澳大利亚One Nation党参议员Tyron Whitten在2025年8月接受YouTube采访时声称，支持跨性别孩子的父母正在从事"虐待儿童"行为[1]。Whitten表示"there's male, there's female, and then there's mental illness"[1]，并进一步指出"parents that are promoting this, I think that's child abuse"[1]。这番言论引发了关于跨性别权利和儿童保护的争议。
该党其他议员也发表了类似立场。参议员Malcolm Roberts在6月的一档播客中声称"They're saying you can cut your dick off and become a woman … That's a complete distortion of science"[1]。另一位议员Parminder Singh在2025年西澳州选举的YouTube采访中称同性恋是"mental illness"[1]。
人权倡导组织对这些观点进行了反驳。澳大利亚人权委员会指出，该国约2-3%的11至18岁青少年认同为跨性别或性别多元化[1]，而跨性别人群占总人口不足1%[1]。该委员会还澄清，澳大利亚在公共卫生系统中对18岁以下人士实施大多数性别认同相关手术并不合法[1]。此外，非营利组织Minus18的研究表明，10个LGBTQIA+青少年中有9个表示因自身身份遭遇过欺凌或暴力[1]。
An Australian One Nation senator has sparked controversy by characterizing parents who support their transgender children as committing child abuse. Tyron Whitten made the remarks during a YouTube interview in August 2025, stating that "there's male, there's female, and then there's mental illness," and asserting that "parents that are promoting this, I think that's child abuse."[1]
The comments align with broader criticism of transgender rights voiced by other party members. Malcolm Roberts said in a June podcast that gender transition represents "a complete distortion of science," claiming that "they're saying you can cut your dick off and become a woman."[1] Party leader Pauline Hanson has also made statements opposing transgender rights, while candidate Parminder Singh characterized homosexuality as a "mental illness" during a 2025 Western Australian election YouTube interview.[1]
Human rights advocates and the Australian Human Rights Commission have rejected these characterizations. The Commission noted that approximately 2–3% of young Australians aged 11 to 18 identify as transgender or gender diverse,[1] and that transgender people make up less than 1% of the broader population according to Equality Australia's chief executive Anna Brown.[1] The Commission also clarified that "it is not legal in Australia to perform most gender-affirming surgeries on people under 18 years in the public health system."[1] Research by Minus18 revealed that 9 in 10 LGBTQIA+ young people reported experiencing bullying or violence because of their identity.[1]