At ODYS, we’re amplifying the voices of our trans and gender-diverse community and their allies. We know the Queensland Government’s pause on gender affirming health care has real impact on real children, young people, and their families. Our community matters and that’s why we are creating space to share your stories – on our socials, our website, and in conversations with decision-makers.
If you’d like to share your story, please do so here.
CONTENT WARNING: Transphobia, Mental Health, Self-Harm, Suicide
If you are in need of urgent support please contact these helplines.
At ODYS, we’re amplifying the voices of our trans and gender-diverse community and their allies. We know the Queensland Government’s pause on gender affirming health care has real impact on real children, young people, and their families. Our community matters and that’s why we are creating space to share your stories – on our socials, our website, and in conversations with decision-makers.
If you’d like to share your story, please do so here.
CONTENT WARNING: Transphobia, Mental Health, Self-Harm, Suicide
If you are in need of urgent support please contact these helplines.
“I’m a 17 year old and started T just before my 16th birthday. I got so incredibly lucky and I can’t express how grateful I am for my privilege. But I also have severe anxiety. I’m usually great at sleeping but I keep waking up in the night stressing that they will take away my testosterone too and that so many trans kids are going to die. I feel like they would rather kids be dead than be trans and that’s the most terrifying part of all this.”
“The Queensland Health Minister’s ideologically-driven decision to pause life-saving care for children has had great negative effects on my mental health and wellbeing. This dangerous halt is a reminder that my human rights are not guaranteed in so called Australia and thus my stress and anxiety levels have risen so much that my physical health is being affected (on-top of the financial and homing crisis we are in). This is targeted violence against trans and SBLGBTQ+ communities. This will drive trans and gender-diverse children to suicide.”
“I am lucky enough to have been recently put though the system, but the people around me have not. My friends and family have been through a lot due to this and are facing more suicidal ideation then ever especially with the support that some people are giving the new law. Even for me it is horrifying knowing they don’t want me to survive.”
“The Health Minister Tim Nicolls’ announcement has rocked my family to the core. My 15yo trans child has become so familiar with being treated as a political football that this news was barely even surprising for them. As a mum, I know my child is emotionally and mentally affected by this decision with lower moods and frequent questioning seeking reassurance. My child has taken to withdrawing to their bedroom more frequently, while I’m trying to keep our home routine as regular as possible. Kiddo has also been complaining of frequent headaches and is reporting an increase in frequency of their chronic leg pain. My child demonstrates feeling an element of ‘survivor’s guilt’ as they are a current patient of the QCH Gender Service and are still able to continue to receive puberty blockers. To add complexity, the recent decision has not yet confirmed whether current patients can access hormone treatment for which my child has been in consultation for some months. As a mum, my own anxiety is through the roof in my efforts to keep politics away from the best interests of my child to allow them to live an authentic life that is true to themselves without being questioned by authority or peers, as is available to each and every cisgendered person.”
“It’s been exhausting. If I’m being honest, I am an American. (I don’t know how long I’ll be able to hold that title since I acquired my citizenship through birthright). I’ve been waiting since I was 12 years old to start hormones. I am currently 16. For 4 years, I’ve been patiently waiting until I was 18. But Trump recently pushed that back to 19 or older. A year may not seem like a lot, but it is for someone who’s already been waiting for 4. Gender affirming care is lifesaving. I’ve seen my depressed trans friends bloom into the best form of themselves after they started HRT. I will see them and feel envy. They will get to experience adulthood as themselves, while I have to wait. I want these political figures to PLEASE listen to trans kids and their parents. The suicide rate for trans people is so high, and halting gender affirming treatments for minors is guaranteed to raise the rates even more. I’ve been feeling hopeless, exhausted, and my eyes have lost their sparkle. I can’t do this for much longer. It’s hopeless in America, but maybe in Australia things can be reversed. If you are seeing this, you are loved. You are not alone. I care for you. I love you. Be safe.”
“The halt on new gender affirming care patients in Queensland has brought me great sadness and distress. I am a 15 year old trans man turning 16 in June, and I was on the waitlist for Brisbane Royal Women and Children’s Hospital Gender Clinic since I was 12. I spent years researching and learning and thinking to come to the conclusion I wanted to undergo hormone therapy. Because of rampant misinformation online about puberty blockers, my mum denied me going on them at 11-12. We need proper information about gender affirming care to be available so that parents can understand their child’s request.
