Latest news with #QueenslandFamilyandChildCommission
The Age
13-05-2025
- Health
- The Age
Gender care saved Lea's life. Now the fight for other trans kids has landed in court
Lea Gabriel says access to gender-affirming healthcare saved her life. 'For me, transitioning wasn't a choice, it was life or death,' the 20-year-old youth advocate says. She feels so strongly about the issue, she addressed a recent summit in Brisbane, declaring healthcare a human right that for transgender people like herself was 'constantly questioned, delayed and denied'. 'They say our healthcare is experimental or dangerous, but it's neither new nor untested,' she told the Queensland Family and Child Commission Youth Summit. 'Critics claim trans youth are rushed into care, but many of us languished for months or years on the waiting lists, fighting to be heard ... The real harm isn't from providing care, it's from denying it.' Gabriel made the comments after the Queensland government placed an indefinite pause on the state's provision of puberty blockers and hormone therapy to children with gender dysphoria. The ban – widely opposed by the trans community, their supporters and health organisations – has now prompted a legal challenge from the mother of a trans teen. Even as a young adult navigating the system, Gabriel found accessing gender-affirming care to be 'difficult, confusing, disjointed, and full of stigma and gatekeeping'.
Sydney Morning Herald
13-05-2025
- Health
- Sydney Morning Herald
Gender care saved Lea's life. Now the fight for other trans kids has landed in court
Lea Gabriel says access to gender-affirming healthcare saved her life. 'For me, transitioning wasn't a choice, it was life or death,' the 20-year-old youth advocate says. She feels so strongly about the issue, she addressed a recent summit in Brisbane, declaring healthcare a human right that for transgender people like herself was 'constantly questioned, delayed and denied'. 'They say our healthcare is experimental or dangerous, but it's neither new nor untested,' she told the Queensland Family and Child Commission Youth Summit. 'Critics claim trans youth are rushed into care, but many of us languished for months or years on the waiting lists, fighting to be heard ... The real harm isn't from providing care, it's from denying it.' Gabriel made the comments after the Queensland government placed an indefinite pause on the state's provision of puberty blockers and hormone therapy to children with gender dysphoria. The ban – widely opposed by the trans community, their supporters and health organisations – has now prompted a legal challenge from the mother of a trans teen. Even as a young adult navigating the system, Gabriel found accessing gender-affirming care to be 'difficult, confusing, disjointed, and full of stigma and gatekeeping'.
