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Kirralie Smith discusses Binary’s new book Devastated: How gender ideology is tearing Australian families apart.

Why would nine families make themselves vulnerable to the public, sharing their stories of the devastating effects of gender ideology?

These nine families come from different backgrounds and various parts of Australia. They each have their own distinctive story to tell.

But they are united on one theme: gender ideology devastated their family and tore it apart.

A new book, compiled and edited by Binary spokeswoman Kirralie Smith, will officially launch on 28 November. In the lead-up to its release, Kirralie sat down with The Daily Declaration to talk about why this new book will make a vital contribution to changing the social and legal discussion around transgender ideology.

Nine Families, Nine Different Stories, Common Themes

Titled Devastated: How gender ideology is tearing Australian families apart, this new book is a compilation of first-hand accounts of families destroyed by gender ideology.

“This has been one of the most difficult projects I have ever been involved with,” says Kirralie Smith.

“It’s come about because I am contacted weekly, if not daily, by parents all around the country who have the most harrowing stories to tell me. They don’t feel like they have a voice.”

While each story is unique, they share common themes.

Each begins when “their children have come home questioning their gender identity.”

When “they sought advice from health practitioners, perhaps from school counsellors, they were utterly betrayed by these systems that are meant to help guide them for the best for their children.”

“What’s actually happened is these children have been captured by this gender ideology that has absolutely devasted their families.”

“We have nine families who have been brave enough to trust us to steward their stories. These parents have shared how the health system, the political system and the education system have severely let them down, have let their children down, and have lied and deceived them.”

“Many parents don’t have a relationship with their kids anymore.”

Asked why these families are willing to relive their trauma and devastation, the 2023 Australian Mother of the Year was quick to answer.

She says it’s because they want to see dramatic change take place in Australia over the acceptance of transgender ideology. They put pen to paper to create an Australia that they tragically did not experience.

In sharing their stories, these families also want other families who are going through it to know that “they are not alone”.

And for families who thankfully haven’t experienced the devastation of transgender ‘affirmative care’, “they can glean some wisdom and insight into how to protect their children from this insidious ideology.”

Difficult, But Important, Reading

Some of these parents experienced health professionals telling them that if they didn’t affirm their child’s new ‘gender identity’, their child would be removed from their care. Tragically, “in some cases, that has happened”, Kirralie revealed.

Other families were called bigots and transphobes. Their love and capability of parenting their children were also severely called into question.

Not surprisingly, “These families have felt so alone.”

These parents desperately searched for answers to help their children. Some attempted to make their child as comfortable as possible, suggesting different hairstyles or dress codes that didn’t fit gender norms.

“But then [the children] have been sucked in by this system that says, ‘You need to go on puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones’.”

“These children’s lives have been utterly destroyed. Because those treatments are irreversible. They do catastrophic harm.”

“And some of the accounts in this book about females – going through male-pattern baldness, their wombs have atrophied, they’re now infertile, they have breasts cut off, they can’t breastfeed their children once they’re adults – it’s just unbelievable.”

“And that’s just scratching the surface of those health problems.”

Contribution of Professor Dianna Kenny

Dianna Kenny, a former professor at the University of Sydney and a current practising psychologist, has also used her expertise to write a chapter in the book.

Smith explained that Professor Kenny “has been one of the very few lone voices in the medical practitioner space who has really questioned ‘affirmation therapy’”. Instead, she has “identified that there is a need to look at the psychiatric issues that cause children and adolescents” to experience gender dysphoria.

Kirralie is profoundly grateful for her willingness to speak out.

Professor Kenny has contributed a chapter to help parents navigate the difficult transgender road. For those parents facing this testing time, she gives them “a bit of an insight into how to find appropriate practitioners, what questions to ask them, what issue to look for, and how to best move forward if your family is facing this.”

Considering many parents don’t know where to begin or who to trust, hearing from someone who works within the system will be sage advice.

Who Needs to Read the Book?

Devastated is written for everyday Australians who want to find out more – via personal testimony – about the impacts of gender ideology on children and parents.

But it is a book that Kirralie especially hopes politicians will read.

“We really want politicians to read it and understand,” she remarks.

“Because they have created laws in this country that have made it so difficult for families to protect their children. In terms of ‘gender affirmation care’, in terms of threatening health practitioners and parents and pastors from opposing this ideology.”

“So we really need politicians to get on board, read this book and understand what’s at stake.

“Because they hear a lot from the radical activists and lobby groups.

“But they don’t hear enough from everyday Australians. And they don’t understand just how devastating it really is for these families.”

Through its fundraising effort, which Smith describes as “overwhelming”, Binary will gift a copy of Devastated to each federal politician and many state ones.

“We’ve been overwhelmed. It’s been a magnificent response,” she exclaims.

“I think that politicians won’t be able to ignore the evidence in this book, that something needs to be changed.”

But ultimately transformation cannot just occur at the political level. To be deep and long-lasting, it must progress at the societal level.

For this reason, Kirralie hopes that Devastated will be read by a large audience.

“We also encourage people to get their own copies.”

“But also, to get a copy or gift those copies to those who need it. The more people who read this book, the better.”

“I think a lot of people should read it and hopefully we will start to see the tide turn in Australia.”

Conclusion

Devastated deserves a wide reading. While difficult, the realities revealed in the book can’t be ignored.

Kirralie is confident the book will play a vital role in educating people on the topic and alter the way Australia is currently recklessly pursuing gender ideology.

“I think that more Australians will wake up and really understand the devastating impact that this ideology has,” she says.

“And that the whole ‘be kind’ brigade hasn’t been kind, because they’ve destroyed the lives of young people with an ideology, with treatments that are irreversible and catastrophic.”

“It’s going to cause some serious reflection and, I hope, some serious changes in our culture and legislation around this issue.”

Devastated will be available for purchase after the launch on 28 November.

Thank you, Kirralie, for your steadfast stance and commitment to the biblical and biological reality that each person is made in the image of God as male or female (Genesis 1:26–27).