I finally got into gender clinic in late 2024 and they have greatly benefited me. The multidisciplinary team there and all of the staff were amazing and supportive, and I was hopeful for my future. Now I have watched that be effectively stripped away from me at the tip of a hat. This is not fair and it is not founded out of care or concern for trans children’s safety. An independent review on Queensland’s gender services just last year concluded they were beneficial to patients and that they needed more funding and support for expansion. The waitlists do not suggest that there is a sudden influx of young people ‘believing’ they are trans. They suggest that now, with the information and communities we can access as well as the public visibility of LGBTQ+ identities as a whole, more of us feel safe to come out.
I am just months before turning 16 and being denied access to the one thing that could make my teenage experience somewhat ‘normal’ for a man. My right to undergo the puberty I was supposed to go through instead of the one I have been forced into is in the hands of people who do not care about us or about science. They care about their own ideologies and stamping out trans people as best as they can. We will not submit and we will not lick their boots. Our voices need to be heard. I will be attending any protests I can and am working on forming my own collective to put out zines with art and informational articles written by young trans people.”
“I am only 17. I have not started hormone replacement treatment yet, but it is something I look towards. However, hearing of the new law against trans youth accessing live changing and life saving care, makes me feel like my life is over, when it has only just begun.Though I turn 18 this year and as of right now would be able to access gender-affirming care, I know that preventing youth from accessing it is not where the government will stop. They’ll stop the adults too. It truly feels like I’ll never have the chance to live my life as the person I want to be.”
“I moved states to access better healthcare. My mental health has declined. I have no more money.”
“Before starting HRT I had major problems with self-harm, and had made over a dozen suicide attempts between ages 14 and 16. Since starting testosterone, I’m clean for the first time in 5 years, and I actually want a future. I can go to school without panic attacks and can finally begin to live. Gender affirming treatment saved my life, and I dread to see how many other trans youths will die while care is needlessly stolen from them. We owe it to them, their future, loved ones, and the community as a whole, to give them the care they need and deserve.”
“I’ve been struggling with gender dysphoria for as long as I can remember. Its so insanely debilitating to experience and I don’t think there is a way cis people could ever truly understand the pain and suffering it causes trans people. Its so insanely mentally draining to constantly live not looking the way we need to simply to live. I started hormones when I was 15 and I am now 17. The day I started hormones was the day I finally started feeling like myself, like who I was meant to be. I’ll be 2 years on T in March. Every single day since being on testosterone has given me a will to live and be who I am. Had I not started hormones when I did, I don’t think I would be here typing this right now. I know that this is the case for so many other trans people, it truly is a life saving treatment. Its not fair to rip human rights away from trans people simply for political purposes.”
“I’ve personally been on testosterone for 6 months now, but I have friends who haven’t. Before I started testosterone I had attempted suicide 3 times because of how miserable dysphoria was making me. Starting testosterone gave me hope and as I’ve changed on testosterone I’ve experienced the most gender euphoria and genuine joy for the first time when seeing myself. It devastates me to think of my friends in the same position I used to be and I never thought I’d have to worry about my friends ending their lives because of irresponsible and careless choices made by our government.”
“My daughter is 12 years old. She always knew she didn’t feel right in her body. She socially transitioned when she was 6 and has lived as a beautiful young girl ever since. She is now on the cusp of starting puberty. This decision by the QLD government has taken away her safety net. Decisions made by men who have no understanding of the experience of my daughter or trans kids like her. Their knee jerk decision is going to do so much more harm than good. We are worried about her future, we are worried about her rights being taken away. Time is of the essence for our daughter. The longer this ban is in place the more lives are going to be irrevocably damaged.”
