Category: Humanity
“No blacks.” “No Jews.” “No women.” “No trans women.”
Recently I was told by a cisgender woman I was a misogynist, and refused to accept I was a feminist simply because I was standing up for the rights of trans women and for them to be treated equally amongst all other women.
This cisgender woman did not accept trans women as women. I doubt she even accepted them as human.
There have been numerous times in history when some in society have excluded people on the basis of their skin colour, their gender, or their religious or cultural identity, and gone on to treat them as inferior or less worthy.
Every time those oppressing a minority have done so it’s because they’re scared of losing their privilege and sense of entitlement.
Those cisgender women who feel so entitled that they cannot find it within themselves to accept trans women as women are no different to those who said “No blacks”, “No women” or “No Jews”.
The Club of Women is not so full that there isn’t room in it for trans women to find a safe space.
Any cisgender woman who wants to exclude and vilify trans women ought take a look at history and think about what exactly it is they’re fighting for, because it’s usually just privilege and a sense of entitlement.
Never surrender. Never give up the fight.
Emmeline Pankhurst
Balwyn High School’s celebration of IDAHOBIT 2023 recognises Class of ’86 graduate Michael Barnett
Thirty-seven years ago I graduated from Balwyn High School’s Year 12 class of 1986. I left the school with mixed memories.
On the one hand I came away with a fine appreciation for maths and science, made a lifelong friend, and passed my HSC with decent results that got me into college.
On the other hand I had been the victim of homophobic bullying and torment throughout my time there, and suffered greatly as a result of it, and of my fear of being gay. The school had no support for gay students, at least that I was aware of. It was a topic that simply wasn’t spoken about.
I am thrilled beyond belief to find that in 2023 my alma mater not only supports gay students but is committed to providing a safe, nourishing and inclusive space for all LGBTQI+ students.
When invited to submit a contribution for their Lion newsletter on the occasion of receiving my Order of Australia, I had no idea it would be intentionally included to time with IDAHOBIT Day on May 17.
Students at Balwyn High are most fortunate to have a school environment that values diversity, particularly under the leadership of Principal Deborah Harman.
Thank you Balwyn High School.
Our Alumni Spotlights continue – Malcolm Speed AO and Michael Barnett OAM
This week we feature international sporting administrator, Malcolm Speed, who was inducted into the Sport Hall of Achievement in 2012, and Michael Barnett, who was recently awarded an OAM in the New Year’s Honours List. The spotlight on Michael deliberately coincides with this week’s celebrations for IDAHOBIT Day that we marked on Wednesday.
Both Malcolm and Michael are marvellous ambassadors for our school community, and we congratulate them for the impact they have made in their careers. I hope you enjoy reading their stories.
Deborah Harman | Principal
(See pages 2, 6 and 18-19 in this edition of The Lion)
20230518-BHS-The-Lion-Edition-7[PDF]
Order of Australia Investiture
Being presented with my Order of Australia medal at Government House (April 3 2023):
[PDF]
Media Release: Australia Day Honours for Michael Barnett
Australia Day 2023 honours for elder abuse law trailblazer, Indigenous activist and a fossil hunter | The Guardian
LETTER: Archbishop Julian Porteous: Everything his way
(Background reading: ABC: Stop misrepresenting Martine Delaney’s complaint about the Tasmanian Catholic Church and Archbishop Julian Porteous)
Letter in the Hobart Mercury, January 19 2022:
EVERYTHING HIS WAY
ARCHBISHOP Julian Porteous is all over the place on free speech. Last week he said Tasmania’s law against humiliating, intimidating and bullying behaviour needs to be overridden by Canberra so he can “feel comfortable” to “respectfully” express his religious views.
I don’t recall Jesus insisting on the right to humiliate people, so what does the Archbishop want to say that he can’t say now? One clue might be in the booklet he distributed against marriage equality that suggested same-sex marriage will “mess with kids”. This claim prompted a complaint that was subsequently dropped when the Archbishop refused to amend the disrespectful phrase, and the booklet is still distributed today.
The Archbishop has silenced members of his own church, including Father Frank Brennan whose invitation to speak in Hobart was revoked because he supported marriage equality.
