Mark Latham has introduced another piece of legislation that directly attacks LGBTIQ+ people. The Education Legislation Amendment (Parental Rights) Bill 2020 harms trans and gender diverse students by denying their existence and preventing teachers and counsellors from supporting them. It allows parents to withdraw their child from a class or program which tells them LGBTIQ+ people are just like everyone else.

The bill threatens a quality education system that provides an inclusive and supportive environment for ALL children.  Learning to understand and accept others who are different is a core part of the school years.

We need your help to stop this harmful Bill.

The NSW Parliament has allowed One Nation NSW Leader Mark Latham to chair an inquiry into his own Bill! The inquiry is now accepting submissions through this online questionnaire.

While you can complete the questionnaire as you wish we suggest answering question 1, saying you oppose the Bill in question 2 and then share a story about a teacher who made a difference to you or someone you love in question 8.

Have your say now

Rainbow Families has been invited to make a submission into this bill and our wonderful volunteer equality team are busy working on this to make sure our voices are heard.

If you would like to share your story for us to use in our submission you can here. 

Every student in NSW should have the opportunity to reach their potential, to learn with their peers, and feel a sense of belonging in their school.

In the last few months especially, we have seen the level of care that teachers put into their jobs. Our teachers often go above and beyond to make sure their students feel included and cared for in their school. This Bill explicitly threatens to punish teachers that welcome and support trans and gender diverse students.

This Bill: 

• prohibits schools from teaching that trans and gender diverse people exist and should be treated with respect;
• prohibits school counsellors from affirming a trans or gender diverse student or providing them with any support or referrals to gender affirming support;
• puts teachers at risk of losing their job when they support a trans or gender diverse student in affirming their identity;
• eshrines biological fallacies, describing intersex people as disordered;
• allows parents to deny their children access to lessons in public schools which may contradict their political, social or personal values, including their views about LGBTIQ+ people; 
• requires schools to present discredited counter narratives when teaching classes like science or history.  For example, discussing creationism when teaching evolution, raising anti-vaccination theories when teaching about immunisation, or raising racist ideologies to explain the over representation of First Nations people in prison.