Victorian kids with gender dysphoria are being socially transitioned at school without their parents’ knowledge.
Frustrated parents say they feel betrayed by the state’s education department after they were left in the dark about their child’s new gender identity at school.
In Victoria, most high school students can request that teachers call them a different name and different pronouns at school, without permission from their parents.
One concerned dad on the Bellarine Peninsula told the Herald Sun his daughter, who has been diagnosed with autism, was called a different name and male pronouns at school for months without his knowledge, despite requesting that he be kept in the loop.
The dad, who wished to remain anonymous to protect his daughter, said it was “absolutely devastating” and a “complete betrayal of trust”.
“This is a kid who only discovered last year that Santa wasn’t real,” he said.
The Herald Sun asked the education department whether they kept a record of how many students were identifying as trans at school but they refused to provide information.
But prominent Victorian detransitioner Mel Jefferies told the Herald Sun if the government did not reconsider it’s model of care, it would be hit with “a tidal wave of legal cases”.
As a teenager, Ms Jefferies struggled with body image issues and became confused about her gender, choosing to identify as a boy following several visits to clinicians.
At age 26 she had her breasts removed under medical advice.
“It was within two weeks of having my breasts removed, I was like, I want a flat stomach, I hate my thighs or I hate my hips,” she said.
“It literally just migrated.”