allthecanadianpolitics
A 14-year-old transgender boy has the capacity to consent to his own medical treatments and should be allowed to proceed with hormone injections to help transition from a female to a male body without delay, a B.C. Supreme Court judge has ruled.
The teenager, who can be identified only as “A.B.,” has been at the centre of a complicated legal fight that raised questions about parental rights and child autonomy. His parents are separated and have joint custody.
While the boy and his mother were prepared to begin testosterone injections last summer, his father objected, citing the need for more time to examine the implications of such a move.
But in a written decision released Wednesday, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Gregory Bowden said he was satisfied A.B. understood the benefits and risks of treatment and that postponing treatment further could result in A.B. — who had previously attempted suicide — trying to harm himself again.
“The totality of the evidence regarding A.B.’s medical needs … leads me to conclude that his hormone treatment should not be delayed further,” the judge wrote.
“While A.B.’s father does not consent to the treatment, I am satisfied that A.B.’s consent is sufficient for the treatment to proceed.”
thejusticethatissocial
The best part is this:
“The judge went on to make the following declarations: that A.B. be referred to as male and identified by his chosen name in all legal proceedings, that he be allowed to change his legal name without the need for consent from his parents, that he is “exclusively entitled” to consent to medical treatment for his dysphoria, and that any attempt to persuade A.B. to abandon treatment or references to A.B. as a girl or using female pronouns “shall be considered to be family violence” under the Family Law Act.”
Coming from the Supreme Court of BC, it sets a really good precedent for future cases like this, to explicitly state that misgendering your child is an act of family violence.