“I realised I was trans when I was in grade 8. I tried to keep it hidden from my parents, because I grew up in an extremely religious household, and I knew my parents would never accept it. However, keeping such a monumental secret from the most important and influential people in my life at that point started to severely impact my mental health. I started hating myself, hating my body. I started cutting and burning myself. I decided to come out to my parents, in the hope that the worst thing they would do was not accept me and view my differently. I was wrong. I had left a note on the kitchen bench and went to school. I got home from school and was met with my dad screaming and my and my mum crying. I was informed that I would not be returning to school. I was forced to cut contact with every person I knew from school, and threatened to be kicked out of my house. I was enrolled into an online Christian school. I was plunged deeper into self hatred, wondering why I couldn’t just be normal, wondering why I had to go and break my mother’s heart. I tried to be a normal girl, but it felt wrong, and I hated myself for it. I met my best friend and brother through the school, and he helped me to find myself again, supported my through everything. My parents discovered this and took both my phone and my laptop away from me, trying to ‘fix’ me by hiding me from the world and the ‘influence’ of it. I was once again threatened with eviction. I continued to hurt myself, and made multiple attempts to take my life. I was diagnosed with persistent depressive disorder. I have recently left my parents home at 17, and am now living with a family who genuinely loves and supports me for who I am. The change in my mental health is incredible. I am happy for the first time in years, I no longer have thoughts of cutting or suicide. The change has been paramount. Access to gender affirming care and support for a young trans person is vital.”
“The pause is devastating. I am FTM Trans and began taking Testosterone just under 2 years ago. It took approximately 2-3 years on the waitlist for the QCH’s Gender Clinic Services, and a few more years of going through the process of taking Primulot N (Period-Stoppers) and being thoroughly educated and reviewed by the medical staff, as well as educating myself thoroughly. When I was Pre-T, i was extremely dysphoric and uncomfortable in my body and skin. I had engaged in unhealthy coping mechanisms and was also bullied for being transgender at school (because I looked like a girl but they knew I identified as a boy).
I believe if I hadn’t been able to access Testosterone at the age I did, I would have died. I believe beginning testosterone has genuinely saved my life. I am finally viewed as a man (I am currently 17) and I look like most other boys my age. I get to go through a male puberty just as any other boy. It is my body, and I deserve to be able to feel comfortable in it. I know other trans teens and kids who have been affected and are devastated, and I fear for their lives genuinely because I myself would not have been able to make it this far if I hadn’t begun testosterone.
We (trans kids) are so much more likely to attempt and commit suicide than cis kids. Trans Kids educate themselves as well as be educated by medical professionals about what they’re doing and how taking testosterone or puberty blockers will affect them. They should be able to choose for themselves what they wish to do with their body as long as they know and understand the consequences and what will occur by taking said medications. All 491 people on the waiting list and current clients who are pre-T as well as other closeted trans children and future trans kids will and have been affected by this negatively. This is just another weight added to our already difficult journey, and a lot of people can’t handle that. Gender affirming care saves lives. It saved mine. It can save other kids lives.”
“I have been directly affected by the ban, I was referred to in late may of 2023 under a category 2 and have been waiting since to receive any kind updates. When I found out about the halt, I sobbed for 3 hours, it genuinely felt like my reason and motivation for living had been taken away from me. There have been multiple times since my referral where I didn’t take my own life just because there was a chance that I could get on hormones or get top surgery. Gender dysphoria impacts me daily and has everyday since I was 10, I can’t look in the mirror without sobbing, I struggle so so much trying to leave the house in general or go to school and there have been months at a time where I haven’t left the house or seen anyone because of this, I have hurt myself and attempted to end my own life because of the feelings bought on by gender dysphoria, I have been severely bullied for being trans, gender dysphoria has caused me to dissociate heavily, have panic attacks, and so so so so so much more. I do not live my life and with the recent news of the halt I’m struggling to feel like I ever will. I want to leave the house, and make friends, and not hate myself and my body anymore, I want to get dressed in the morning and feel comfortable and like the way I look, I want to start a band, I want to laugh, I want to write, I want the little voice in the back of my head to be more quiet, I want to do things, I want to live my life. Hormones are a life saving treatment and taking away them away is only also taking away the hopes, rights, and lives of so many young transgender and gender diverse people, not helping them.”
“I no longer want to live if i am denied these hormones.”
“I will not be allowed of any of the gender affirming care I was striving to go on this year. I have just turned 16, I’ve tried to kill myself multiple times because of me being transgender. I couldn’t handle it, I’ve been out for 5 years but always know. When I found a word for it, being a transgender man was my life, my safety. I truly believe I won’t make it another year if I don’t get this care. I want to go on testosterone hopefully this year or the next. I’ve waited so long and it has driven me crazy. I don’t believe I can stay alive to see 18 to finally get anything done, I was almost dead last year. Me and any of my friends, including my partner have wanted/try to kill themself because they’re trans. Things like hormone blockers or testosterone would have lessened the depression. The higher ups complain that we are to young and don’t understand, trust me I’ve done so much research and inner searches of myself, just so I can finally be me. Yet there are still so many struggles and I don’t need anymore, nor do any of my friends/family or partner.”
