The Statutes Amendment (Gender Identity and Equity) Bill 2016 has been passed in South Australia, which is grand news.
The bill amends acts in South Australian law which discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer South Australians. A series of different acts have been changed, from the old and rather dull Settled Estates Act of 1880, to the newer, and far spicier, Criminal Law (Forensic Procedures) Act of 2007. I mean, we didn’t even know there could be bigotry in a forensic procedures act, but there you go. Don’t worry, it’s gone now.
Non-inclusive language has been amended for inclusive, gender neutral terms. Phrases like “sex”, have been swapped out for “gender identity”, and instead of “female”, criminal codes will now refer to “a female person or a transgender or intersex person who identifies as female”.
State Labor MP Katrine Hildard wrote on her Facebook page that the Bill “speaks to our South Australian government’s values and our commitment to include all South Australians in all aspects of community life.”
Also, before you go lauding SA as a progressive utopia, remember earlier this week we ran a story about Adelaide possibly regulating Schnitty sizes. Still, on balance it’s been a heaps good week for SA.
This article has been created as a part of PEDESTRIAN.TV x SMIRNOFF’S We’re Open Project. It’ll be encouraging y’all to open up with the help of long-form features, videos, news updates and investigations over the next 12 months.
