Conservative Liberals shut down over anti-gay therapy push in Victoria
Image: Image: Matthew Guy / Facebook.
The president of the Victorian Liberal Party has reportedly intervened to shut down debate on a motion to give parents greater access to anti-gay and anti-trans ‘conversion’ therapy for their children.
A conservative Liberal branch, linked to Federal MP Kevin Andrews, had called for legislation allowing healthcare providers to “offer counselling out of same sex attraction or gender transitioning to patients who request it”, according to The Age.
The motion also called on Opposition Leader Matthew Guy to advocate for laws ensuring that “parents and young people are all given full information about the psychological harms of social, medical and surgical gender transitioning”.
While the motion had been set for debate at the annual state council meeting later this month, president Michael Kroger has stepped in to shut it down after it became public knowledge.
“These are the types of policies you would expect to find in the dark recesses of the 19th century or in the forums of the Australian Conservatives party – not in the modern Liberal Party,” said Liberal MP Trent Zimmerman, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
“The real debate is whether so-called gay conversion therapy should be regarded as a form of child abuse.”
Other anti-LGBTI proposals that have been put forward for debate include a call to ban the Safe Schools program, as well as any curriculum that teaches about gender diversity or transition.
Dale Park, co-convenor of the Victorian Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby, said the motions were “very concerning”.
“There are numerous examples of people who have been forced to go through conversion therapy and experience significant emotional and psychological harm,” said Park.
“People should be supported to feel comfortable with who they are.
“We call on the Liberal Party and the members who say they are inclusive and want to support the LGBTI community to not support these, and to continue to work with the community to develop inclusive policies in education, health and employment.”
Jo Hirst, board member at Parents of Gender Diverse Children, said there is solid evidence highlighting that children do best when their gender is affirmed and supported by their families and communities.
“It is deeply concerning that any government body or political party would even consider taking such a bold stand against the world’s best practice and medical advice,” she said.
“The world over we have seen positive moves away from so called ‘conversion therapies’.
“In light of this overwhelming body of evidence and advice we are at a loss to understand what would motivate such a harmful and potentially damaging resolution.”
Survivors of gay conversion therapy have spoken out about its damaging mental health effects, calling for it to be outlawed.
Victoria’s new Health Complaints Commissioner was established last year in part to shut down unregistered practitioners providing conversion therapy.
“The government is committed to combating discrimination and homophobia wherever it exists, and I find any discrimination against people on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender abhorrent,” said Minister for Health Jill Hennessy before establishing the new office.
“We have zero tolerance for any person purporting to be able to ‘convert’ gay people through medical or therapeutic means.
“Any attempts to make people feel uncomfortable with their own sexuality is completely unacceptable.”
Outrageous and appalling that some people should try and force a non hetero person to be someone they are not…disgusting!
a message to all our Politicians, Priests, Pastors and other self-appointed riff-raff who think they know better than everyone else:
Leave OUR Children alone.
Stop trying to brain-wash them.
To try to introduce this garbage is little to no different to Sexual and Mental Abuse of Children by Adults
In other words what you are wanting to do is nothing short of Paedophilia
Let them discover their own Sexuality at THEIR OWN TIME which, for most will not be until they reach Puberty.
Persist in this sadism will mentally destroy many children.
In time they will start self-harming and the inevitable result will be a massive increase in Suicide and the blame will be sheeted home to these hypocrites.
Haven’t more than enough Children been irrevocably damaged by Pastors, Priests, Nuns, Brothers and Family Members and others because they were sexually abused by them.
Children should be allowed to have their childhood, to do and say childish things, to go on their own Voyage of Discovery about Everything and that includes their Sexual Preferences.
Go play with each other you perverts and leave OUR Children ALONE.
These sorts of shenanigans by lunatics in Liberal Party branches are going to become more common if efforts by Tony Abbott and his conservative pals to increase “democracy” within the party ever get anywhere (eg the Waringah motion).
While I’m not sure that Rhys Nicholson is correct to put all examples of homophobic behaviour down to the recent statistical survey, I think it’s closer the mark to say that when organisations like Liberal Party branches come up with this crap it is a result of their party adopting an “everyone must have a say” position on gay civil rights like marriage equality and the subsequent No campaign focusing heavily on Safe Schools and gender identity issues (which were irrelevant to the marriage question).
As long as the hateful homophobes in the conservative branches have a voice, the Liberal Party is going to have to continually deny it is an inherently homophobic organisation. Which is a shame because there are more gay Liberals in the House of Representatives than have ever been there before for any party and they obviously aren’t all bad.