Alastair Lawrie
@alawriedejesus
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Director, Policy & Advocacy @jec_aus Blogger on #LGBTI #LGBTIQ rights. He/him. Views own. 🏳️🌈
Dharawal land/West Wollongong
Joined January 2011
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Still proud of this speech I gave in April, launching Issue 47(1) of the UNSW Law Journal.
I talk about current LGBTIQ law reform issues in NSW, intertwined with some personal experiences as a member of, & advocate for, the LGBTIQ community.
[From 18:55]
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Disappointing to be confronted with the vandalism of Wollongong’s rainbow crossing by Christian fundamentalists on our walk this morning, just a week after world pride.
I guess I’ll just have to be even more gay to make up for it.
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Australian Christian Lobby confirms it cannot support the
#ReligiousDiscriminationBill
if amendments are included to protect LGBTQ students against discrimination.
There's no better demonstration that this Bill is about entrenching religious privilege, not ending discrimination.
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This is blatant and disgusting anti-LGBTQ bigotry.
Banning books because they depict a diversity of families is importing the worst of US-style culture war nonsense into Australia.
Any councillor who voted for this should be ashamed.
#nswpol
1/
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I am genuinely concerned about the potential impact of the social media ban on young LGBTIQ+ people, especially those growing up in conservative/repressive environments, for whom access to online supportive communities can be life-saving.
#auspol
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Leaving aside the Mardi Gras issue, it is revealing that this article reports government MPs or sources providing three different sets of excuses for abandoning LGBTIQ Australians in the Census - and none of them stand up to any scrutiny.
#auspol
🧵1/
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Personal opinion time:
If Albo and the ALP vote for the
#ReligiousDiscriminationBill
, in anything like its current form, it will be a bigger betrayal of the LGBT community than voting for Howard's marriage ban.
And the damage it causes will take even longer to undo.
#auspol
1/
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So, the Albanese Government won't count LGBTIQ Australians in the next Census.
The unavoidable conclusion is that LGBTIQ Australians don't count in the eyes of the Albanese Government.
Shameful.
#auspol
#aushealth
🧵1/
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2023 has seen TERFs & neo-Nazis rally at Victorian Parliament. Christian Lives Matter riot in Sydney. And escalating violence at Drag Story Times.
In response, the draft ALP national platform *axes* previous support for LGBTIQ vilification protections. 1/
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Stone laid down the gauntlet to
#trans
allies, saying: "You can't celebrate with us at World Pride & then scatter when the attacks come".
"If you want the pride & the glitter & the confetti, you have to stand with us when it's uncomfortable & scary, too."
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Glad to see the backlash to this awful act of exclusion growing louder by the day.
It’s time for the Govt to acknowledge their mistake, and urgently change their decision.
There is still time for LGBTIQ Australians to be counted.
#auspol
#aushealth
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"I should not have to pen this piece. Not in modern Australia. But here I am, a student, writing an open letter to a group of adults who have lived a good deal longer than I have, & my intention here (at the risk of sounding quite bold) is to educate."
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The Census omnishambles continues to get worse.
PM Albanese confirms it was his view that some questions - developed, and being tested, by the ABS - 'weren't appropriate to be tested'.
So his Govt directly overruled them - just like the Morrison Govt did before them.
#auspol
1/
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People like Nicole Flint are rapidly departing any kind of reality-based universe in their hate-filled embrace of US Republican-style anti-LGBTQ+ culture wars.
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‘We’ve seen an infiltration of right-wing religious conservatism that’s infected the Liberal Party and turned it into something it was never conceived to be’:
Bridget Archer.
#auspol
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"In an attempt to put an end to religious studies in Queensland state schools, the Noosa Temple of Satan is also requesting the teaching of Satanism in schools, with the same rights as Christian organisations."
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To those people posting replies like 'what about counting (people who have long hair or beards, or like Vegemite, or move preferences etc etc etc)', if you can show there are serious & ongoing health disparities affecting these groups, by all means make the case for inclusion. 1/
So, the Albanese Government won't count LGBTIQ Australians in the next Census.
The unavoidable conclusion is that LGBTIQ Australians don't count in the eyes of the Albanese Government.
Shameful.
#auspol
#aushealth
🧵1/
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"There is no doubt – gender affirmation is not only evidence-based, it is vital, life-changing and life-saving."