It seems the Archbishop wants everything his own way: he wants to define what is “respectful”, he only wants free speech when he is talking, and he wants a special exemption from laws the rest of us have to abide by. We should not allow the law to be made by people who think they are above it.
Peter Grayson-Weeks
Beauty Point
ABC: Stop misrepresenting Martine Delaney’s complaint about the Tasmanian Catholic Church and Archbishop Julian Porteous
Between August 29 and September 4 2019 the ABC broadcast one misrepresentation and two unchallenged assertions about the complaint Martine Delaney’ lodged (and subsequently withdrew) about the Tasmanian Catholic Church and Archbishop Julian Porteous.
Martine Delaney’s complaint had nothing to do with preaching “church doctrine” and everything to do with the church claiming same-sex couples couldn’t be whole, healthy, raise healthy children, and were “messing with kids”.
The complaint is described here:
The Church argued that since every child had a biological mother and father, messing with marriage was “messing with kids”.
In Tasmania, it went out to churches and was sent home in sealed envelopes with children at Catholic schools.
Ms Delaney said the language used in the booklet that “messing with marriage is messing with kids”, implied criminal activity.
“In Australian society ‘messing with kids’ is generally used right across the country as virtually code for sexual abuse or paedophilia,” she said.
Anti-discrimination complaint ‘an attempt to silence’ the Church over same-sex marriage, Hobart Archbishop says (ABC News; Sep 28 2015)
and also here:
“A complaint was brought to the commissioner by Ms Delaney, who objected to the Tasmanian Catholic Church which had printed a pamphlet stating that same-sex parents ‘mess with kids’ and that same-sex partners were not ‘whole people’. ‘Messing with kids’ has a connotation that is extremely disturbing and alludes to practices which are a subject of the royal commission into institutionalised child abuse, a practice which up until very recently had been hidden deeply within some church-run facilities, widely throughout Australia”
Andrea DAWKINS (MP for Bass)
22 September 2016 at 4:48pm
Tasmanian House of Assembly Hansard [PDF]
Amongst everything else, it’s particularly disappointing the nation’s highest lawyer, the Attorney-General for Australia, can’t even get the facts right.
My transcripts of the relevant sections from the media are below.
Christian Porter
“Well, um, the archbishop, the Catholic archbishop of Tasmania Mr Porteous went through something you know quite awful I think, he distributed a pamphlet, which was distributed widely across Australia, um, devised and drafted by the Catholic Church which did little more than put the Catholic Church’s view about the virtues of the traditional definition of marriage, and he was the subject of a complaint under a very very broad section of the Tasmanian Discrimination Act.”
ABC RN Drive – Thursday 29 August 2019 – 6:06pm
Federal Government unveils religious discrimination legislation
Section: 6:08 – 6:39
Gerard Henderson
“I’ve looked at the Bill and I’ve looked at the minister’s, the Attorney-General’s speech. And it is a draft bill. So I think it’s, it’s in a pretty good position at the moment. There will be opposition from both sides. But I think it does cover two issues. The Israel Folau issue and the Archbishop Porteous issue in Hobart. Now the Catholic Archbishop of Hobart put out a statement just stating Catholic position on marriage. [indistinct] actimist took him to a discrimination thing that caused… a discrimination commission in Tasmania that caused a huge issue…”
ABC Insiders – Sunday September 1 2019
Section: 44:57 – 45:08
Andrew West
“So those incidents that you’re talking about Renae, the most prominent of those included a Catholic bishop in Tasmania who was brought before an anti-discrimination commission because he published a church doctrine on family and marriage that some objected to…”
ABC Religion & Ethics Report
“Religious freedom for religious minorities”
Wednesday September 4 2019
Section: 2:20 – 2:35
Australian Christian Lobby misleadingly claim Leonda By The Yarra will host their anti-gay hate event
The Australian Christian Lobby have misleadingly claimed Leonda By The Yarra are are hosting their anti-gay hate conference.
The Australian Christian Lobby have claimed one of Melbourne’s premiere wedding venues Leonda By The Yarra is scheduled to host their 2019 Victoria Conference “Not Ashamed” on July 20 this year.
2019 Victoria Conference
Join us for the 2019 Victoria Conference – ‘Not Ashamed’ – Saturday, 20 July.
