The Greens (WA) on Wednesday evening will officially launch the LGBTQIA+ elements of their Social Justice platform for the 2025 WA State Election with a Queer Politics in the Pub event at the Aviary.
Queer Politics in the Pub, MC’d by Boorloo’s very own Miss Phoria (they/them), a queer, trans-nonbinary, disabled and Indigenous performance artist, will see a range of prominent LGBTQIA+ Western Australians join The Greens (WA) LGBTQIA+ Spokesperson, Dr. Brad Pettitt MLC (he/him), to discuss their perspectives on queer issues in Western Australia and take your questions on the current state of LGBTQIA+ politics, as well as the priorities and opportunities for reform as we approach the WA State election in March.
The Greens (WA) plan includes:
Implementing a statutory declaration model for the legal recognition of gender that enables full self-identification and completely demedicalises the process;
Reinstating funding for Inclusive Education Western Australia (formerly Safe Schools) that was quietly axed by WA Labor in October 2020 at a cost of at least $1.5 million per year; and
Reforming the Equal Opportunity Act to:
Ban all non-life threatening surgeries on children born with intersex characteristics until they are of a legal age to provide consent; and
Ban archaic and harmful conversion practices.
Joining Dr. Pettitt on the panel are Alex Wallace (they/them), a queer rights activist with Queer Liberation Boorloo, former Transfolk WA Board member and Greens (WA) Legislative Council Candidate, Mia Krasenstein (she/her), former Board Member of Busselton Pride Alliance, human rights campaigner and Greens (WA) candidate for Vasse and Hannah Halls (she/they), volunteer for Albany Pride.
Event Details:
Wednesday 12 February, 7pm – 9pm
The Aviary Lounge Bar, Level 1/140 William Street, Perth
As stated by Alex Wallace:
“This is an important opportunity for WA’s queer community to hear from The Greens and members of our community about how we achieve real change this election.
“It was The Greens (WA) who continued to apply pressure in Parliament, on the back of community action for movement on LGBTQIA+ law reform in the last term of Parliament.
“It was the Greens who drafted and put amendments to gender recognition reforms that would’ve made the legislation more like what the community sought.
“WA Labor voted against those community-sought amendments, while the WA Liberals and MOST WA ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾s voted DOWN the legislation in full. Only The Greens (WA) are unapologetically and fully on the side of the LGBTQIA+ community in Western Australia; every protest, every vote, every time.”
As stated by Mia Krasenstein:
“The greens have always been the party to stand up for the rights of the LBGTQIA community.
“As a queer woman, I wouldn’t throw my support behind any party that didn’t stand up for the LGBTQIA+ community and my community knows the Greens have always had their best interests at heart.
“We have consistently fought against discrimination, against conversion therapy, pushed for better education of gender and sexuality and gender recognition reforms.
“This Labor government has claimed they support the LGBTQIA+ community but has consistently backtracked on promises when the time comes. The Liberals ran a huge “Vote No” campaign in the same sex marriage vote; it’s clear where the major parties stand.
“All we need is more votes to have more influence on better laws in parliament. Come and stand with us.”
As stated by WA Greens MLC Dr Brad Pettitt:
“It is a privilege to be invited to share the stage with these incredible folks and speak to the painfully slow reform on LGBTQIA+ rights, and extremely harmful rhetoric, by WA Labor in the last Parliament.
“Trans and gender-diverse folks in the community have been calling for a Statutory Declaration model that enables self-identification of sex and gender on birth certificates in line with Victoria’s gold-standard laws, passed in 2019. This is the core of the Greens (WA) election commitment to the LGBTQIA+ community.
“What this Labor government rushed through without consideration of amendments put forward by the community was a bill that continues to medicalise trans, intersex and gender-diverse identities by requiring an application to be ‘supported by a statement by a doctor or psychologist certifying that the person has received appropriate clinical treatment’.
“Also buried in the announcement was an acknowledgement from Premier Roger Cook that the rest of the promised reforms to the Equal Opportunity Act would only be legislated if and when this government wins a third term.
“Hedging life-changing reforms on winning a third term of government is despicable and the Greens are in solidarity with the LGBTQIA+ community who have been rightly calling this out.”
“In the next Parliament and with the balance of power in the upper house the Greens (WA) will fight to ensure that life-changing reforms to the Equal Opportunity Act and the banning of archaic and harmful conversion practices – reforms the community have been calling for and that WA Labor have promised since 2017 – are finally realised.”
