The Queensland government’s ban on puberty blockers and hormone treatments for children was overturned in October, with Supreme Court Judge Peter Callaghan ruling it unlawful. The decision was met with celebration from trans people across Australia.
However, less than a day later, Queensland Health Minister Tim Nicholls reinstated the ban. The original ban was overturned because it was made without proper consultation. This time, Nicholls simply followed Judge Callahan’s own directions to successfully reinstate it.
Puberty blockers are used to delay puberty in children, by suppressing the production of estrogen/testosterone. They allow children who are questioning their gender identity to delay unwanted changes to their body that come with puberty, and lessen gender dysphoria as a result. This medication is not only safe, it has also been proven to reduce suicidal thoughts in young transgender people.
The Queensland Liberal National Party’s ban mimicked Donald Trump’s attacks on gender affirming care, and has fuelled the anti-trans agenda of the right-wing in Australia.
It is far from the only recent attack on trans rights. In the Northern Territory, the Country Liberal Party government has revealed it has stopped detaining transgender women in female prisons. Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro says that “If you are born a gender, that is the prison you go in”. Transgender women are at a much higher risk of being physically and sexually assaulted within male prisons. Mara Ellis, a trans woman who was sent to a male prison in Perth in 2018, reported that she was put in solitary confinement for three months, as a “solution” to the violence she was experiencing there.
Earlier this year, Sonya, a Filipino trans woman, was held in the male section of Villawood Detention Centre in Sydney and reported that she was misgendered and sexually harassed by Border Force officers. These are not isolated incidents. Operation Inglenook, established to combat sex trafficking, has allowed officers to carry out raids on the workplaces of Asian migrant sex workers, many of them trans women. These raids have continued, despite the Operation ending in 2024.
The Queensland government’s ability to get around the court decision shows we can’t rely on the courts. We need to continue to build public support, on the streets and in our workplaces, to fight the ban and to fight for trans rights.
By Genevieve Carnsew
