Father of trans teen lashes Channel 7s Spotlight program De-transitioning

June 2024 · 4 minute read

A man claiming to be the father of a trans teen has lashed Channel 7’s Spotlight program on transgender youth saying it has “emboldened those who are anti-trans to speak even more loudly”.

Channel 7’s story, by Western Australian journalist Liam Bartlett, focused on transgender young people who later regret their decision to change gender.

The episode delved into “thousands” of kids who regret transitioning, with “parents being left in the dark” as children are told to “change genders from as young as 12 years old”.

The man on Reddit claimed his daughter, who started transitioning after she turned 18, has been copping flak in her TAFE class since the story hit TV screens on Sunday.

The Spotlight episode was discussed in the class, usually a safe space for the teen, and became heated when the “mob mentality kicked in” and his daughter “spoke up to correct misinformation being spewed out”.

The man said the “entire class turned against her, telling her she was wrong, throwing all the biased incorrect information they could come up with at her and talking down at her and over the top of her any time she tried to speak”.

The man was blunt: “It was basically a room full of adults bullying a teenager.”

He said the teacher, rather than reining in the conversation, inflamed it.

“He jumped in to add his own anti-trans opinions into the mix, using the fact that he is gay as ‘proof’ that his opinions were correct,” the man revealed.

“Obviously my daughter has come to the conclusion that the TAFE classroom is not the safe, welcoming place she hoped it would be and has pretty much decided to drop the course.”

He described himself as “angry and sad” over the situation.

“Nobody should ever be made to feel the way she does right now,” he said.

“She’s a sweet kid who goes out of her way to be kind and helpful to others but the list of places where she is welcome is just getting smaller.”

Reddit users empathised with the father.

One said the teacher should “absolutely know better”.

Another revealed they had suffered a similar experience at university.

“The teacher said ‘why do non-binary people even exist? It makes coding harder because now I need to include a third drop down menu,’” the person wrote.

A trans person lamented, “it’s hard enough having our lives be viewed as a political statement let alone when free to air TV demonises our existence. I like a lot of other trans people just want to exist and it seems like that’s too much to ask for some people.”

It’s not the first controversy for the Spotlight program.

A non-binary person, Olivia G, claimed one of her post-surgery videos was included in the program without her consent, wrongfully implying she regretted transitioning.

“I was horrified,” she wrote on a change.org petition calling for the program to be removed. This is not only unethical but immensely harmful to the trans and gender diverse community,” she said.

Her petition comes off the back of accusations by social media influencer Grace Hyland that the program “twisted” her words implying she regreted her gender transition in an advert for the program.

Ms Hyland took to social media to express her confusion as to why Channel 7 had made it appear as though she was having second thoughts about her decision to change her gender.

“I transitioned at 13 and I don’t regret it at all,” Hyland posted to TikTok, 48 hours out of breast augmentation surgery.

“Gender affirming healthcare in Australia needs more funding, it doesn’t need this negativity.

“And even though my face is in this, I don’t agree with it, I don’t stand for this story, I don’t stand for the sensationalism of this whole thing.”

A Seven spokesman acknowledged the error.

“In a promotional video for 7 NEWS Spotlight, the image of a transgender woman was shown during a voiceover discussing children expressing regret over transitioning,” the spokesman said.

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“We acknowledge the photo might inadvertently imply that the individual in question regretted their transition. As soon as we were made aware the image was removed and the promo replaced.

We sincerely apologise for any confusion this may have caused.”

- with Clareese Packer

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