ban on hormones and puberty blockers for minors, which was brought in by the state government after a rogue gender clinic was caught not following guidelines in handing them out to kids as young as 12.
“Gender affirming care, like puberty blockers and hormones, is life-changing and life-saving healthcare for trans youth,” the Trans Justice Project said during its campaign.
“The banning of this vital care is a politically motivated attack that will have devastating consequences.”
The group also helped campaign for controversial NSW legislation, supported a gender-deluded male in his lawsuit against women-only app Giggle, and works with and is sponsored by government-funded homosexual advocacy groups including ACON.
ACON, which previously employed controversial “transgender” activist Teddy Cook, runs a platform called TransHub which provides information to minors on how to obtain hormones and puberty blockers, and even gives advice on breast removal surgery.
Puberty blockers for minors were banned by the National Health Service in England last year after a comprehensive report called the Cass Review warned against their use for people under 18.
“We have concluded that there is not enough evidence to support the safety or clinical effectiveness of [puberty blockers] to make the treatment routinely available at this time,” NHS England said at the time.
“NHS England recommends that access to [puberty blockers] for children and young people with gender incongruence/dysphoria should only be available as part of research.”
Earlier this month an Adelaide public hospital admitted approving “gender-affirming treatment” for 22 children, one aged just 11, without the required psychiatrist assessments.
The Women’s and Children’s Hospital publicly apologised for not following South Australia Health guidelines, and order a review of its controversial gender clinic.
Header image: Left, pledge-signer Zali Steggall with the prime minister. Right, Labor MP Josh Burns at a Jews of Pride event in March (Facebook).
