Gold Coast MPs slammed for ‘disgraceful’ vote against transgender athletes
Gold Coast state MPs have come under fire for backing a “disgraceful” motion against transgender athletes - with staff revealing they’re “absolutely gutted”.
Opinion
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GOLD Coast state MPs have come under fire for backing a “disgraceful” motion against transgender athletes.
Transgender athletes were accused of “eroding” women’s sport in a motion by Katter’s Australia Party MP Robbie Katter in Parliament on Wednesday night.
The “Women in Sport” motion called on the state government to agree that allowing transgender athletes in women’s sport would erode its integrity.
It also asked MPs to agree that transgender athletes “pose an unfair competitive advantage” over non-transgender athletes.
The motion was made by Mr Katter despite the state government being unable to control whether sports bar transgender athletes.
Labor MP and Youth Affairs Minister Meaghan Scanlon said the move was “incredibly transphobic”.
All other Coast state MPs voted in favour of the claim.
Mr Katter told the house: “When people are born biologically male and then want to participate in women’s sport through whatever means, whether it is through hormone therapy or surgical changes, there is unquestionably a distinct advantage.”
The vote sparked late-night fury in Ms Scanlon, who took to social media.
“Frankly, I think it’s disgraceful that this is how they use their very limited time in this house,” she wrote.
Ms Scanlon told the Bulletin: “Any suggestion this is in the name of women’s rights is offensive.
“Among all three parties, only 16 per cent of their members are women – and it shows.
“These are the same people who voted against abortion rights, voted against banning gay conversion therapy and the Human Rights Act.”
As of 2021 there were no published studies on trans athletes participating at the elite level.
Testosterone-suppressing therapies can also put athletes at higher risk of injury and inability to recover.
Parliamentary staff said they were “absolutely gutted” the motion had been put up at all.
“It’s a play out of the right-wing American political playbook, at the expense of trans people,” one source said.
“It’s nothing but political grandstanding.”
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has also been under fire this week for declining to condemn a Liberal candidate who claimed transgender people were “mutilated” by transitioning.
A member of the Gold Coast queer community, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “It’s really sad to see trans people being used as political football. It makes me really angry and suspicious.
“It also makes me feel really sad and really hopeless on top of all the other damage evangelical Christian thinking is clearly starting to do on the Gold Coast.”
Why Coast abortion demand is surging and access shrinking
Abortion is never an easy choice.
But here on the Gold Coast, that difficult choice is becoming ever more difficult to access.
As America reels from the news that the Supreme Court is poised to overturn the landmark Roe vs Wade case, which ruled that access to abortion was a Constitutional right, women in this city, state and country are kidding themselves if we think we’re immune from this anti-choice push.
Just look at our own leaders.
Australia’s Assistant Minister for Women Amanda Stoker marched alongside LNP Senator Matt Canavan and One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts in the annual Cherish Life Queensland rally in Brisbane on Saturday against abortion.
While everyone is allowed to take a personal position on this emotional issue, the fact that this is a legal, medical service means our leaders should be ensuring we have adequate access – not marching against it.
Look, I understand the passion from those who fight for the lives of unborn babies – I was once a teenager raising money for and marching alongside pro-lifers in the deeply conservative state of Texas. But as I grew older, I realised this could never be a black-and-white issue.
I understood that while abortion would never be my personal choice – and thankfully my belief has never been tested in practice – I could never make that choice for anyone else.
The truth is that no one loves the idea of abortion. No one is writing a termination on their bucket list. It’s an awful decision to have to make … but it has to be an option for those who need it.
And never has it been so important as right now.
A spokeswoman for Marie Stopes Australia says, sadly, local demand for terminations has increased as the pandemic and the economy wreaks havoc on homes.
Because while the stereotype paints those accessing abortions as ‘loose’ women who are too careless to use contraception, the fact is that many are already married mothers.
“There is no denying that the economic climate is driving demand. A lot of the women we see are married with children, but they literally can’t afford another mouth to feed,” she says.
“If you’re living in your car or you’re running from domestic violence, access is critical.
“The problem is that just as demand is increasing, we’re losing capacity to serve people.
“It’s an incredibly difficult job to tell someone that you can’t help them or they need to drive hundreds or even thousands of kilometres or pay a fortune.
“Just because we’ve decriminalised abortion in Australia does not mean we have created access, without funding we can’t help.”
And when it comes to losing access, the Gold Coast has already suffered.
Last June, the city’s only surgical practice in Southport was closed.
While Marie Stopes Australia opened a new abortion clinic in Varsity Lakes in December, it offers only telehealth and in-person consults that cater to women seeking medical terminations, induced by ingesting two pills, Mifepristone – more commonly known as RU486 – and a second of Misoprostol.
Marie Stopes Australia managing director Jamal Hakim said a “chronic underinvestment” by state and federal bodies into sexual and reproductive healthcare rendered surgical clinics like its now-defunct Southport one increasingly difficult to operate.
“We have been in positive funding discussions with the Queensland government about this new hub so we can enable easier and more timely access to abortion care services for Queenslanders, but we are still waiting on a decision from them.”
And, according to the Marie Stopes spokeswoman, they’re still waiting.
“We are fortunate that the Queensland Government provides partial funding, but it’s not been enough to keep clinics open.
“Since we had to close a number of clinics across the state last year, including the one at Southport, that extra funding was meant to roll over to the Gold Coast clinic at Varsity Lakes.
“But it’s almost a year since those closures and it still hasn’t been signed off. Every day and every dollar we lose is costing women their choice.”
In this global climate where the political pendulum is swinging away from women’s rights over bodies, time is critical. And it’s time for the state government to make a choice.
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