OPINION
Brian Greig is a veteran advocate and spokesperson for Just.Equal Australia.
The real challenge facing Rainbow Futures as it moves forward, is not so much its constitution (as problematic as many find it), but the perception that the group has largely morphed into a cheer squad for the Labor Government.
There are numerous examples over the last two decades of state Labor governments turning to “useful” groups that mostly tell it what it wants to hear. Groups that very weakly criticise bad Labor decisions or inaction, but which harshly criticise the same behaviours from the Liberal Party. These pet-groups defend and excuse the ALP in return for government funding to feed its staff and operations.
I believe there is a very useful role for Rainbow Futures to play in working with bureaucrats on its whole-of-government approach to improving access to better health services and engagement with government departments. There has been a lot of good work done on this interstate and WA is poised to catch up. I welcome this unfolding.
I am less confident of Rainbow Futures being champions of quality law reform, particularly around faith schools and conversion practices. I say this, because this is the hot-spot where Labor is most likely to weaken its promised legislation, caving into exemptions for religious groups. Getting a commitment from the Premier to disavow this hasn’t worked so far.
Just how much trust can we have in any peak lobby group, anointed and funded by the Labor Government, to insist on gold-standard law reform and to protest strongly if the Government walks away from it?
I’m prepared to let Rainbow Futures prove its mettle on this, but if its recent history is anything to judge by it has a long way to go.
For example, this week both Trans Folk WA and Rainbow Futures issued strong and lengthy statements condemning Liberal Party policy on trans law reform. Aside from the fact that the Liberals will not win the next election – where was the criticism from these same groups when Labor engaged in anti-trans politics?
When Queer Liberation Booloo called a rally in Perth to protest the dumping of trans law reform (now addressed), no-one from TFWA or Rainbow Futures attended or spoke. When Attorney General Quigley associated trans women with male sex offenders (twice), both TFWA and Rainbow Futures remained silent. When the Trans Law Reform bill was finally unveiled, criticism of its obvious flaws was muted. When the Cook Government rushed the legislation through the Upper House, denying amendments to improve it and shutting down debate, Rainbow Futures and TFWA had no comment.
Rainbow Futures has also been silent on the government’s refusal to reintroduce the Inclusive Schools Program. And said nothing when Mr Quigley dumped the proposal to allow parents the option not to include sex on their child’s birth certificate.
It’s hard not to imagine that reactions would have been very different if the Liberals had done any of these things.
I’m not suggesting that Liberals are better on LGBTIQA+ issues, or that Labor is inherently bad, but making the point that homo/transphobia is the enemy, not any political party. In this context, the main role of any lobby group must be even-handed in consultation, commentary and critique.
The fundamental objective of any LGBTIQA+ lobby group is to make our legal protections unassailable, so that no political party will seek to weaken or remove them when governments change.
This requires grass-roots activism and non-partisan engagement. We must speak truth to power, even when that means telling a government that a weak Bill will not have our support, or that a transphobic statement from a Minister demands a swift public apology.
As a community we hold our fate in our own hands. That does not mean we have to accept and be ‘grateful’ for inadequate, compromised legislation from any government. The alternative isn’t “we get nothing”, the alternative is not acquiescing to governments which treat us poorly.
My appeal to LGBTIQA+ campaigners is to understand just how much influence activists really hold in their hands, and not to be cowered by parliamentary institutions or dazzled by the trappings of power. To borrow from Margaret Reid:
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
