In 2021, the sky fell on David’s head when his 11-year-old child told him of his discomfort at being considered a girl. Zora told him she identified with the masculine gender. A few weeks later, another blow: the Vaudois was informed that at school, Zora would henceforth be called Eden, and that her gender would be masculine on class lists, correspondence, and all acts without legal significance. As required by a Directive newly adopted by the cantonal Training Department. “The fact that I opposed it changed nothing,” laments David, with tears in his eyes.
Then what he calls the downward spiral began. “Specialists came to class to reinforce the idea. At 12 years old, you are vulnerable, it was the highway to medical transition, with the blessing of your mother. The father denounces the “enormous danger” to which minors of an entire generation are exposed: “Is this really the role of school?” Worried about the future of Zora/Eden, who now refuses to speak to him, the man is now taking legal action against the State of Vaud.
When questioned, the Training Department indicated that only one case of a dissatisfied parent had reached it since the entry into force of its directive. It is impossible to say how many students have used it since 2021, but at least 70 have requested follow-up by specialists, out of a total of 140,000 children and young people in training per year. The new head of Department has, however, started to reflect on this directive. “An assessment will be drawn up and this will take into account the outcome of the procedure with the only dissatisfied parent,” specifies its spokesperson. But feedback from the field is generally positive.”
A supervised medical procedure
If at school, minors can quickly be considered according to the gender of their choice, intervening on their bodies is more delicate. It all starts with a medical diagnosis: gender dysphoria is declared after multidisciplinary follow-up of several months. At HUG, no treatment is offered to prepubescent children. Then, puberty blockers can be administered on a case-by-case basis, but only with parental consent and if the child has the capacity to discern. Hormonal treatment can then take place from the age of 16, under the same conditions. Finally, surgery is possible from the age of majority.
