Victorian Premier boosts 'vital' funding for trans community

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• By Avi Yemini

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A week after Daniel Andrews accused women’s rights campaigners of being “hateful and nasty” the Victorian Premier has announced extra funding for transgendered people.

Andrews made the announcement on Wednesday via his Twitter account.

“Today we’re boosting funding for LGBTQ+ organisations to deliver more vital mental health and support services,” he tweeted.

“Because the debate of the last week has been toxic, and for trans Victorians it’s been deeply personal.”

Today we're boosting funding for LGBTIQ+ organisations to deliver more vital mental health and support services.

Because the debate of the last week has been toxic, and for trans Victorians it's been deeply personal. pic.twitter.com/sF17yXzXA4

— Dan Andrews (@DanielAndrewsMP) March 29, 2023

Victorian Liberal MP Moira Deeming was one of several women who advocated at a Let Women Speak event in support of women being able to use bathrooms away from biological men identifying as women.

She also advocated for fairness in women’s sports so that girls were not forced to compete against other men identifying as women.

The event, held on the steps of the Victorian Parlimanet, was protested by trans activists, as well as being hijacked by a group of men performing a Nazi salute.

With Deeming accused of being an associate of Nazis, and with trans people claiming their very existence was threatened by the women’s event, Deeming’s message on women’s safety was mostly ignored by the media.

Instead, she was suspended from the Liberal party room and speakers at the event were accused of being anti-trans.

Andrews tried to link the event with Nazis but told journalists that even before the Nazi salute was performed, the Let Women Speak event was “hateful and nasty”.

Two days after the women’s event Andrews proudly tweeted video of a transgender flag being hoisted outside government offices.

“There's a new flag flying outside the offices of the Victorian Government. Because we'll always respect you. And we'll always have your back,” he wrote in a message of support to men who identify as women.

In a media statement released yesterday, announcing extra government funding for LBGTQ+ mental health services, the Premier’s office said:

“The toxic debate around the hurtful, divisive Let Women Speak march – an anti-trans rally – last weekend has had a significant impact on members of the transgendered community and their loved ones.

“Transgender Victorians should never have to endure their worth being debated by a so-called mainstream political party.”