#trans
#aushealth
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I'm not going to share the de-transition story in today's Weekend Australian, but will make two points:
1. If the Oz wants to focus on the impact of medical interventions on sexual & reproductive health, perhaps they could start with coercive surgeries on intersex children. 1/
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"I hope it demonstrates I have an open mind, I don’t discriminate on any basis. I believe very strongly in people being respected and I’ve always lived and practised that."
Says the person who used anti-trans rhetoric in his Budget Reply speech.
#auspol
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Can someone please ask the Prime Minister what the 'age of consent' has to do with asking a question about gender identity?
Because gender identity does not equal sexual intercourse.
Or is this just about making sure trans & gender diverse kids aren't counted?
#auspol
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Based on what we know about Labor's proposed amendments to the
#ReligiousDiscriminationBill
, we can say the following:
-they make improvements in a few important areas
BUT
-don't redeem what remains, overall, a deeply flawed Bill.
#auspol
1/
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My message to
@JEChalmers
today is the same as to
@RichardMarlesMP
yesterday:
We're not asking you to spare us.
We're asking you to count us.
Just like other groups.
It's time to admit your mistake, & undo your decision to exclude LGBTIQ Australians from the 2026 Census.
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On this night in 2008 I went to a dodgy nightclub on Oxford St and ended up meeting my life partner.
13 years later, and we're still in love and still going strong.
Thanks for the journey so far Steve. I'm looking forward to seeing what the next 13 years have in store for us.
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Just when you thought The Australian couldn't sink any lower in their war on trans people, comes this truly sickening article. Srsly don't know how anyone can write, let alone publish, this garbage...
@ABCmediawatch
#transphobia
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“It’s 2023 and LGBTQIA+ Australians shouldn’t have to put up with abuse that targets our sexuality, character, or ability to do our jobs”:
@AlexGreenwich
.
#auslaw
#nswpol
1/
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Strong letter from AHRC Sex Discrimination Commissioner Anna Cody to the Cth Govt, calling on them to overturn their appalling Census decision.
#auspol
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My thoughts are with trans and gender diverse kids and their families, abandoned by this thoughtless, and in my view, heartless, exclusion.
But thoughts are not enough.
Please take *action* today to tell MPs to reject the
#ReligiousDiscriminationBill
. 1/
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These answers are jaw-dropping.
Apparently, the Govt is not interested in doing anything at all if there is any chance of ‘divisive debate’ (aka the Opposition disagrees with them).
Which means, given the Opposition doesn’t support LGBTIQ rights, neither will the Govt.
#auspol
Richard Marles reveals the fed govt didn't want to cause "divisive debate" by including sexuality and gender diversity questions in the 2026 census, after some great questioning by
@Rachwani91
#auspol
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"The western Sydney councillor behind a library ban on a children’s book about same-sex parents admits he hasn’t read it."
Ignorance mixed with intolerance.
#nswpol
#homophobia
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“[P]lease let us have our Mardi Gras parade tonight, let us celebrate, let us heal. Let’s not use this an as opportunity for any political stunts.”
Sorry Alex but Mardi Gras at its core is inherently political. 1/2
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The paternalism dripping from this comment by Marles ('the last thing we want to do is inflict that debate on a sector of our community right now') is something to behold.
Mate, we're not asking you to spare us.
We're asking that you count us.
Just like other groups.
#auspol
Richard Marles reveals the fed govt didn't want to cause "divisive debate" by including sexuality and gender diversity questions in the 2026 census, after some great questioning by
@Rachwani91
#auspol
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One of the worst things of the week-long Census omnishambles is that this hugely important coroner's report has not received the attention it deserves:
Coroner calls for urgent investment into health care for trans community, following 5 tragic deaths. 1/
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2. By choosing to profile the story of someone who first transitioned when they were *26*, it is clear that the anti-trans agenda will not be satisfied until gender affirmation is denied to all trans people, children & adults alike.
They want trans people to simply not exist. 2/
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"A lot of people won’t vote because they say “both sides are the same”. To that I’d say... watch an LGBTQ+ person whose rights are about to be voted away argue for their humanity. Then tell me both sides are the same."
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Disappointed to see this rubbish published in
@smh
today (opinion piece by Parnell Palme McGuinness).
