Genital-Swapping 'Trans Dolls' For Four-Year-Olds: Shelton Demands Minns Government Rule Them Out of NSW Classrooms Now

Family First Party

Family First's NSW Legislative Council lead candidate Lyle Shelton says a taxpayer-funded US program handing four-year-olds paper dolls with swappable genitalia shows exactly where ‘gender ideology’ in the classroom ends up — and is calling on the Minns Government to guarantee, in writing, that nothing like it will ever be allowed near a NSW school or preschool.

A US medical school has developed “first-of-their-kind” transgender paper dolls — complete with removable internal and external genitalia and more than 100 interchangeable clothing, hair and accessory pieces — for use with children as young as four. The University of Minnesota’s Institute for Sexual and Gender Health spent over six years developing the “MyGender Dolls” project, including paying families between $20 and $60 to play with the dolls and “talk about gender and bodies” in group sessions. The dolls roll out in Minnesota classrooms, clinics and counsellors’ offices this fall.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has poured $15 million a year into the medical school’s research budget — and in 2023 was personally handed the institute’s inaugural “Distinguished Sexual and Gender Health Champion Award,” a title created just for him. Pressed on how much of that funding went into the dolls, the university refused to say, telling reporters to file a freedom of information request instead.

Mr Shelton said Australians should not assume this is a uniquely American problem. “Every time we have said ‘surely they won't take it that far,’ they have taken it that far,” he said. “We have seen the Victorian Department of Education hide a child's gender transition from their own parents, and the ‘Respectful Relationships' curriculum used to push the same ideology into our schools. Genital-swapping dolls for pre-schoolers is the next predictable step, and NSW parents deserve to know their government will slam the door on it.”

Dr Quentin Van Meter, past president of the American College of Pediatricians, has condemned the project, warning that children who still believe in the Tooth Fairy are being handed dolls with swappable genitals well before they can separate fantasy from reality — and calling it grooming.

Mr Shelton said the episode underlined why Family First is committed to stripping gender ideology out of the NSW curriculum, restoring parents as the primary decision-makers in their children's lives, and legislating so no taxpayer dollar in this state can ever fund products of this kind.

KEY FACTS

• “MyGender Dolls” were developed over six years by the University of Minnesota Medical School's Institute for Sexual and Gender Health.
• The dolls feature removable internal and external genitalia and over 100 interchangeable clothing, hair and accessory pieces.
• Researchers paid families between $20 and $60 to take part in play sessions with the dolls.
• They are marketed for children aged 4 to 10 and roll out in some Minnesota classrooms, clinics and counsellors' offices this fall.
• Governor Tim Walz has directed $15 million a year in state research funding to the medical school and personally accepted an award created for him by the institute behind the dolls.
• The university has refused to disclose how much of that funding went into the dolls, telling reporters to file an FOI request instead.

ENDS

Lyle Shelton is Family First's National Director, NSW Legislative Council lead candidate.

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