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Lathan slammed as ‘transphobic bigot’ over anti-LGBT education bill
NSW’s One Nation leader has been slammed for unveiling an education bill that would ban any support for transgender children in schools.
Naomi Neilson
In a controversial move, NSW One Nation leader Mark Latham’s Education Legislation (Parental Rights) Bill has been referred to his own parliamentary committee. The move has been criticised by the Greens MP David Shoebridge, who is also on the committee, and who has labelled the education bill as a “ridiculous ideological attack”.
“If they can convince young people that things such as family and gender are socially constructed and that there is some kind of conspiracy to deny them their true identity, then no part of our culture is safe,” Mr Latham said in a speech to Parliament.
“The [Parliament] should legislate to defend the family unit and the biological science of gender. Parents, not schools, are the teachers of the values of their children.”
The bill is seeking to amend the Education Act to proclaim that gender identity is to do with a person’s biological sex and to ban the inclusion of anything to do with fluidity in all courses taught in schools across the state, either from teachers or volunteers.
The bill will also prohibit any instruction, counselling and advice on gender fluidity from being provided to students by counsellors, staff or volunteers. If any teacher was found to have breached the bill, they could be facing a job loss.
Mr Shoebridge slammed the bill, calling the idea to fire teachers and volunteers if they support trans and gender diverse children as “obscene”.
“Parliament should work hard to ensure counselling and other support is reflective on the needs of students, not give a platform to an obsessed transphobic bigot,” he said.
Naomi Neilson
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
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