March 2022 - Autumn Edition

Federal Election Survey; Defeating the religious discrimination bill; Latham and Chandler anti-discrimination bill; lifting the blood ban. 

Just.Equal Australia Newsletter   March 2022

Take Our Federal Election Survey   Political parties too often ignore what the LGBTIQA+ community wants.  Without any consultation, they tell us what their LGBTIQA+ election commitments will be (if they have any at all).   That's why Just.Equal Australia has been conducting community election surveys since 2016. We are doing the same for the upcoming federal election with a survey that is the most comprehensive in Australia.   We urge you to take the survey and share it.  Here is the link:   https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/JEAElectionPrioritiesSurvey_2022 Defeating the Religious Discrimination Bill Just.Equal Australia lobbied and advocated hard to bin the Religious Discrimination Bill.   In particular, Just.Equal:    · lobbied MPs across the country explaining why the Bill was fatally flawed;   · paid for professional polling to show MPs how unpopular the Bill was. more here;     · mobilised thousands of people to email Labor and the moderate Liberals;    · distributed full colour brochures to all MPs and many journalists that explained the flaws and dangers of the Bill; and   · worked closely with other groups and ensured our message of "Bin the Bill" was not weakened.   Our campaigning changed the views of many MPs.  We know this because they told us.  We helped discredit the Bill and contributed to amendments that made it better.  But the danger is not over.  The Bill could return before the election, and will definitely return afterwards no matter who wins.   If the Coalition wins government it will bring back a Religious Discrimination Bill even worse than the one it withdrew.  If Labor wins it may refuse to properly protect LGBTIQA+ teachers and other staff in faith-based organisations as it did during the religious discrimination debate last month.  We must be ready to fight.    More about the dangers here and here Latham and Chandler Anti-Trans Bills     We have been working with advocacy groups in NSW and Tasmania to see off bills from Mark Latham and Claire Chandler that will discriminate against and exclude trans and gender diverse people.  We fear a proliferation of such bills in federal and state parliaments so we will continue to lobby and advocate as strongly as we can.  Lifting the Blood Ban Gay and bi men, and some trans women, continue to be excluded from blood donation in Australia.  We have been advocating and lobbying hard for a new policy that assesses all potential donors for their individual risk, rather than the gender of their sexual partner.   This has included a report by Dr Sharon Dane looking at the latest research and policies in other countries.  Since issuing the report, Just.Equal Australia has been in discussions with the Red Cross Lifeblood Service and the Therapeutic Goods Administration about removing the current GBT ban.   Read the report and sign the petition,  here Making a Financial Donation   We are raising money for our campaigns, especially the return of the Religious Discrimination Bill.   Can you help? If you can give just $10, $25 or more, please jump online and donate.   As we are a voluntary advocacy group, donations are not tax deductible. But we ask you to give generously because of the need, priority and urgency.   We really appreciate your ongoing support for the campaign work of Just.Equal Australia.   Together, we can stop the roll-back of LGBTIQA+ anti-discrimination laws and help enact stronger protections.    To make a donation, click here:  Donate now Who are we? Just.Equal Australia was established in 2016 as a national LGBTIQA+ advocacy and campaigning organisation.  Our board is made up of long-time advocates from around the nation.  We are committed to consulting with the LGBTIQA+ community and partnering with like-minded groups and communities.  We are committed to community-driven responses to discrimination.  For more about us:   https://www.equal.org.au/about