Parents Punished For Refusing Gender Transition of 13-Year-Old

When a young girl in Switzerland told her parents that she identifies as a male, the parents sought psychological help for their daughter and rejected administering her puberty blockers and similar treatments.

Participants cheer during the annual Christopher Street Day LGBTQ pride event in Pirna, eastern Germany, on July 13, 2024. (Photo by JENS SCHLUETER / AFP)

Swiss authorities have removed a minor from her parents because they refused to allow her to gender transition. The girl has been living separately from her family in a youth home for more than a year, according to ADF International, an organization that provides legal counsel for the parents.

🚨NEW: Swiss authorities have REMOVED a child from her parents for over a year

After her parents refused to administer puberty blockers to her

We're standing with these parents in defending their right to protect their child from harm

PRESS RELEASE: https://t.co/t1Tc21eDQF pic.twitter.com/DXL7AHV3gy

— ADF International (@ADFIntl) July 11, 2024

The girl told her parents at the age of 13 that she felt like a man, a realization she arrived at while suffering psychological difficulties during the coronavirus pandemic. At that time, she was spending a lot of time alone and on the internet, which made her feel that she was not really a girl," according to information relayed by the international V4NA news agency. 

To remedy the problem, the parents then had their daughter examined at a state hospital, where during a half-hour appointment, the 13-year-old was diagnosed with gender dysphoria and prescribed treatment with puberty blockers. The parents refused this line of treatment and instead requested psychotherapy for their daughter. Then they discovered that the school their daughter was attending had for some time acknowledged and treated her as a boy. In most cases, according to the report, this social transitioning is a precursor to further physical and irreversible steps such as taking puberty blockers, hormones and/or surgery.

When the parents dared to object at the school about how they were treating their daughter, the institution turned to the Youth Protection Office through an LGBTQ organisation called "Le Refuge". This organisation accused the parents of abusing their child for preferring psychotherapeutic treatment. As a result, the family court partially deprived the parents of custody and placement rights. The child was removed to a state youth home in April 2023.

In another court ruling, the parents were also ordered to hand over the girl's identity documents so that she could legally change her gender identity.

According to ADF International, the parents are currently working to regain full custody and parental rights over their daughter and to have the previous court decisions nullified. Their child was taken away from them simply because they were trying to protect her, ADF International reports.

Cover photo: Illustration (Photo: AFP/Jens Schlueter)