“I started hormone therapy in Queensland at the age of 13 when I went on hormone blockers, then eventually started testosterone at the age of 16. This was life saving medical intervention for me and my quality of life as well as my mental health improving vastly after this. When my dysphoria alleviated from this medical care, I was finally able to have a normal social life and could finally look at myself in the mirror without breaking down. My suicidal ideation vastly decreased as well as my depression and anxiety. If I hadn’t received hormone therapy, I am genuinely not sure I would be alive today. My quality of life would be vastly worse and I would not be able to function like a human being. It breaks my heart to know that there are people under 18 out there in the exact situation I was in that are now unable to receive care. This is a disgrace to human rights and the government is depriving people of life saving medical care for no reason other than bigotry and control. The statistics show that 1% of people regret undertaking hormone therapy – this is for a plethora of reasons like social judgement or hormone therapy not having the desired results and it isn’t always related to the genuine desire to de-transition. Tim’s decision to revoke this right from people is disgusting and the suicide rates of trans youth are going to skyrocket in Queensland. This is a social group that already has to deal with immense discrimination – there is NO reason to revoke their medical care.”
“I’ve been receiving HRT (hormone replacement therapy) in the form of testosterone for over two years now. It was a long, tedious process where doctors constantly made me question my decisions with their pessimism and fear-mongering. From beginning to end, it took two years to even begin HRT. To hear that there are young people now who may be even just one appointment away from their goal only to hit yet another setback which could last over a year (or potentially indefinitely depending on the outcome of this decision) is heart-wrenching. This treatment is lifesaving. There is no question about that, without HRT I wouldn’t have lived to celebrate my 18th birthday. Even if you don’t agree with the treatment yourself, please recognise others bodily autonomy and understand that those two years of time it took me to start HRT, where to ensure I knew exactly what I was getting into. No one gets to the end without being 100% informed, no matter their age. It saves countless lives each year, the data and results speak for themselves. Please respect everyone’s right to medical treatment, save a life.”
“The moment I had the news shared with me (an article in the Cairns Post) I felt a cold rush of fear roll over me. I began to cry almost instantly and had to go on a phone call with a friend to not completely lose all hope. This decision has left me feeling stressed, depressed and in total anguish. I have become emotionally exhausted and worried about what this means in the long run, but especially feeling grief and empathy for all of the children who will be devastated by this decision by Tim Nichols.”
“The recent decision made by the Minister of Health and Ambulance Services, Tim Nichols MP, to halt gender affirming care for young people impacts me and my community deeply. Due to unrelated circumstances pertaining to my family, I was unable to access gender affirming care while I was under 18 and this inability not only afflicted me with significant distress, it was the direct cause of multiple suicide attempts that I was fortunate to survive. This decision will force every trans youth to go through the same distressing experience of forced puberty into a body they never wanted, and makes eliminating dysphoria later in life in order to actually enjoy living incredibly difficult for all trans people. There are many trans youth in Queensland who I know personally and care for who have been deeply scarred by this decision, as they are no longer sure that they will be able to live authentically throughout their teenage years and into adulthood. This decision is robbing trans and gender diverse people of their childhoods, and forcing them into a much more difficult adulthood that they must navigate in an increasingly hostile environment.”
“As the mother of a beautiful teen trans human I am absolutely devastated by the Queensland Government’s decision to pause gender-affirming health services to transgender youth. I would welcome the opportunity to speak with the Hon Tim Nicholls MP to share our family’s lived experience and introduce him to my son.
The Queensland Children’s Hospital Gender Clinic team provide kind, compassionate, evidence-based healthcare and after a two year wait we are fortunate to finally be accessing this valuable service in the second part of 2024. I cannot recommend more highly this team of caring professionals. They are outstanding in both their clinical care, and in their ability to develop respectful and trusted relationships with their patients and their families. Learning of the decision to halt the provision of gender affirming medical care was extremely distressing for my son, who now faces another nearly two years without gender affirming medical treatment until he turns 18. He sobbed. I sobbed. We wept for ourselves and the dream of acceptance that is slipping from our grasp, and we wept for trans kids across Queensland who feel equally as isolated, alone, let-down, and rejected by the community that they long to be a part of and contribute to.
