The Australian Labor Party yesterday voted to affirm support to review gender rules surrounding legal documents like birth certificates.
The move comes despite claims by the Leader of the Opposition Bill Shorten that he doesn’t support the policy.
Martyn Iles, managing director of the Australian Christian Lobby, warned that the Labor Leader’s personal opinion was in direct conflict with his party’s clear policy commitment.
“Mr Shorten must know that a government he could lead after May would progress the Labor Party platform,” said Mr Iles.
“The move for genderless documents is already on in earnest – the birth certificates policy has been implemented in the Northern Territory and Tasmania looks set to follow.”
“There is no doubt that the newly elected Victorian Labor government will once again look at changing gender requirements on birth certificates after they attempted the change during their last term.”
The Australian Christian Lobby has consistently spoken out against this policy, which removes important biological truths from birth certificates.
“A birth certificate is a legal and historical document, a snapshot of the biological facts surrounding one’s birth. They should not be tampered with.”
“Since the marriage debate ACL has continuously warned that there would be broader consequences to the de-gendering of marriage. This policy adopted by the Labor Party is just one piece of evidence that supports our concern,” commented Mr Iles.
