Liberal MP Andrew Hastie says proposals to remove a gender record from birth certificates is “tearing at the fabric of the universe.”
The Western Australian MP was speaking on Sky News about a proposal put forward in Tasmania, but a similar recommendation has also been made by the WA Law Reform Commission.
“There are just some basic rules of biology that are unchangeable.” Hastie told Sky News. “This law is just an attempt through legislative means to upend basic truths. If you embrace this approach to life, this world view, you end up in intellectual freefall.”
Hastie said it was essential that gender was recorded on everyone’s birth certificate so people could know for sure what gender they were when they were born.
“No one ever considers the rights of the child in this. The child has a right to know what gender they are when they are born, biologically that is.
“Of course people go through dysphoria and the like, I don’t deny that – but certainly for our world to operate you have to come down and accept some basic truths, gravity, gender – you could rattle off all these laws. I think it’s all a bit crazy.” Hastie said.
The Tasmanian parliament is about to consider a bill that would remove discriminations people who are transgender and one of the many changes put forward is no longer recording gender on birth certificates.
The Tasmanian parliament will also consider a proposal that will allow people who are transgender to change their gender on their identity documents without having to undergo hormonal treatment or gender reassignment surgery.
LGBTI rights activist Rodney Croome says gender information is no longer necessary, and notes that other information has been removed from birth certificates including racial information and parent’s occupation.
Western Australia is currently considering making similar moves. A review by the WA Law Reform Commission found that there was no need for gender to be recorded on birth certificates because the statistical information used by government was recorded by hospitals.
OIP Staff
