Mark Latham announces One Nation policy to ban trans self-identification

Former Labor leader and now NSW leader of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party Mark Latham announced a policy to ban people from identifying as transgender.

Latham announced the proposal on Sunday on his Facebook page, saying the plan would “avoid abuse of the school education system and official government documentation.”

The policy would see One Nation attempt to restrict the ability to identify as trans to those with “specialist medical evidence and support to change their gender.”

“We reject the Leftist notion of ‘gender fluidity’ and the confusion it is causing, especially among young people in NSW schools,” Latham said.

“In reality, with very few exceptions, people are born either male or female. To move away from this biological truth later in life is a serious matter requiring specialist medical evidence.

“It should not happen because of Leftist ideology, individual whims or novelty factors,” the former Sky News commentator said.

“One Nation does not believe that gender changes should be self-identified on NSW Government forms, permits and licences,” he added, even though changing your gender in New South Wales requires comprehensive supporting documentation.

The Service NSW website states that a trans person seeking to update the gender on their birth certificate, they would have to apply and include “2 statutory declarations completed by 2 different medical practitioners and witnessed by an authorised witness” as well as “3 certified forms of your identification, including photo identification.”

An applicant would also need to have “undergone a sex affirmation procedure.”

LGBTI activist Sally Rugg pointed this out to Latham on Twitter, tweeting, “Transgender people already require comprehensive medical documentation to apply for new documents, AND extremely expensive surgery. Kids under 18 need parental permission on top of the above.”

“I thought you were all about parents rights? Your policy is a moronic dog whistle,” Rugg said.

Using a kids pronouns is not a legal gender change, which in NSW you can’t do without having surgery, it’s a small and harmless step that a school and community can take to drastically improve that kid’s safety and well-being. Why are you picking on these already vulnerable kids?

— Sally Rugg (@sallyrugg) January 20, 2019

Latham said that schools “have ventured into the world of mental health assessment and radical gender theory”, and that his policy would address what he believes is the “real mental health issue” among trans youth, that treating trans kids with humanity is “bringing confusion and harm to young people by telling them gender is ‘socially constructed’ and ‘fluid’.”

“NSW One Nation believes in supporting biological and medical science, rather than radical Left-wing propaganda,” Latham’s statement ends.

In announcing his run for the NSW upper house at the forthcoming election, Latham cited “divisive identity politics” and “political correctness” as reasons for his return to politics, over a decade since he lead Labor to a drubbing at the 2004 federal election.

Here’s is a short list of some of his other notable achievements from throughout his political hiatus:

In 2015 Latham resigned as a columnist with the Australian Financial Review after publicly criticising 2015 Australian of the Year Rosie Batty, and intentionally misgendering Cate McGregor on Twitter.

In March last year, he lost his job as a presenter on Sky News’ Outsiders program after a series of controversial remarks, including calling a high school student gay and questioning the student’s sexuality.

Latham argued in July 2017 that there was no justification for the passage of marriage equality because there weren’t enough gay couples to warrant it being an issue.

“The truth is in Australia we’ve got just 47,000 same-sex couples, so why the big national debate? The big national obsession in the political system with same-sex marriage?” he said.

Latham publicly supported President Donald Trump’s push to ban trans people from the US military, suggesting that Australia should follow suit.

The former federal Labor leader also stated during the postal survey that trans people should be explicitly excluded from marriage equality legislation, tweeting, “I support gay marriage but not state-approved gender fluidity.”

At this year’s Gay and Lesbian Outrageous, Ridiculous, and Ignorant Awards (GLORIA) , Latham was nominated for comments made during the marriage equality campaign about an LGBTI “reign of terror”, in an opinion piece where he said he feared people who did not “worship at the altar of homosexuality and gender fluidity” would be “run out of town”.

Perhaps most notably, however, was the time Latham and a cadre of No campaigners – including Miranda Devine and Lyle Shelton – fell off the stage at a marriage equality forum.

The New South Wales state election will take place on March 23, 2019.