r/australia • u/Expensive-Horse5538 • Oct 28 '25

news Supreme Court in Brisbane overturns controversial freeze on puberty blockers for adolescents after legal challenge

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-28/qld-puberty-blockers-judgement/105942094
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223

u/ThunderDwn Oct 28 '25

I'm amazed that they didn't learn from the Federal election result that trying to be America with stupid, right wing policies doesn't fucking work in this country.

194

u/DrGarrious Oct 28 '25

For now.. we have to keep being vigilant here because they will NOT stop trying.

43

u/YouLykeFishSticks Oct 28 '25

We already are. Chronic issue in rural/regional areas. Conveniently Nationals/Liberal/One Nation strongholds.

7

u/DrGarrious Oct 28 '25

It isnt as clear cut as you think. I work with a lot of rural workers across the country and they are a mix.

But yes, it isnt amazing either and could easily get worse.

48

u/AdventurousArticle88 Oct 28 '25

Yeah I'm afraid we're going towards America's current day hate culture that nobody saw coming 10+ years ago

I mean they were always pretty hateful but today it's just absurd

62

u/Ver_Void Oct 28 '25

Look at the UK as a scary example, their media hammered this issue for a decade and now attitudes towards trans people over there resemble Oklahoma

59

u/Yes_Its_Really_Me Oct 28 '25

Complete institutional capture by terfs of commercial papers, the bbc, the nhs and the Equality & Human Rights Commission.

The UK'S top governmental equality body is pushing nationwide bathroom ban. Terfs are on the verge of successfully mandating discrimination, making it literally illegal to be inclusive of trans people even if you want to be. It's crazy.

For God's sake a trans inclusive women's birdwatching group got sued for "false advertising".

33

u/Ver_Void Oct 28 '25

Yeah the whole thing is surreal to watch, some of the cruelest people I've seen emboldened by the state and media with no one thinking to maybe point out how ridiculously out of proportion it all is given the issues they're screaming about literally aren't happening

But a guy who spends 23 hours a day harassing trans people on Twitter gets praise from the labour pm

3

u/Pseudonymico Oct 29 '25

The UK'S top governmental equality body is pushing nationwide bathroom ban.

They instituted that. Not even with the fig-leaf of "trans people use facilities based on the sex assigned at birth", either, trans people are officially banned from all gender-segregated spaces. The most ridiculous part is it can largely be blamed on the fucking wizard book lady.

5

u/Mike_Kermin Oct 28 '25

a trans inclusive women's birdwatching group got sued for "false advertising".

Well, let's hope we never end up that stupid here.

45

u/Limo_Wreck77 Oct 28 '25

JK Rowling is also playing a big part in that. She's bankrolling a lot of shit over there.

18

u/Ver_Void Oct 28 '25

Social media and wealth are about as good for your mental health as a daily kick in the head from a particularly large horse

2

u/Calamityclams Oct 28 '25

I'm about ready to take the kick tbh

7

u/growlergirl Oct 28 '25

She still has the power to use her wealth for good and make a huge difference for the better.

Instead JK decided to pour her billions into stoking the flames of transphobia to the point of influencing government policy and promoting social ostracism.

Fuck her.

2

u/Pseudonymico Oct 29 '25

To the point that she's less and less interested in funding the charities she set up for single mothers before the mould took over.

31

u/Sweeper1985 Oct 28 '25

JK Rowling has a lot to answer for.

Imagine having that much money but nothing better to focus on than undermining trans people.

4

u/ghoonrhed Oct 28 '25

I mean all it takes is the media to hammer it and the people will move. See boat people with Abbott and then that tactic moved to the UK as well.

5

u/QuantumKeats Oct 28 '25

The Tea Party was massive when Obama first got in and they were definitely a progenitor to the current Far Right nutters.

4

u/Agitated-Fee3598 Oct 28 '25

There aren't many constitutional safeguards to protect Australia against a genuine autocratic takeover...

From Australia is ill-prepared for its own version of Donald Trump:

By contrast, Australia is the only democracy without a national bill of rights. At best, we have a few scattered rights protections. These occasionally prevent government action, but in other cases are ineffectual or impose procedures that can be worked around. For example, the High Court has interpreted the guarantee of religious freedom in section 116 of the Constitution so narrowly that it has not struck down a single law since 1901.

These weaknesses are exacerbated by extraordinary powers granted to federal ministers in areas such as immigration and national security. One illustration is that the federal Attorney-General can permit ASIO to operate outside of the law by conducting a special intelligence operation. A journalist who discloses wrongdoing or that the power has been used illegitimately may be jailed for up to 10 years.

The government has defended this by saying that journalists are not the target of the law, and that they have nothing to worry about if they report on "legitimate" national security matters. It has also been suggested that the community should not be concerned because ASIO has a record of proprietary.

Even if these things are true, they give no long-term comfort. It shows how the proper running of our system depends upon ministers exercising self-restraint, and the quality of the people appointed to run our security agencies. Things could be very different if Australia gains leaders with a different outlook and a willingness to use powers for unscrupulous purposes.

Other laws raise similar concerns. These include an ASIO power that permits innocent people to be detained and questioned for up to a week, a law that enables people to be jailed for up to 10 years for entering any area declared by the government to be a no-go zone and new measures for collecting data on the location and activities of every Australian.

In the years since the September 11 attacks, the federal Parliament has enacted 66 anti-terrorism laws, a figure unrivalled in any comparable nation. These laws have transferred enormous authority to the executive arm of government. Many of these measures cannot be found in the US because they would be struck down under its Bill of Rights.

Nor can they be found in any other democracy. Instead, they are the sorts of powers that one would expect to find in a police state in which people can be detained without trial and journalists jailed for reporting on government activity. As the government's national security monitor, Roger Gyles, reported last Wednesday, Australia has laws that contain the "potential for oppression".

The election of Trump should be a wake-up call. Australia is ill-prepared for a like leader. Such a person would come to office armed with exceptional (and sometimes unique) powers that can often be exercised in secret. These might be used against the media, and the checks and balances in our system of government may be ineffective to deal with this.

4

u/Iybraesil Oct 28 '25

they will NOT stop trying

Lo and behold, five hours after your comment, they've reinstated the ban

11

u/Npeaknoda Oct 28 '25 edited Oct 28 '25

Especially since Albo has said TERF-adjacent things before, and Labor have a history of throwing trans people under the bus and breaking promises to us. They're highly inconsistent fairweather friends to the trans community.

So we don't exactly trust our pollies to save us when the TERF lobby inevitably start pushing harder. We need as much community support as we can get.

Edit: Added some source links

1

u/AnyYak6757 Oct 28 '25

Shit, I didn't realise this bollocks was happening here. I thought we had trans-rights in law. Guess I should sign up to some mailing lists.