Mark Latham’s Anti-Trans Bill Continues Its Dangerous March

The controversial anti-trans kids bill that reared it’s ugly head under the cover and distraction of a global pandemic in August 2020 is continuing its damaging journey to becoming law with the limited online public questionnaire allowed into the bill now closed.

I’ve always loved the term ‘Pub Test’ because it invokes a sense of community gatherings and communal discussions on the latest dodgy goings on, especially when discussing  politicians and their behaviour in Canberra.

Another name for the ‘Pub Test’ is the much more evocative ‘Sniff Test’ and well, One Nation NSW upper house MP Mark Latham’s controversial anti-trans kids bill, also known as The Education Legislation Amendment (Parental Rights) Bill 2020 is getting smellier the more you scratch and sniff the surface.

Advocate sends appeals to MPs direct

The latest itch is courtesy of Alastair Lawrie, ”a passionate advocate and activist on behalf of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) communities” who took it upon himself to write directly to MP’s “calling on them to be champions for trans and gender diverse kids, rather than their bullies”.

One reply, from Kevin Conolly MP, Member for Riverstone and Parliamentary Secretary for Education raised eyebrows, especially those of Mr Lawrie, who posits excellent points in his blog post, with accompanying quotes from the MP’s reply which can be read in full here. 

Conolly in his letter denies that the Bill is against “homosexuality” but says that it is “only on the specific issue of so-called ‘gender fluidity’”.

“The Bill is a positive step forward because it provides the opportunity for parents to provide genuine selfless care to young people rather than leave them at the mercy of activists whose ‘care’ is far more for their ideological cause than it is for the young person facing difficult challenges. In doing so it upholds universally recognised basic human rights, and responsibilities of parents towards their children,” Conolly claimed.

Lawrie in his blogpost said he found it “incredibly curious that a member of the NSW Government – and a Parliamentary Secretary at that – is not only publicly supporting One Nation legislation, but also defending and apparently speaking on behalf of the NSW One Nation Leader.”

A vast group of community and civil society partners and leaders in NSW are placing on the public record our strongest opposition to NSW One Nation’s Education Legislation Amendment (Parental Rights) Bill 2020:https://t.co/8jAgyBVA7k #AusPol pic.twitter.com/vwGjEiv5VI

— Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras (@sydneymardigras) August 18, 2020

Obvious flaws in bill

Besides the very good points raised by Mr. Lawrie, there are other things to be aware of about this bill, namely that even if this nasty piece of legislation were to pass in NSW parliament, it would be “knocked out of operation by the Federal Constitution if the NSW Parliament was to pass it” according to Dr. Luke Beck, whose thoughts on the bill featured on the Star Observer website last month.

Surely this raises the question – why is this bill even being entertained, when it is destined to be moot on arrival? What is the cost to the tax payer to have this bill process through NSW Parliament when the federal law ultimately negates it anyway? 

But the most obvious flaw in this controversial anti-trans kids bill is also the most cruel and one that is also highlighted by Mr. Lawrie’s post – the assertion that trans and gender diverse people simply don’t exist, a notion that anyone with empathy knows to be untrue and damaging to young trans and intersex kids facing these challenges in their lives every day, 

Chair of investigation wrote the submission

Another aspect of this anti-trans kids bill that smells fishy is the fact that the Chair of the committee assigned to investigate the bill is none other than, you guessed it, Mark Latham!

That seems like a bit of a stretch and makes you wonder if there can be any kind of real and non-biased investigation, when the head of the investigation is the author of the bill that is being investigated – the reason that Alastair Lawrie directly urged so many MP’s to champion the LGBTQI children of their constituents in the first place.

The NSW Parliamentary Cte survey into Mark Latham's transphobic Education Legislation Amendment (Parental Rights) Bill 2020 has opened and the questions are, well, just a little bit leading: https://t.co/D19hY2Hckq pic.twitter.com/HwwptbupOM

— Alastair Lawrie (@alawriedejesus) January 18, 2021