Liberal candidate apologises for comparing anti-trans activism to Nazi resistance

Liberal candidate for Warringah Katherine Deves has issued another public apology after she was found to have compared her anti-trans activism to resistance against the Nazis and claimed in a tweet that “half of all males with trans identities are sex offenders”.

Deves, whose lobby group Save Women’s Sport opposes inclusion of trans women in women’s sport, is in the spotlight for her views on LGBTQ issues after several tweets from her now-deleted account were revealed.

Save Women’s Sport founder Katherine Deves.

In a February 2021 discussion with TV writer turned activist Graham Linehan, Deves invoked the Holocaust when asked why she had started campaigning on gender identity issues despite the backlash and criticism she would face.

“I feel really strongly about this,” she said. “I’ve always loved 20th century history and I think many people would say to themselves, ‘oh I’d never be the villagers that stayed quiet when the trains went past, oh I would have been part of the French Resistance, the underground, I would have been one of those people’.

“When all of this was happening and no one was speaking out, I thought ‘this is it’ - this is the moment in my life when I am going to have to stand up and say something against the status quo and against the establishment.”

In Nazi Germany, trains commonly carried Jews and other prisoners to concentration camps, while in Nazi-occupied France, various groups formed a resistance movement or “underground” to fight the collaborationist Vichy government and the German occupiers.

In January, Deves claimed in a tweet: “Half of all males with trans identities are sex offenders, compared with less than 20 per cent for the rest of male estate. That should tell you something.”

Equality Australia chief executive Anna Brown said this claim was “the kind of misinformation which perpetuates the extreme levels of marginalisation faced by trans people, who have some of the worst health outcomes in the community”.

“Trans people deserve to be treated with dignity and respect,” she said.

The Herald and The Age presented the tweet and video clip to Deves and the NSW Liberal Party. In a statement, Deves said: “In my dedication to fighting for the rights of women and girls, my language has on occasion been unacceptable.

“It has hurt people, and detracted from my arguments. I apologise for such language and the hurt that I have caused. I commit to continuing the fight for the safety of girls and women in a respectful way.”

Deves apologised earlier in the week for her language in other now-deleted tweets, including one that said transgender children were “surgically mutilated and sterilised”, and another in which she said she was “triggered” by the rainbow flag.

NSW Jewish Board of Deputies chief Darren Bark and Executive Council of Australian Jewry boss Peter Wertheim said in a joint statement there was nothing in contemporary Australian life or politics “remotely comparable to the wholesale destruction of human life and civilisation that occurred during World War II”.

“This sort of hyperbole trivialises the depths of inhumanity that were plumbed during that terrible conflict, and desensitises people to evil, instead of educating them to recognise and counteract it,” they said.

“There should always be extra caution taken when making historical analogies, especially by those who aspire to hold public office or leadership positions in our community.”

Prime Minister Scott Morrison, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and former Liberal Party president Christine McDiven selected Deves as the Liberal candidate for Warringah amid a bitter stoush over preselections in Morrison’s home state of NSW.

Deves is the spokeswoman for Save Women’s Sport, which lobbies for trans women to be banned from participating in women’s sports.

After initially saying Deves was “right on the money” in that pursuit, Morrison walked back his stance on Wednesday, saying the government had “no plans” to advance a private member’s bill by Liberal senator Claire Chandler which would enact such a change.

Asked about some of Deves’ deleted tweets on Wednesday, Morrison said she had apologised for them and he was not aware of the views expressed in them.

Deves is contesting the formerly blue-ribbon Liberal seat of Warringah, which was held by former prime minister Tony Abbott until his defeat by independent Zali Steggall in 2019. The electorate voted 75 per cent in favour of same-sex marriage in the 2017 postal survey.

Jacqueline Maley cuts through the noise of the federal election campaign with news, views and expert analysis. Sign up to our Australia Votes 2022 newsletter here.