Join Victorian State Director Dan Flynn, ACL’s Managing Director Martyn Iles and Director of Research Elisabeth Taylor, along with additional speakers at Leonda By The Yarra, Hawthorn.
Registration includes refreshments, lunch and afternoon tea.
WHEN
July 20, 2019 at 8:30am – 3:30pm
WHERE
Leonda By The Yarra
2 Wallen Rd
Hawthorn, VIC 3122
Australia
Google map and directions
CONTACT
Jennifer Kent · vic.events@acl.org.au
The Eventbrite page for this event similarly states:
Victorian State Conference
Join us for the 2019 Victorian State Conference – Not Ashamed.
Not Ashamed – Victoria – Saturday 20 July
Join Victorian State Director Dan Flynn, ACL’s Managing Director Martyn Iles and Director of Research Elisabeth Taylor, along with additional speakers, in the beautiful Ballroom of Leonda by The Yarra.
Registration includes refreshments, lunch and afternoon tea.
Leonda By The Yarra have issued this statement in response:
We wish to advise that the Australian Christian Lobby does not currently have a confirmed booking with Leonda By The Yarra for their 2019 event. Whilst we have been in discussions with this group, like we do for any organisation enquiring with us, we do agree that this organisation does not share the same values as our business and as such this event will not be proceeding at our venue.
Their beliefs about sin and the need of repentance through the love of Christ go against our MEG values of Lots of Love and Positive People, and go against our ethos of providing a warm and welcoming environment for weddings which know no bounds in terms of religious denomination, or sexual orientation.
We are all for freedom of expression, but believe that the ACL can find a more suited platform for their voice elsewhere.
UPDATE – May 27 2019 1:55pm
Confirmation has been received that the ACL are fully aware that Leonda By The Yarra are not hosting this event.
UPDATE – May 29 2019 – 5:50pm
The ACL have updated their Eventbrite page to show the conference now being at MCEC, however the ACL web site still lists Leonda By The Yarra as the venue.
UPDATE – May 30 2019 – 14:05
The ACL have removed the venue Leonda By The Yarra from their web site, however the venue’s address persists.
UPDATE – May 31 2019 – 14:50
The ACL have finally removal all vestiges of Leonda By The Yarra from their 2109 Victorian conference web site.
UPDATE – May 31 2019 – 15:20
Mysteriously the ACL have now removed from their Eventbrite page the reference to hosting their event at the MCEC Clarendon Room and replaced it with a vague “Melbourne CBD” location.
ACON must sort out the PID Mark Allaby LMI IBM mess
ACON’s Pride in Diversity Program is a disgrace due to a serious conflict its foundation member IBM has.
ACON says of its Pride Inclusion Programs:
Pride Inclusion Programs are social inclusion initiatives of ACON. ACON was established in 1985 as the AIDS Council of NSW and is now Australia’s largest HIV prevention, HIV support and LGBTI health organisation. An important part of ACON’s mission is to help make the places where our community members live, work, study and play more inclusive of LGBTI people, improving the mental health and wellbeing of our community through the reduction of stigma, discrimination and social exclusion.
Pride in Diversity is one of these programs:
Pride in Diversity is the national not-for-profit employer support program for LGBTI workplace inclusion specialising in HR, organisational change and workplace diversity. Pride in Diversity publishes the Australian Workplace Equality Index (AWEI), Australia’s national benchmarking instrument for LGBTI workplace inclusion from which Top Employers for LGBTI people is determined.
Amongst the Pride in Diversity Foundation Members is IBM:
Foundation Members
Pride in Diversity, together with ACON, proudly acknowledges the dedication and support from our foundational members who were the early leaders in Australia for recognising and pursuing LGBTI workplace inclusion.
– Australian Federal Police (AFP)
– Department of Defence
– Goldman Sachs
– IBM
– KPMG
– Lend Lease
– Telstra
Included in the 2017 Principle Partners (Sponsorship) is IBM:
2017 Principal Partners (Sponsorship)
Principal Partners generously support Pride in Diversity over and above membership through sponsorship or substantial support of signature events and/or publications. We sincerely acknowledge and thank our Principal Partners for 2017. Pride in Diversity Principal Partners (via membership) are recognised on the List of Members page.
