Cassy O’Connor MP
The Greens welcome the release of the TLRI report on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Conversion Practices.
On behalf of the Greens, I thank survivors for their bravery in coming forward and sharing their stories, and recognise that this report is the result of the decades of advocacy from LGBTQA+ Tasmanians.
We are deeply thankful to the Tasmanian Law Reform Institute for their continuing important work on this cruel, unscientific practice that has caused so much harm.
The Tasmanian Greens support the recommendations of the report, and urge the Rockliff Government to respond to this report, and act on reform, as soon as possible.
The submissions to this report make it clear that conversion practices currently occur in Tasmania, which is a matter of grave concern.
Also of significant concern is that some submitters from religious organisation have made it clear that they intend to continue with these practices, regardless of what legal changes take place. This wilful lawlessness at profound human cost is not in any way acceptable. No religious organisation is above the law.
In addition to the legal changes in this report, we urge the Government to consider using all levers at its disposal, including looking at grants and funding agreements to religious organisations intent on continuing conversion therapy, to stamp out these unacceptable, harmful, unscientific practices.
Senator Peter Whish-Wilson
We know from survivors that the LGBTQ+ conversion movement extends further than formalised ‘therapies’ and that sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts pervade some religious communities, faith-based organisations, schools and the counselling industry in dangerous ways.
Efforts to change sexual orientation and gender identity and the ideology that drives the broader conversion movement is extremely harmful to LGBTIQ+ people, especially young people, and has potentially fatal consequences.
In the last year alone, LGBTIQA+ communities have faced discrimination and a fear-mongering campaign led by the most powerful people in the country. This included the outright bigotry of the Religious Discrimination Bill the government tried to ram through Parliament, discreetly supported by Labor.
With the Liberals actively harming queer people, with Scott Morrison and Katherine Deves doing all they can to manufacture a culture war, and with Labor conspicuously silent on LGBTIQA+ rights, the Greens are the only party LGBTIQA+ people and progressives can rely on this election.
The Greens have a fully-costed plan for Achieving LGBTIQA+ Equality that would adopt and provide $125m to fund the approach recommended in the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Change Efforts Survivor Statement, including funding for survivor groups, a national inquiry, a public health and awareness campaign, and work towards developing a redress scheme.
https://greens.org.au/platform/equality#LGBTIQA
The Greens’ policy will explicitly include $1 million per year in funding for LGBTIQA+ faith based orgs and survivor groups to do self-advocacy and fund expanded scope of existing LGBTIQA+ orgs to deliver self-advocacy outcomes for conversion practices. It will also include $1.5m over three years for a public health and awareness campaigns to explicitly target those at risk of the movement’s influence and refute its ideology, key messages, assertions and false and misleading claims.
LGBTIQA+ rights are non-negotiable. The Greens will continue to advocate at state and federal levels for a complete ban on reparative, sexual orientation and gender identity conversion therapies