MP Alex Greenwich’s Equality Bill soundly rejected by public

Controversial plans to change NSW laws to allow people to change their sex simply by nominating their preferred gender on a form have been overwhelmingly rejected by the public.

Almost 83 per cent of NSW residents are opposed to plans to enable people to “change” their sex by simply filling out forms, a survey has found.

New laws are being proposed in state parliament by independent Sydney MP Alex Greenwich to allow “self-ID” of sex for official government forms, junking the current requirement for individuals to undergo medical treatment to change sex.

Mr Greenwich’s proposals, which are strongly opposed by a coalition of church groups, also attempt to liberalise prostitution, allowing it to be practised near schools and churches, allow for overseas commercial surrogacy, and make it easier for children to access puberty blockers without their parent’s consent.

However, a survey of 13,258 NSW citizens, conducted by a parliamentary inquiry into the impact of the Equality Legislation Amendment (LGBTIQA) Bill 2023, found the overwhelming majority ­rejected the changes.

A whopping 85 per cent of the those who took part in the online survey rejected the bill altogether, with 13 per cent supporting it and another 0.89 per cent supporting it with amendments. Plans to allow 16-year-olds to consent to medical treatments without their parent’s permission were rejected by 82 per cent.

Independent MP Alex Greenwich. Picture: Christian Gilles

Women's Forum chief executive Rachael Wong.

“It (the bill) is plagued with problems and has been overwhelmingly rejected by NSW citizens,” Women’s Forum Australia chief executive Rachael Wong said.

“The bill’s dystopian reforms are not what ‘equality’ looks like, especially not for women and children.”

The changes would allow people to effectively change their gender without any medical treatment.

Equality Australia chief executive Anna Brown welcomed the parliamentary inquiry’s final report, which recommended the bill now be debated by parliament.

But an alliance of GPs, psychiatrists, psychologists and families called Genspect said it was dismayed the laws would be debated after the overwhelming rejection by the public in the survey.

“The public have clearly expressed their opposition to the introduction of gender self-ID and amendments that make it easier for minors to access puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones without parental consent, but the government appears not to be listening,” Genspect spokeswoman Jude Hunter said.

She said the bill reached into 20 different pieces of legislation and would “seriously diminish the rights of women and girls, permits children to change their name and sex on their birth certificate without parental consent and will lead to more children with gender confusion”.

Kirralie Smith, from Binary Australia, says the bill is extreme.

Binary Australia’s Kirralie Smith said the changes would allow any man claiming to be a woman to access any women’s sports, spaces and services without challenge.

“In other words, the bill is extreme,” she said.

The inquiry, which received 66 submissions and heard from 44 witnesses, allowed written submissions and appearance by invitation only.

It was told by some women’s groups that changing some definitions of sex in the laws would be “unworkable” and “make current legal protections for women meaningless”.

Catholics have complained that the bill would allow prostitutes to solicit for sex outside St Mary’s Cathedral, while a prayer within 150m of an abortion clinic currently attracts six months’ imprisonment.

ACON chief Nicolas Parkhill said they recommended the bill pass in full as it would “help ensure the health and wellbeing of sexuality and gender-diverse people in NSW”.

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