No, the vast majority of LGB people are *not* concerned our sexuality is being eradicated.
But we *are* concerned about efforts to deny trans health care.
#LGBwiththeT
. Always
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A tip for PM Albanese:
When you're asked to define what a woman is, and answer 'an adult female', just add 'and that includes trans women.'
Just 5 additional words.
Simple.
And much more meaningful than marching in Mardi Gras, or across the Harbour Bridge.
#auspol
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As for 'avoid[ing] a possible backlash from the Coalition', & that it 'required a Senate vote'.
Has someone explained to Labor MPs that they are in power, and doing things the Opposition opposes (there's a hint in the name) & holding votes in Parliament is literally the job? 3/
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Woke up feeling incredibly grateful to the people of Warringah for comprehensively rejecting the toxic transphobia of Katherine Deves.
Her views have no place in the Australian Parliament, and do not reflect the kind of country we can and must be.
#auspol
#ausvotes
#Warringah
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Most people are aware of Latham's anti-trans kids Bill, which he introduced in NSW Parliament in August 2020.
However, fewer know that Hanson introduced her own Bill, also attacking trans kids, 6 months before that. 2/
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"LGBTIQ+ Health Australia & over 100 peak bodies, community orgs & health experts have signed a joint statement on the census.
It calls on the govt to “end the current uncertainty & unhelpful discourse” and give the green light to all three questions..."
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Or that she has tried to move it, again, this term.
Pauline Hanson's deceptively-named 'Prohibiting the Indoctrination of Children' Bill is just as vile, and just as damaging, as Latham's deceptively-named 'Parental Rights' Bill. 3/
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The point has been made by others but cannot be stressed enough:
These players are happy to play in a jersey promoting gambling, at a stadium promoting alcohol - both of which can cause real harm.
But refuse to play in a pride jersey. Which doesn't.
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Nicky Bath, CEO of LGBTIQ+ Health Australia:.
"This is a devastating and baffling decision that will retain the significant data gaps needed to address the pervasive health and wellbeing disparities that we continue to live with."
#aushealth
#auspol
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Let me get this straight - SA Premier believes children under 14 aren't mature enough to be legally permitted on social media, but children aged 10-13 can still be imprisoned in his state.
It's time to
#RaiseTheAge
.
#saparli
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“Visibility without protection is a trap. Which is why we need anti-vilification laws in Australia federally, and also in Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia”:
@courtneyact
#auslaw
#auspol
1/2
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The Government's decision to abandon LGBTIQ questions in the 2026 Census became public on Sunday.
It is extraordinary that, on Wednesday, there has *still* been no official explanation from the Minister, or anyone else, outlining why.
#auspol
#aushealth
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The Age no longer running columns by Julie Szego is a positive development for trans people.
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Are these questions inherently divisive? No
Are these questions too complex for people to understand? No
Is it time for the Govt to commit to including all 3 questions (plus the question on sex) in the 2026 Census? Absolutely
#auspol
#aushealth
#Census
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First, we have this excuse.
The 'faith group' argument could be easily rejected, if the Govt cared enough to bother - why should religious groups, who are already counted in the Census, get to dictate that LGBTIQ people must not be? 2/
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The next 2 days are important dates in the history of LGBTI rights in NSW.
That's because today & tomorrow Parliament is holding hearings into Mark Latham's Bill attacking LGBTI students generally, and trans & gender diverse kids in particular.
#nswpol
1/
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Honestly, I hope the Govt has been caught off-guard by the severity of the backlash to their decision to not count LGBTIQ Australians in the Census, & they urgently reconsider.
If they don't, it will go down as a completely unjustified abandonment of our community. 10/
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I'm a gay man who grew up in Queensland in the 1980s and early 1990s.
I've been an LGBTIQ advocate for more than two decades.
It takes a lot to shock me these days.
But these paragraphs are the most shocking thing I've read in years.
#transphobia
1/2
Just when you thought The Australian couldn't sink any lower in their war on trans people, comes this truly sickening article. Srsly don't know how anyone can write, let alone publish, this garbage...
@ABCmediawatch
#transphobia
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"Scripture Union Aust has warned the decision would probably result in cuts to chaplaincy services after Labor allowed its deductible gift recipient (DGR) status, previously granted by the Morrison govt, to lapse."
Good. Now cut the whole program.
