Just when you think the fuckery and transphobia of Liberal candidate Katherine Deves had subsided, it rears its ugly head yet again. For some reason the livelihoods of trans kids keep getting brought up throughout the Liberal election campaign and I’m fucking sick of it.
In case you missed it, Deves is Scott Morrison‘s g̶a̶r̶g̶o̶y̶l̶e̶ ̶h̶e̶n̶c̶h̶w̶o̶m̶a̶n̶ candidate for the seat of Warringah. She’s also a mad transphobe who once compared trans women playing sports with cis peers to the Holocaust and once compared trans kids being removed from toxic family situations by courts to the Stolen Generations.
Oh yeah, she’s got rancid takes for fkn days.
She’s an anti-trans feminist (I’m this close to pushing the TERF button) who advocates for the “safety of girls and women” by painting trans people as the enemy. Almost every time she’s appeared in the media it’s because she’s hating on trans people, or you know, having old tweets dug up that compare trans women to serial killers. It’s an obsession.
This time around she’s gone and called trans kids “mutilated”. She wrote the term in a since-deleted tweet, apologised for it, then went and took her apology back. Her defence for the use of that ugly word was to claim it’s the “correct terminology” as per the NSW Crimes Act.
Surprise, surprise: she couldn’t be more incorrect if she tried to be. And something tells me she tries very hard to push the limits of stupidity.
Deve’s has twisted the meaning of the Act to support her anti-trans agenda. Can’t think of any reason why news outlets shouldn’t have checked this before publishing her claim
— Hiero Badge (@hierobadge) May 9, 2022
It isn’t genital mutilation to receive a sexual reassignment procedure. It’s even written very clearly in the legislature. The woman has no leg to stand on, grasping at straws eternally because we keep giving her the chance to speak.
The problem with Katherine Deves — and there are many — is the fact that Scott Morrison gave her this platform to begin with. He’s the reason we keep hearing her disgusting takes. Ultimately, he doesn’t give a shit what she says. He loves her because she “doesn’t run with the pack”.
In fact, he even went out of his way to defend her recent gross comments.
“Not everybody may agree with her point of view. I accept that,’’ he in a press conference on Tuesday.
“We’re talking about gender reversal surgery for young adolescents and we can’t pretend this is not a serious, significant issue. We can’t pretend that this type of surgery is some minor procedure.
“This is a very significant change to a young person’s life and it is often irreversible. Now I, and I’m sure many other Australians, are concerned.”
Why are you, a 53-year-old man who can’t cook curry, concerned about trans adults receiving the surgery they desire for themselves?
I say trans adults because children under the age of 18 in Australia cannot legally receive sexual reassignment surgery. So nice to see we’re now using the lives of trans kids to generate some strange 1970s-style of moral panic. Have you perhaps tried embracing the political approach of shutting the fuck up?
Deves’ talk of “mutiliation” and Morrison’s scaremongering this morning about “surgery for minors” is moral panic 101. Leave trans kids the hell alone
— Hiero Badge (@hierobadge) May 10, 2022
It *is* a serious issue in that healthcare and trans people’s well-being matters but that’s not how he means it obviously
— Hiero Badge (@hierobadge) May 10, 2022
So, to recap, Morrison claimed that gender confirmation surgery for adolescents is a “very serious” issue – then reporters pointed out IT DOESN’T HAPPEN.
Morrison defaulted to it’s serious “at any other stage”.
They are MAKING IT UP.#auspol
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) May 9, 2022
It’s truly vile that the state of Australian politics still allows for this kind of crap to circulate during an election campaign. It’s worse that our Prime Minister is a spineless slug who condones Deves. Just admit you made a mistake for once in your life and get rid of her. I double-dog dare you.
The Prime Minister says he still stands by Katherine Deves but says “that’s not a phrase I would use” to her comments that transgender children are “surgically mutilated and sterilised”. @SBSNews #ausvotes pic.twitter.com/bu2lKFXTXH
— Shuba Krishnan (@ShubaSKrishnan) May 9, 2022
Australian politics is entrenched in transphobia and it always has been.
A grown woman who has to write to Twitter that she gets “triggered” by the transgender flag doesn’t need a platform. She needs therapy.
And all the young trans adults going into their first election should not have their identities constantly slandered in Australian media. Even straightforward coverage of the shit Deves says can take its toll on the mental health of our incredible trans community.
Katherine Deves’ entire anti-trans history wiped from as many platforms as legally possible shows the Liberal party knows trans hate isn’t a winning strategy locally – in Warringah, or around Australia #auspol
— Strewth 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈 (@StrewthQueen) April 12, 2022
I wish all people in the seat of Warringah a very “sorry you have to deal with this demon”.
A political campaign run on spite and fearmongering will not get you very far, and hopefully, the name Katherine Deves will vanish into obscurity sooner rather than later.
