Melbourne musician Simona Castricum has shared a series of posts exposing how changes to the Australian Sex Discrimination Act and the proposed Religious Discrimination Bill would make transphobia a “lawful option in religious school handbooks.”
Scott Morrison has been trying to pass his controversial Religious Discrimination Bill for more than two years. The proposed religious freedom laws have been viewed as sanctioning attacks on LGBT people.
Castricum explains that “while students cannot be discriminated against based on sexuality” under the new leglislation, schools will have the right to “lawfully expel and discipline trans and gender diverse students, as well as dismiss trans and gender diverse teachers and staff for religious reasons.”
This, Castricum says, puts “trans and gender diverse kids and staff at risk of harm.” Trans children will potentially face “expulsion, detention, and punishment from school” simply for being trans.
Castricum regards the Religious Discrimination Bill as an attempt to “override recent gains in trans rights for states and territories,” by creating “unsafe educational settings for trans and gender diverse kids.”
The bill is currently being debated in Parliament. The Labor Party are seeking certain amendments, but there’s justified concern that these requests do nothing to protect trans and gender diverse individuals. Castricum has a few proposals for what members of the public can do to push back against the aims of the legislation.
“Amplify trans voices, decentre cisgender voices, donate to trans fundraisers,” she writes. “Check-in on trans people, tell trans people you value them; Vote the Morrison Government out in the next Federal Election by all means necessary.”
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