Reflections by an LGB Alliance Australia member

2024 has been an eventful year for many, including when it comes to the rights of lesbians, gays and bisexuals in Australia. This list recaps three of the year’s lowest points, followed by three of its greatest moments.

Starting off we have the worst:

Tickle vs. Giggle

Unfortunately, Australia has decided that females do not have the legal right to gather and communicate without the inclusion of biological males. Following the ruling by Justice Bromwich, “gender identity” is now interpreted as overriding sex in law. Arguably, sex based rights have not existed properly in Australia since the Sex Discrimination Act was changed to remove definitions of men and women and insert the concept of “gender identity”. This has a massive impact on lesbian, gay and bisexual Australians’ rights. It means that single sex public gatherings, whether on an app or at an event, may be seen as a breach of the Sex Discrimination Act. Once again, homosexual gatherings are being positioned as outside of the law.

Child Rights

Children are being referred to gender clinics years before puberty. We went from “Boys can play with Barbies and girls can like trucks” to “If your child does these things they need to be in a medical centre”. This year we were told that a Victorian child of 15 years old was given the green light to have a double mastectomy, before reaching 16 years old. This appears to directly contradict the statement by Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas in Victoria, where this 15-year-old was reportedly referred for surgery, that “The Royal Children’s Hospital DOES NOT provide or refer children to surgical treatment.”.

As the majority of children confused or distressed about gender later grow up to be LGB adults, we are distressed and angered by such revelations.

Criminalisation of Critical Thought

Soon, there may be mapping of “threats” to those who identify as gender diverse or transgender. The threats that will be watched are “dis-information”, “extremism”, “radicalization” and “anti-trans mobilization”. These are highly contested concepts which should be subject to vigorous debate. It seems the Australian Human Rights Commission has decided that a national threat is represented by LGB people, children and females asserting their own rights and discussing how these rights are endangered by the influx of gender ideology.

But while these moments were discouraging, not all news has been bad. Here are some of 2024’s best moments:

Lesbian Action Group and The Lesbian Club

The Lesbian Action Group (LAG) has received a quite a bit of attention since launching its landmark challenge to the Australian Human Rights Commission and standing up for the rights of lesbians to have their own public gatherings. Much of the coverage was negative from “queer” ideologists, but some was sympathetic, like from Women's Forum Australia and Sky News. The Lesbian Club and the Young Lesbians Chat Group have also grown, with terrific regular events being held.

Redress Scheme in Tasmania

This year Tasmania approved a bill to introduce a redress scheme for those who in the past were convicted under laws against homosexuality. This is very welcome news and may encourage other states and territories to follow suit.

Cass Review

In the UK, Dr Hilary Cass OBE published the final report of the Cass Review of gender identity services for children and young people, which was originally commissioned in 2020. This review is the most comprehensive of our time regarding these issues. It makes sense of a vast array of information and misinformation and provides important directions to improve the care of youth struggling with gender related issues and homophobia within a system which has failed them.

While Australia’s response so far has been weak, we believe Cass’s findings will continue to have far-reaching positive impacts.