Take Action
Our community is small. This means we don’t have large numbers of people speaking up for us and advocating alongside us, making it harder to have our voices heard. We need our friends, extended families and others who care for the rights of trans children and human rights in general, to join our fight.
We can’t do this alone. We need you.
The attention our children and trans people receive is disproportionate to their numbers. The spreading of disinformation is targeted and well-funded on a state, national and global level. You can find our mythbusters and evidence here.
There are different ways to advocate for trans children’s rights. Each is valid and even taking one of these actions is meaningful. Choose what works for you. We have various talking points to support your arguments.
A note on visibility, remaining anonymous, revealing identity and more
As parents of trans gender children, we sometime get requests from media and organisations to speak about our experience.
Some families and their children are out and proud and willing to speak out using their names and appear in photos and video. This can have a profound impact.
However, many of our families have young people that feel stigmatised for who they are and don’t feel safe drawing attention to themselves. Therefore many families choose not to reveal their identities in order to protect their children in an increasingly hostile society.
Some teens feel empowered in advocating for their rights, but not every trans teen has the capacity for this, and that is OK. Being a trans teen in our current political and social climate is a form of protest in itself.
Self-care / burnout
As adults fighting for the young people in our lives, we need be aware of burnout. Just remember, we are in it for the long haul. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Make sure you practice self-care and take short or longer breaks where you need.
Join Parents of Trans Kids Speak Out
Contact us if you would like join our group. We hold weekly meetings where we talk strategy and upskill to better advocate for our kids. Families and friends as well as members of the trans community are welcome.
Email politicians
Below are tips on how to correspond effectively with members of Parliament, balancing personal stories with strong evidence-based arguments.
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Email your local member, state minister, member of parliament or premier, or all of them (see our template).
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Ask the Queensland Premier, David Crisafulli, what he is doing to address the trauma caused by his government's directives.
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Use the correct title of the person you are writing to.
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Send a follow up email or ring the politicians’ office and ask if he/ she has received your email and request a follow-up meeting.
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Check in to see what the politician has done to support you. Where needed, re-emphasise that your child is struggling and your main talking points.
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If you are able, write regularly using our different talking points.
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Ask your local members to reach out to the minister on your behalf.
What to include in your email
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Introduce your child and your concerns for their health and welfare without gender-affirming health care
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Outline the challenges your child faces without this health care and the impact on them and your family (emotionally/ mental health/ financial/ other)
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Express your concerns about the mis and disinformation that surrounds this issue
Considerations around what information to share
Many of our families are fiercely protective of our kids and their privacy, which includes what information we choose to share. It is up to your family to decide what you are comfortable with disclosing. If you are comfortable, you may wish to share some information about your child to personalise your talking points:
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When your child first came out and how
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You family’s gender affirmation journey so far
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Some of the challenges your child has faced when transitioning e.g. acceptance at school, access to health care, access to mental health support, school support, community attitudes etc
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The changes you have seen in your child since they started transitioning (if applicable).
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Your child's dreams and goals
Email Template
We have prepared a template you can personalise.
Feel free to use these dot points where appropriate, make changes and add information as needed.
Dear Minister
The LNP’s decision to ban treatment has a detrimental effect on our child and our family and many others across Queensland.
Our child is deeply concerned about how this directive will affect their life. Specifically, they are worried about being denied access to hormone treatments and the profound consequences this has on their well-being now and in the future.
As parents, we are very concerned about the unwanted physical changes our child will experience and the impact these will have on their mental health.
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Without access to puberty blockers, our child faces major consequences:
(a) they may require additional surgical interventions later in life due to their body developing in ways that do not align with their identity (which is a medical intervention that carries risks).
(b) they will have to endure unwanted physical changes during a period that is already emotionally challenging.
(c) even with future facial and body surgeries, the results will be more costly and less effective than early intervention with puberty blockers. These will put a financial burden on our children in the future.
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Without access to Gender Affirming Hormone Treatment (GAHT) our child will face continued gender dysphoria, which can only be alleviated by GAHT.
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Our family has been forced to seek gender affirming care in the private system which has caused our family financial distress. As taxpayers we expect this medical care to be part of the public system. This decision drives financial inequity.
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Being transgender is not a mental health condition, however taking away timely gender affirming care has been responsible for a decline in our child’s mental health. And I note that mental health services are understaffed and have long wait lists and are costly when forced to seek private care.
