The legislation will protect people with variations in sex characteristics from harmful and unnecessary medical interventions as children by placing restrictions on treatment to alter sex characteristics without personal consent.

These restrictions will exclude emergencies or authorisation by an independent assessment board. The board will be created with committed comprised of intersex people with lived experience alongside medical, ethical and psychosocial experts. The laws will also introduce offences and other regulatory provisions to enforce these changes.

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr fought back tears when speaking on the legislation in parliament to commend the bill.

“It’s incumbent [on] all members in this parliament, who care about the autonomy, consent and safety of people with variations in sex characteristics and I thank them for their support of this bill today,” Chief Minister Barr said of the bill he himself introduced.

“We look forward to the detailed debate, where I will hold it together better than I have just done.”

The action follows long-term advocacy from intersex individuals and groups, as well as broader LGBTIQA+ advocacy groups, who have all welcomed today’s action.

Long-time advocate and Executive Director of Intersex Human Rights Australia (IHRA) called this a “wonderful and transformative moment.”

“This legislation promises to ensure this, implementing effective oversight and appropriate penalties. And it is accompanied by much needed investment in psychosocial support,” Carpenter said.

“Thank you so much for the leadership of the ACT Government and their engagement with all stakeholders. We look forward to deepening our collaboration with government and community organisations to ensure its success.

“This is a model for other jurisdictions, and we call on other states and territories to adopt similar reforms.”

Equality Australia CEO Anna Brown adds that it is time for other states and territories to follow the ACT’s lead.

“Every intersex person in Australia should be able to grow up to live a full and dignified life in which they decide what happens to their own bodies,” Brown said.

“It’s now time for the rest of the country to commit to protecting future generations of intersex Australians from medical procedures that can be deferred until they are old enough to decide for themselves.

“The fact not a single MP from any party in the ACT voted against this bill shows how important these protections are and that the time is right for reform in all other states and territories.”

One of the most high-profile intersex Australians, the world’s first openly intersex mayor Tony Briffa, has also commented the ACT Government.

“Infants and children born with intersex variations in Australia continue to have unnecessary, irreversible hormonal and surgical interventions performed them, like surgeries to reduce the size of a baby girl’s clitoris or to remove healthy gonads.

“I call on all other states and territories to follow the ACT’s lead and protect the rights of all intersex people in medical settings.”

Currently, Victoria is the only state or territory besides the ACT who have made commitments in this space. In October 2021, the Australian Human Rights Commission urged all Australian governments to implement measures that prevent harmful medical interventions on intersex people without personal consent.

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The ACT Government has released a draft bill outlining plans to end non-consenting medical interventions on intersex children.

The legislation was developed after consultations with experts and lived experience participants, and ongoing advocacy from intersex and LGBTQIA+ organisations.

The Variations in Sex Characteristics (Restricted Medical Treatment) Bill 2022 sets out new processes to be applied when medical treatment for people with variations in sex characteristics is being considered.

The Bill would only allow for medical treatment for emergency procedures to protect an individuals health, treatments that do not affect sex characteristics, easily reversible treatments or if the individual is seeking treatment with informed consent.

Intersex Human Rights Australia executive director Morgan Carpenter says this draft legislation marks a historic moment.

“For more than twenty years, the intersex movement in Australia has sought legal reforms to protect people with innate variations of sex characteristics in medical settings,” Carpenter says.

“The persistence of so-called ‘normalising’ interventions, intending to make the bodies of children with intersex variations fit gender stereotypes, has been our most intractable issue.”

“Working with ourselves and other intersex advocates, the ACT government made a formal commitment to reform in 2019, and this thoughtful, carefully considered draft legislation is the product of years of productive engagement.”

“To the maximum extent possible, it aims to ensure that all of us can make our own decisions about our own bodies. Alongside it, we anticipate increased resourcing for peer and family support.”

Just.Equal Australia has also welcomed the release of the draft law, and has called on other states and territories to follow the ACT’s lead.

