24 September 2024
The Hon. R.A. SIMMS (17:51): I rise to speak in favour of this bill. The Greens believe that our laws need to ensure everybody can live a life where their human rights are respected and where they are safe from harm. We have a long-term commitment to championing the rights of the queer community in this state and we welcome this bill finally coming to this parliament.
This bill to ban conversion practices is the culmination of a long campaign by the LGBTI community. It is a campaign that has been nation wide. New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT have already banned these harmful practices. Queensland has banned them within healthcare environments, Western Australia and Tasmania have committed to reform, and it was a promise of the Malinauskas government that they would tackle this issue if elected. There is no secret about that. It was part of the Labor Party's election platform and they were elected to form government. So, much to the relief of many, they have acted upon that election commitment.
I want to acknowledge the leadership of some of my colleagues in this place over many years on this issue: The Hon. Tammy Franks, who has been a staunch ally and voice for LGBTI South Australians; the Hon. Ian Hunter, who has been a tireless warrior for LGBTI rights and a loud and consistent voice for our community; and the Hon. Michelle Lensink, who has long championed this reform and always supported the LGBTI community in this place. I also acknowledge members in the other place—the Hon. Nat Cook and the Hon. Susan Close—as well as the work of the Attorney-General, Kyam Maher, and his team in preparing this bill for us.
As is so often the case when it comes to LGBTI law reform in South Australia, it has taken cooperation from across the parliament and voices from all sides of politics to get movement on this. It is my hope that members of the Liberal opposition will seize this opportunity to continue our state's proud tradition of achieving LGBTI law reform in a multipartisan way and support this bill. I note the statements made by many on the opposition benches, but I do hope that more members will join the Hon. Michelle Lensink in coming on board and embracing this opportunity.
I also want to acknowledge the survivors of conversion practices, and I thank them for sharing their stories with us. I want to thank the groups that have amplified their voices and advocate for this change: Equality Australia, SARAA, the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Change Efforts survivors, and the Brave Network, amongst many others.
As an out and proud gay man, one of only two in this parliament, I do want to take a little bit of time to reflect on the significance of this bill and what it means for the LGBTI community. Fundamental to conversion practices is a belief that there is something shameful about differences in human sexuality and gender identity. Indeed, being part of the LGBTI community is so shameful that you need to repress and alter your own identity.
Despite the far-right conspiracy theories about LGBTI people trying to recruit others to the cause, it is the virtues of heterosexuality that are being promoted actively by conversion practices. It is that world view that is being imposed on LGBTI people.
In moving to ban these practices in this state, this parliament will be sending a clear message to LGBTI South Australians that we do not need to change. That is a vital message for LGBTI people to hear. I know that many LGBTI young people in particular struggle with feelings of fear and shame and that is one of the reasons why conversion practices are so damaging because they feed into those feelings. They reinforce them by forcing young people to deny their true selves and so the consequences of those practices can be lifelong.
I should make it very clear that I never endured conversion practices as a young person, but I do remember how challenging it was grappling with those feelings of shame growing up and so I hate to imagine what it would have been like to have those fears and anxieties being reinforced under the guise of therapy.
I was about 12 when I first realised that I was gay, but for me the bullying started much earlier, well before I actually understood that I was a gay person. I think I would have been about eight or nine when I first started being called a 'poof' and a range of other things I will not repeat on Hansard. Most of the bullying for me centred around the way I walked and the way I talked. It continued on and off throughout my high school years. As a result, I really dreaded what it would be like to try to live a gay life and I certainly never imagined that I would have the opportunities that I have had in my life—the opportunity to stand for parliament, let alone have anybody actually vote for me.
Through the leadership of LGBTI activists who have come before, those opportunities did come for me and for other gay men of my generation. I do salute the work of people like the Hon. Ian Hunter and many others who have been carrying that fight for so many years. Indeed, today I have a happy and a healthy life. When I came out in my early 20s, I was fortunate enough to be supported by friends and family, but I know that everybody is not so lucky and that is why these conversion practices are so dangerous because they prey on young people in particular when they are going through such a challenging, vulnerable period in their lives.
When I gave my first speech in the federal parliament back in 2015, I remarked then that things really do get better and again I do want to use this opportunity to say to any young people who are struggling with their own journeys that this is still the case—things do get better. Stay brave, stay strong and know that things are continuing to change.
This bill is powerful not just because it stamps out conversion practices—and that is a very worthy aim—but because it strikes at the heart of the shame that has been part of the LGBTI experience for far too long.
One of the great things I have observed during my time in politics is the tremendous advances that we have seen in the rights of gay men. Marriage equality is an example of laws that have had a really transformative effect. Indeed, over the last few years since we have seen those amazing changes and the changes that have flowed in community attitude, I have had the courage to do things I never thought I would be able to do here in Adelaide—holding a partner's hand or kissing them on the street without fear of being bashed or verbally abused.
The experiences of younger gay men today are so different to my own experiences and those of other gay men in my generation and that is a truly wonderful thing to observe. It gives me hope that, just as we have seen some really amazing advances in our rights and freedoms, these opportunities will flow through to the rest of the LGBTI community.
