Debate: You can't take politics out of the debate on gender-diverse children

摘要

The focus of concern in the public conversation about the care of gender-diverse children and adolescents is to some degree a matter of politics: that is, the dynamics of power and 'voice' in our modern world. There are questions relating to child and parent autonomy in making identity-driven life decisions; the counterbalancing need to safeguard children when new technologies enable new life choices to be made; the role of professional 'experts' (e.g. in claiming to evaluate the 'authenticity' of a young person's gender identity); and the significance, and credibility, of different kinds of evidence in making treatment decisions. All these weighty and wide-ranging considerations come to the fore in the United Kingdom and elsewhere when discussing what might be an ethical, safe and just response to gender-diverse children in our changing society.