Today, in an article for The Australian titled “Fears Over Impact of Tasmanian Gender Laws on Schools and Women’s Services” (23 November 2018), journalist Matthew Denholm reported on the passage of significant transgender law reforms through Tasmania’s House of Assembly. The reforms included provisions allowing people aged 16 and over to change the sex recorded on their birth certificate by statutory declaration without requiring surgery, as well as the option to have no sex recorded on a birth certificate. The article also noted amendments extending anti-discrimination and hate speech protections to cover gender identity and gender expression.
Denholm reported concerns raised by a range of organisations, including Women Speak Tasmania and the Australian Christian Lobby, about the potential implications of the reforms for female-only services, schools, sporting competitions, religious organisations, and other sex-based provisions. Speaking for Women Speak Tasmania, Bronwyn Williams argued that sex markers on birth certificates remained important and expressed concerns about the impact of self-identification policies on women’s rights and safeguarding. The article also reported calls for the Legislative Council to conduct further scrutiny of the reforms, while Labor, transgender advocates, and LGBTI campaigners maintained that the changes were necessary to protect transgender people from discrimination and would not diminish the rights of others.
Source: The Australian
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