The government has released draft legislation that would make it a criminal offence to “attempt to change or eradicate the sexual orientation or gender identity” of a person in a way that causes physical or mental harm to the recipient.
But it would allow a defence if the person subjected to the practices was an adult, consented to it and understood that the practice could cause physical or mental harm.
Attorney-General Guy Barnett said support provided “by health professionals, family and friends or in religious or spiritual settings” would not be considered conversion practices under the draft legislation.
It has sparked a furious response from Equality Tasmania spokesperson Rodney Croome, who said the draft legislation did not go nearly far enough.
Australian Christian Lobby Tasmanian director Christopher Brohier said the draft legislation was “oppressive and unnecessary” and could restrict vulnerable Tasmanians from accessing help.
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Non-consensual, non-therapeutic male circumcision = gender normalisation surgery. In Judaic and other premodern cultures, the name of a homophobic deity is inscribed on the victim’s most intimate part. At the hands of Anglophone doctors, driven by an equally unscientific taboo against auto-eroticism, the Jewish ritual was transmogrified into a routine part of medicalised childbirth. Australian (and international) lawmakers turn a blind eye to this cruel and unusual custom. Don’t expect consistency with common-law principles, or international human rights, for as long as non-consensual, non-therapeutic male genital cutting is accepted as the norm.