The political climate in Australia is one of constant change, and this can make it particularly difficult for Christians to keep up. Holding our government accountable is very important, especially when it comes to how taxpayers’ money is being spent.
Such a problem that the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) have investigated is the use of taxpayers’ money to support the transgender lobby. ACL Managing Director Martyn Iles recently joined us 20twenty to share some context around the problem and why he thinks Christians should be concerned.
misuse of taxpayers’ money
“The latest news,” says Martyn, “is that the federal government will allocate $13 million in taxpayer money to developing workplace policies to bolster the trans movement. This will be for things like replacing words “birth mother” with “birth mother” and gender neutral bathrooms.”
The figure is huge. In fact, it’s larger than the current ASIO budget. But unfortunately, this is the sort of thing governments do when their money feeds the trans juggernaut. Even when people are sued by activists for using the wrong pronouns, they are backed by government-funded legal centers.
“The laws are enforced by state-funded human rights organizations,” says Martyn. “But also a lot of money goes into the education system to ensure that the trans-affirmative approach is taught in schools. The problem with this is that we know it’s wrong. It is not good for children and causes lifelong regrets.”
Unsafe Treatments
The story of the Tavistock Gender Clinic in the UK recently came to light after a young woman sued her for giving her hormones and puberty blockers as a teenager to help her become a man. She claims she was misadvised and the clinic’s practices were made public.
“The practices are the same in gender clinics in Australia,” says Martyn. “You put young people at significant risk of poor mental health and this treatment is neither safe nor feasible in the long term. The Tavistock Clinic has been accused of under-assessing patients, rushing medicalization and failing to protect children.’
The court’s decision is a step away from the gender-affirming approach. That means a child should be able to get harsh drugs with scary side effects depending on how they’re feeling inside. As a result, we have failed an entire generation of children and the government has funded this at every turn.
Legal consequences
“But here in Australia, we’re sometimes slower to recognize what’s happening abroad,” says Martyn. “We call on the federal government to stop funding this madness. There are already rumors of legal cases starting here.’
In Australia, the number of children wanting to change their gender is increasing by thousands of percentage points. In order to meet the demand, the clinics are expanding. Kids come in and say “I’m not a boy, I’m a girl” or vice versa because they hear it all the time at school or online.
“The whole idea gets stuck in their heads before they’re eighteen,” says Martyn. “An age where they can’t even get a tattoo. In the name of political correctness, the government has pushed this forward and funded it at every step. Those of us who have tried to speak out have been banned from social media, attacked, subverted and labeled haters.
Prayer is vital
Martyn believes this is one of the biggest medical scandals we’ve seen in decades. Only later in life do these young people realize that they were given irreversible therapies and treatments when what they actually had was a psychological problem.
“I would say the government would be well served if they changed course before all of this surfaces,” says Martyn. “It is worth praying about because this is one of the most serious attacks on children. If the legal ramifications could be used to reverse course, I think that would be a great and wonderful thing.’
This article was inspired by Martyn Iles.
Listen martyns full interview 20twenty below, or for more resources bringing hope and recovery, visit our vision shop.