I’ve witnessed firsthand how lack of access to evidence-based healthcare impacts transgender youth. The mental health toll of untreated gender dysphoria is severe and terrifying. Many untreated trans young people, including my son, battle anxiety and depression, and turn to dangerous coping mechanisms including suicide attempts, self-harm, disordered eating and substance use/abuse. These are not outcomes that we can be proud of, we and we must do better.
The decisions to seek care are not taken lightly by our young people or their families. The journey is not an easy one and the road travelled together is paved with significant challenges.
Over the past 4+ years, my son has attended hundreds of mental health appointments (psychology and psychiatry), has had multiple emergency department admissions for suicide attempts, self harm, panic attacks, suicidal ideation and severe anxiety. He has had an extended inpatient admission for drug and alcohol dependency treatment. His beautiful body is covered in deep scars from cutting, because without treatment, the dysphoria is destroying is self-esteem and safety in his identity. Can you imagine what it is like to learn that your child is in so much pain, they need to inflict additional physical pain to try and numb the agony that is coursing through their veins?
He has been relentlessly bullied in school, by students and teachers, and support offered by school guidance counselors was perfunctory at best. There was no safe space in the public state school for him. We have now found an alternate school environment that supports, accepts and validates young people for who they are, wherever they are in their journey.
My beautiful boy is a caring, empathetic, creative, kind and intelligent human with so much to give to the world. He deserves to be safe, respected and happy as his authentic self. What happens to our kids when the messaging they receive screams “you are not worthy”. As a mum, I check on him throughout the night to make sure that he is still alive. I am that afraid. The fear is very real.
We need to do better – as a community, and as individuals. There is absolutely no place for politics in the provision of healthcare. Services need to resume immediately so our young people can receive the evidence-based, safe healthcare they need delivered by accredited health professionals. When you take away access to care, our vulnerable young people will find creative ways to seek the treatment they need which may not be safe, legal, or evidenced-based, and certainly not monitored by professionals. Trans kids will be and are being hurt by this rash decision.”
“I am a young trans man. I just turned 18 and was lucky enough to have access to gender affirming healthcare like HRT and surgery. I come from a wealthier family, and my older sibling had already come out as transgender when I realised I was trans myself. When I told my parents, they were hesitant at first, but after seeing how therapy wasn’t enough, how bad my gender dysphoria became, how my mental health depleted, and how I had tried to commit suicide because I wasn’t happy, they let me pursue hormone therapy. At this point, I was 14. I had already gone through puberty, and thus wasn’t eligible for puberty blockers. My first consult, after doing extensive research myself on testosterone and what it would do to me, I was given the information I already knew and turned away to wait and ‘think’ for a year. I was happier that I was on the right track, but still mentally unstable. By the time I was 15, I finally started HRT, on a very low dose to slowly ease into it. It was amazing. Seeing my body transform into what I felt on the inside made my mental health so much better. I was cared for well, and I gave informed consent the whole way. I recently had top surgery, and I couldn’t be happier with my body. Without access to the gender affirming care I received when I was 15 – that I wish I’d gotten far sooner – I would have killed myself. I wouldn’t be here today without that life saving treatment. Denying this healthcare would have killed me, and it will kill many other trans youth who need it to survive. Do not ban life saving treatment for children, do not ban the SAFE life-saving treatment for these children. They will die without it, they will be traumatised, they will not survive to see their 18th birthday like I was able to do.”
“I started testosterone when I was 17 and it was both life-changing and lifesaving. If I had not had access to hormones then I would have killed myself. When puberty started, it caused so much distress that I self-harmed and was constantly severely depressed and suicidal. I was going to kill myself when I turned 18 because I couldn’t bear to live in a body that was so uncomfortable and not *me*.
Testosterone and the changes it had on me were overwhelmingly positive – for the first time in my life, I actually started feeling like my true self. I could look at myself in the mirror and would be excited and happy to see that I was slowly starting to outwardly become who I felt like on the inside. My mental health improved significantly as I saw more and more changes – I had less social anxiety, less panic attacks, my depression lessened, and I became more confident.
I am 22 years old now. I have been on testosterone for five years now and also had top surgery (mastectomy). I have NEVER regretted choosing to go on hormones, having gender affirming surgery, or living my authentic self as a gender diverse person. If I had not been given the option of starting hormone therapy when I was 17, I would have killed myself.
