DEAR News Of The Area,
I was concerned to read about the Private Member’s Bill that our Federal MP Ms Alison Penfold has presented to Parliament, intended to make changes to the Sex Discrimination Act.
In the article published on 28th May, Ms Penfold was quoted as saying “sex is biological and binary and should not be ambiguous.”
Unfortunately, this statement oversimplifies a complex issue.
Since history has been recorded, we have known of the existence of intersex, androgynous and “two-spirit” people. There have always been those who do not believe that the gender that they were assigned at birth was correct. Nowadays this is known as gender dysmorphia, which can cause great distress.
About one-two percent of the world’s population identify as transgender and about one percent as non-binary, with some overlap.
Ms Penfold is also quoted as saying “the Parliament has a responsibility to provide clear legal protections for women and girls in Australian law.”
I would agree with this statement, but I also believe that it should apply to trans and non-binary women (and men) as well.
My hope is that people who are different from the “norm” will not automatically be seen as a threat, but rather embraced into our diverse community.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Sally HUNTER
Tea Gardens
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