You would think a city council trying to axe a women’s legal service for its politics would be one of the biggest stories in the country. Yet the fate of an organisation helping women and girls affected by domestic and sexual violence in Sydney has barely touched mainstream media.
Trans people deserve to be treated with respect and dignity, but so do women and girls. Many women are greatly troubled by biological males accessing single-sex female spaces (such as shelters, prisons, bathrooms), the unfair and unsafe participation of trans athletes in women’s sport, the medical transitioning of children (who are disproportionately teenage girls), and the silencing and harassment of women who speak out about these things.
Moreover, as FLC explained to the Council – the published material is critical of aggressive trans activism, not trans people generally, an increasing number of whom share its concerns; FLC is supportive of gender nonconforming behaviour and strongly opposes disrespectful and cruel treatment of others; and the material does not breach anti-discrimination legislation, as it was posted “reasonably and in good faith” for “purposes in the public interest”.
Nevertheless, the Council was unyielding in imposing unreasonable censorship restrictions on FLC, which were justified neither by the terms of the accommodation grant nor any laws.
The Council received numerous letters of support for the clinic (including one with over 700 signatures) rebuking the Council’s censorship of genuinely held concerns about the impact of harmful gender policies and practices on women’s sex-based rights and the welfare of children. But despite this flood of support –- which was not even acknowledged –- on 28 June 2021, the Council unanimously voted to revoke FLC’s grant and terminate its tenancy.