Those who opposed same-sex marriage warned of the likely consequences of ignoring the important historical and biological basis of marriage.
Legislating the untruth of any-gender marriage requires further untruths to uphold it.
Those married to transgender partners who transition during the relationship need not be required to divorce now that their relationship is included in Australia’s definition of marriage.
But it appears this is not enough.
State governments are now being urged to amend laws to make changing one’s sex on birth certificates as simple as changing one’s name. Supporters of such changes argue that there should no longer be a requirement for proof of transition, e.g. sex-reassignment surgery. It’s simply supporting a person’s feelings about who they really are.
This may sound reasonable, but it would have concerning consequences.
A birth certificate is a legal document. It is a snapshot of the truths surrounding one’s birth. It details the fact that they exist, where and when they were born, their biological sex and parents.
Amending the birth certificate of a child later in life to change their sex is entrenching an untruth into law. It is both unscientific and unethical to do so.
When we do this, we open the door for other untruths – like removing a biological parent from the birth record (which is already happening and causing a significant amount of pain to many people including those born from sperm donation).
Then there are privacy and safety issues around women’s bathrooms and changerooms when a male can legally become a female at the stroke of a pen.
What untruth is likely to follow?
Criminalising those who promote a historical-biological understanding of sex.
In other words, criminally penalising those who believe in a purely male/female understanding of human sexuality from ‘converting’ others to their understanding.
This is exactly what will happen if federal Labor is elected. The current Australian Labor Party national platform states that anyone who claims that one’s gender identity (or sexual orientation) can be changed are not only wrong, but harming others.
If this became law, it would mean:
Those struggling against symptoms of gender-dysphoria (feelings of being born in the wrong body) or those with unwanted sexual attractions will not be able to get the help they want.
Parents with a gender-confused 5-year-old would be in danger of breaking the law if they encouraged their child to stick with their biological sex. This is deemed by the ALP as “serious psychological abuse” and “when suffered within the family, as domestic violence against the child.” (Labor National Platform 2015 p193).
Any attempts at helping their child to be comfortable in their biological sex would be construed as ‘conversion’ and could result in the child being removed from the ‘abusive’ home.
This may sound far-fetched, but the reality is that it is already happening.
In Western Australia, a couple who had passed all assessments for suitability to become foster parents failed when at the last minute, they were asked to attend an LGBTI workshop. They were required to endorse the program’s sexual ethic, which they refused, and were then deemed ‘unsafe’ for foster parenting because of these views
How long before they are considered ‘unsafe’ to parent their own children?
This is where we are headed as a nation when we allow untruths to be imbedded in law.
Legislating untruths requires further untruthful laws to uphold it, meaning greater state control at the expense of individual freedom and parental authority.
This is something that should concern all Australians.
Recently published in The Examiner on Sunday 8 July 2018
