In the 1970s, eight children in Perth were sent to a psychiatric hospital to be ‘treated’ for being transgender. Their experiences became the basis of a medical study that claimed kids could be cured of their identity.

Now, nearly forty years after it was released, that same study is being cited in arguments against trans healthcare and being used to shape policy and law.

Today, Walkley Award-winning journalist and founding editor of ABC Queer, Mon Schafter, on how a forgotten experiment from another era is still influencing the culture war over trans healthcare.

This episode was originally published in October 2025.

 

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Guest: Walkley Award-winning journalist and founding editor of ABC Queer, Mon Schafter

Photo: Supplied: Jayne McFadyen

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