More than two week ago, Tufton noted concerns raised about the HIV/AIDS Confidential Reporting Form and ordered that it be amended.

At that time the health ministry said based on an internal review initiated by Tufton, it was agreed that the form, “while supporting a detailed epidemiological profile for public health, does not comply with existing constitutional and legal structures of the Government of Jamaica”.

Tufton also requested that a full review be done of all forms and instruments of data collection used by the health ministry to ensure that there is congruence with all legal and policy directives of the Government of Jamaica.

In endorsing Tufton’s decision the JUGC, in a release on Thursday, said, “The strange inclusion of information on transgender status, as well as an open-ended invitation to name another gender status, as distinct from biological sex, is worrying.

“We are encouraged that the Government showed its commitment, by this action, to the constitutional framework and spirit of the nation,” the group added.

The JUGC said it had taken note of a view, supported by faulty research and anecdotes, that legal recognition of transgenderism and social approval are key to addressing the known much higher risk of suicide and depression amongst transgenders. “But an authentic landmark Australian study in 2021 concluded that the major cause of depression among transgender-identifying young people was a desire to access relevant hormone treatment (Zwick, Qi Wong, Cheung, 2021).

“The Christian community is quite clear that appropriate pastoral and professional counselling interventions provide a viable route to psychosocial and spiritual support for individuals,” said the church group.

It quoted from Witherspoon Institute in its journal, Public Discourse, of September 2020, which said, “Perhaps nowhere in medicine and psychology is this problem of irreproducibility (of research results), worse than in studies of people who claim to have a mismatch between their sex and their internal sense of being male or female.”

The church group said it is concerned about what appears to be developing adventurism on life issues which offer only long-term harm and danger to family life, individuals and society.

“One Christian school was recently breached by a group focused on promoting transgenderism, under the guise of offering care advice to female students. While as members of the Christian community, we do not share the view that human beings have a God given right to reject the teachings of Scripture, we understand that we all have free will.

“However, as an interested party in a healthy society, we strongly support all legal measures and other measures taken by the Government to ensure that the flood gates are not opened to ideas that are inimical to a flourishing society founded on strong moral values, ideas that can threaten the mental and physical health of our society, and initiatives that would allow our children to be subjected to confusion, rebellion, and their abandonment of the traditional values of Jamaica,” it said.

The JUGC added: “We appreciate the proactive steps being taken by the minister of health and wellness to review all forms and documents for any possible breach. We urge the Ministry of Education to do the same, and issue firm guidelines to all public and private educational institutions, at all levels.

“The Ministry of Labour and Social Security is also urged to ensure that all local, regional and international organisations are closely monitored to ensure that the sovereign constitutional rights of citizens, including students and lecturers, in relation to freedom of expression, freedom of conscience and thought, are strictly enforced.”