Karyn Lisignoli, the Girl Guides CEO who was dropped by the WA branch over her comments about transgender youth, has launched a new company called Biology Matters.
In a public post to Facebook Lisignoli said “So I’ve done a thing… squeal” which was posted alongside three smiling emojis filled with love hearts, and a copy of the company’s registration papers from the Australian Security and Investments Commission (ASIC).
Records at the ASIC list Lisignoli as the Company Secretary, but she is just one of five directors of the new entity.
The company’s other directors include Sydney based psychologist Dianna Kenny, who often voices her opinion that young people experiencing gender dysphoria should be treated differently to the official guidelines which promote an affirmation approach.
Professor Kenny has called for a national inquiry into the treatment of young people experiencing gender dysphoria.
Sal Grover, the founder of the app Giggle is also on the board. Grover is a prominent campaigner against transgender women’s inclusion with regular appearances on Sky News, talk-back radio, podcasts and video blogs. She has previously been profiled in The Australian.
Her company Giggle was the subject of a Human Rights Commission complaint that was subsequently withdrawn. The complaint focused on the social media apps policy of actively excluding transgender women. Giggle uses facial recognition software to search for transgender women who have signed up for the app.
Earlier this year Grover persuaded Bill Shorten, the Minister for NDIS and Government Services to remove gender inclusive language from medical forms being tested in select hospitals around Australia.
Queensland based Pediatrician Dylan Wilson is another board member. Back in May he published an open letter to the Australian medical community sharing his view that Gender Clinics around the country are places where “children are being surgically mutilated and sterilised.”
Wilson said as a pediatrician he would never refer children experiencing gender dysphoria to specialist doctors due to the affirmative approach taken.
The fifth board member is Professor Alan Davison from the University of Technology Sydney. Davison was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences in 2019.
Earlier this month Professor Davison was scheduled to appear on a panel at the University of Melbourne titled Pride & Prejudice in Policy: What Can Our Public Institutions Learn from the UK’s Stonewall Controversy?
The event was criticised for including several anti-transgender speakers and several of the announced guests pulled out of the event over their inclusion.
Last year Davison launched a series of conversations titled Permission to Think which focused on hot button topics exploring “the role of intellectuals and institutions during this age of outrage in public debate of complex issues, especially in the Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences disciplines.”
Grover and Lisignoli previously collaborated on a campaign during the federal election called ‘Respect My Sex If You Want My Vote’. The campaign called on politicians to provide legislation to stop transgender women from entering spaces designated for women only.
OUTinPerth reached out to all the directors of the new company and asked what it’s purpose would be.
Those who did reply, referred us back to Lisignoli who said the new project was not yet “fully registered” and a media release would be sent at a later date.
Graeme Watson
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