“Too often intersex people are forced to live with decisions made for them,” Intersex Human Rights Australia senior project officer and Just.Equal board member, Cody Smith said.

“To be treated as a medical curiosity and subjected to unconsented medical procedures produces lifelong consequences and scars. This is an injustice that has been too easily ignored for too long.”

“With legislation like this, comes the promise that the harm can end here. We just need more jurisdictions ready to protect the bodily autonomy of intersex people.”

Just.Equal President and ACT resident, Ivan Hinton-Teoh, congratulated intersex advocates for their tireless work and the ACT Government for its initiative.

“It’s great to see the ACT leading the way on protecting people with innate variations of sex characteristics,” Hinton-Teoh said.

“All state and territory governments should follow the ACT’s lead.”

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Remember Jonathan Davis, the Greens member who rivals described as “too camp” to win a seat in the ACT parliament?

Well he’s having the last laugh after winning a spot in the parliament. The final votes for were counted on Friday and Davis was awarded the fifth spot in Brindabella with a lead of just 82 votes.

He’ll be one of six Greens members in the parliament , previously the party only held two of the 25 seats in the ACT parliament, the recent election has seen them triple their number of representatives.

Davis hit national headlines during the election campaign when Liberal MP Mark Parton described Davis as being “too camp” for the region he hoped to represent. Parton subsequently apologised for the comments.

Speaking to the Canberra Times Davis said the increase in the number of Greens in the parliament would allow the party to have a much bigger influence on important policies.

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Barr and ACT Labor have secured 10 seats in the territory’s one house of Parliament, just shy of the 13 needed to form a majority government.

The Greens have taken 5 seats, and may secure a sixth, all but ensuring their role in another minority government.

Barr, Australia’s only gay state or territory leader, will be continuing Labor’s unbroken legacy, eyeing 23 years in power for the party in the ACT. Barr marked his victory with a kiss with his husband, Anthony Toms.

“We’ve had an extraordinary series of challenges thrown at us, as a city and as a community, and we’ve got through it because we’ve worked together,” Barr said after his win.

“We’ve got through it because we’ve applied progressive values to our government decisions and because we’ve applied compassion and we haven’t left people behind.”

ACT Greens leader Shane Rattenbury said his party is hoping to encourage a ‘reset’ when negotiations for minority government begin this week.

“The ACT is the answer to the travesty we saw in last week’s federal budget, which was a trickle-down budget, a gas-led future and one that completely ignored the desperate need for new social housing in this country.”

“We’ve had some really clear feedback during this election from members of the community who are not entirely happy with how things have been going. There are things we need to reset on and we need to reflect on.”

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Mark Parton, a Liberal MP who serves in the ACT parliament, has apologised for describing a Greens candidate at the upcoming territory election as “too camp”.

The serving MP told Jonathan Davis that he was “too camp for Tuggeranong” when the two met on the campaign trail over the weekend.

Davis told The Canberra Times that he didn’t think Parton was homophobic, but was surprised that Parton thought his sexuality should be an issue in the election campaign.

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LGBTIQ+ advocates and conversion therapy survivors have welcomed the ACT’s ban on conversion practices, which passed the Legislative Assembly yesterday.

The ACT has become the second Australian jurisdiction to address the issue, following Queensland’s legislation earlier this month.

Spokesperson for LGBTIQ+ advocacy group just.equal and Canberra resident, Ivan Hinton-Teoh, said the ACT’s legislation is ‘far better’ than Queensland’s, but still fell short of what survivors are asking of our lawmakers.

“The ACT legislation covers religious and informal settings which the Queensland legislation does not,” Hinton-Teoh said.

“This is a vast improvement given that religious and informal conversion practices are the most common.”

“The ACT legislation also focuses on the intent of the practitioner and gives broad investigative powers to the ACT Human Rights Commission.”

Hinton-Teoh and just.equal echoed concerns from conversion therapy survivors and LGBTIQ+ advocates raised after the passing of Queensland’s legislation, which does not cover practices performed by religious organisations in informal settings.