Indeed, the big challenge for gay men like myself is to continue the fight for other members of our LGBTI community who need our help. We cannot leave our trans friends behind and today it seems that, like the gay men of the eighties and the nineties and the noughties, trans people are the new targets of right-wing ideologues and the right-wing culture warriors who seek to demonise difference and impose their world views on others. They are now targeting trans kids and I see this bill as being an important way of standing up for those young people.
I will make a few remarks about some of the statements that have been made in the debate. It does strike me as very odd that so many of those who profess to be liberal would seek to impose their morality on others and to exercise control over the personal lives of other people. Surely exercising that kind of control over others or trying to change them is the antithesis of liberalism.
I have also noticed there have been some bizarre falsehoods that have featured during this debate. I will not address all of them, but I think it is often the feature of LGBTI law reform, not only here in South Australia but across the country, that whenever there is an attempt to try to enhance the rights of LGBTI people we are told the sky will fall in. I remember, during the debate about marriage equality, that people suggested that people like the Hon. Mr Hunter and I would seek to marry our pets if marriage equality became part of our law.
I remember when I was on the Adelaide City Council and proposed a rainbow walk for Light Square that we had evidence to the council—a deputation was made from some opponents—that young children would throw themselves down the rainbow walk and into the traffic, and that this project was a safety hazard. These are the sorts of ridiculous claims so often made when we are trying to advance the rights of LGBTI people.
Today, we have heard that this bill will simultaneously do nothing whilst also being a threat to our way of life and undermining the role of the family unit. Opponents of this bill cannot have it both ways; you cannot walk both sides of the street. This bill is worthy of support because it continues to move us in the right direction.
It is important to note this is not just a matter that concerns the LGBTI community and that many other groups have opposed conversion practices. The Australian Medical Association has called for all state and territory governments to impose a ban. In a media release coinciding with the release of a position statement back in 2021, their president, Dr Omar Khorshid, said:
Conversion practices are a blatant example of the discrimination faced by LGBTIA+ people in Australia and have no place in our society.
The AMA noted the fact that conversion practices have no medical basis, and states:
There is strong agreement in the medical profession in Australia that conversion practices have no medical benefit or scientific basis, and that there is evidence of significant harms resulting from such practices.
I note the statement made in her contribution by the Hon. Nicola Centofanti, where she said she had been contacted by a counsellor who said they would not practice should this ban on conversion practices be put in place. I think that is good news, because anybody who would seek to operate as a counsellor and deploy conversion practices should not be working in that field. That is one less troublesome person in that profession.
Some people might believe these arcane practices are a thing of the past. Sadly, these practices do still take place in South Australia. I have heard, as have other members in this place, from survivors who have shared their experiences with us, and I commend them for their bravery in talking about challenging and traumatic events.
Up to one in 10 LGBTI Australians remain vulnerable to conversion practices, with about 4 per cent of all Australians aged 14 to 21 having experienced some form of conversion practice. There is significant harm that comes with these practices, including acute distress, ongoing mental health issues, severe anxiety, depression, symptoms of chronic trauma and PTSD. Some organisations and communities disguise their attempts to suppress someone's sexuality or gender identity as counselling or care. Often these activities are not undertaken by anybody with any formal training in counselling, and they can cause irrevocable harm to people who are convinced or forced to go through such a process.
Sometimes these things are labelled therapy, but therapeutic attempts to alter sexual orientation and gender identity have been discredited by the psychological community for years. In 2015 a report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights included conversion therapy in its list of practices that are categorised as torture and ill treatment. Many conversion programs have claimed they only exist to help those who express a desire to change. However, survivors have reported they were coerced by parents or community figures as a result of the ideologies within their religious beliefs.
Many survivors have expressed they were driven by fear of rejection from their family and their community, and therefore they were considered willing, when in fact it was much more complex than that. As I have detailed earlier, so many LGBTI young people confront the circumstances that I faced, where they desperately want to change because they fear what the future might hold. I think it is morally wrong for people to prey on young people in those circumstances.
Any activity that seeks to suppress a person's sexual orientation or gender identity is based on the false premise that queer people are broken and need to be fixed. These practices are steeped in bigotry and discrimination. Rather than recognising and supporting someone in an affirming way, they deny someone the understanding of their true identity.
As stated by my colleague the Hon. Tammy Franks, the Greens firmly believe conversion practices must be banned. We also want to ensure that the government is going to provide services and support to survivors. It is important that we do not just have a legislative approach but that we also provide ongoing support for these people.
My colleague the Hon. Tammy Franks has been engaging with stakeholders and has prepared a series of amendments to improve the bill. She has outlined the basis of these within her second reading speech. Additionally, I will move one amendment, should the Hon. Tammy Franks' amendment not be successful, which will extend the reporting period to six years, and I will speak a little bit more about that in the committee stage.
I do understand that some members of the LGBTI community will look at this bill and say that it does not go far enough. I understand that. The Greens hear you and that is why we are advancing these amendments, but if these amendments fail we will of course be voting in favour of this bill. While the bill is not perfect, it represents another important milestone in the journey for LGBTI rights in our state, and of course the fight continues. Those who seek to change LGBTI people or to bully us into denying our identities must know this: we are here, we are queer, we are going to keep up the fight; out of the closet, into the streets and into the parliament.