This is not a political matter for our family—it is a matter of life and death. Please help us protect our child’s future. Reinstate gender affirming care now.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
[Your name and address]
Contact details of politicians
Premier The Honorable David Crisafulli Ministerial Office premier@ministerial.qld.gov.au Phone: (07) 3719 7000 Electorate Office - Broadwater Broadwater@parliament.qld.gov.au (07) 5560 6100 The Honourable Tim Nicholls MP Minister for Health and Ambulance Services Phone: (07) 3035 6100 Email: health@ministerial.qld.gov.au Electorate Office – Clayfield Clayfield@parliament.qld.gov.au (07) 3638 9100 The Honourable Mark Bailey MP Shadow Minister, Health & Ambulance Services Phone: (07) 3414 2120 Email: miller@parliament.qld.gov.au Electorate: Miller The Honourable Amanda Camm Minister for Families, Seniors &Disability Services & Minister for Child Safety Phone: (07) 3719 7360 Email: families.services@ministerial.qld.gov.au Electorate office – Whitsunday Whitsunday@parliament.qld.gov.au (07) 4845 3100 The Honourable Corrine McMillan Shadow Minister for Families, Seniors & Disability Services & Minister for Child Safety Electorate Mansfield Phone: (07) 3414 3100 Email: Mansfield@parliament.qld.gov.au Contact your local member Visit the Queensland Parliament Minister's List for contact information.
Lobby politicians
We are investigating how to influence Queensland Parliament through inquiries, submissions, research and other lobbying efforts. If you have experience in this area and you would like to be involved, please contact us.
Share your Story
Personal stories really matter because they show our MPs and community who is really hurting with this ban and what gender affirming care means for our families and children.
We are collating stories from families and their young people. These stories can be anonymous, if you are interested please contact us.
Attend street protests and rallies
It can feel empowering to join a protest, big or small.
Often organisers of street protests look for parents of transgender children who would like to speak about their experiences. However, just showing up is important too. Here are some links to organisations that hold protests:
Stay informed and learn to recognise disinformation
Many media sources (on paper, online, social media) share mis and disinformation are biased or inflammatory with the aim of driving members to their platforms.
They do not consider evidence.
Even news sources who are more trustworthy will include people who are ideologically driven and part of the anti-trans movement in order to appear unbiased in their reporting by showing both sides of an argument. However, just having an opinion or quoting discredited research does show the side to an argument. These are ideologically driven sources who do not look at the evidence.
Some more reliable media sources are:
Erin in the Morning
LGBTQ Nation
ABC may be the most reliable mainstream source.
You can find more on this topic here.
March with Pride
There are many reasons to join a pride march; being part of community, as a form of protest, celebrating identity and feeling empowered.
March 31 Trans Day of Visibility
June Moreton Bay PrideFest
September Brisbane Pride Festival
Local regions and councils have their own dates for celebrating pride, more information here.
Know who you vote for
We all have a vote, use it wisely. Here is a tool to explore how your views compare to parties and candidates.
Join Free Mum Hugs
Free Mum Hugs is a group of affirming people with the goal to let the LGBTIQ+ community know that they are unconditionally loved and accepted. The simple act of offering a hug or a high five (some folks don't like hugs) makes huge a difference to people's lives. Three Aussie Mums donned Free Mum Hugs T-shirts and took a FMH sign to Brisbane Pride in September 2018. We were surprised and overwhelmed as hundreds of grateful humans rushed to receive hugs and motherly love from total strangers. There were tears and sad stories as well as grateful happy stories and many didn't want to let go. We know there's a huge need for this movement and there are many Mums (and Dads, Friends etc.) who want to get involved and share love through this simple loving act.
Don’t feed the trolls
The term ‘trolling’ generally refers to when someone posts or comments online to deliberately provoke an argument or emotional reaction.
Trolls may post anonymously or under a fake name, so they feel free to say things without being held responsible. They often try to downplay the impact of their behaviour, claiming anyone upset by it is over-reacting.
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Never feed the trolls. After all, some of them are bots, so engaging with them would be pointless.
Resist the urge to respond. As tempting as it is, by replying, you might be giving the troll what they want. Not responding is the best response.
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You can ask the original poster to moderate their comment thread, and if they refuse, remind them they are legally liable if they don’t do so.
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Report or block it.
Social media sites give you the option to block and report content that is offensive, or you can block the individual. If you do this to a troll, the site may notice that they’re posting nasty stuff and block their access so they can’t post anymore.
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Screenshot the evidence.
Take a screenshot before you report, block or delete it. You might be tempted to just ignore it, but it’s a good idea to screenshot the evidence in case you want to report it later.
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Log off
If you feel yourself getting upset over something you’ve seen online, consider taking a break from the internet. Log out of your social accounts and stay offline for a few days. Do things you enjoy and catch up with your family or friends. This will give you a break, and hopefully lead to the troll stopping when they don’t get a response.
Donate
We strongly recommend donations to Auspath’s Project 491, which supports trans young people to access gender affirming care privately during the ban on treatment through the public system in Queensland.
The LGBTI Legal Service offers free legal advice and is leading the legal challenges to the Queensland Government ban on our behalf.
Open Doors Youth Service is Queensland's only dedicated support service for LGBTQIA+ sistergirl and brotherboy young people. They provide one-on-one casework support, counselling, and access to peer social groups. All services provided by Open Doors are free and the bulk of their staff are trans and/or queer.
