About Us
Women Speak Tasmania (WST) is a women-led and women-centered grassroots advocacy organization. We campaign for the sex-based rights of women in Tasmania and collaborate with other advocacy groups across Australia to advance these rights.
Australia National Policy
Australian women are experiencing a new form of sex-based discrimination: the erosion of hard-earned rights in favor of gender identity policies.
In 2013, the Sex Discrimination Act was amended to include gender identity, removing references to “women” and “sex” from the legislation. The consequences of this change became evident in the Tickle vs Giggle case.[1]
Sall Glover, founder of Giggle, a female-only app, was sued by a trans-identifying male, Roxanne Tickle. The court ruled that “sex was changeable” and that preventing Tickle from accessing the app constituted indirect discrimination based on gender identity.Recently, Lesbian Action Group sought an exemption to prevent men identifying as women from attending their events. The Australian Human Rights Commissioner denied the request, and the Appeals Tribunal upheld the decision. This ruling disregards the reality that sexual attraction is based on biological sex, not gender identity, and fails to protect women’s rights to same-sex spaces. [2] [3]
Tasmania State Legislation
Tasmania was the first Australian jurisdiction to implement Sex Self-ID Laws. Part 4A of the Marriage and Gender Amendments Act 2019 allows individuals over the age of 16 to change their legal sex with only a statutory declaration as evidence. This policy disregards biological sex, making the maintenance of single-sex provisions impossible.
The Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Act 1998 further prioritizes gender identity over biological sex. In response, WST presented a Dossier on the Impacts of Sex Self-ID Laws on Women, Girls, Families and LGB people to the Tasmanian Attorney General, advocating for the repeal of these laws and the restoration of sex-based rights.
The Dossier presents a comprehensible evidence file of the many instances women in Tasmania have been subjected to violence, repeated breaches of Anti-discrimination and Human Rights law: assault, persecution, mob intimidation and vilification, smear campaigns, abuse, cancelation and defamation by trans activists and their lobby groups.
Women’s freedom of speech and association, right to safe and lawful assembly, access to goods and services and protection by Tasmania Police have been severely impacted by introduction of sex self-ID laws.[4]
Women in Tasmania have been silenced, one of those cases occurred during the Let Women Speak event held on 21 March 2023 outside Parliament House in Hobart viewed by some politicians. Reports of women being spit on or pushed by transactivists fell on deaf ears. Calls to the Police Minister Felix Ellis’ office to intervene on the day failed to get a response.
Women were labeled as transphobic and ‘nazis’ for exercising our rights to peaceful assembly. The case brought by Moira Deeming illustrates such a case. A female Australian politician was vilified for attending a women’s rally in Melbourne, smeared by a biased media and expelled from her political party without opportunity to defend herself. [5]
Women in Tasmania and in many other Australian states have no right to single sex spaces, toilets or changerooms, our dignity is not protected. The following example is from the Office of the Anti-Discrimination Commisioner in Tasmania, showing that female-only intimate spaces are not supported in Tasmanian Law: [6]
The law in action
Caroline was designated male when she was born. She identifies as female. Her new employer asks Caroline to use the men’s toilet instead of the women’s. This is discrimination on the basis of gender identity.
Francis identifies as non-binary and likes to be called ‘they’. Their work colleagues continually refer to them as ‘her’ and ‘she’ despite Francis asking their colleagues to stop. The use of inappropriate pronouns is discriminatory and can cause humiliation and offence. Francis may be able to make a complaint of discrimination and offensive conduct on the basis of gender identity under the Act.
Laws that favour the concept of ‘gender identity’ or ‘gender’ instead of ‘sex’ have many other consequences. In 2022, after an appeal lodged by Jessica Hoyle from LGB Tasmania, the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal upheld a decision to disallow lesbian women from holding same-sex social events.[7]
We were told the law amendments were about bringing inclusion but instead they have been weaponized against women.
Recommendations
For the many reason we presented above we urge the UN to:
- Define “female” and “male” based on biological sex and require all member states to ratify this definition.
- Ensure the protection of single-sex spaces in law, including women-only services, sports, and support groups.
- Uphold the rights of women and girls to free speech and assembly, including their right to discuss sex-based rights without harassment or legal repercussions.
We call on states, international organizations, and civil society to take action to:
- Identify, prevent, and respond to sex-based discrimination against women and girls.
- Review, adjust, and clarify national, regional, and international frameworks to enhance protections for sex-based rights.
- Ensure that policies prioritizing gender identity do not override or undermine the rights of women and girls.
References
[2] https://humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/lesbian_action_group_summary_of_decision_1_0.pdf
[3] https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14307529/Lesbian-Action-Group-trans-ban-lose-case.html
[5] https://womenspeaktas.au/2024/12/14/deeming-vs-pesutto-an-analysis/