– Accenture
– Deloitte
– Dell
– Deutsche Bank
– Goldman Sachs
– IBM
– Lendlease
– Macquarie Group
– Out Leadership
– PwC
– The Star Entertainment Group
– The University of Queensland
In 2017 IBM declared their “support of the LGBT community” by introducing a rainbow logo:
Mark Allaby is IBM’s Financial Market Expert:
As of May 31 2018 the
In March 2017 The Australian
To help understand the ideology of the Lachlan Macquarie Institute, it is helpful to know that it is an initiative of the Australian Christian Lobby. This is evidenced in the ACL’s July 5 2018 newsletter:
It is also evidenced in the WHOIS record for lmi.org.au, which shows the domain name is currently (and was
Domain Name: LMI.ORG.AU
Registry Domain ID: D407400000000366462-AU
Registrar WHOIS Server:
Registrar URL:
Last Modified:
Registrar Name: TPP Wholesale Pty Ltd
Registrar Abuse Contact Email:
Registrar Abuse Contact Phone:
Reseller Name:
Status: serverRenewProhibited
Registrant Contact ID: C2008705-AU
Registrant Contact Name: John Austin
Registrant Contact Email: natoffice@acl.org.au
Tech Contact ID: C804789-AU
Tech Contact Name: Digerati Solutions
Tech Contact Email: domains@digeratisolutions.com.au
Name Server: NS1.CWS-SERVERS.COM
Name Server: NS2.CWS-SERVERS.COM
Name Server: NS3.CWS-SERVERS.COM
DNSSEC: unsigned
Registrant: AUSTRALIAN CHRISTIAN LOBBY
Eligibility Type: Non-profit Organisation
Eligibility ID: ABN 40075120517>>> Last update of WHOIS database: 2018-07-07T08:19:45Z <<<
Alongside LMI’s Mark Allaby is Lyle Shelton, also a Director on the board:
Lyle Shelton is the immediate past Managing Director of the Australian Christian Lobby. He
Martyn Iles, the current ACL Managing Director, also happens to be on the LMI board as Secretary:
Adding to the litany of anti-LGBTIQ equality personalities on the LMI board is Lyle Shelton’s disgraced ACL predecessor, Jim Wallace:
The ACL and Lyle Shelton have a strong record of opposing equal rights for LGBTIQ people and eroding their dignity. This has been an obsession of Lyle Shelton and the ACL going by an analysis of Lyle’s Twitter output while he was employed by the ACL.
The Lachlan Macquarie Institute board is peppered with people whom many would consider to be the arch enemies of the LGBTIQ community.
Mark Allaby’s presence as a Director of the Lachlan Macquarie Institute, an organisation that in no way distances itself from the hateful and intolerant values of the Australian Christian Lobby, makes it clear that he shares the values of the board members he sits amongst, and of the organisation that enables his board.
LMI claim they “prepare Christian men and women for leadership and public service”:
As a centre for leadership and public service, we offer a range of short and long programmes for people of varying ages and professions. Each programme targets specific areas of public engagement, including public service, policy, politics, law, education, not-for-profit, and church. Programmes combine Scripture, social analysis, Christian apologetics, lawmaking, political science, and philosophy.
It is beyond belief that as an employee of IBM, a foundation member of ACON’s Pride in Diversity program, Mark Allaby shares an iota of his employer’s values when it comes to LGBTIQ inclusion and diversity.
It is beyond belief that Mark Allaby could be considered a role model in providing respect and dignity for his transgender and gender diverse co-workers or clients.
It is beyond belief that Mark Allaby could, with any shred of sincerity, afford respect for his co-workers or clients in same-sex marriages, considering the gargantuan campaign the ACL promoted and funded to oppose the passage of marriage equality.
It is beyond belief that IBM, by employing a person who is a Director of an organisation that prepares people to erode the legal equality of LGBTIQ Australians, could be sincere in its responsibility as a foundation member of ACON’s Pride in Diversity Program.
It is beyond belief that ACON are genuinely committed to “improving the mental health and wellbeing of our community” by keeping IBM as a member of their Pride in Diversity Program while Mark Allaby is simultaneously an employee of IBM and associated with the prominent anti-LGBTIQ-equality Lachlan Macquarie Institute.
ACON needs to sort this mess out, because until they do, their programme will remain a disgrace.