NSW Parliament Declares Support For Trans Community

A motion supporting the trans and gender diverse communities and calling for equal treatment has unanimously passed the lower house of NSW Parliament.

On October 21, Independent MP Alex Greenwich submitted the motion to parliament saying, “transphobia has no place in our society or Parliament.

“Trans and gender diverse organisations have made an incredible contribution to the state, helping people and families navigate healthcare, education and justice systems.

“Just today, Transport for NSW agreed to close our iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge for a march of celebration to close Sydney WorldPride in 2023, cementing the city’s ongoing legacy at the heart of LGBTQI culture.

“Today’s motion recognises that trans and gender diverse communities continue to face ongoing discrimination that not only contributes to isolation and poor mental health, but also impacts their health, mental health, welfare, income and access to services.

“We have sent a clear message that the harmful and outdated views of One Nation’s Mark Latham, which are reflected in his proposed legislation, are not shared by the leaders and major parties that represent this state.

“Our Parliament has worked together to back marriage equality, remove past homosexual convictions, address tensions between police and the LGBTQI community, and support Mardi Gras.

“We still have a long way to go and this includes removing the archaic barriers that force people to go through invasive, expensive, and often inappropriate gender affirmation surgery to obtain legal documents that reflect their true sex or gender identity.

“Widespread discrimination still takes place in employment, healthcare and many other areas of our society, preventing LGBTQI people from receiving the same level of care and service as other Australians.

“I will continue to advocate for reform to remove discriminatory barriers. This must be a priority for our Parliament to achieve genuine equality for all LGBTQI people in our state.”

 Speakers included the Minister for Transport and Roads Andrew Constance (Liberal), the Member for Gosford Liesl Tesch (Labor), the Member for Summer Hill Jo Haylen (Labor) and the Member for Newtown Jenny Leong (Greens). 

The Hon Shayne Mallard (Liberal) also provided a statement of support for Mr Greenwich’s motion.

Someone who had to be there and witness such a great achievement is AJ Brown the President of Trans Pride Australia, who sat in the Jubilee Room at Parliament house watching and waiting. 

AJ spoke with Star Observer following the announcement.

“It was an amazing feeling to hear our allies be true allies, it was natural and not tokenistic. Alex proudly said his pronouns and explained the importance of not assuming a person’s identity, and that it was International Pronouns Day, which goes a long way in my book.

“As a person that has lived a colourful life, truth and true of heart are very important to me as a value system and to feel that in a Parliamentary environment where change has been archaic around our existence was breathtaking. 

 “This is our health and our human rights, a solid positive narrative was created by Alex Greenwhich yesterday. This important foundation stone ensures that the trans and gender diverse (TGD) community will move forward, major change and reform will not be a hope but now a reality especially for birth certificate reform. 

“I would also like to point out that having Trans Pride Australia being named as a TGD community organisation that would benefit from government funding is also a sigh of relief. We are a NFP social support and advocacy group that has been alive for five years and we are all volunteers, and receive no funding as an organisation and to have this kind of support means we can be there as family, support, role models, for all our community.” 

AJ ended by saying, “I would like to pay my respects to all brother boys and sister girls, and all those that have fought to get our community to this amazing position.”