#auspol
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Pauline Hanson is not condemning Mark Latham for anti-LGBTIQ prejudice.
She's just upset that he's currently picking on the 'G' part of the LGBTIQ community, when One Nation's agreed priority, both in NSW and nationally, is to attack trans children and young people. 5/
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So the Albanese Govt has moved on to a new reason for excluding questions on gender identity and sex characteristics from the Census - apparently they are 'too complex' for people to understand.
#auspol
1/
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This is terrible reporting
@smh
.
Trans Day of Visibility has been celebrated on 31 March since 2009.
The 'White House' did not suddenly invent this day or date, merely recognised its existence from 2021 onwards.
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Another loss for Deves (you can bet if she had the numbers she would have stayed in the race). Hahaha...
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Imagine choosing to leave your job rather than have pronouns on your email signature (from the SMH).
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As someone who barely survived a deeply homophobic, so-called Christian school in Qld in the early 1990s, it is deeply distressing to see a different school still attempting to erase and exclude LGBT kids in 2022.
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Yes, LGBTIQ people are smart enough to understand that asking these questions in the Census may result in an undercount.
But we've made the considered decision that, despite this, the Census is the only way to gather indispensable data to quantify & address our health needs. 5/
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"It is a victory not just for Tickle, but for all trans women, who now know with certainty that federal sex discrimination laws protect them as women from discrimination based on their gender identity."
#auslaw
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And let's not forget that - only *last week* - Hanson tried to secure Senate support for an inquiry into how to stop trans kids from being trans. 4/
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But won’t legislate to keep LGBTQ kids in religious schools safe from discrimination - despite repeated election promises to do exactly that, and an ALRC report they commissioned telling them exactly how.
#auspol
We’ll legislate a minimum age for social media to keep children safe.
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1K
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2. Latham's tweet, vilifying not just Alex Greenwich personally, but all gay men, was indeed disgusting.
My partner and I were, like many, sickened and angered by his awful words.
But it's only 1/100th of the harm Latham has caused trans people over the past 3 years. 6/
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"It’s funny how it’s always LGBTQ issues that have to be sacrificed to maintain the peace."
Social cohesion is always an excuse for the Govt to abandon LGBTIQ issues.
It never seems to be a reason for them to do something constructive on them, though.
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Third, there's this nakedly political excuse.
It's hard not to see (and hear) the John Howard in this: that the Albanese Government sees 'core' and 'non-core' issues, and LGBTIQ human rights and health needs are decidedly the latter. 7/
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The Commonwealth Govt has spent the past year studiously avoiding saying anything about the rise in far-right attacks on local govts holding drag story times, & other LGBTIQ-inclusive initiatives.
Will they say anything about the Cumberland book ban?
If not now, when?
#auspol
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Claire Lehman's rant in The Oz today is delusional.
Young LGBTQ ppl have grown up when every part of their lives have been politicised.
Culture wars vs safe schools. Harmful & divisive plebiscite debate & postal survey. Broken promises to stop religious school discrimination...
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Today marks 1,000 days since
@ScottMorrisonMP
first committed to protect LGBT students in religious schools against discrimination.
LGBT kids are still at risk because of his broken promise.
#auspol
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And let's not forget the consequences of this 'short-termism', will in fact be v long-term for our community.
By excluding LGBTIQ questions from the 2026 Census, they cannot be asked until 2031, meaning we will not get vital health needs data til 2032 or 33 (at the earliest). 9/
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Lyle Shelton to replace Fred Nile in NSW Parliament, from November 2021.
That is a truly chilling sentence, especially for the LGBTI people of this state.
#nswpol
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That's why every major LGBTIQ community organisation supports adding these questions to the Census.
And why trying to raise this 'concern' to explain the Government excluding us from the Census now is some condescending, paternalistic nonsense. 6/
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Remembering that, instead of buying RATs & preparing for
#LivingWithCOVID
, the Morrison Govt spent the final sitting fortnight of 2021 focusing on a
#ReligiousDiscriminationBill
to take rights away from women, LGBTI ppl, ppl with disability, & minority faiths.
#priorities
#auspol
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"Labor went to the last election vowing to introduce a religious discrimination act while also scrapping faith-based schools’ right to sack staff & expel students because of their gender or sexuality."
Promise broken.
