Since 2023, the Lesbian Action Group has been trying to hold public events for lesbians — which is to say, for women who are exclusively same-sex attracted. Rather than accepting that members of the lesbian community should be able to organise public events in a manner that reflects their self-definition, the Australian Human Rights Commission insists that we require an exemption under the Sex Discrimination Act (SDA) before we can lawfully do so.
We are not seeking to exclude people from employment, housing or essential services. We simply want to gather together as lesbians, which we define as female people — biological women — who are exclusively attracted to other female people — biological women — to discuss issues affecting lesbians and to build our own community. Yet we have been told that this requires permission from the state.
That cannot be what “equality” was meant to achieve.
At Senate Estimates in on 26 May, Australian Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay confirmed, in response to a question from Senator Michaelia Cash, that she believed the Lesbian Action Group should have been granted its exemption. That view differed from the position taken by the Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Anna Cody.
Unfortunately, the public conversation often proceeds from misunderstandings about what the law actually says.
The Sex Discrimination Act exists to protect people from unfair discrimination. It should not become the mechanism through which lesbians must seek official approval before associating exclusively with one another. If the law no longer provides that certainty, then Parliament should amend the law.
Source: Why should lesbians need government permission to gather? – ABC Religion & Ethics