BUFFALO, N.Y. (TND) — A New York father says a court stripped him of custody of his child after he objected to their gender transition.
Software engineer Dennis Hannon, 32, told The National Desk (TND) Monday the Erie County Supreme Court stripped him of all but visitation rights to his nine-year-old son, who had living as a girl on days he stayed with Hannon’s ex-wife.
While the transition has allegedly been occurring since the child was two, Hannon said he wasn’t informed until the time his son was five when he received a letter from their kindergarten classroom.
I didn't recognize the name on the letterhead, it was a female name, it was addressed to the parent or guardian of Ruby Rose Hannon,” Hannon said. “I don't know who Ruby Rose Hannon was. I didn't know who Ruby Rose Hannon was at the time, but the address was correct.”This discovery, Hannon said, led him to the realization that “when he was in his mother's care, when he was going to school, he was a girl.” Hannon explained his son had undergone a complete social transition, wearing girls’ clothing and using female pronouns.
“I was shocked. I was just floored when I read that they had assigned my son a new name,” Hannon said. “I was essentially the last to know.”
Hannon said he later found out his son had been seeing a gender therapist specializing in adolescents who kept no notes of their sessions together. This therapist had referred Hannon’s son to an endocrinologist, who recommended him as a candidate for puberty blocking drugs.
Hannon said he then stepped in with legal counsel to prevent his son from using puberty blockers. While the move worked, he said the repercussions were immense.
“I was framed as a bigot. I was framed as I was intolerant and I wouldn't accept my son for his gender identity and that was not the case,” Hannon said. “I simply questioned it and what it seemed like what they wanted me to do was not question it, but just accept it blindly.”
Hannon says the court went on to rule against him in later proceedings, demanding he pay for the child’s $145-per-session gender therapy. When these sessions still did not yield a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, Hannon requested his child be discharged.
When the court responded by removing his medical authority, Hannon says he appealed the decision, first to a family court, then to two county courts and finally to the Erie County Supreme Court. Hannon says the three-day trial resulted in him losing custody of his son, being only allowed to see him occasionally during the week and on alternating weekends.
I may have lost in court, but I won where it matters the most because I saved my little boy,” Hannon said. “My son, when this started, he was very young. He didn't have a voice and everybody wanted to tell him what he wanted to be. So now he's nine years old and he has a voice and he understands what happened to him.”Hannon said the experience is what led him to create “Indoctrinate This,” a group dedicated to informing parents of the risks associated with gender transitions at a young age.
“We need to stop gender affirming care for minors, period,” Hannon said. “Full stop. That's it. That's the goal.”
Other parents have faced similar legal battles in recent months. In January, Republican Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte told TND state officials acted within their legal limitations by removing a child from parents who objected to their transitioning gender identity. The parents say they are now exploring their "limited" legal avenues to fight state Child and Family Services and the hospital where their child was treated.
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