This article was originally published by QNews. You can find the original article here.
LGBTQIA+ advocacy group Just.Equal Australia have announced a four point plan to protect trans and gender diverse (TGD) Australians from an increase in anti-trans hatred after incoming US President Donald Trump made it clear that attacking the rights of transgender people will be a top priority for his second term in office.
Trump yesterday launched a concerted attack on the rights of trans and gender diverse people, saying he will end affirming care for young trans people, expel trans people from the military, end supportive school programs, and segregate trans women from women’s sport.
“It is likely that Trump’s hate-fuelled anti-trans agenda will stir up hatred here in Australia,” Just.Equal spokesperson and veteran trans community advocate, Sally Goldner said.
“We will seek commitments from all parties and candidates to a four point plan which we believe will help protect trans and gender diverse people from any hate campaigns.”
The four points of Just.Equal Australia’s plan are hate speech laws, education campaigns, leadership and mental health support.
The “Hate speech laws” part of the plan would see the introduction of comprehensive national laws to prohibit vilification and bullying conduct based on gender identity as well as other attributes not already covered.
“Education campaigns” would see government funded ad campaigns telling the truth about the lives and aspirations of trans and gender diverse Australians.
“Leadership” would see party leaders speaking out against anti-trans hate speech, abuse and violence.
“Mental health support” would see funding to ensure trans and gender diverse-inclusive mental health services.
“The four point plan will be part of a broader set of commitments on trans and LGBTIQA+ issues that we will seek ahead of the next election,” Goldner said.
“These will include gender affirming care covered on Medicare, funding to improve trans health outcomes and reduce wait times for affirming care, and best-practice self-identification and anti-discrimination laws across the nation.
“We are disappointed the current Government has not already undertaken the initiatives we seek.
“We’re also disappointed they were not included in the recently-released national LGBTIQA+ Health Action Plan.”
“Our hope is that by highlighting how we keep trans and gender diverse people safe from hate we can prompt others to take the threat to TGD people more seriously, and to value us equally to all other Australians.”
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