“On the downside, the ACT legislation doesn’t properly address therapeutically false, damaging and misleading claims; referrals and advertising related to conversion practices; and attempts to suppress sexual orientation and gender identity

“Overall just.equal welcomes the ACT legislation as a step forward and rates it as 7 out of 10.”

“With Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania all now looking to ban conversion practices over the next couple of years, there is the opportunity for even better and more comprehensive legislation to evolve in the wake of Queensland and ACT experience.

“just.equal is calling on other states to build on the existing legal frameworks now in place and to lift the benchmark higher to thoroughly ban conversion and suppression practices.”

Fellow national advocacy group Equality Australia have also welcomed the passing of the Bill, describing the move as a “pathway to inclusion and healing.”

“While no law can fix a complex social problem on its own, this law represents is an important step along the way to ending the harm caused by these damaging practices.” said Equality Australia CEO Anna Brown.

“The law must be met with redress and support for current survivors, and investment in programs to build awareness of the harm caused by conversion therapy so we can finally end these damaging practices for good.”

“A two year statutory review will mean that the effectiveness of this law can be monitored, to ensure it is working as intended. It will allow communities to monitor the law to ensure it has properly addressed any advertising or promotion of conversion practices, and prevented practices that force people to suppress who they are.”

“LGBTQ people are whole. They are perfect as they are, and deserve to live with the dignity and respect afforded to everyone.”

Chris Csabs from Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity Change Efforts (SOGICE) Survivors adds that “in passing this law, the ACT government has sent a strong message that conversion practices, whether performed by a health professional, a religious leader or any other person, are not to be tolerated.”

Isabel Munford, Chair of the LGBTIQ Ministerial Advisory Council says the is a powerful message that LGBTQ people are members of our community who are worthy of protection and inclusion just as they are.

“We welcome this legislation and look forward to working with the government and survivor groups to ensure that the implementation of these protections is effective and meaningful for our communities.”

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The legislation has been passed two years after Chief Minister Andrew Barr’s government announced their intention to address the issue, and follows Queensland as the first state to outlaw the practice.

Conversion therapy survivor Chris Csabs told the ABC he hopes the changes will ensure LGBTIQ+ people don’t see themselves as broken.

“This idea that homosexuality or your gender identity is caused by something that is not positive, whether it’s trauma or abuse or whatever, means therefore that it can be fixed and it needs to be fixed,” Csabs said.

“That’s just pseudoscience.”

Under the new legislation, people will face fines of up to $24,000 and 12 months’ imprisonment for performing a “sexuality or gender identity conversion therapy” on a child or individual with an impaired decision-making ability.

The offence will not allow any exemption for parents who wanted to submit their children to such therapeutic treatments, and will also apply if they took their children out of the state for any treatment.

The legislation will not outlaw practices which help people express their “gender identity” or that person’s “coping skills, social support or identity exploration and development”.

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The ACT’s Chief Minister Andrew Barr has labeled a robo-poll reportedly from anti-transgender organisation Binary as “offensive nonsense”.

Barr took to his Twitter account on Monday night to condemn the automated phone survey as people in the ACT shared their thoughts on the receiving the poll.

“Can confirm a burst of robo push-polling in Canberra tonight-authorised by a deeply conservative Melbourne based group called Binary Australia. I received their robo-call peddling offensive nonsense. Nasty stuff. Fortunately our city is inclusive and welcoming of LGBTIQ people.” Barr posted.

The group has previously been criticised for using polling methods that aim to illicit a particular response from those they approach. The results of their previous survey was published exclusively by The Australian newspaper.

They claimed their survey showed Australian parents are overwhelmingly opposed to their children learning about the experiences of people who are transgender. The Australian published the results of the poll on the eve of International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexism and Transphobia (IDAHoBIT).

According to The Australian a poll of 3,842 parents across Australia showed strong opposition to children learning about gender fluidity in classrooms, with 88 per cent of coalition supporters, and 72 per cent of Labor voters voicing their opposition.

