American transgender activist Scott Newgent has announced they are coming to Australia and will be holding their ‘Scream Louder’ event in Sydney on 9th December.
Warning: This story has details of comments which might be distressing to some readers. For 24-hour crisis support and suicide prevention call Lifeline on 13 11 14. For Australia-wide LGBTQI peer support call QLife on 1800 184 527 or webchat.
Newgent describes themself as a lesbian, a mother and a transgender man. They campaign against the affirmation model of transgender health care and argues that children who are transgender should not be permitted to receive puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones or surgery.
On 2021 Newgent shared their story in Newsweek where they outlined that following gender surgery six years earlier, they experienced a wide range of medical and mental health challenges.
“I have suffered tremendously, including seven surgeries, a pulmonary embolism, an induced stress heart attack, sepsis, a 17-month recurring infection, 16 rounds of antibiotics, three weeks of daily IV antibiotics, arm reconstructive surgery, lung, heart and bladder damage, insomnia, hallucinations, PTSD, $1 million in medical expenses, and loss of home, car, career and marriage.” Newgent wrote.
Newgent became more prominent after they appeared in the documentary What is a Women created by American right-wing political commentator Matt Walsh. Their statements outlining their views about health care for transgender youth have previously been highlighted by Australian anti-transgender organisation Binary.
The Texan activist has previously travelled to the Canada and to many states across the USA to voice opposition to the current healthcare approach for transgender youth. They have regularly given testimony in favour of bills to limit transgender healthcare.
Newgent has declared that they are paying all of their own expenses for the event in Australia including travel, insurance and security costs.
When British anti-transgender campaigner Kellie-Jay Keen toured Australia earlier this year large crowd of counter-protestors appeared at each of her tour stops requiring a significant police presence.
Right wing organisation C-PAC Australia publicly said they had paid for some of Keen’s costs, and their logo appeared on promotional posters for her tour. Keen later said she had shouldered the full burden of costs of her tour.
Keen’s appearance in Melbourne made international headlines when a neo-Nazi group appeared adjacent to her group and held up insulting signs at those protesting Keen’s Let Women Speak event.
OIP Staff
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