Women Speak Tasmania

Tag: Libraries Tasmania

  • Drag Queen Storytime and The Safeguarding Question

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    While researching lawfare in Australia, I came across the long-running legal battle involving Lyle Shelton. In 2020, Shelton publicly criticised a Drag Queen Storytime event at a Brisbane City Council library. He described the performers — Johnny Valkyrie (known as “Queeny”) and Dwayne Hill (who performs as Diamond Good-Rim in adult shows) — as “dangerous…

  • Two Library Cancellations – Part 2: The Legal Response

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    In Part 1, we outlined the cancellation of two community forums booked at Libraries Tasmania venues in Burnie (March 2024) and Devonport (April 2025). This second part examines the formal complaints that followed and the current legal proceedings before TASCAT. Complaints to the Anti-Discrimination Commissioner Following each cancellation, Women Speak Tasmania lodged formal complaints with…

  • Two Library Cancellations – Part 1: What Happened?

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    Over the last two years, Women Speak Tasmania has faced the cancellation of two community forums by Libraries Tasmania after bookings had already been confirmed and publicly advertised. Both events concerned public policy, women’s rights, and laws affecting sex-based rights and protections. In both cases, the forums were ultimately relocated and held without incident. These…

  • Women Speak Tasmania’s Experience with Media Framing in Our Discrimination Case

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    At Women Speak Tasmania, we are committed to advocating for the sex-based rights, safety, and dignity of women and girls, while also emphasizing the importance of child safeguarding and parental involvement in critical matters affecting young people. Our work often intersects with complex and sensitive debates on sex and gender, and we believe these discussions…

  • Formal Request for Correction and Right of Reply – Letter to Craig Herbert

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    Email sent to Craig Herbert, editor of The Hobart Mercury – 25 February 2026 Dear Craig, I am writing on behalf of Women Speak Tasmania regarding your article published on 2 February 2026, titled “Women Speak Tasmania claims discrimination over canned library forum.” We were concerned to see the article report on legal proceedings involving…

  • Women Speak Tasmania claims discrimination over canned library forum

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    A decision to cancel a Women Speak Tasmania event at the Burnie Library has escalated into a bitter clash involving claims of political discrimination and the role of public libraries in hosting controversial views. The group is known for its contentious views on sex and gender, and says it was last year effectively and “permanently…

  • Protest Against Libraries Tasmania: Standing Up for Women’s Voices

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    On Sunday, 9 November, members of Women Speak Tasmania (WST) gathered outside the Hobart Library in Murray Street to protest Libraries Tasmania’s ongoing ban on hiring meeting rooms to our organisation. We organised the protest to coincide with the busy Farm Gate Market, ensuring our message would reach a wide cross-section of the community. This…

  • Women Protest Libraries Tasmania Ban

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    Women Speak Tasmania (WST) members are this morning protesting outside Hobart Library in Murray Street over Libraries Tasmania’s ban on hiring out community meeting facilities to our organisation. As reported by The Australian on 30 October 2025 (“Women’s group banned from Tasmanian libraries for ‘hate speech’”), WST has been permanently banned from hiring Libraries Tasmania…

  • Pamphlet “Libraries Tas: Free Speech NOT Here”

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    Women Speak Tasmania (WST) has launched a campaign to expose Libraries Tasmania’s ban on our community meetings — a decision that prevents open discussion on safeguarding children, evidence-based healthcare, and women’s sex-based rights. As reported by The Australian (30 October 2025), this new “hate speech vetting” policy is silencing Tasmanians who simply wish to talk…

  • Concerns Regarding Tasmanian Government’s Recent Decision to Ban Women Speak Tasmania from using Public Libraries – Letter to Tasmanian Attorney General

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    Dear Attorney General, I’m writing to you about the Tasmanian Government’s recent decision to ban Women Speak Tasmania from using public libraries. According to an article in The Australian the women’s rights group has been blocked multiple times from booking meeting rooms because their discussions about gender policies in schools supposedly breach Diversity and Inclusion…