Things may have seemed to have settled a little in the political arena in Australia since the debacle with the census however trans and LGBTQIA rights haven’t been far from the headlines. Part of this has been due to the ongoing fall out from events last year and the influence of international hate pushers. However, even amongst this continued ever present bigots their is some clear signs that Australia continues to be on the right track. The biggest concern for the future is whether all this progress will be undone with a few possible change of governments.

She’s back! Thankfully not.

The fall out from Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s (Posie Parker) last visit is still not a memory and yet their was still a real possibility that she would sully our shores once again. This time she was invited to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Brisbane at the start of the month. Thankfully, it did not take long for the Trans Justice Project and Equality Australia to start a campaign to stop such an eventuality. The success of online petitions continued to ‘delay’ or refuse to provide this right wing hate pusher the required visa and scuttled her plans to return down under. A thankful reprieve from a fresh barrage of imported hate speech was definitely a welcome start to the month. However, the ongoing concern is that their are obviously figures in Australia actively attempting to engage in the culture war that is terrorising trans communities overseas. Although their plans may have been scuttled this time by immigration controls it is highly doubtful this this going to be the end of such attempts.

Yet her impact remains…

Of course we still haven’t emerged from the impact of her last visit which has been all to apparent here in Victoria with the defamation case between former Liberal MP Moira Deeming and the Opposition Leader John Pesutto. This is a direct result of Deeming’s involvement in the infamous ‘Let Women Speak’ rally in Melbourne last year which made international headlines for the large group of Neo – Nazi’s that joined the demonstration. One would think that a politician would have some sort of awareness of how this might look but Deeming’s continued behaviour going out that night suggests that she lacks a little common sense. Regardless it the perception was definitely enough for Pesutto who attempted to remove Deeming from the party while speaking out strongly condemning everyone involved in the event.

Since then, Pesutto settle a few defamation cases but this one still ended up at court and has taken up most of October, finally wrapping up this week. Deeming is claiming the Pesutto has damaged her reputation and that the move to expel her from the party was due to her vocal support for ‘sex based rights’. In contrast, the main principal of the defence is that Deeming has damaged her own reputation due to her involvement in such events. There verdict due in December will be another important marker for the legal protection for the trans community in Victoria as the potential here might be that the result could be seen as a green light for more anti – trans hate speech. At the least it could spell the end for Pesutto’s leadership and make way for a more hard line right wing conservative to take over.

Of course their are also the Nazi’s

The other result of the 2023 “Let Women Speak” rally was the introduction and expansion of legislation to ban Nazi symbolism especially the ‘Sieg Heil’ across the country. While federal laws are somewhat behind states like Victoria there is a clear concern about far right groups and their growing prominence in Australia with an awareness that action was needed. The legislation in Victoria came into effect October last year but it was not until recently that it was seriously put to the test, with the the first person convicted under the new laws. However, such legislation doesn’t seem to really dissuade the hard line Nazi’s as only a few days after the conviction a group of more than 50 Nazi’s were demonstrating in the regional NSW town of Corowa close to the Victorian boarder. It is another shocking reminder that Australia is not immune from the fascist ideology and messaging that is reverberating around the world. It is unlikely that legislation is ever going to stop these people from targeting minorities but it hurts their ability to grow their numbers and influence government.

Amongst the hate, there is a giant leap

Seemingly out of no where (for someone living in Victoria) the NSW government have acted on improving LGBTQIA rights by passing the equality bill. Proposed by Independent MP Alex Greenwich the bill was a major step forward and thanks to the support of the government passed both houses this month. Most notably the bill allowed trans people to update their birth certificate without requiring surgery. It means that all such requirements as well as gender reassignment boards are a thing of the past in Australia, at least it will be when it comes in to effect. In addition the bill also put in place recognition for overseas surrogacy and created an offense for threatening to ‘out’ a member of the community. Unfortunately, a few concessions were needed with some amendments to the bill in order to secure the required support. Most noticeably the protection for LGBTQIA teachers or students in religious, this is still a big emission as the idea that any group can discriminate against a minority and be exempt from the law is degusting. As a teacher myself the idea that a school could potential expel students due to their sexual orientation or identity is horrifying and should never be a possibility. So, while the bill is a huge step in the right direction there is clearly still a lot of work to be done.

It is obviously a great reason to celebrate and with a few friends born in NSW I am wrapped that they will have the opportunity to update their birth certificate, however it didn’t get passed without the same horrible debate. The Liberal’s were of course hitting all the anti trans hits like “protecting women’s spaces’ and the idea that all of a sudden by allowing the trans community to update their birth certificate there is going to be an influx of people ‘taking advantage’. It is as always nonsensical rubbish since it isn’t like we need a birth certificate to enter a public toilet. However, these people have never let logic get in the way of a good scare campaign. Thankfully, their arguments failed to have much impact but it does make me concerned about the possible change of government at some point in the future.

Comments out West

Similarly last month Western Australia abolished the Gender Reassignment board but it was firmly put on the election agenda for next year. WA Liberal Leader Libby Mettam has left no doubts on her views on trans issues having previously promised to ban puberty blockers for young people based on the questionable evidence provided by the Cass Review in the UK. So it wasn’t really the biggest surprise that Mettam told the State conference that she would ‘change back’ the ability for trans people to update their birth certificate. However, she has tried to clarify her vision by putting forward an alternate solution with both gender identify and gender assigned at birth to be include on birth certificates for trans and gender diverse Western Australians. Of course such a proposal doesn’t really satisfy anyone, firstly the conservatives would like to go back completely and for trans people having both continues the idea of forced outing every time they show a birth certificate. It will no doubt be fleshed out a bit more before Mettam takes it to the ballot next year but it there is defiantly no doubt that she clearly plans to campaign on an Anti Trans platform alongside other conservative issues.

Uncertainty up North

We might have to wait till 2025 to see outcome of the WA and Federal election but just this week Queensland have made a change after a long period under Labour. The projected result narrowed a little after the last week or so with Robbie Katter putting abortion on the agenda. Katter has also been campaigning for corporal punishment so definitely is a voice for extreme views but will definitely hold some ability to sway important votes as his party will have several seats in the new parliament. However, the concern is really the non-committal response that all this has managed to illicit from the new LNP Premier David Crisafulli who also can’t avoid his decision to vote against decriminalising abortion in 2018. This definitely turned a few voters away from the LNP in the final lead up to election day but wasn’t the only concerning possibly that was raised in the last few weeks.

Crisafulli was also forced to dodge questions regarding an email from Alan Baker which prompted the idea of a ban on puberty blockers. This perhaps could be written off as an effort not to offend the conservative base if it was not for the vocal opposition of Liberal MPs to the Birth, Deaths and Marriages registration bill last year. It once again hit all the traditional anti trans talking points including reference to Travistock and one comment from the member for Whitsunday that “A transwoman is a transwoman; she is not a woman”. Considering this there is definitely the possibility that the LNP might start to propose some form of Anti trans legislation and were simply smart enough not to campaign on such a platform since it has historical proven to be vote loser. We will have to wait and see and hopefully there is enough progressive minds in the new parliament to block any extreme backward steps.

Celebrate the wins but remain vigilent

The major win this time round is definitely the Equality bill and as a community we should be celebrating that progress and what it means for those living or born in NSW. However, I think their are some concerning trends with the political discourse especially as we are starting to prepare for the next round of elections. The sad truth is that progress can easily undone if people aren’t really aware of their motives.