The announcement around the ‘pause’ on access to gender affirming care for trans youth in Queensland made devastated me. All I could picture was how this was going to severely negatively impact my community. I could vividly picture the stories that would be told in the following months:
‘I can’t live like this’, ‘My child committed suicide’, ‘My trans friend is dead’, ‘I’m severely depressed and suicidal’…
This pause WILL cause irreversible harm. Whether the images in my head from above come to life or not, you have created significant mental distress within the community. In my experience, I’ve started having panic attacks again, nearly daily, after barely having them for years. My depression and anxiety have returned. I’m so stressed that I’m starting to lose my hair.
Now I am scared to go out in public, for the first time in YEARS, and too scared to authentically be myself outside of my home now. I’m so emotionally distressed that I constantly cry, not just for myself but for the young trans and gender diverse community members who are having to go through something so harmful and distressing.
The fact that the ‘pause’ only bans transgender youth from accessing gender affirming care, while allowing cisgender youth to continue accessing it shows that they aren’t “concerned about the youth”. The agenda here is to perpetuate transphobia and based on uncredible and discredited research.
Any credible doctor, health organisation or LGBTQIA+ organisation would tell you this will only cause harm and pain. The credible, informed research doesn’t lie. Here’s some statistics for you:
1% of people regret their gender affirming treatment.
10% of people regret having children. 12% of people regret getting a tattoo. The regret rate across all surgeries is about 14%.
[Source: Regret after gender affirmation surgery, National Library of Medicine]
“It worries and concerns me because even though I’ve been able to access HRT as an adult, that is being threatened right now for younger trans people and everyone deserves the right to access gender affirming care just like I have been able to. I have been given quite a number of anonymous stories from other trans people related to this news.”
“I am a transwoman and I work as a psychologist with a lot of members of our community. As everyone knows access to gender affirming healthcare saves lives, and I am really concerned about the impact of this decision on some of my clients and others in our community. Access to HRT and puberty blockers is integral to reducing and managing dysphoria, and so is so necessary in managing these young people’s mental health. HRT and puberty blockers are often the key intervention that will reduce suicidal thoughts, self-harming behaviours and eating disorders, all things many of our community struggle with, and taking away access to this care will put young people’s lives at risk. I am very concerned about the lives that will be lost due to young people not having access to this necessary healthcare.
As a transwoman who transitioned at age 30, I am devastated to see this healthcare being taken away from young people. I wish that I had had the opportunity to access this before I went through the wrong puberty, and know that I would have led a much happier and more authentic life if I had. I hate to think that that opportunity us being taken away from young trans people.”
“Always suffered depression but since starting T haven’t had it and I’ve been the happiest ever”
“Absolutely HRT saved my life although I didn’t start until I was an adult.”
“Three years on and I will forever be grateful for the hand I was dealt. I pray for trans kids now.”
“Made me feel comfortable within myself and calmed the depressive feelings.”
“Genuinely stopped me from ki***** myself”
“I got HRT at 16 after 4 years of waiting. If I hadn’t of got it when I did, I wouldn’t be here.”
“While I unfortunately don’t know anyone who was allowed privileges to access puberty blockers before 18, I can confidently say that all my trans friends would be so much happier if they’d had access (their parents were unfortunately the cause). I’ve only ever met one person who had access to puberty blockers, and while I and the other queer employees at my previous job were bullied and discriminated against by our own manager, she was treated like everyone else, because no one knew. She was safer.”
“HRT has fully saved my life and I would not be here if I didn’t get access to it.”
“I have known I was trans for about 12 years now. I openly came out 10 years ago and I had started T only last year. Before that I had suffered so much depression and was heavily dysphoric. I had finally got to start T and honestly ever since I had, my depression almost if not completely gone and my dysphoria had died down so much. I feel so much better in my own skin and feel accepted/comfortable. The start of this week I had put in the forms to legally change my name and gender. The weight that’s been drowning me for years and years has finally been lifted so much. My only thing I need done now is top surgery. T has definitely saved me well and truly and also with the acceptance of those around me.”
“My best friend was denied gender affirming healthcare his entire adolescence and it drove him to severe depression and sui**** ideation/attempts. He was constantly bullied and attacked both at school and in his own home. He credits the ability to finally receive his much needed medical care as the only reason he’s still alive. They are not protecting children, they are targeting and ki***** them.”
