By Stephanie Bastiaan
Over 100 clinicians and researchers have signed a public letter to the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) President, Dr Elizabeth Moore, and President-Elect, Dr Astha Tomar, in support of Dr Jillian Spencer's candidacy for President-Elect of RANZCP in response to an attempt by trans activists to interfere with the election by having Dr Spencer's nomination withdrawn.
“Many of us have witnessed and raised many of the same concerns as Dr. Spencer about the current model of care, called Gender Affirming Care, based on the World Professional Association, WPATH's, standards of care. We share Dr Spencer's observations that this current model is not evidence-based and not safe for the young people in our care,” the open letter reads.
“We are concerned that social and political issues and activism are interfering with clinical practice, undermining clinical professional's ability to practice in accordance with sound scientific evidence. This is most recently evidenced by the campaign by transgender activists to have her name removed from the ballot.”
Trans Health Australia, an activist community group with links to ACON are attempting to influence RANZCP’s Presidential elections by lobbying their followers to bombard both the Australian and New Zealand officers with objections to the nominations of Dr Spencer.
In a social media post, they referred to Dr Spencer's nomination as a “little problem to be sorted out” and asked their followers to email and get others to email RANZCP’s national office in New Zealand or Australia, depending on where they live in a ‘secret squirrel' style campaign.
"STOP disgraced Psychiatrist Dr Jillian Spencer in her bid to be elected as the President-Elect of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists." the post reads.
"This is for everyone. I shared this with just our followers because I think that it could be a bad idea to make this public and potentially stir up a hornet's nest."
"Hundreds of emails will soon sort this little problem out."
Dr Spencer announced her nomination for President-Elect in late November, saying that she was standing to spare other psychiatrists from losing their careers as she had for addressing the lack of evidence of benefit and risk of serious harm with regard to the 'gender-affirmation' model of care for gender dysphoria. She also said the medical college's failure to speak out had resulted in Australian politicians avoiding responsibility in addressing the scandal.
"The community understandably expects no less than scientific excellence, and they also expect us to be passionate about protecting our discipline from politicisation and bias," Dr Spencer said in her announcement speech.
"Unfortunately, the College's shockingly inadequate response to the issue of harm to children from 'gender-affirming' interventions reflects more deep-seated issues within the College. The College has become disengaged with its members. It has repeatedly aligned itself with one side of various disputed political issues. It has allowed psychiatrist training standards to drop, and it has permitted advocacy and ideology to replace scientific rigour. This all needs to change."
"Importantly, to retain the trust and respect of the community, the College needs to urgently call for an end to the 'gender-affirming' model of care for children and adolescents with gender distress," Dr Spencer said.
Dr Spencer was suspended from clinical duties at Queensland Children's Health in June 2023 after raising concerns about the lack of scientific evidence underpinning the 'gender-affirmation' model of care for minors struggling with gender dysphoria.
The complexity of mental health issues that often accompany gender dysphoria in minors is well documented in Australia, with a 2021 NSW study finding correlating factors of childhood trauma, family dysfunction and sexual abuse amongst children presenting with gender dysphoria along with comorbid mental health issues, including anxiety, depression, behaviour disorders and autism.
Despite the findings of the Cass Review, which supports Dr Spencer's position on the lack of evidence to support the 'gender-affirmation' model of care, the fact that the UK has now banned puberty blockers for minors, and while numerous European countries, including Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark and France, have moved away from the affirmation model towards a more 'cautious' approach to treating gender dysphoria, Australian political leaders and 'trans health' activist groups including ACON and AusPath claim the findings do not apply to Australia.
Meanwhile, Australian gender clinics continue to treat gender dysphoria in accordance with the now discredited WPATH guidelines, which prioritise the 'affirmation model' and include endorsing the prescription of harmful puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to minors as young as eight.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Health Minister Mark Butler also continue to ignore calls from medical professionals, advocates, and community members to hold an inquiry to ascertain whether patients are being treated according to the best medical practices based on the best up-to-date medical evidence.
RANZCP and election convenors have not commented on the campaign against Dr Spencer. Voting will commence on 23 February 2025.
Stephanie Bastiaan is Head of Advocacy at Women's Forum Australia
Women’s Forum Australia is an independent think tank that undertakes research, education and public policy advocacy on issues affecting women and girls, with a particular focus on addressing behaviours and practices that are harmful and abusive to them. We are a non-partisan, non-religious, tax-deductible charity. We do not receive any government funding and rely solely on donations to make an impact. Support our work today.
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