Pauline Hanson’s One Nation MP Charles Smith wants parents to boycott schools that have gender neutral toilets, claiming that their introduction will lead to students having sex in the facilities.
“It may shock some people but teenage boys and girls are having sex – right , and they do have sex in schools. Do you think that toilets that both sexes use for teenagers, do you think there’s going to be a problem? I think there will be, and I think its a stupid idea.” Smith told 6PR’s Oliver Peterson on Tuesday afternoon.
The MLC was responding to a report in The West Australian that outlined that Inclusive Education had made a recommendation that schools may want to consider introducing some options for gender neutral bathrooms facilities to accommodate transgender students.
Inclusive Education is the program formerly known as the Safe Schools Coalition, it provides training and assistance to staff to help reduce homophobic bullying in schools.
The Department of Education has responded by saying that it does not have a specific policy around gender neutral toilets but noted that most new schools are built with universal access facilities.
“In new schools we provide universal access toilets and adult access toilets which allow schools flexibility for students,” a spokeswoman for the Department of Education told The West Australian.
Catholic Education WA has confirmed that many of its schools also have universal access toilets alongside facilities which are designated male and female.
Earlier in the day, prior to his appearance on Perth Live with Oliver Peterson, Smith put out a media release calling on parents to boycott schools that had gender neutral facilities.
“This is exactly the kind of postmodern garbage the McGowan Government loves to fund. Instead of spending money elevating our education system, which is woefully underperforming internationally, they spend it on enabling radical gender theory in schools.” Smith said.
Smith said he was in favour of reducing bullying of LGBTI students but did not believe gender neutral toilets were needed.
“We do not need the culture warriors of the Labor and Greens parties pushing their twisted agenda on our children” Smith said, arguing that education standards were being ignored in favour of a toilet policy.
Following up his media release with the appearance on 6PR Smith said there were hardly any transgender people in Western Australia – and only a few transgender school students.
“How many transgender, or gender diverse people are in Western Australia? There’s about 120. That’s adults and children Ollie. How many of those are children? I don’t know – one or two.” Smith said.
In his media release Smith cited the 2016 national census as showing 1,260 people identified as transgender or gender diverse in Australia, with only 121 from WA.
However figures released by Perth Children’s Hospital in 2018 showed that over 200 people under the age of 18 were being treated by their gender clinic.
Of the 200 children, three children were receiving stage one hormonal treatment, which involves puberty suppression and reversible treatment, while 30 children are receiving stage two cross-sex hormone treatments.
A report on WA’s Gender Laws undertaken by the Law Reform Commission of Western Australia was tabled in parliament late last year. In the report it is highlighted that the number of transgender, intersex, and gender diverse people in Western Australia is unknown, but is probably underestimated.
OIP Staff
