Lesbian Born Female Organisers Sought To Divide Community, Say LGBT Groups

LGBTQI advocacy groups, including Dykes on Bikes, welcomed the Australian Human Rights Commission’s (AHRC) decision to reject an application by a Melbourne-based group to hold a ‘lesbian born female’ event that excludes bisexual and trans women. 

Equality Australia CEO Anna Brown said LAG’s application was “cruel, divisive” and “provocative”. 

“They lost their application because they attempted to define a ‘lesbian’ by scrutinising the bodies and sex lives of people who were supposed to just be there to sing, dance and socialise. That is a disturbing thing for any event organiser to require,” Brown said in a statement on Tuesday.  

“I’m proud to be part of a community that has responded with solidarity for our trans sisters in the face of this deliberate attempt to sow division and fuel hate. You build community and a sense of belonging by creating inclusive and safe spaces, not by weaponising these spaces to exclude the most marginalised and vulnerable,” said Brown. 

Transphobia Does Not Deserve A Seat At The Table

Dykes on Bikes Melbourne accused LAG of seeking  “to cause division by excluding those who don’t fit into their narrow concept of ‘womanhood’. 

“This decision proves that transphobia does not deserve a seat at the table in our community,”  Dykes on Bikes Melbourne’s Communications Officer Kieran Cavanagh said. “Our Lesbian community is rich with diversity and experience. That’s what makes us strong. Without our trans sisters and queer elders, we wouldn’t have the freedoms and rights we enjoy today.”

Switchboard Victoria CEO Joe Ball called on LAG to reflect and to “think deeply about its actions and whose campaigns it is strengthening.” 

“Instead of seeking to bring people together their proposed exclusory event was a malicious and disingenuous ploy to grab the media spotlight,” said Ball. 

License To Discriminate

Melbourne-based Lesbian Action Group filed an application before the AHRC in August seeking an exemption to discriminate on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity for its ‘lesbian born female’ event. 

The group applied for a five-year exemption from the anti-discrimination laws to celebrate International Lesbian Day at the Victorian Pride Centre in St Kilda on October 15, 2023. The group wanted to invite only “Lesbians Born Females” and exclude “Heterosexual, Bisexual and Gay males, Heterosexual and Bisexual females, Transgender people and Queer plus people.”

The Pride Centre rejected LAG’s application to host the event at Australia’s first and only purpose-built LGBTQI community hub. Last week, AHRC refused to grant the exemption. 

In its preliminary findings, the commission said it was “not persuaded it is appropriate and reasonable” to make a distinction between women based on whether they were cisgender or trans or if they were exclusively attracted to women and “exclude same-sex attracted women who are transgender, bisexual and queer”. 

“The Application does not describe how the Lesbian Action Group proposes to make distinctions to limit the event, and any future events, to ‘lesbians born female’,” said the AHRC, adding, “Limiting participation in the manner proposed may involve questions about an attendee’s physical sex characteristics or the exclusivity of their same-sex attraction, which could reasonably be expected to intrude on an individual’s privacy and, in some cases, has the potential to amount to sexual or sex-based harassment,” AHRC said.