Christian and women’s rights groups are railing against a federal government move that they says aims to entrench transgender ideology in Australian society.
They’re referring to the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) national project “mapping threats to trans and gender diverse (TGD) human rights.” It’s seeking submissions from individuals and what it terms civil society organisations (CSOs) with “relevant background, expertise and lived experience in issues impacting TGD people.”
Chief Executive of the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) Michelle Pearse told Vision Radio the ulterior agenda was crystal clear. “The purpose of this kind of inquiry, which we’re seeing many forms of around the nation, is to entrench transgender ideology into every sphere of society. It’s not enough that we’ve already got it within our education systems. This is looking at how they can infiltrate this ideology into civil society, into education and employment and health care and housing and migration and service provision and the law. These are the bodies that the AHRC has identified that need to be looked into, to see if there is any kind of discrimination for transgender people within these areas.”
The ACL boss observed: “They want to investigate things like misinformation, which we know is a dangerous word, extremism and radicalisation. We wouldn’t see ourselves as extreme or radical in the way that they’re promoting that we are, but simply promoting a different worldview — a Christian worldview [that] has been linked to being called extreme or radical and things like that. So, we’re very much against this kind of inquiry and the agenda that’s behind it.”
“I think what is extreme and radical is this transgender ideology within our public school system and the fact that Christians are the ones that are being labelled as those that are discriminating. We are not discriminating. We simply have a view of male and female. It’s a very traditional view. It’s a view that’s been held since the beginning of time. And now these simple scientific, biological and, for Christians, religious views on male and female are being labelled as extreme and radical. This is an attempt to remove this worldview, out of society, out of law, out of education. And so this transgender ideology can continue to grind, to gain a foothold,” Ms. Pearse argued.
Christian women’s rights campaigner and founder or the organisation Binary Kirralie Smith declared in addressing Christians in particular: “This is a biased attempt to smear anyone like you and me as “anti-trans” and to label truth speak as hate-speech. The most alarming aspect is that they will not be accepting submissions from everyday Australians, or the 12 million women and girls that are directly impacted by gender identity ideology in this country.”
“They will only be accepting submissions from trans activists and they have already concluded that anything you or I say, regardless of how evidence-based or scientific it is, is hateful and destructive. The AHRC is a taxpayer funded activist machine that is making no attempt to hide its bias and use its bureaucratic power against us,” Ms. Smith asserted.
Liberal Senator Clare Chandler explained why she believes the issues surrounding this inquiry are so important. “The extremist idea that males should be able to identify into what were previously single sex, women’s sports or spaces has never been able to stand up on its own merits. The idea that a male sex offender should be able to identify into a women’s prison, or male athlete into a women’s sport is so obviously absurd that the only way it’s gained traction is by demonising and punishing people for pointing out that absurdity.”
“Freedom of speech and expression are cornerstones of a democratic society. They are fundamental to our ability to argue for good ideas and to challenge dangerous ideas. Yet, in order to implement policies which Australians have never voted for, governments and bureaucrats have deliberately stifled the free expression of those advocating for single sex sports and services for women,” the Senator underlined.
“We’ve seen it in state based anti-discrimination commissions, under which I and many others have been subject to spurious attempts to stop us pointing out that males shouldn’t be in women’s sports or spaces. We’ve seen it in federal court, where the Sex Discrimination Commissioner has argued that sex isn’t a biological concept. An argument which not only conflicts with reality, but with the sex based rights of every Australian woman.”
The AHRC makes it very clear that Christians and people from other faiths and everyday women need not bother to apply to make a submission. It writes: “We are calling for submissions from individuals and CSOs with expertise in TGD matters. Please note that only subject-matter experts are invited to submit. We are unable to accept submissions from non-specialists in this area.”
It lists that relevant specialists would include:
- Academics and research institutions
- Advocacy and activist organisations or groups
- Community-controlled health organisations
- Healthcare professionals and organisations
- Legal professionals and organisations
- Policy makers and workers
- Service providers
Senator Chandler noted: “The AHRC knows full well that women in this country and around the world advocating for sex based rights have been subjected to torrents of vile abuse and threats from activists. Yet under this consultation they’re running, some of those abusive activists will be treated as experts while the women they try to intimidate are blocked from participating.”
“When they say: We are unable to accept submissions from non-specialists in this area, the non-specialists they are referring to are the 12 million Australian women who have to live with the erasure of women’s sex based rights and who are smeared as bigots if we object. Once again, under the Albanese government, any views or facts which challenge their narrative are labelled misinformation or disinformation. Any challenge to gender ideology is childishly labeled as vilification or extremism.”
“The AHRC should reflect on the reality that you cannot get a more extremist position than wanting women and girls named, shamed and punished simply for advocating for their own sex based rights. Yet this is exactly the type of witch hunt the AHRC is setting up while blocking millions of Australian women from being able to have our say,” Senator Chandler warned.
The ACL’s Michelle Pearse told Vision Radio: “We will be asking the AHRC that we be included in the list of those experts. We expect the answer will be no. We expect the answer for Christians within the community at large will be no. So we will be making a complaint to the Attorney-General, whose department funds the AHRC? We need to complain to the sex discrimination commissioner, and to the Minister for women as well, to ask why alternate views have been censored from this inquiry.”
