Dear Natalie Davis, Mark Page, and David Thodey of Pindara Private Hospital, and Leading Steps Paediatric Clinic (reception@leadingsteps.com.au).

I am a current employee at Pindara Private Hospital, and a trans person (I am, however, writing this anonymously due to risk of being fired). I am writing this letter to you to raise concerns about a member of both your staff, located in Pindara Private’s Specialist Suites, Level 4 – at the Leading Steps Paediatric Clinic in Benowa – Paediatrician Dr Dylan Wilson.

In September 2023, Channel 7 aired the hour-long segment(1) “Breaking the Silence: The Reality of De-Transitioning” nationally and subsequent “De-Transitioning: Dr Dylan Wilson Extended Interview” via YouTube(2) for all to see. He additionally has created an open letter(3) calling for an end to gender-affirming care for youth. The featuring of the Paediatrician and his comments has raised many concerns about the well-being of trans youth in his care, as well as damage to the broader trans community and the values of what this clinic and the Pindara hospital claims to stand for.

Throughout his open letter and media appearances, his devaluing of, disgust toward, and his perceived superiority over trans people, their bodies, minds, and choices, are made extremely clear.

These are just a few examples of statements broadcast to the Australian public and internationally;

·        “Children are promised something that cannot be achieved. It is not possible to be the opposite sex”

·        “[Children] who’ve been commenced on [puberty blockers] and they’ve progressed on to treatments like cross-sex hormones and surgery… have been irrevocably changed and harmed for the rest of their lives”

·        “Children are being surgically mutilated and sterilised.” In reference to gender-affirming care.

·        That trans men go through top surgery (bilateral mastectomy) do so “because of [a] mental health struggle”

·        “I don’t think a child or any of their parents can truly consent to [puberty blockers]”

These statements are designed with a clear impact in mind – to invalidate and to make inferior trans people’s lived experiences of sex, their bodies, and their ability to provide consent.

Any implication that trans people, their bodies, and their experiences are ‘less than’ is what I would class as blatant transphobia.

No other surgery is described as “mutilation”, not exploratory surgery, or biopsies done on healthy tissue, not breast augmentation done in a gender-affirming way for cisgender women, not the exact same mastectomies done for breast cancer. No, it’s the impact of the gender-affirming surgery that’s seen as mutilation. It’s the attitude that transitioning from one sex to another is wrong and disgusting that leads to consequent horror and disgust toward trans people’s bodies and transitioning, be it social, hormonal, or surgical for those of us who could ever afford it. This type of emotive language is unfortunately a very popular way for cisgender people to make inferior trans bodies and choices.

Additionally, the very idea that trans people will never be their lived sex is steeped in cissexism – the implication, assumption, or belief “that cis people’s gender identities, expressions, and embodiments are more natural and legitimate than those of trans people.”(4)  (see Julia Serano’s Whipping Girl for further discussions of cissexism, and the history of medical gatekeeping of our community’s healthcare).

Additionally, through incorrectly stating that trans men transition due to ‘mental health’ struggles, Wilson tries to revoke their ability to give consent and bodily autonomy, on the very basis of them simply being trans and transitioning. This sets an extremely dangerous precedent which should remind all of us of a time in very recent memory, where gay people were locked up in institutions and were deemed ‘mentally ill’ purely based on their sexuality. To put it very simply, being trans is not a mental illness, and whilst we do face high rates of mental illness, current literature suggests that this is caused by discrimination, lack of acceptance, and lack of access to gender-affirming care(5), something Dr Wilson is proud to say he himself contributes to.

This leads me to my next point. Denial of care. Wilson has stated both during his interview, and in his open letter, that he “would never refer a child [to] the paediatric gender service.” This blanket refusal to follow internationally and nationally recommended guidelines (AUSPATH and WPATH guidelines) in providing adequate care for trans and gender diverse populations is no doubt unethical and serves to further marginalise an already heavily oppressed group of people.

In 2014, it was reported that 53% of young trans and gender diverse people in Australia reported at least one negative experience(6) with a health professional, including transphobic comments, assault, and a blanket refusal to provide care.

I can only imagine the kind of example keeping this doctor on your rosters would set for our community.

What is further telling is that in his interview with channel 7(2), he admits not knowing “how conversations go” in gender clinics. For someone who is presented as an expert, and someone who is actively campaigning against the right to transition, it does not appear as though he has actually worked with gender clinics or engaged with them and the transition process. However it appears instead that he is enmeshed within and colluding with a small echo chamber of anti-trans doctors, groups, and lobbyists such as Katherine Deves(1), Women’s Forum Australia(7), Dr Jillian Spencer, Patrick Parkinson, Dr Peter Parry(8), the Family First Party(9), and Genspect(10).  

At my first day at Ramsey, I was taught to “speak up for patient safety” and I firmly believe I am doing so now.  Dr Wilson refuses to follow medically supported guidelines, calls a group of people’s bodies “mutilated” and their minds mentally ill, and trivialises trans people (and their guardians)’s ability to consent.

