Scott Morrison has secured the support of the Coalition party room for amendments to the government’s religious discrimination bill that only partially protect gay students and overlook trans students entirely.
The Liberal MP Bridget Archer said she would nevertheless oppose the bill, telling parliament on Tuesday evening she was “horrified” and “utterly distressed” the government amendments excluded children that identified as transgender.
“After so much progress, how did we get back to a place where we ignore the harm we place on children when we tell them they are ‘other’, ‘less than’ and do not deserve rights and protections afforded to others? I fear it may risk lives,” Archer said.
Parents of trans kids worry themselves sick every time their child leaves the house. Will they be physically attacked for being themselves.
— Stephen Jones MP (@StephenJonesMP) February 8, 2022
Scott Morrison should put himself in the shoes of those parents or the heels of their kids. Ask “what do I want Parliament to say to them?”
Olivia Stewart, a transgender student, told reporters in Canberra the lack of protection for trans students had “impacted my mental health” while other trans people noted it was “intensely distressing to see our basic rights up for debate”.
The Coalition party room backed the controversial bill despite at least six Liberal MPs expressing their concerns. It endorsed limited changes to the religious bill and the Sex Discrimination Act during an extended meeting after question time.
The Morrison government confirmed it proposed to protect gay students from expulsion – but not other forms of discrimination – without protecting trans students at the same time.
Anna Brown, the chief executive of LGBTQ+ lobby group Equality Australia, said the government amendments were “completely inadequate” because they “fail to protect gay children” from suspension, detention and unfair treatment – and left behind the most vulnerable, being trans children.
Stewart said she had been “directly discriminated against” by a school when she wanted to come out as trans in year 8.
She said the school first warned her that she and her twin brother would be bullied and that revealing her gender identity would compromise her leadership potential. She was eventually invited to leave the school.
The former swimming champion Ian Thorpe said on Tuesday that parliamentarians must do everything they could to protect trans youth, who were the “most marginalised” voices in the debate.
Thorpe said the bill amounted to “state-sanctioned discrimination”.
“When you look at some of the most marginalised and disadvantaged people in this country, this is a group of people that we should be protecting,” the LGBTQ+ advocate told reporters.
“It becomes state-sanctioned discrimination to gain rights for one group of people, whilst excluding another group of people.”
The shadow assistant treasurer, Stephen Jones, shared in parliament that his 15-year-old nephew, who he described as “gay” and “uncertain of his gender”, had killed himself last week.
Jones implored the government to do more to protect LGBTQ+ youth for whom “love and acceptance of family and friends weren’t enough”.
The prime minister stressed the need for government unity, telling the party room it otherwise risked losing the upcoming election. He warned any further amendments were not government policy unless endorsed by another meeting.
Guardian Australia understands that the Liberal MP Trent Zimmerman expressly reserved his position, a procedural courtesy expected of members before they cross the floor, while others including Katie Allen are still negotiating with the attorney general and believe further amendments could be added.
Archer, the member for Bass who told Guardian Australia on Friday she could not vote for the bill in its current form, confirmed in parliament she would oppose it.
She cited concerns about overriding state laws on religious institutions’ ability to discriminate in hiring and firing and statements of religious belief.
Fellow government MP Dave Sharma told parliament “it’s time we cracked on” and protected both teachers and students – on both sexuality and gender – but did not reveal if he would move an amendment.
Like many trans folks, I feel like garbage today. It’s intensely distressing to see our basic rights up for debate. And it’s beyond painful to contemplate how this will affect trans kids. Do not underestimate the detrimental impact of this ‘debate’ on trans well-being.
— Dr Yves Rees (@YvesRees) February 8, 2022
After years of waiting to see the final version of the bill, attention will now swing back to Labor, which is yet to decide its position. Qualified support from opposition MPs and senators in two parliamentary inquiries suggests Labor could provide a viable pathway for the Coalition to pass its bill.
The Liberal MP Fiona Martin, a psychologist with 20 years’ experience, argued in the party room for broader protections and said children with gender identity issues were one of the most vulnerable cohorts.
Martin noted there were higher rates of depression and suicidal ideation among young people with gender identity issues – although not all ended up requesting a gender transition.
The attorney general, Michaelia Cash, told the party room that preventing discrimination on the grounds of gender identity could harm the ability of religious schools to set their ethos and the Coalition should wait for the Australian Law Reform Commission review that would report back 12 months after the religious bill passed parliament.
Zimmerman, Julian Simmonds and Warren Entsch also expressed concerns with the religious discrimination bill in the party room. Andrew Laming publicly warned preventing expulsion was “simply not enough”.
Laming told parliament LGBTQ+ students “are usually not expelled … Too often they’re bullied out by a range of other tactics that allow the school to say they never expelled them.”
Senator Andrew Bragg, in his additional comments to one of the inquiries and again in the party room, called for teachers to be protected and the statement of belief clause to be removed.
With the limited amendments preventing expulsion on the grounds of sexuality, Morrison preserved the support of conservative Christian groups including the Australian Christian Lobby and Christian Schools Australia.
The Liberal MP Angie Bell was won over by the changes, although they fall short of a deal in December to prevent both sexuality and gender discrimination by religious schools and a commitment Morrison gave to Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, in writing on 1 December to prevent “any form of discrimination against a student on the basis of sexuality or gender identity”.
On Tuesday morning, Morrison said the government had been “very clear that this was a bill that we wanted to see passed, so it will go to the parliament”.
Even if the bill passes the lower house, the government may need Labor support to smooth its path in the Senate, where One Nation and Liberals Gerard Rennick and Alex Antic have vowed not to vote for government legislation in protest of its handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
Several Labor MPs have spoken up about the failure to protect trans students but it is unclear whether that will translate to support for amendments or whether Labor will simply wave the bill through to avoid being wedged on religion ahead of the election.
“There’s an opportunity to draw a line in the sand and have this behind us once and for all,” one Labor parliamentarian told Guardian Australia. “We need to stop talking about things the public don’t want us to talk about.”
On Friday, Labor MPs and senators on two committees joined the government in calling for the bill to pass after a series of minor and technical changes, a sign it may not insist on stronger protections of LGBTQ+ students or seek to remove the religious bill’s most controversial clauses.
On Tuesday, the Labor MP Graham Perrett, the deputy chair of one of the inquiries, criticised aspects of the bill including the statement of belief and employment practices clauses, but described the rest of it as “largely uncontroversial”.
Perrett told parliament it was “utterly repugnant” for schools to be allowed to use contracts to discriminate against LGBTQ+ children.
A spokesman for the Hindu Council of Australia said the bill allowed discrimination in hiring by religious institutions against members of small or new religious groups in Australia because they don’t have schools and hospitals. Staff face pressure to convert if they find a job at the institution of another religion, he said.
The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, said the Morrison government was “trying to ram through a Trojan horse for hate”.
“[The] religious discrimination bill will mean more discrimination, not less, and Labor looks like it’s about to support it.”
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