The new round of robocalls follows Andrew Barr’s government introducing a bill to ban conversion therapy in the ACT. Opponents to the bill have argued that forces medical professionals encourage transgender people to take hormone therapy and gender reassignment surgery over other treatment options, while the Australian Christian Lobby have described the bill as encroaching on religious freedom.

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A political hopeful in the Australian Capital Territory has been dropped by the Liberal party just days after he was lauded as a quality candidate.

On Sunday Peter McKay was announced as the Liberal candidate for the inner-city seat of Kurrajong for the upcoming ACT election. Liberal leader Aistair Coe described McKay as a passionate advocate and put him forward as the perfect person to represent the party’s values. However 48 hours later Coe was asking for McKay’s resignation as a candidate after comments he’d made about homosexuality were highlighted, and his thoughts on Aboriginal Welcome to Country ceremonies surfaced.

In 2018 McKay made a submission to the Ruddock Review on Religious Freedom in which he described a rise of religious based terrorism in Australia, saying that the explosion at the headquarters of the Australian Christian Lobby in 2016 was an act of domestic terrorism.

McKay was critical of the actions of the Australian Federal Police and their investigation that found the man who had caused the fire was suffering a mental illness and trying to take his own life.

The Liberal candidate also argued that public debate had been suppressed on “the consequences of accepting or rejecting homosexuality regarding demographic effect, economic growth, health, increased government support for old age support, the emotional health of children, [and] premature transgender cutting”.

McKay also raised his concerns about Welcome to Country ceremonies arguing that they were an imposition on the religious freedom of public servants. In his submission he described the ceremonies he had attended as “animistic”.

“The last one I attended included the acknowledgement and worship of Aboriginal ancestors. This is similar to a number of animistic religions around the world. These religions did not result in the benefits of development that emanates from western civilisation,” he wrote. McKay said the government should be condemned for including Welcome to Country ceremonies in official functions.

Liberal Leader Alistair Coe said the vetting process for candidates had clearly not been efficient, and labelled McKay’s views as “disrespectful”.

“My vision of ensuring Canberra is the best place to live, work and raise a family, includes ensuring Canberra is inclusive of all people, regardless of their culture, ethnicity, faith, gender or sexuality,” Canberra Liberals leader Alistair Coe said.

“This prompt and decisive action underscores the seriousness in which I have taken this matter.”

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Three NSW teenagers have been arrested over the murder of a Canberra man. One line of investigation police are pursuing is that he may have been using a gay dating app in the lead up to his death.

Police believe Peter Keeley, 56, may have been using the gay dating app Grindr to meet with another person in the lead up to his death. His body was discovered by a dog walker near the NSW town of Broulee on the afternoon on 2nd February.

“There were a number of dating apps that were used and one of those dating apps was Grindr and that appears to be a method of communication that links him to one of the teenagers,” Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty told the media.

Three teenagers have been charged over the incident, alongside a murder charge they are also facing a charge of “take/detain in company with intent to get advantage” causing grievous bodily harm – an aggravated kidnbapping charge.

A post-mortem was unable to determine the exact cause of death of the father of three, but it has been reported that he had extensive head and facial injuries.

The victims family released a statement via police outlining their grief.

“Our family is devastated and still coming to terms with the fact we have lost Peter,” they said.

“All that can be said is we have been deeply affected by this tragedy and we are still grieving.

“We are grateful for the overwhelming support from family and friends.

“Thank you to the NSW Police Force and ACT Police detectives who have supported our family during this terrible time.

“As we continue to process this news, our family has requested privacy at this time to allow us to support Peter’s children.”

Police would not confirm if they believed the incident to be a hate crime based on sexuality, but said it was one of a number of motivations they were investigating alongside drug and robbery considerations.

Two of the boys appeared in court yesterday and were denied bail, and ordered to reappear at a later date. A third youth is expected to appear in court on Friday.

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