Sex Erased in Law, Defended in the Streets
It has been six weeks since the Full Federal Court handed down its decision in Tickle v Giggle.
The case has shone a spotlight on a broken Sex Discrimination Act. The 2013 amendments removed the definitions of "man" and "woman". The result is a law meant to protect people on the basis of sex that can no longer say what sex is.
For LGB people that is not abstract: same-sex attraction only means something if sex does.
That gap has lit a fire. Around the country, disparate groups are holding rallies and circulating petitions to restore sex-based rights for the people who rely on them most.
What has caught our eye is the breadth of people turning up. The Brisbane "Fix The Act!" rally lists speakers as varied as Sall Grover, Drew Hutton, Jillian Spencer and Pauline Hanson, all arguing the biological definitions removed in 2013 must be restored.
An Australian Greens co-founder and the One Nation leader on the same platform is not a coalition anyone predicted. It tells you how far this has reached beyond the usual political tribes.
Rallies
Perth: 4 July, 12:00pm, Forrest Place
Melbourne: 4 July, 12:00pm, Parliament House steps
Brisbane: 12 July, 10:30am, Queens Gardens
Adelaide: 25 July, 09:00am, Parliament House
Petitions
Are you going to any of these, or have you signed? We'd like to hear which ones, and why. Tell us in the comments or message us.