Katherine Deves calls for inquiry into gender changes after Jay Langadinos trans court case

Firebrand Liberal Katherine Deves has thrown her support behind a woman who is suing her psychiatrist for professional negligence after he approved her to start hormone therapy after a single appointment.

Dr Patrick Toohey approved the treatment for Jay Langadinos before later giving the go-ahead for surgeries to remove her breasts, uterus and ovaries. 

In court documents seen by Daily Mail Australia, Dr Toohey said Jay suffered from gender dysphoria despite admitting she had social phobia and didn’t know that ‘psychological factors could influence the outcome of gender transition’.

The doctor also ‘strongly’ recommended that Jay receive social and family therapy, though she didn’t receive either. 

Now, aged 31, Jay is suing Dr Toohey for professional negligence and has been supported by former Liberal candidate Ms Deves, who told Daily Mail Australia that there needs to be an ‘urgent inquiry’ into irreversible gender changes.

‘Jay Langadinos must be commended for her extraordinary bravery in sharing her story, she has been a victim of so-called ‘gender-affirming care’ that is essentially an experiment on distressed and mentally unwell children and young people,’ Ms Deves said.  

‘Those left harmed by these irreversible hormonal interventions and surgeries that cause a myriad of lifelong health problems were always likely to seek legal remedy and compensation. 

‘There are hundreds, if not thousands, of Australian children and young people being subjected to these interventions. Australian health authorities, and bureaucrats must take notice of this case and developments overseas, such as closure of the Tavistock and the pending Cass report, and conduct an inquiry.’

In April this year, Ms Deves came under fire for describing transgender kids as ‘surgically mutilated and sterilised’, and for criticising an awareness day for young LGBT people. 

The mother-of-three said the Wear it Purple Day is used as a ‘grooming tactic’ that promotes ‘extreme body modification’ in comments which have since been deleted. 

Actress and LGBT advocate Magda Szubanski called Ms Deves ‘homophobic’ and said her comments ‘lacked compassion’.

Ms Deves was also criticised for other comments she made in a podcast about people staying quiet over transgender sports. 

She said she was standing up to the status quo and the establishment, while comparing the flack she received from activists as similar to the Jewish persecution at the hands of the Nazis.

Ms Deves has now thrown her support behind Jay, who first met psychiatrist Dr Toohey on May 7, 2010 at 19, after telling a doctor she ‘had always felt she was a boy rather than a girl’, a statement of claim filed in the NSW Supreme Court said. 

Ms Langadinos said Dr Toohey should have realised she might be autistic and referred her for further assessment by a specialist.

She also says her social phobia should have been treated before any hormone therapy and that she wasn’t given any information on how the transition would affect her fertility. 

Ms Langadinos claims the surgeries have left her suffering with ‘injuries and disabilities’.

She also listed several issues she has faced ‘as a result of the negligence’. 

They include masculinisation as a result of hormone therapy, loss of her breasts, uterus and ovaries.

She also cited complications from hormone therapy including early menopause, anxiety and depression.

Ms Langadinos says her psychological functioning is impaired and her capacity for employment has diminished because of the transition. 

In an interview with The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, Ms Langadinos alleged that Dr Toohey was negligent and added: ‘Knowing that I can’t have children is absolutely devastating.’

Dr Toohey’s office declined to comment when approached by Daily Mail Australia. 

According to the documents filed by Ms Langadinos, after their first meeting, Dr Toohey noted she had been distressed at primary school for having to dress as a girl.

He also noted that she had a ‘tomboy’ manner, was sexually attracted to females, did not have friends, and her parents ‘were not accepting of her transgender issues’.

In 2020, Ms Langadinos said she realised that ‘she should not have undergone the hormone therapy or the first and second surgeries’.

In January 2020, she also took advice on ending testosterone treatment.

Ms Langadinos said she had a complicated home life and attraction to girls led to her feeling ‘defective’ at 17. 

Searching for answers online, she came across gender dysphoria and thought ‘that’s what I have’. 

However, she said her transition led to even more unhappiness.  

‘As my unhappiness grew, I felt the cause of my unhappiness was because I was not male, so the answer was to change my body even more,’ she said.

‘I had a breakdown, couldn’t function for an entire year. I couldn’t get out of bed. I wish at the time I knew how much I was hurting and why.’

Solicitor Anna Kerr, of NSW’s Feminist Legal Clinic, referred Ms Langadinos’ case to legal firm Slater and Gordon.

‘We can expect to see extensive litigation in future years related to gender-affirming cross-sex hormones and surgeries,’ she said.

The case next appears in the NSW Supreme Court before a registrar on Friday.