Australia’s peak health body for men distances itself from conservative group’s International Men’s Day campaign

Prof Michael Flood, a researcher on masculinity and gender, says International Men’s Day events historically often had an anti-feminist framing but that has decreased recently. Photograph: Pressmaster/Getty Images

A group that espouses anti-feminist and anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments is running an International Men’s Day (IMD) campaign that is similar to a government-funded campaign aimed at “supporting men and boys”.

The Australian Men’s Health Forum (AMHF) is the government-funded peak body for men’s mental and physical health and has coordinated IMD, an annual event on 19 November, since 2017. This year’s theme is “supporting men and boys”.