Eight weeks after the federal LGBTQI Equality Bill was introduced in NSW Parliament, it is now up for public discussion. The online survey must be completed by the group before April 14th, according to Minority proponents.
” The NSW Legislative Assembly overwhelmingly voted to advance the LGBTIQA+ Equality Bill to the legislature’s Community Services Committee”, out queer Independent Sydney MP Alex Greenwich, who introduced the proposed legislation in Parliament next month, told Star Observer.
According to Greenwich, the public conversation had “allow stakeholders, the LGBTIQA+ society, and our allies to explain why the reforms covered in my expenses are so crucial to our community’s safety and well-being.”
The Equality Legislation Amendment ( LGBTIQA+ ) Bill 2023 proposes to amend around 20 laws in NSW that impact the state’s LGBTQI community.
The Equality Bill’s virtual public study ends on April 14th.
” The Bill was introduced by the Independent Member for Sydney, Alex Greenwich, to enhance protections for LGBTIQA+ persons against discrimination in a range of areas”, Clayton Barr, Chair, NSW Legislative Assembly’s Committee on Community Services, said in a statement.
According to Barr,” Users of these communities also face prejudice in NSW, and one of the stuff the Committee will be looking into is ways to improve their safety and wellbeing,” adding that” as the Bill proposes to amend 20 different regulations, it’s crucial that we hear from a range of partners.
Community members can participate in the online questionnaire, which runs until April 14 to find out how significant law changes are. According to the council, in addition to Minority society organisations, it will also find the views of federal agencies, civil society groups, health organisations and churches.
Securing LGBTQI rights in NSW
Pride in Protest, an LGBTQI activist group, stated that while some restrictions were unconvincing, it was crucial for the community to take part in the survey to “help secure queer and trans rights in NSW.”
” Right now, NSW is the most conservative state on queer rights,” said Pride in Protest, in a post on social media.
” There are parts of this Bill we do n’t 100 % agree with- bits that do n’t go far enough, or that propose solutions that are n’t what we’d propose. However, we are aware of the significance of the protections that this Bill will provide, how long it has been in the community, and how frequently this Bill is delayed. We need the Bill passed, now, “added Pride in Protest, which has put together a guide for the community to fill out the survey.
The Proposed Equality Bill: What Is It?
Greenwich was in charge of writing the Bill, which was then passed into Parliament in August 2023. According to Greenwich, the legislation includes a number of changes, including removing discrimination in schools, allowing transgender people to obtain accurate identification documents, updating our laws to protect sex workers, and ending other outdated discrimination against our community,”.
The omnibus bill initially contained provisions for the prohibition of so-called anti-gay conversion therapy. NSW’s Labor government had previously passed its own Bill to outlaw conversion practices earlier this year.
Greenwich introduced the Bill in Parliament saying it represented” the most holistic LGBTIQA+ reforms in the history of NSW.
” Now is the time to move NSW forward in the protection and recognition of the LGBTIQA+ community”, Greenwich told his fellow MPs.
Fill out the online survey for the Equality Legislation Amendment ( LGBTIQA+ ) Bill 2023 here.
