The most significant impacts of sex self-ID laws have become increasingly apparent with the breakdown in trust within families and of social cohesion in our communities. This corresponds to an increase in coercion for conformity to ‘group think’ and surveillance for ‘right think’ within our society at large on multiple issues.
While many issues today are causing greater polarisation in our communities and there is less tolerance towards diversity of opinion and religious freedom, gender ideology is a leading cause of a rising culture of fear, silencing and intimidation in our workplaces and in Tasmanian communities.
Over the years since Women Speak Tasmania has been exposing the widespread adverse impacts of gender ideology in our communities, more and more people are coming forward to tell us their stories of keeping silent about their views through fear of reprisal in their communities, workplaces or clubs, coming to us with heartrending stories of family conflicts and breakdowns; about how they have been reprimanded in their workplaces over objecting to being forced to comply with directives on language, conduct, or the roll out of propaganda materials littering their walls or being embedded in policy documents; telling us of being sent to ‘re-education’ to ‘correct’ their thinking under threat of further punishment or fines. What these people are telling us is that they are powerless to raise objections about these impositions because the consequences can lead to having a permanent target on their backs for ‘wrong think’, social ostracisation, loss of employment or future employment.
Australia is fast becoming an authoritarian society modelling China’s social credit system or post-war East Germany under the Stasi.
Tasmanians are telling us they have to speak in low voices in public spaces when they get the chance to share their views with someone. In hairdressing salons, blood donation centres, doctors’ surgeries, pubs, sporting clubs, shops, in government departments, the whispering continues.
Many families have become estranged, especially from children who have been captured by this harmful ideology and are rejecting any relationship with parents, grandparents, etc. who do not agree with them. The heartache and grief is unfathomable. Many tell us they are under pressure to disassociate from non-believers, to distance themselves from family members or members, or they will be ostracised or worse, cast as transphobic bigots, demonised and denounced. Anti-discrimination laws underpin this breakdown in our society by privileging the rights of some in the community over others, thus unwittingly promoting divisiveness and discrimination as a consequence. Accusations that non-believers are haters are in fact driving real hatred in our communities. This is very serious. It is this hatred that leads to violence, as we saw at the Let Women Speak event outside Parliament in 2023.
Family breakdown and loss of social cohesion is a major consequence of these laws and the way that gender ideology has been systematically institutionalised in our society like a religion is unacceptable. Tasmania used to be a secular society, but now we find ourselves being subsumed into a quasi-religious belief system that the vast majority do not agree with. In time, disagreement will become increasingly vocal as the consequences of self-ID laws bite. Unnecessary distress, suffering and medical harm is being caused through a failure of courage by our elected members to tackle these issues head on.
The Tasmanian Government needs to conduct an independent inquiry into the adverse impacts of sex self-ID laws as a matter of urgency. It is often normal practice to review laws after five years from implementation. This review is essential. The impacts are being spoken of increasingly in our community, social cohesion is being undermined, and it is Government that will be held responsible and accountable.
By Isla MacGregor
Op-ed to The Mercury Hobart