Fourteen-year-old Paddy Quilter-Jones doesn't feel the need to identify as a gender, choosing to be "just Paddy" instead.
Paddy was thrust into the spotlight overnight when Shadow Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones delivered an impassioned speech about his son during debate on the federal government's controversial religious discrimination bill.
When Mr Jones stood up in parliament to deliver the speech, Paddy reported being overcome with emotion.
"I cried for the first time I saw it. It was a really beautiful speech," Paddy said.
The Labor MP approached Paddy for permission before delivering the speech, and despite agreeing, Paddy reported being worried about the attention that it would bring.
"I felt nervous because I didn't know what the reaction from people who saw it was going to be.
"I didn't know what was going to happen after that speech was made but I told him, yes, I think it is important for you to make this speech because it's more important for young children who are gay, trans, they need to know that there are people out there that are just like them and who are supporting and loving them."
Mr Jones told the House of Representatives that children who identified as members of the LGBTQIA+ community were at unique risk, and said he often struggled to manage his anxiety as a parent.
"I worry myself sick every time he leaves the house. I think to myself, 'You look beautiful, but do you have to go out looking like that?' I know that the love and protection that he enjoys with his mother and his friends and his family is very different to the reception that he may receive in the outside world," he said.
Paddy said it was more important to exist authentically than to blend in to the crowd.
"I think when he said, 'Do you have to go out looking like that?' my answer is yes, because when I go out looking like that, I am being me and I am being true to myself," Paddy said.
"I want people to see me and I want people that are just like me to know that there are other people like you and you're not weird and you are loved and you have got a community."
Paddy also took to social media during the debate to share his thoughts on the proposed bill.
"There are young gay and trans Australian kids that need to know there are people fighting for you. I am fighting for you. My dad is fighting for you. And there are so many others that are fighting for you so you can to grow up in a world where you don't have to hide who you are," Paddy said on TikTok.
The proposed laws passed the House of Representatives Wednesday night, but only after five Liberal MPs crossed the floor to have then amended.
They were expected to be debated again in the Senate on Thursday but have since been shelved, leaving one of the Coalition's central 2019 election commitments hanging in uncertainty.
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