National human rights group Equality Australia has launched a petition calling on MPs to stand against changes to the Sex Discrimination Act that would undermine the rights of transgender and gender diverse Australians.
The petition was launched in response to conservative backlash following the recent Giggle v Tickle Federal Court finding, that experts say sent a clear message that Australia does not tolerate discrimination against trans people.
Federal MPs have also laid out their intention to exclude transgender people from the Act’s enshrined protections, including Nationals MP Alison Penfold and Liberal leader Angus Taylor.
Since the petition’s launch last week, more than 11,000 individuals have signed to call on all federal parliamentarians to “stand with LGBTIQ+ people and women by rejecting attempts to weaken anti-discrimination protections in the Sex Discrimination Act.”
Equality Australia CEO Anna Brown says these proposals are one of the most serious threats to equality protections in many years.
“Our communities are facing coordinated attacks on rights and protections that were hard fought over decades, including by generations of women,” Brown said.
“If we don’t stand together now, we risk watching those protections get chipped away.
“We are seeing trans people increasingly used as political targets to manufacture outrage, fuel fear and divide communities for political gain.
“These attacks will not improve safety or equality. They risk creating more discrimination, more fear and more harm — not only for trans people, but for women, intersex people and our communities more broadly.”
Equality Australia and Brown also warn that attempts to limit the definition of “sex” to biology alone would undermine more than 40 years of anti-discrimination law.
“Australia’s anti-discrimination laws recognise the real ways women are judged, excluded and treated unfairly in society, often because of gender stereotypes and assumptions,” Brown said.
“Narrowing the definition of sex risks weakening protections against sexism itself.
“Those pushing these attacks on our protections are organised, well-funded and putting enormous pressure on politicians to roll back our rights. The time to act is now.”
