The Advocate Editorial ‘Trans, gender diverse face fear, ignorance’ (Saturday Feb 4th 2023), promotes an ideological position, which may represent the personal views of Anthony Haneveer but do not represent the views of the vast majority of Advocate readership. Without speaking to any of the people at the Hobart Aquatic Centre protest last Friday, to ascertain the facts and evidence backing their claims, the editor has made outrageous assumptions about the views of those in attendance.
Contrary to his allegations, all those who attended the protest have supported the campaign for LGB+ rights and same sex marriage.
Rather, the editor has weaponised an ideological position to attack a group of men and women who have well founded concerns about the need for facilities that provide for a win win scenario for women and gender diverse people.
The protesters advocate for the reinstatement of single sex facilities in addition to ‘all gender’ facilities specifically for trans identified and gender diverse people in all public venues.
The editorial failed to explain the basic conflict that has arisen due to sex self
identification laws and women’s human rights.
It is in fact deeply offensive to girls and women to suggest that their safety and dignity must be subordinate to men who self identify as women. Further, the rights of culturally diverse people, Muslim and Orthodox Jewish women have been completely ignored from this discussion. The failure to mention lesbians rights in the editorial, highlights yet again a very male orientated perspective.
In the final analysis, real inclusion must consider the needs of all groups in our
community.
To suggest otherwise perpetuates an anti woman position and an aggressive intolerance to diversity of opinion.
Signed
Jessica Hoyle for LGB Tasmania
Lynne Robertson for Keep Gender Identity Out of Schools
Isla MacGregor for Women Speak Tasmania
Here is the transcript of the editorial piece which appeared in The Advocate on Saturday, 4 February 2023
EDITORIAL: Trans, gender diverse face fear, ignorance
NOT quite 26 years ago Tasmania overturned — after a long struggle — a shameful law that persecuted gay men.
There have been more reforms; more changes that followed, at times, ugly debates but which helped deliver a more accepting, more tolerant community.
A little more than five years ago Tasmanians voted above the national average for marriage equality; another step forward that was evidence too of how far we’ve come.
Yet it is not right to believe we have reached some happy place where bigotry and discrimination no longer exist.
On Friday, a group — admittedly, and thankfully, rather small — protested outside Hobart’s aquatic centre.
They claim to be standing up for the “privacy and dignity of women and girls”.
In reality, they are targeting what remains as the most marginalised group within our society — trans and gender diverse people.
Those advances we have seen in rights for, and acceptance of, gay people has perhaps assisted in paving the way for others to come out of the shadows.
But there’s been pushback, and not only from those who would have been just as likely to speak against decriminalising homosexuality back in the ’90s.
Activists claiming to be focused on protecting women are attacking transwomen, in particular, with fear and ignorance.
They are old weapons used before by those opposed to social change, and often driven by anecdotes held up as examples of the supposed dangers.
There is an inference in this case that creepy men are masquerading as transwomen so as to be close to girls and women when they are getting changed.
It is as offensive towards trans and gender diverse people as it is lacking in evidence.
That it might happen, or have happened, somewhere, sometime, in some circumstance, does not make for a good basis to discriminate against people, to exclude them, to invade their privacy.
The sign said to be displayed in the aquatic centre changerooms says it best: “We all need somewhere to go. If we accept each other’s differences and respect each other’s privacy, then everyone can feel safe here.”
What an inclusive society we would have if this was the standard we all lived by.