Mainstream media outlets are reporting today that WA Labor have committed to banning conversion therapy, but has the party really given that strong a commitment? As OUTinPerth first reported earlier this week, after months of being asked, WA Labor finally gave a response on this issue of conversion therapy legislation. Responding to an election policy […]
OPINION In the midst of the campaign for marriage equality in Australia three and a half years ago, the ‘gay wedding cake’ scenario quickly emerged as the international symbol of the simmering tensions between the campaign for rights for the LGBTIQ+ community, and religious rights. Cases of bakers in the US and the UK refusing […]
LGBTQIA+ candidates for The Greens are hosting a community forum, opening the floor to discussion on building a more inclusive WA ahead of the state election. The event will feature Greens leader and the party’s LGBTQIA+ spokesperson in parliament, Alison Xamon, and LGBTQIA+ candidates River Clarke for Cannington, Alex Wallace for Kalgoorlie and Liberty Cramer […]
Tasmania’s current inquiry on LGBTQIA+ conversion practices in the state has drawn attention to the ongoing provision of the harmful “therapies” in religious institutions. In a public submission to the Tasmanian Law Reform Institute, a church leader from Launceston has proudly admitted to engaging in attempts to alter the sexuality or gender identity (SOGI) of […]
Former Liberal MP Peter Abetz, who is now the WA director of the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL), says the McGowan Labor Government is considering introducing legislation to ban conversion therapy. “The McGowan government is seriously considering introducing legislation based on Victoria’s Change or Suppression (Conversion) Practices Bill 2020, which passed its final hurdle in the […]
OPINION Alison Xamon MLC is a member of The Greens in the Western Australian Parliament. LGBTIQ religious conversion ‘therapy’ is still hurting Western Australians. It is hurting them in complex and long-lasting ways. While it is impossible to quantify exactly how many Western Australians are directly affected, La Trobe University’s February 2021 report Healing Spiritual […]
Greens spokesperson for Sexuality and Gender Identity Hon Alison Xamon MLC has strongly opposed the decision of the National Australia Day Council to promote former tennis player and religious leader Margaret Court to Companion Division in the Order of Australia. Xamon said the decision to award Court yet another award was inappropriate given her widely-publicised, […]
WA’s Minister for Education and Training, Sue Ellery MLC, has no plans to renew funding for local LGBTQIA+ support program Inclusive Education WA. The Education Department confirmed last week that Western Australia’s rebranded version of the Safe Schools program will no longer be funded after October 31st 2020. “While it is a valuable resource, few […]
West Australian LGBTIQ+ advocates have accused the McGowan Government of double standards when tackling child abuse in religious organisations. Earlier this week, Community Services Minister Simone McGurk told The West Australian that the government had decided that state legislation aimed at improving the reporting of child abuse would focus on religious institutions “because as institutions those […]
Alison Xamon MLC, the Greens’ spokesperson for Sexuality and Gender Identity, has criticised the WA Labor Government for its failure to commit to banning harmful LGBTIQ conversion practices, including in religious and informal settings. In parliament on Thursday Xamon again questioned the government about its intentions for banning conversion practices which attempt to change a […]