LGBTQ kids betrayed.
Again.
#auspol
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Even if the so-called 'Folau clause' has been dropped, the
#ReligiousDiscriminationBill
will likely still be extraordinary and extreme, entrenching the rights of religious individuals and orgs to discriminate against others.
Let me explain why.
#auspol
1/
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The Census news today is bittersweet.
Obviously it is welcome that trans & gender diverse people will be counted in 2026.
This is a victory for everyone who pushed back at the Govt's decision to exclude LGBTIQ questions, & then to only include sexuality.
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"Research shows the impacts that homophobic and transphobic messaging can have on young people, proving they need to be protected from this harmful rhetoric – not from drag queens."
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Does this really mean that *nothing* the government does from now on will be anything other than 'cost of living', or will this argument just be conveniently wheeled out from time to time to deny the legitimate aspirations of minority groups, like LGBTIQ people? 8/
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The bitter cherry on top is that I spent the past year on the Expert Advisory Committee advising the ABS on LGBTIQ inclusion in the next Census, as well as the sub-committee looking at questions in relation to variations of sex characteristics.
So, they've wasted my time too. 5/
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The same newspaper (Daily Telegraph) that helped to cancel Yassmin Abdel-Magied for her ANZAC Day post thinks it's fine to publish a columnist (Piers Akerman) misappropriating the ANZAC legacy to attack laws supporting racial & gender ID diversity.
The hypocrisy is real.
#auspol
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In the last 5 weeks:
-The Cth Religious Discrimination Bill
-Mark Latham's 'Religious Freedom' Bill in NSW, &
-Latham's anti-trans kids Bill
have all been rejected or stopped.
These damaging, dangerous & divisive laws aren't going ahead, & I feel overwhelming relief...
#auslaw
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It is pleasing to see Latham being ostracised by the new Government - hopefully he has exactly zero influence over the next 8 years.
#nswpol
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"The Liberal party candidate in Warringah, Katherine Deves, described Wear it Purple Day – a day billed as celebrating diversity – as a “grooming tactic” promoting “extreme body modification” on a now-deleted website."
#auspol
#ausvotes
#transphobia
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Things the Albanese Govt is unwilling to do: protect LGBTQ young people from discrimination by religious schools.
Things the Albanese Govt is willing to do: cut those same LGBTQ young people off from potential supports.
#auspol
3/
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I met my partner Steve 14 years ago tonight, in the place where all good romances begin: 'Dirty' on Oxford St.
Can't quite believe how quickly the intervening years have flown by.
More importantly, they've been the best of my life so far, by far. Looking forward to the next 14.
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“Greenwich also called on parade attendees to welcome the NSW Police float with respect, & not to boo or heckle.”
And sorry again, you don’t get to tone police how people react tonight. NSW police are choosing to march (unlike AFP). People can choose how they respond to them 2/2
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"The Gender Centre, which provides services to the transgender and gender diverse community and their families – and marks its 40th anniversary next year – also had its application knocked back." 1/
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"No reliable data supports the argument that transgender people commit violent crimes at higher rates than cisgender men and women.
In fact, transgender people are more than four times as likely to be the victim of a crime as cisgender people."
4.
TIMES.
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As for councillor Christou rejecting 'suggestions the ban was discriminatory', what risible rubbish.
The motion literally demands action to 'rid same sex parents books/materials'.
The sole criteria is 'same sex' parents.
That is a textbook definition of discrimination. 2/
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Honestly, after the Albanese Govt abandoned LGBTQ students and teachers in religious schools earlier this month - breaking their repeated promises to introduce reforms to protect them, stretching back to late 2018 - I didn't think I could be more disappointed.
I was wrong. 4/
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Is anybody genuinely surprised to see TERFs and Nazis on the same side of a protest?
Both ideologies are based on hate.
Both want to eradicate entire groups of people from society.
They are a match made in hell.
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To all those who continue to platform, and enable, and support, Mark Latham, and associate with his damaging, divisive and downright dirty politics, don't be surprised when some of that dirt rubs off on you, and you're never able to scrub it away. 15/
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This is a breach of faith with LGBTIQ communities, who had hoped for better under the current Govt - only to be let down, again, with the Labor Party ignoring new questions proposed by the ABS.
Which is *exactly* what their Liberal/National predecessors did. 2/
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