Mr Haneveer’s ill-informed assumptions in his editorial (The Examiner, June 14, 2023) are disappointing.
Firstly, Mr Haneveer claims the “Let Kids Be Kids” billboard is about “promoting hate bred from ignorance”, yet he provides no evidence to support this serious accusation. How can anyone reasonably infer an “underlying message” of hate from the simple and protective statement “Let Kids Be Kids”?
LGB Tasmania is not a “fringe anti-trans group” as he asserts. It is a group of same-sex attracted people who fully accept an adult’s right to embrace a gender identity of their choice, but who believe that those under 18 should not be permitted to undergo medical transition.
Mr Haneveer appears to be among a small minority in Tasmania who remain unaware that sex and gender are distinct concepts. Sex is biological and immutable, while gender is a personal perception and social construct. Many now use the terms interchangeably, but this is scientifically inaccurate. The LGB community has been significantly affected by recent gender law reforms, including under anti-discrimination legislation, yet Mr Haneveer fails to address this reality.
Children’s brains are immature. The prefrontal cortex, responsible for reasoning, impulse control and long-term decision-making, is not fully developed until around age 25. This is precisely why minors are legally prohibited from smoking, drinking alcohol, voting, driving, marrying, joining the military, or consenting to sex under 16. Yet Mr Haneveer seems to believe it is acceptable for children under 18 to choose life-altering hormonal treatments and surgeries. How can a child possibly comprehend the full, often irreversible implications of such interventions?
I agree that children should be supported in being who they are, but support is very different from the mandatory affirmation and medicalisation of their gender identities. Multiple studies show that over 70% of children who identify as the opposite sex desist by adulthood and are often either on the autism spectrum or homosexual. Allowing them to medically transition in childhood denies them the time and opportunity to fully understand the implications of attempting to change their biological sex.
Mr Haneveer would be well advised to become more fully informed about the complexities of paediatric gender medicine before publishing editorials that perniciously target an important LGB support group in Tasmania.
There are numerous recent publications and studies readily available online for fact-checking. The question is whether Mr Haneveer is interested in doing so.
By Myra Lemon