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The Queensland government released confidential information about the mother of a transgender teenager – information she claims potentially “outed” her child – to a stranger.

Allegations of “Bullying” and “Privacy Violation”

The revelation emerged as the government was accused of “intimidation” and “a breach of confidentiality” after requesting private medical information from guardians of transgender children who are contemplating a further court case to its disputed prohibition on puberty blockers.

Recent Government Directive on Puberty Blockers

Last month, the state health official, Tim Nicholls, enacted a fresh directive prohibiting the use of puberty blockers for trans individuals, shortly after the high court ruled the government’s first attempt was unlawful.

Media has interviewed four mothers who have approached Nicholls for a legal document called a statement of reasons – a detailed account of why the authorities made a decision to ban hormone treatments in the state. By law, the document must be supplied under the state’s Judicial Review Act.

Demanded Medical Details

Each were required by the Queensland health department for particulars of their teen’s health background, including “your child’s name, their birthdate and any supporting documents which supports your child having a clinical diagnosis of gender identity disorder”.

The information were requested before the statement of reasons would be released.

The message, which has been seen by the Guardian, also asked them to verify if your child is a client of the youth gender service so that we can confirm the data submitted with Children’s Health Queensland,” states the email, which was sent last Friday.

Mothers Describe Demand as Breach of Confidentiality

Each parent characterized the demand as an invasion of privacy.

A mother said she was hesitant to divulge the information because the state government had accidentally sent her information to a another individual.

“It seems like having to reveal your teen to actually get a response; like, it’s frightening,” she said.

Case of the Mother

The parent, who cannot be legally identified because it would also identify or expose her teen, was one of several who requested a statement of reasons on multiple occasions.

In May, the department sent a response meant for her to another parent, disclosing her name and location – and the detail that she had a trans teen – to a third party. She said a department official later apologised by telephone; the media has obtained an message from the department admitting the mistake.

She said she felt “sick and unsafe” as a consequence of the blunder.

“My child is very reserved. She is immensely fearful of being outed in any social setting. She dislikes people to be aware that she’s transgender,” Louise said.

“I honor that to my core as much as possible. The sole occasion I ever share is out of need for gaining access to services and only to people I deem incredibly safe and I know well.”

Louise was especially worried about the suggestion it would be “confirmed” by the hospital.

She said the request was “intimidating” and “seems coercive”.

Additional Parent Voices Concerns

Another mother said she was unwilling revealing the medical history of her seven-year-old non-binary child.

“It’s not my data, it’s a seven-year-old’s information,” she said.

“To think that that information could inadvertently be leaked one day, in any manner, you know, although that was unintentional, could be extremely upsetting to them.”

She responded saying the department had asked for an “extraordinary amount of information”.

“I would not share that information to another entity that requested it, particularly in the climate of the present environment,” she said.

“It’s such intensely private information. You would not reveal, for example, your HIV status to the government office, you know. You’d be very reluctant and careful to provide such details to a group of officials, basically.”

Advocacy Group Weighing Second Lawsuit

The LGBTI Legal Service, which assisted the mother in her case, was evaluating a second lawsuit, it said last week.

Its president, Ren Shike, said the decision had impacted about hundreds of minors and their families and it was “important to promptly enable the supply of explanations so that children and their parents can understand the logic behind this ruling, which has had such a devastating impact on their access to healthcare”.

Authorities Stance on Prohibition

The authorities has consistently said the prohibition would stay enforced until a examination into trans healthcare had been completed.