Monique Ryan Gives Powerful Speech Defending Trans People And The Sex Discrimination Act

Australian independent MP for Kooyong in Melbourne and former paediatric neurologist Dr Monique Ryan has given a speech reaffirming her belief in rights for trans people in Australia, and also defending the Sex Discrimination Act which is currently under attack in Australia.

“Transgender Australians face disproportionate rates of discrimination, harassment, and harm,” she says at the top of her speech. “I’ve heard from a number of constituents that 2026 trans people in our community feel increasingly vulnerable, fearful, and saddened by the current retroic around trans rights worship, which is sadly worsened by some of our colleagues.”

Reading out a portion of an email from a constituent who says they wake up every morning “to see our rights rolled back around the world”, Dr Ryan then makes the point that “these are people, not political talking points. Like every Australian, they seek equal rights and protections under the law.”

Several Australian politicians – mainly from the Coalition opposition, although also including NSW Premier Chris Minns – have recently announced plans to amend the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) following the fallout from the Giggle v Tickle federal court case, where a transgender woman was found to have been unlawfully excluded from a women-only app on the basis of the Sex Discrimination Act.

Politicians such as Angus Taylor, Pauline Hanson, Alison Penfold and Matt Canavan have declared themselves sudden champions of women’s rights, vowing to change the Sex Discrimination Act by inserting a legal definition of “sex” as biological and binary.

“Many transgender people in my community want us to protect the Sex Discrimination Act,” says Dr Ryan, stating that it’s concerning that Angus Taylor has vowed to amend the act.

“Inserting a binary biological definition of sex into the act would fundamentally alter how protections are interpreted and applied,” she explains.

“As a doctor, I know that gender identity is a complex area of medicine. Sex and gender exist on a spectrum. They’re informed by genetics, hormones, anatomy, and lived experience. Legally, it is also complex. Protections built up carefully over decades through legislation and case law should not be and cannot be unwound without real human cost. We should be guided by evidence, not by a political reaction to a single court ruling.”

 

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