All Out, the global LGBTIQA+ rights organisation and its Executive Director Matt Beard have remained silent as wide ranging condemnation of Beard’s views on transgender people’s lives and rights has come from a slew of Australian organisations.
OUTinPerth has reached out to the organisation multiple times in the last week from a range of communication channels and there has been no response. Nothing. Silence.
This week Australia’s LGBTIQA+ communities and organisations have grappled with the fall out of a podcast from The Equality Project that has seen condemnation of the body behind the Better Together Conference which begins today in Adelaide.
In the month’s leading up to the conference The Equality Project published a podcast series dubbed as “brave conversations” it featured several speakers including former Greens senator Janet Rice and author Benjamin Law. But it was the fourth episode featuring Matt Beard from All Out that sparked concern across Australia.
Beard’s commentary on transgender youth, participation in sport and the approach to discussion about transgender rights activism and advocacy has been described as ill-informed, mis-information and divisive.
The fall out has seen multiple organisations pull out of the Better Together conference and even those bodies still fronting up to today’s gathering in Adelaide have thoroughly condemned the organisation for not challenging the statements, and questioned why it was posted online.
The Equality Project and founder Jason Tuazon-McCheyne have made several apologies, but some have found them to be lacking, and are looking for more action to show contrition and learning. The mass of public statements about the situation has generated hundreds of online comments, including some calling for Tuazon-McCheyne to step away from the organisation he founded and remains as the CEO.
Amongst all of this, it seems Berlin based Executive Director of All Out Matt Beard has disappeared. Not even a “no comment”. Nothing.