“HRT literally saved my life, I have the confidence to pursue my career and relationships for the first time!”
“I would’ve ki**** myself if it weren’t for starting Testosterone a year and a half ago.”
“Access to HRT helped make my physical appearance align better with how I felt in my head, which is drastically helping my mental health and confidence.”
“This news has broken me as a parent. My daughter struggled everyday – worries she’s developing body hair where she shouldn’t, if her voice is getting deeper. Been fighting to be able to give her puberty blockers due to the two-parent consent and now this…I didn’t have kids just so they could die. I want her to live.”
“I was 14 when I started HRT and I honestly don’t think I would have survived without it before 18.”
“I moved to QLD at 12 so I spent most of my teen years in QLD. I realised I was trans at 15 and thought I would be in an accepting environment but I wasn’t. My mum and other family would scream at me and I was already depressed and sui**** before this, and not being accepted was my final straw but it was this moment that convinced my mum to have me admitted into an adolescent mental ward for my depression. Basically had medical professionals – who I thought would be helping me with my severe depression and anxiety – try to find out what made me “think” I was trans. Their sole focus seemed to be on me coming out as trans rather than what I needed help for. So my mum constantly manipulating me into believing I’d been brainwashed into believing I was trans by friends (who didn’t support me either), and medical professionals seemingly doubting me and questioning me convinced me I had made it up and I went into the closet and denial. I became a lot more sui**** for years, it was intense, and I felt I had no support. Many aborted attempts of sui**** and constantly wishing I was dead, at 20 I re-realised I was trans. For years it seemed impossible to get help, I had to jump through many hoops and at 23 I knew I couldn’t live another year without transitioning so I threw myself into finding some way I could access it without the impossible costs and obstacles. Luckily I did, and after starting HRT so much of my desire to die went away that I didn’t think was possible for me. It truly saved my life and I’ll be 26 soon.”
“My son just turned 23. If he hadn’t had access to gender affirming care, he would have died at 16. Trans youth WILL die because of this.”
“I was given HRT after an attempt and I haven’t attempted since, so I’d say pretty damn good.”
“It’s saved my girlfriends life. She wouldn’t be here without it.”
“I finally feel more and more at home in my body and in my life, no longer a stranger to myself.”
“Life without HRT was like gasping for air or never fully catching my breath. I can finally breathe.”
“I feel more alive. I have never felt so deeply aligned with myself and my identity. I just feel like…me.”
“I am a 19 year old trans man who accessed hormone therapy at 14 and I strongly believe I would not be alive if I had to wait until 18 to access this treatment. Growing up as a teenager and seeing my body irreversibly change through puberty in a way I didn’t want as well as seeing other boys my age changing in ways I wasn’t was incredibly distressing and severely hurt my mental health. Multiple trans-informed medical professionals assessed my ability to make my own medical decisions and small steps were taken over a year to eventually access hormone replacement therapy. Once I began this treatment my mental health issues rapidly resolved: I remember telling my therapist around that time that it was the first time I could remember being truly happy since I was a young child and I have even had a childhood friend tell me that point was the first time he had seen me as the joyful, optimistic, loving person I am today. Now as an adult, I have not once regretted any decision towards my transition and I cannot see myself having lived another four years without medical treatment. I fear for the young people of today in my position.
Adolescents accessing medical treatment should not be constrained by any sweeping generalisations; every person develops at different rates and many people under 18 are perfectly capable of making an informed, rational decisions. The decision about a young person’s capacity to consent should be made by an expert who can assess someone individually, not a sweeping mandate by governmental bodies.
I am scared for the young trans people of today and I believe if Queensland was truly concerned about the safety of trans youth, they would conduct the review whilst letting trans people access the life saving treatment they have been professionally deemed to need. I want the procedures of accessing these therapies to be as safe as possible, but completely halting access to treatments for at least 10 months is not by any means a safe option when the risk of suicide without treatment is so high.
All children deserve the medical treatment they need to live. These are real people with real lives who are at risk.”
“I was on anti-depressants before starting Testosterone – not anymore. Enough said.”
Open Doors Youth Service Inc. acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First people and Traditional Custodians of the lands and waters where we meet, live, learn and work. We acknowledge and celebrate the rich and thriving diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, the oldest continuing living cultures in the world.
Phone: (07) 3257 7660
Email: opendoors@opendoors.net.au