Community opposed to dangerous NSW Equality Bill

Despite being rejected by an overwhelming majority of respondents to its online survey, a parliamentary committee has nevertheless recommended that Alex Greenwich’s Equality Bill should proceed for consideration by the NSW parliament.

The NSW Parliament’s Legislative Assembly Standing Committee on Community Services tabled its report on Alex Greenwich’s Equality Legislation Amendment (LGBTIQA+) Bill 2023 (the “Equality Bill”) on 3 June 2024.

As HRLA has reported previously, this bill represents one of the biggest threats to people of faith we’ve ever seen in this country. It will impact Christian schools, parents, people of faith, and especially vulnerable children in New South Wales.

It proposes to allow children under 18 to consent to gender transitioning treatments such as puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones without parental permission, and would stop courts notifying parents of a ‘change of sex’ in some circumstances.

In addition, the bill would remove the majority of religious protections in anti-discrimination laws, which are relied upon by Christian schools to employ staff who support the Christian ethos and principles of the school.

The bill would also allow people to solicit for prostitution outside churches and schools, among other places.

As Catholic commentator Monica Doumit has noted:

“...if this [Bill] was passed, we would live in a state that punishes quiet prayer within 150 metres of an abortion clinic with six months’ imprisonment but allows prostitutes to sell sex in the forecourt of St Mary’s Cathedral”.

One interesting result from the Committee process is the outcome of the online survey conducted as part of its inquiry. Out of 13,258 responses, an overwhelming majority (85.13%) opposed the Bill. In contrast, 13.48% supported it, and 0.51% were neutral or undecided.

These results demonstrate a high level of awareness within the NSW community about the potential consequences of the Bill, with a majority of people who engaged with the Committee about this Bill expressing their opposition.

HRLA encourages all those NSW residents who are opposed to this Bill to contact their local state parliamentary members to voice their concerns.