Key facts
- One Nation senator Tyron Whitten described parents supporting transgender children as engaging in "child abuse."
- Whitten stated that gender identity beyond male or female is "mental illness."
- Senator Malcolm Roberts claimed that surgically altering one's sex does not change gender and that current law distorts science.
- Senator Pauline Hanson expressed concern about minors undergoing life-changing gender-affirming surgeries.
- The Australian Human Rights Commission notes that most gender-affirming surgeries are not legally permissible for individuals under 18 in Australia.
- Equality Australia CEO Anna Brown criticized the political targeting of the transgender community.
One Nation senator Tyron Whitten has asserted that parents who support their children identifying as transgender are committing "child abuse," stating in a YouTube interview that "there’s male, there’s female, and then there’s mental illness." These remarks echo similar controversial comments made by fellow One Nation senators Pauline Hanson and Malcolm Roberts regarding transgender Australians.
Roberts, in a June podcast, suggested that surgically altering one's sex does not change gender and that current Australian law distorts scientific understanding. Hanson, in a March interview, expressed frustration with "transgender crap" and voiced concerns about minors undergoing life-altering surgeries, which she claimed could leave them "like vegetables."
However, the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) clarifies that most gender-affirming surgeries are not legally permissible for individuals under 18 in Australia, with only specific breast reduction surgeries for trans men being allowed in extreme circumstances and requiring parental consent and professional assessment for other treatments like hormone therapy or puberty blockers, or a court order.
Anna Brown, CEO of Equality Australia, criticized the political targeting of the transgender community, describing it as divisive, harmful, and an exploitation of unfamiliarity to manufacture fear. She noted that trans people, making up less than 1% of the population, already face disproportionate discrimination.
Further controversy arose from comments by Parminder Singh, a One Nation candidate, who described being gay as a "mental illness." Hanson and Barnaby Joyce have since distanced themselves from Singh's views, with Joyce noting that One Nation director James Ashby is gay and suggesting the party is "one of the gayest parties in Australia."