I am personally tired of self-appointed cisgender “experts” with no lived experience, contact with the trans community, or specialised training in transgender health thinking that they know what is best for our community, and that they should be able to take away our right to bodily autonomy and consent which includes (in the case of children unless they are Gillick competent) our caregivers.

Ramsey’s vision is to “Be a leading healthcare provider of the future.” And their purpose, “People caring for people.” It’s now time to be a leading healthcare provider of the future and to be the people caring for people.

Leading Steps, “quality care is [your] highest priority”, it’s now time to step up and provide nothing less than this for our trans and gender diverse community.

I’ll end with this notable 2024 review(11) relating to trans people;

“Dr Dylan Wilson is the worst doctor in the world. He is extremely bigoted and literally hates anyone that isn't a straight white cis man. If you think your child is safe with him, they are not. Do not make the mistake of going to see this HORRIFIC man.”

How many people does he need to harm for it to be enough?

prima non nocere.

 

 

1

7 News Spotlight (2023) Breaking the Silence: The Reality of De-Transitioning, YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgW_xtIcpew&feature=youtu.be (Accessed: 23 March 2025).

2

7 News Spotlight (2023b) De-Transitioning: Dr Dylan Wilson extended interview | 7NEWS Spotlight, YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTHw6a8bbLE (Accessed: 23 March 2025).

3

Wilson, D.D. (2022) An open letter to Australia’s doctors, An Open Letter to Australia’s Doctors. Available at: https://drdylanwilson.substack.com/p/an-open-letter-to-australias-doctors (Accessed: 23 March 2025).

4

Clements, K. (2021) What does it mean to be cissexist?, Healthline. Available at: https://www.healthline.com/health/transgender/cissexist#:~:text=Activist%20and%20scholar%20Julia%20Serano%20defines (Accessed: 23 March 2025).

5

Knight, M. et al. (2024) Full article: Systematic review of prospective adult mental health outcomes following affirmative interventions for gender dysphoria, Taylor & Francis Online. Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/26895269.2024.2333525 (Accessed: 23 March 2025).

Bird, K. et al. (2024) Risk and protective factors for self-harm thoughts and behaviours in transgender and gender diverse people: A systematic review, Heliyon. Available at: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10925986/ (Accessed: 23 March 2025).

Zwickl, S. et al. (2021) Factors associated with suicide attempts among Australian transgender adults - BMC psychiatry, BioMed Central. Available at: https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-021-03084-7 (Accessed: 23 March 2025).

Herman, J.L. and O’Neill, K.K. (2021) Suicide risk and prevention for transgender people: Summary of research findings, Williams Institute. Available at: https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/trans-suicide-risk-prevent-summary/#:~:text=This%20fact%20sheet%20provides%20a%20summary%20of%20current,and%20lack%20of%20access%20to%20gender-affirming%20medical%20care (Accessed: 23 March 2025).

Virupaksha, H.G., Muralidhar, D. and Ramakrishna, J. (2016) Suicide and suicidal behavior among transgender persons, Indian journal of psychological medicine. Available at: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5178031/ (Accessed: 23 March 2025).

Williams, A. (2020) Risk factors for suicide in the Transgender Community: European Psychiatry, Cambridge Core. Available at: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/european-psychiatry/article/risk-factors-for-suicide-in-the-transgender-community/3AE67FF7615DDB5452A9672F9DF11714 (Accessed: 23 March 2025).

6

 Smith E, Jones T, Ward R, Dixon J, Mitchell A, Hillier L. (2014). From Blues to Rainbows: The mental health and well-being of gender diverse and transgender young people in Australia [PDF]. Melbourne: Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society.

7

Watson, G. (2025) Prominent Australians call for National Inquiry into Youth Gender Medicine, OUTinPerth. Available at: https://www.outinperth.com/prominent-australians-call-for-national-inquiry-into-youth-gender-medicine/ (Accessed: 23 March 2025).

8

Landmark Forum calls for urgent inquiry into medicalised gender affirmation of minors (2023) Women’s Forum Australia. Available at: https://www.womensforumaustralia.org/landmark_forum_calls_for_urgent_inquiry_into_medicalised_gender_affirmation_of_minors (Accessed: 23 March 2025).

9

Shelton, L. (2025) Child gender transition should be banned says family first in wake of open letter to the PM - family first party australia, Family First Party. Available at: https://www.familyfirstparty.org.au/child_gender_transition_should_be_banned_says_family_first_in_wake_of_open_letter_to_the_pm (Accessed: 23 March 2025).

10

Australia, G. (2024) Open letter from Australian clinicians concerned about the Sax Institute’s flawed ‘evidence check’, Genspect. Available at: https://genspect.org/open-letter-from-australian-clinicians-concerned-about-the-sax-institutes-flawed-evidence-check/ (Accessed: 23 March 2025).

11

Dr. Dylan Wilson (no date) RateMDs. Available at: https://www.ratemds.com/doctor-ratings/3494736/Dr-Dylan-Wilson-Gold+Coast-QLD.html/ (Accessed: 23 March 2025).