Advocates call for laws to protect LGBTI people from hate

Advocates call for laws to protect LGBTI people from hate
Image: Image: Andy Miller.

Advocates have called for national laws protecting LGBTI people from incitement to hate and offensive conduct.

The call was made in submissions to the Senate’s inquiry into last year’s marriage equality postal survey.

Just.equal spokesperson Rodney Croome said the protections introduced during the postal survey should continue.

“The government provided LGBTI people with protections against vilification, intimidation and offensive material during the postal survey and it should now develop these protections and enact them permanently,” he said.

“Hate didn’t end with the postal survey and neither should protections against hate.”

Tasmanians United for Marriage Equality echoed the call, pointing to their state’s protections against anti-LGBTI hate as a model for national law.

“Tasmania has the nation’s strongest laws prohibiting incitement to hatred and offensive language against LGBTI people, with no exceptions on religious grounds,” said spokesperson Andrew Badcock.

“This model has worked well in Tasmania and should be adopted nationally.”

Other LGBTI community groups have written to the inquiry to tell of their experiences of hate and discrimination during the marriage equality survey.

Rainbow Families NSW said that children of same-sex parents had been targeted by bullies because of anti-LGBTI materials distributed during the survey period.

“Once the door was opened to this debate by the government it was our families ended up on the frontline,” said co-chair Vanessa Gonzalez.

Submissions to the Senate inquiry into arrangements for the postal survey have now closed.

 

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