Efforts to suppress or change gender identity prove ineffective and harmful...

[Jessica_Rose]

Efforts to suppress or change gender identity prove ineffective and harmful, Australian research indicates

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/efforts-to-suppress-or-change-gender-identity-prove-ineffective-and-harmful-australian-research-indicates/ar-AA1O2f3e?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=ad946d9d81b34262b87ae472bd860c25&ei=115 🔗 [Link: msn.com/en-​us/health/medical/efforts-​to-​suppress-​or-​change-​gender-​identity-​prove-​ineffective-​and-​harmful-​australian-​research-​indicates/ar-​AA1O2f3e/]

Story by Science X staff (8 Oct 2025)

Efforts to suppress or change a child's gender identity and sexuality are ineffective and cause long-term harm, according to new research.

The research, led by Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI) and informed by the childhood experiences of a transgender woman, confirms that practices seeking to achieve cisgender and heterosexual outcomes for gender diverse children are futile and widely cited peer-reviewed research is fueling anti-trans rhetoric.

Published in the Medical Journal of Australia (MJA), the research is a response to a 1987 research article which centered on eight "gender-disordered children" who were admitted for "inpatient therapy" at a psychiatric hospital in Western Australia. It suggested that inpatient therapy could correct transgendered behavior, thoughts and feelings, ultimately promoting the idea that gender-diverse children can be nudged into becoming cisgender adults.

Lead author Jayne MacFayden, a transgender woman, was admitted to the same hospital during a similar period as the eight children. Her childhood recollections align closely with the clinical details supplied for one of the children.

MCRI's Dr. Anja Ravine said the research team's analysis of available details, including Ms MacFayden's hospital medical record and account of her experiences, both in hospital and subsequently, revealed that her therapy caused psychological harm and was ultimately in vain.

"Our research found the child's agency and voice were overridden, they endured long periods of detention in hospital despite their and later their parents' objections, discharge was conditional on displaying gender-stereotypical behaviors and a long-lasting legacy of fear of re-hospitalization was instilled."

[Lori Dee]

Although most of us have not been institutionalized, the same pressure to conform is all around us in society and even coming from our own government.

We can only hope that someday, this will be corrected and people will be accepted as just people, regardless of race, color, nationality, sexuality, or gender.