The Queensland government released private information about the mother of a transgender teenager – information she says potentially “outed” her child – to a stranger.
The revelation came as the state government was accused of “intimidation” and “an invasion of privacy” after demanding confidential medical information from parents of transgender children who are considering a further legal challenge to its controversial ban on puberty blockers.
Last month, the Queensland health minister, Tim Nicholls, issued a new order banning the prescription of puberty blockers for transgender patients, just hours after the state’s supreme court ruled the government’s first attempt was unlawful.
Guardian Australia has spoken to four mothers who have approached Nicholls for a legal document called a statement of reasons – a formal explanation of why the government made a decision to ban puberty blockers in the state. Legally, the document must be provided under the state’s Judicial Review Act.
All four were asked by the Queensland health department for details of their child’s medical history, including “your child’s name, their date of birth and any other evidence which supports your child having a clinical diagnosis of gender dysphoria”.
The details were sought before the statement of claim would be released.
The email, which has been seen by the Guardian, also asked them to “please also confirm if your child is a patient of the Queensland Children’s Gender Clinic so that we can verify the information provided with Children’s Health Queensland,” reads the email, which was sent last Friday.
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All four mothers described the request as an invasion of privacy.
One parent said she was reluctant to divulge the information because the state government had accidentally sent her information to a different parent.
“It feels like having to ‘out’ your child to actually get a response; like, it’s terrifying,” she said.
Louise*, who cannot be legally identified because it would also identify or “out” her child, was one of several who asked for a statement of reasons both times.
In May, the department emailed a response intended for her to another parent, revealing her name and address – and the fact that she had a transgender child – to a stranger. She said a department official later apologised over the phone; the Guardian has seen an email from the department confirming the error.
She said she felt “sick and unsafe” as a result of the error.
“My daughter is incredibly private. She is immensely fearful of being outed in any public space. She doesn’t like anyone to know that she’s trans,” Louise said.
“I respect that to my core as much as humanly possible. The only time I ever, ever disclose is out of necessity for gaining access to supports and only to people I consider incredibly safe and I know well.”
Louise was particularly concerned about the suggestion it would be “verified” by the hospital.
She said the request was “intimidating” and “feels threatening”.
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Nicholls and the Health Department were contacted for comment but did not respond.
Sally* said she was not comfortable disclosing the medical history of her seven-year-old non-binary child.
“It’s not my information, it’s a seven-year-old’s information,” she said.
“To think that that information could accidentally be disclosed one day, in any way, you know, even if that was accidental, could be deeply, deeply distressing to him.”
She wrote back saying the department had asked for an “extraordinary amount of information”.
“I wouldn’t provide that information to any other organisation that asked for it, particularly in the context of the current political climate,” she said.
“It’s such intensely private stuff. You wouldn’t disclose, for example, your HIV status to the minister’s office, you know. You’d be very reluctant and very cautious to provide any of that information to a bunch of bureaucrats, basically.”
The LGBTI Legal Service, which represented the mother in her challenge, was considering a second lawsuit, it said last week.
Its president, Ren Shike, said the decision had affected about 500 Queensland children and their families and it was “important to efficiently facilitate the provision of reasons so that children and their parents can understand the reasoning behind this decision, which has had such a devastating impact on their access to healthcare”.
The government has repeatedly said the ban would remain in place until a review into gender-affirming care had been completed.
In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800; support is also available at Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 and Lifeline on 13 11 14. Other sources of help can be found at Child Helpline International
