Letter of Support For the Lesbian Action Group’s Application For a Temporary Five Year Exemption Under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cwth)

To whom it may concern,

The spirit and intent of the law.

The Sex Discrimination Act was originally enacted to prevent me, and women like me, from being discriminated against on the basis of my sex (female), my sexual orientation (lesbian), my gender identity (woman) and my political beliefs (a belief based on science, that biological sex in humans is dimorphous and immutable). It states that it is ‘to give effect to certain provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women’.

Unfortunately it seems that the spirit and intent of that law has not been honoured. For three decades now I have been prevented from my right to public freedom of assembly with others with the same protected characteristics as myself. A legal loophole in (the spirit of) the law has allowed those who wish to exclude and discriminate against us, free rein to do so.

The particular community of people I belong to is a distinct cultural group, with our own traditions, our own music, our own art, our own festivals, our own language, and our own shared lived experience as a member of this group, not just in Victoria, but globally.

Because of these laws that are meant to protect us, perversely we have been denied funding, denied access to venues and facilities, denied protection under the law when our jobs are threatened, denied appropriate health care, denied services. A case in point is that the state/taxpayer funded Victorian Pride Centre, which under its rainbow umbrella is supposed to represent us, has denied us the use of the facilities to celebrate International Lesbian Day.

Furthermore because of these laws we have been unable to reach out publicly to young lesbians who share our particular combination of protected characteristics. They have been denied access to a rich culture and a supportive community that should be theirs. They do not have the visible role models young people need, especially vulnerable young people. They do not have the support and validation they need from others who share their lived experience as females, who have grown up female and lesbian, who identify as biological women, and who believe in biological reality. This is unconscionable.

We have also been unable to reach out to isolated lesbians, lonely lesbians, detransitioned lesbians, older lesbians, vulnerable lesbians, and a whole cohort who might well have benefitted from being welcomed into a supportive community of lesbians born and raised female, and all that that entails, both for the good and for the challenges.

We ourselves are not aiming to discriminate against anyone. We support the benefits of times when we can all come together. We also support any group’s right to gather together on their own, in order to discuss and explore their unique needs, and celebrate who they are. We only wish for the same respect.

Another section in the Act seeks ‘to eliminate, so far as possible, discrimination involving…… harassment on the ground of sex…… in areas of public activity.’ Constant threats of litigation, intimidation, even violence when we speak out or seek to meet on our own terms, surely amounts to harassment. We would like this to stop so that we can be safe in public life.

For these reasons I ask for you to grant the Temporary Five Year Exemption to the Lesbian Action Group to organise the International Lesbian Day event for lesbians born female, as well as other events in the future, to build and strengthen our unique community, and be able to reach out to those lesbians who have thus far been excluded because of this law.

Yours sincerely

Lesbian woman

As an addendum to this letter, I am including one example of instances when transgender people have publicly gathered exclusively in groups of their own. They have set a precedent and we would like to be able to follow that.

”You can only watch the show if you’re transgender. If you’re cisgender, then they don’t want you to come.”