''The Gender Fairy'' is a 2015

picture book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The images ...

written by Jo Hirst and illustrated by Libby Wirt.

Background and synopsis

''The Gender Fairy'' is an Australian book aimed at helping

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

children and their families, inspired by Hirst's experiences as a mother to a transgender child. The book's story is described as "a tale of two children who are taking their first joyful steps toward living as their true selves". The book is aimed as an educational resource for children aged four and up and is designed to be read aloud at home or in the classroom. The book aims to reassure transgender children, saying "only you know whether you are a boy or a girl. No one can tell you." The book contains notes for teachers and parents compiled by academic Roz Ward. The foreword is written by paediatrician Michelle Telfer of the Centre for Adolescent Health, Gender Service at the Royal Children's Hospital.

Publishing and reception

The book, promoted by the Safe Schools Coalition, was launched at St Kilda Primary School at an event attended by Victorian Minister for Equality

Martin Foley Martin "The Viper" Foley (born 24 November 1952) is a well-known Irish criminal. He rose from a street drug dealer to become an associate of Martin Cahill. Foley has 40 convictions, and is considered a key figure in the McCormack-Foley crime fam ...

who stated that "This book is about affirming trans children’s rights to be who they are, and if that means they’re happy, healthy, and engaged, and that their families are reconciled in support of that, that can only be a good thing." The book has received widespread support from gender activists and some politicians. In November 2015, Senator

Janet Rice Janet Elizabeth Rice (born 18 November 1960) is an Australian politician, member of the Australian Greens, former councillor and mayor of Maribyrnong, environmentalist, facilitator and one of the founding members of the Victorian Greens. Early ...

, who was married to a transgender woman, praised the book in the Australian Senate.

Criticism

The book has been the subject of criticism from conservative political figures and organisations. The author estimated in 2018 that since its publication, ''The Gender Fairy'' had been mentioned in three different Australian political elections, as well as the

Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey The Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey was a national survey designed to gauge support for legalising same-sex marriage in Australia. The survey was held via the postal service between 12 September and 7 November 2017. Unlike voting in ...

. Lyle Shelton of the

Australian Christian Lobby The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) is a conservative right-wing Christian Advocacy group, advocacy organisation based in Canberra. It is similar to the other international Christian lobby groups, and seeks to represent Christian citizens and v ...

described the book's contents as "contested gender theory" in a 2016 criticism of the Safe Schools program. The author has stated that the book is unrelated to the Safe Schools campaign, although it featured on the Safe Schools website. During the 2016 Australian federal election flyers criticising the education policies of the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms t ...

were distributed to voters attacking the book as "gender bending political correctness", which they linked to "Labor's plan for education". In September 2017 the book featured in a television ad, released in conjunction with the

for the "No" campaign. The ad incorporates the words, "Only you know whether you are a boy or a girl".

Cory Bernardi Cory Bernardi (born 6 November 1969) is an Australian conservative political commentator and former politician. He was a Senator for South Australia from 2006 to 2020, and was the leader of the Australian Conservatives, a minor political party ...

, the leader of the

Australian Conservatives The Australian Conservatives was formed in July 2016 as a conservative political activist group in Australia and as a political party in February 2017. It was led by Cory Bernardi, who had been elected to the Senate for the Liberal Party, b ...

party, subsequently mentioned ''The Gender Fairy'' in a robocall during the postal survey.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gender Fairy, The Gender Fairy Gender Fairy Gender Fairy Gender Fairy Controversies in Australia LGBT-related controversies in literature Education controversies

Background and synopsis

Publishing and reception

Criticism

See also

References