Susie O’Brien: Diversity must not be fodder for division

For too long gay, lesbian and gender diverse people have been political fodder for conservatives, like Katherine Deves, who want to impress the religious right.

Scott Morrison should immediately disendorse NSW Liberal candidate for Warringah Katherine Deves for her vile views about transgender people.

Morrison hand-picked Deves. He should now replace her and speak out strongly against her divisive and harmful views.

Instead, what did the man who wants to be re-elected as prime minister do when some of Deves’ abhorrent opinions came to light?

He said he shared her values.

Let’s have a look at what those values are.

In tweets that have since been deleted, Deves called trans children “surgically mutilated and sterilised” and described arguing against transgender athletes as similar to fighting persecution in the Holocaust. She’s also said trans women are guilty of indulging in “womanface” and use their gender status to prey on children.

NSW Liberal candidate for Warringah Katherine Deves expressed vile views about transgender people.

Deves said she was “triggered” by the rainbow flag, says trans kids probably just have autism and claimed “half of all males with trans identities are sex offenders” — demonstrably false statements.

Deves also described LGBTQ initiative Wear It Purple Day as a “grooming tactic”, says gender neutral toilets cause urinary tract infections and says discussion of gender identity means kids are taught “girls have penises”.

It’s a dangerous rag tag mix of made-up facts, half-truths and outright lies designed to demonise one of the most marginalised groups in our community – transgender children and adults.

The Coalition’s Minister for Women Marise Payne should also stand up for the women she’s supposed to represent and call for Deves’ immediate removal from the Coalition ticket.

And yet, she hasn’t acted either.

For too long gay, lesbian and gender diverse people have been political fodder for conservatives wanting to impress the religious right. This led to the divisive referendum on same sex marriage and bills designed to allow taxpayer funded religious schools to discriminate against the hiring of LGBTQ teachers and staff.

Now it’s the trans community’s turn to be used by the Coalition and weaponised for its own political gain. Members of the trans community suffer high rates of mental illness and are some of the most vulnerable members of our society. They deserve respect and support, not ridicule and political attacks.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison must remove Deves and send a strong message that there is no place for her harmful views in the Australian political landscape. Picture: Jason Edwards

The people of Warringah, who overwhelmingly voted in support of same-sex marriage in the referendum, are unlikely to be impressed by Deves’ views.

Sadly, Morrison isn’t the only one supporting Deves. Liberal Senator Jane Hume thinks she will make an excellent candidate and says she has opinions on an “issue that’s important to a lot of Australians”.

Hume is wrong. I doubt the role of trans women in sport is an issue that makes it to the top ten or even top 20 issues of voting Australians. They’re too preoccupied with cost of living pressures, the price of petrol or flood clean-up to worry about the impact a handful of trans athletes are having on women’s sport.

The rights of female transgender athletes isn’t an issue of widespread concern in sporting circles — it’s just a means for conservative politicians to attack gender diverse individuals in a bid to curry favour with extreme members of the right.

It’s a pity Hume and Payne don’t have the mettle of NSW Liberal Treasurer Matt Keen who’s said there’s no place for such “vile bigotry”.

It is bigotry because Deves uses deliberately inflammatory language, such as calling trans women “men”.

In the eyes of people like Deves, trans women are portrayed as sexual predators and violent perpetrators who will come into the toilets and dominate girls’ sporting teams. Not only are such depictions discriminatory, but they are wrong.

Deves may have apologised for some of her language but she has not backed down from her views. Interestingly, her status of the co-founder of the Save Women’s Sport organisation isn’t in her official Liberal Party bio. The organisation campaigns to restrict trans women from playing in female sporting competitions. Attacks on Deves are not a “pile on” as Morrison suggests. They are a legitimate debate about views which legitimise attacks on trans people. As Equality Australia chief executive Anna Brown says, such vilification is based on misinformation and perpetuates the marginalisation faced by trans people, who have some of the worst health outcomes in the community.

Deves is not just “standing up for women and girls in sport” as her supporters, like former PM Tony Abbott, like to suggest. She is standing against the right of transgender women to compete according to their gender identity not their biology.

This is a right already granted to them by sporting bodies from the International Olympic Committee down. It’s also a right enshrined in Australia’s Sex Discrimination Act.

There do need to be safeguards to ensure women are not playing against competitors much larger and stronger than them, but these measures are already in place.

So far, the Prime Minister has already backed down from committing to a government bill on transgender sports. He also didn’t push through his religious discrimination bill in the last sitting of parliament in the face of strong opposition. But he needs to show stronger leadership on this issue. He must remove Deves and send a strong message that there is no place for her harmful views in the Australian political landscape, or anywhere.

Originally published as Susie O’Brien: Diversity must not be fodder for division