ABC outrage after publishing cartoon about trans girl Sapphire receiving puberty blockers
An ABC cartoon depicting a 10-year-old boy looking forward to getting puberty blockers after deciding to switch to a girl has sparked global outrage.
The national broadcaster shared the cartoon on its social media pages on Monday, along with the caption, “Meet Sapphire, a transgender child.”
The two-minute cartoon is narrated by Sapphire and her journey through the transition to becoming a girl and how she would “soon” get puberty blockers to “pause” her body.
The ABC is under fire for making a cartoon with ‘Sapphire’ described as a ‘proud transgender girl’ at age 10
An Al Jazeera producer and reporter has criticized the cartoon, claiming it promotes pseudoscience
“People think I’m not really a girl, but I am a girl,” Sapphire said in the video.
“I’m 10. When I was younger I just didn’t feel right and everything felt wrong.
“I saw girls with hairbrushes and Barbies and cool long hair and I thought, ‘Ooh, I want that hair. I’d like that dress.’
“I knew I wanted to be a girl and I was a girl, but I didn’t really know what to say or how to say it and if it was true.
“I remember this day when I was playing with my big sister, we were playing a game and something felt wrong and I just told her, ‘I’m a girl.'”
The narration is accompanied by uplifting music and illustrations of Sapphire’s life, including her big sister, other friends and pets.
At the end of the short video, the sun shines down on her as she declares, “I am who I want to be.”
Sapphire said the decision she was a girl made her “a little nervous that people wouldn’t accept me for who I was, because they’ve always known me as a boy.”
“My friends and my family were very accepting and I don’t know if they really knew what I was going through,” she said.
“I want them to see me as a proud transgender girl, but not always think ‘you’re trans’, but say ‘I’m a girl, and that’s who I am and that’s who I’ll always be’.
“I’ll be on puberty blockers soon and that’s like my body really stopped growing into what I don’t want it to be.”
‘I am who I want to be, I can do what I want.
In the video, Sapphine says that while playing with a big sister, they came to realize that they were not a girl
As Sapphire declares she is a girl, there is uplifting music and the sun shines glowing on her
“If someone tries to say ‘No, you can’t’, I am not related to that person. I am not. They are not me. They don’t know who I am and who I want to be.’
The description accompanying the Instagram video read, “Sapphire…is a proud transgender girl and wants people to accept her for who she is.”
“She is receiving care at the Queensland Children’s Hospital gender service and says she will soon start puberty blockers to ‘pause’ her body from ‘growing into’ what she doesn’t want,” the post reads.
The footage has sparked outrage around the world, with London-based reporter and Al Jazeera news producer Sonia Gallego slamming it.
“The Australian state broadcaster has produced a cartoon promoting sex change in children,” she wrote on Twitter.
“It’s pseudoscience and goes against the growing consensus that the risks outweigh the benefits and that 80-90 percent of these kids, if left alone, will grow up to be the same sex.”
A number of other Twitter users chimed in to agree with her sentiment.
“That kid has no idea how they feel, now adults are influencing them to make decisions they shouldn’t be making at their age,” one tweet read.
“A lot of this is also about needing an ‘immediate’ cure, immediate answer etc.”
Sonia Gallego of Al Jezzera, based in London, claimed there was a growing consensus against transitional children
“My kid is 10. I’m doing my best to make sure he knows kids can’t be born in the wrong body,” another tweeted.
“This looks like it’s trying to get around parents talking to prepubescent, suggestive kids.”
A third added: “Again targeting children. Leave them alone to flourish and grow without anyone’s intervention. You know, like it once was. This is just disgusting.’
An ABC spokesperson defended the video, saying it complied with national broadcaster guidelines.
“All ABC programs must meet ABC editorial requirements and this content is no exception,” they said.