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This petition calls on the Australian Medical Association and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency to review the registration of Dr Pansy Lai as a Paediatric Medical Practitioner for violation of its code of ethics and violation of the Declaration of Geneva by her participation in the recent 'no' campaign against marriage equality in which she willfully spread misinformation and non-scientific evidence in order to promote the discrimination of LGBTIQ people in Australia.

Young people who identify as LGBTIQ are 10 times more likely to die by suicide than the general population of young people. Research clearly shows that the prejudice, discrimination, abuse and exclusion these young people experience have a direct impact on their mental health and wellbeing. Young people who identify as LGBTIQ have an 80% likelihood of experiencing physical violence at school due to their sexuality or gender. We know that the trauma caused from such events can have a detrimental lifelong impact on an individuals wellbeing.

Young people who identify as LGBTIQ are often highly vulnerable due to they way they are treated by society. This is due to the attitudes, beliefs and actions of people who think there is something wrong, unnatural or abnormal about being gender or sexuality diverse. The reality is that gender diversity and diverse sexual behaviours are prevalent not just among humans, but may other species of animals- they are not chosen or 'socially constructed' behaviours. They are natural, and the scientific research shows that there is nothing inherently harmful about being gender diverse or non-heteronormative in your sexuality.

Paediatricians are medical practitioners who have completed additional training in child and adolescent medicine and development. Their professional career is oriented towards achieving optimal physical and socio-emotional wellbeing for children and young people who may be experiencing a range of challenges, be they physical, emotional or social. This includes having a professional obligation to support young people who identify as LGBTIQ.

The Australian Medical Association has adopted the World Medical Association's (WMA) Declaration of Geneva as a contemporary companion to the 2,500-year-old Hippocratic Oath for doctors to declare their commitment to their profession, their patients, and humanity. Dr Pansy Lai has undertaken this oath as part of her registration as a medical practitioner in Australia.

Declaration of Geneva (WMA, 2006)

At the time of being admitted as a member of the medical profession:

I solemnly pledge to consecrate my life to the service of humanity;

I will give to my teachers the respect and gratitude that is their due;

I will practise my profession with conscience and dignity;

The health of my patient will be my first consideration;

I will respect the secrets that are confided in me, even after the patient has died;

I will maintain, by all the means in my power, the honour and the noble traditions of the medical profession;

My colleagues will be my sisters and brothers;

I will not permit considerations of age, disease or disability, creed, ethnic origin, gender, nationality, political affiliation, race, sexual orientation, social standing or any other factor to intervene between my duty and my patient;

I will maintain the utmost respect for human life;

I will not use my medical knowledge to violate human rights and civil liberties, even under threat;

I make these promises solemnly, freely and upon my honour.

The Declaration clearly states that "I will not permit considerations of age, disease or disability, creed, ethnic origin, gender, nationality, political affiliation, race, sexual orientation, social standing or any other factor to intervene between my duty and my patient".

It is clear that Dr Pansy Lai has misused her privileged position as a medical practitioner in the harmful and hateful 'no' campaign, which is a clear violation of her oath to the Declaration. She has used her standing as a medical professional to directly cause harm to the LGBTIQ population, in direct opposition to her ethical obligation to be supporting the health and welfare of people.

We urge the Australian Medical Association and Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency to investigate Dr Pansy Lai's use of her profession in a public political manner to cause harm due to the serious nature of the breach she has undertaken.