The Court of Justice of the Swiss canton of Geneva upheld a first instance court ruling depriving a 16-year-old's parents of parental rights for not agreeing to its ‘gender change’.
The case concerns a girl surviving in Switzerland who in 2021 (aged 13) stated that she was not a female but a man. As a result, she informed her parents that she was going to undergo procedures aimed at alleged sex change. Problems with sex recognition were to be related to the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic period, erstwhile the girl was forced to spend most of her time alone in her room, mainly browsing the Internet.
The teenage parents, afraid about her statements, decided to consult experts. In the hospital, the girl was shown a ‘unicorn diagram’ (gender unicorn), utilized for ‘defining sex spectrum and sexuality’. Importantly, the diagram is based on the presumption that sex can change as it would depend on the person's feelings and will, alternatively than on biological facts. As a consequence of the study, doctors found that a teenager may endure from a sex identity disorder and informed his parents that their daughter should take medical measures to inhibit the sexual maturation process, or alleged puberty blockers. Parents, who disagreed with the opinion of doctors, decided to usage private psychiatric care.
However, real problems began erstwhile public institutions and entities and LGBT associations were involved. The school to which the teenager went started her "social trancipy", consisting of "witting" another people with a fresh sex identity of the girl, by changing the human name, pronouns and another gender-related elements utilized in interactions. Parents who opposed the activities of the educational institution presented to the authorities papers and medical studies indicating the harmfulness of specified practices and presented examples from another countries that decided to ban or limit the alleged sex change procedures due to increasing doubts about their negative impact on young people.
The school authorities informed the cantonal agency to defend children – Service de Protection des Mineurs (SPMi) – and established cooperation with the ideological organization working for transideology – Le Refuge. The designated entities organized a gathering with their parents, where they were accused of kid abuse, which was to consist of their deficiency of their consent to the “sex change” operation in the girl.
As a result, in April 2023, a teenager, under a court order, was taken from her parents and placed in a government youth shelter. Le Refuge and SPMi tried to convince the girl that the doctor of private psychiatric care, who examined her at the parents' command, is simply a “transphobic”. In addition, according to the order, the future of her therapy was decided by doctors who then stated that she could proceed her treatments under the alleged sex change procedure. Additionally, parents were ordered to hand over the papers of their daughter needed to proceed the transit.
The parents of teenagers then appealed against the warrant, bringing a complaint to the ultimate Court of Geneva – the Court of Justice (Cour de justice). On 31 July 2024, however, the Court ordered them to supply the papers essential to carry out the "sex adjustment". In addition, a possible refusal will be treated as a crime. The Court argued that ‘deciding on one’s identity is strictly a individual right’ and should so be granted to a teenager.
– The state not only separated us from our daughter, due to the fact that we opposed her “transition”, but now threatens us with criminal charges if we do not aid her “legal transit” by passing legal documents,” said the teenage father.
He besides pointed out the violation of their parental rights by Switzerland.
– The state should not have specified power. If this can happen to us, it can happen to another parents. We will not quit trying to defend our daughter and effort to appeal this decision said the man.
Parents of teenagers are not going to give up. The next step in a case of over 3 years will be the complaint they plan to file to the highest judicial authority in the Confederation – the national Court of Switzerland (Bundesgericht/Tribunal fédéral).
– The activities of state institutions described may violate a number of provisions of various acts of global law to which the Swiss Confederation is party. An example of this is the work to defend the family, which affects both the state and society as defined in Article 10 of the global Pact on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and Article 23(1) of the global Covenant on civilian and Political Rights. In addition, the Convention on the Rights of the kid obliges States Parties to full recognise the rule that parents are jointly liable for the upbringing and improvement of the child – comments Patryk Ignaszczak of the Ordo Iuris global Law Center.
Parents in the proceedings are represented by American think-tank legal ADF International.
Source: Ordo Iuris
TG
