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Alleviating Anxiety and Cultivating Care: Young Trans People in the Family Court of Australia

Abstract

The distress and anxiety faced by young trans(gender) people generates varied social, medical, and legal concerns. In Australia, minors have had to appeal to the jurisdiction of the Family Court of Australia if they wished to undergo medical or surgical changes to their body in order to alleviate ‘gender dysphoria’ and affirm their gender. In approving every application to date and, most recently, dispensing with the requirement to go seek court approval, the Family Court has exhibited care, concern, and compassion when addressing anxieties faced by young trans people and formulating therapeutic determinations to relieve those anxieties. This paper maps out this affective terrain – the alleviation of anxiety and cultivation of care – by exploring key appellate Family Court decisions relating to young trans people made between 2003 and 2018. A queer engagement with Australian Family Court decisions enables us to consider the extent to which alleviating anxiety and cultivating care secure the wellbeing of young trans and gender non-conforming people.

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Apr 4, 2019
Online Publication Date Nov 27, 2019
Publication Date Jan 2, 2020
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Australian Feminist Law Journal
Print ISSN 1320-0968
Publisher Routledge
Volume 45
Issue 1
Pages 111-130
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/13200968.2019.1636752
Publisher URL http://doi.org/10.1080/13200968.2019.1636752

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