Anna Brown, the CEO of Equality Australia, has warned political parties not to take LGBTIQ+ voters for granted.

Brown said the constant debate over the lives of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people’s lives was making people sceptical of political parties motives and it was time for politicians to stop using the queer communities as a “political football”.

“This election, candidates cannot afford to take LGBTIQ+ voters for granted,” Brown said.

“After a series of divisive debates focused on the lives of LGBTIQ+ people, many of our community have become sceptical of the political parties and are yet to make up their mind about who they’ll vote for.

“This election, parties and candidates must act to address issues of concern to LGBTIQ+ people if they are to win back the support of the voters they’ve lost and to build support amongst those that are undecided.”

Equality Australia’s statement comes as the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, voiced his support for legislation that would allow for discrimination against transgender women in the sporting realm.

On Monday Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he was proud to have selected Save Women’s Sport Australasia founder Katherine Deves to be the Liberal candidate for the Sydney seat of Warringah.

Morrison also reiterated his personal support for a private members bill put forward by Tasmania Liberal senator Claire Chandler. Senator Chandler’s bill calls for sporting groups to be given permission to ban transgender women from participating in sport.

The PM told reporters that he’d have more announcements to make about Chandler’s bill during the election campaign, leading to speculation that it might move from being a private member’s bill to a government endorsed proposal.

Last week during a television interview South Australian Liberal senator Alex Antic said he was “not sure” if Chandler’s bill had become a government bill yet. Senator Antic recently quizzed bureaucrats on how they defined a woman during Senate Estimates.

While there are several government members who have voiced support for Senator Chandler’s bill, there are also a significant number of Liberal members who have voiced their opposition to the proposal.

OIP Staff

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