Last week, Warringah Liberal candidate, Katherine Deves caused outrage over past anti – trans comments.
In tweets that are now deleted, Deves compared trans activists to Nazis and the opponents of ‘trans ideology’ as being opponents of the Holocaust.
She also spread fears of parents of transgender children being at risk of creating a ‘Stolen Generation’. I think she might’ve been alluding to Vancouver father, Rob Hoogland.
And then there was allegedly this tweet:
…half of all males with trans identities are sex offenders
From an allegedly deleted tweet from Katherine Deves
Since these revelations, Deves apologised and claimed she received death and rape threats. This is reprehensible and shame on anyone who takes part in that behaviour.
Was the tweet about prisoners? Liberal senator, Matt Kean argued with 2GB’s Ben Fordham on whether or not Deves specifically was alluding to prisoners or transwomen in general. I think Kean took a step too far accusing Deves of comparing transgender children to sex offenders.
Despite pressure, Prime Minister, Scott Morrison refused to ban Deves and has defended her right to free speech. However, Mr Morrison has also backpedaled any plans to ban transwomen competing against cis – gender women.
Deves’ comments not a surprise
It was only a matter of time that someone made comments like Deves.
Since same – sex marriage was acheived in 2017, trans and non – binary people have been the new bogey people.
All of a sudden, trans and gender non – binary people are predators, brainwashing children, etc.
Trans debate: just history repeating itself
Does this sound familiar? It should to LGBTQ+ Australians. During the same – sex marriage debate, LGB+ people were frequently accused of brainwashing children.
The Safe Schools curriculum was falsely portrayed as teaching young children about sex toys and masturbation.
Same – sex parents were often seen as detrimental to children’s welfare, despite the lack of peer reviewed studies that supported the claim.
I believe that this debate is largely another attempt to demonise a minority. And, just with the same – sex marriage debate, opponents of trans and non – binary acceptance prove that they lack a strong argument. This is proven by Deves’ hyperbole.
The language in the debate
Is it just me? Has anyone else noticed the language used in the gender debate? Notice that the term ‘transwomen’ is rarely used by critics? It’s always ‘biological men’ or that someone was ‘born male’.
No discussion about transition. I wrote about Royal Children’s Hospital’s stance on children and transitioning and steps often taken in my last post.
There has been a lack of discussion on the effect of hormone therapy on trans people. Why have these factors been largely ignored in the debate?
Look, I could meet Deves half way if she said that transwomen athletes should have a certain amount of transition before competing against cis – gender women. I also think everyone should be protected from predators, regardless of the gender identities of perpetrators or victims.
However, I don’t think this is what this debate is about. This is about looking for another pariah. Another minority group to spread fear and lies about.
The cat’s out of the bag now. It just took Deves to go one step too far to expose it.
What do you think about Katherine Deves’ comments? What do you think about transwomen sport? Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below.
