An American judge has awarded custody of a teenager to her grandparents after her parents objected to her “transitioning” to a male.
The teenager’s parents were opposed to their daughter receiving hormone treatment, and refused to call her by her preferred, male name, according to court testimony.
In a ruling on February 16, Judge Sylvia Sieve Hendon ruled that in addition to receiving custody of the 17-year-old, the grandparents could petition to legally change the child’s name.
The child, who cannot be named, has been receiving treatment in Cincinatti, Ohio since 2016. The hospital advised the court that she should start treatment as soon as possible to decrease the risk of suicide.
Before any hormone treatment is allowed, the court has ordered the teenager, who has suffered from depression and anxiety, to be evaluated by a psychologist who is not affiliated with the medical centre on “the issue of consistency in the child’s gender presentation, and feelings of non-conformity”.
A county prosecuting attorney argued that the parents wanted to stop the treatment because it violated their religious beliefs.
The parents’ attorney had contended that the child was not “even close to being able to make such a life-altering decision at this time”.
Judge Hendon allowed the parents the right to see their child, and urged them “to work towards a reintegration of the child into the extended family”. The child was under temporary custody of county family services.
Judge Hendon instructed that the family’s names should not be released.
Muslims who defaced statue ordered to learn about Mary
Three young Muslim men who were found guilty of desecrating a statue of Mary were ordered by a Lebanese judge to memorise passages from the Koran that give Mary honour.
The defendants, who live in a mostly Christian village, were apprehended after circulating online a video of themselves desecrating the statue, according to reports.
At their sentencing on February 8, Judge Jocelyne Matta ordered the young men to memorise verses from the Al Imran chapter of the Koran.
Judge Matta, reading her verdict at the court in Tripoli, said her decision was meant to teach the young men about Islam’s respect and love for Mary, reported the website Al Arabiya English.
The Koran names Mary as the greatest of all women, and in Lebanon the Annunciation is marked by Christians and Muslims.
Maronite Fr Rouphael Zgheib, director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Lebanon, told the website Fides: “The judge realised that the boys did not know anything about the Koran despite being Muslims, and chose that kind of sentence in order to teach them to respect their own religion as well as the faiths of [others].”
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