The member went on to accuse MPs – including Victorian Greens leader Samantha Ratnam – of trying to “cleanse the party of dissent”.
“They’re not interested in freedom of expression,facts or science. They’ve declared war on half the membership.”
However,another Greens member – also speaking on the condition of anonymity – stressed the expanded definition of transphobia was about giving the party the appropriate tools to grapple with important issues,rather than predetermine an outcome.
“If a member thought another member was repeatedly asking transphobic[and] leading questions,they could make a complaint which would be dealt with by the misconduct panel,” the member said. “The panel would consider ... any evidence provided by the respondent before making a finding.”
The member added that in the past,trans-exclusionary feminists – who often prefer to be called gender-critical feminists – have used official Greens meetings to question,among other things,whether men can give birth. Some party members find these sorts of questions offensive because,in their view,it presupposes that trans men are not men.
The state council hopes the new rules will steer members away from potentially inflammatory statements and towards policy-focused questions (for example,instead of asking whether men can give birth,asking what can be done to improve postnatal care for women and LGBTQ people).
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Greens LGBTQ spokesperson Gabrielle de Vietri said the new code of conduct would protect serious debate while ensuring unsubstantiated questions aren’t weaponised against gender-diverse people.
“Respectful debate which is grounded in evidence is crucial to policy development and will always be welcome in the Greens,” she said.
“Leading questions,on the other hand,are a highly effective tactic that bigots can use to fearmonger and mislead people about complicated issues.”
The debate over sex and gender has threatened to destabilise the Victorian Greens for some time. Last year,unionist Linda Gale’s election as Greens convenor was overturnedafter she said the rights of trans women may infringe on the rights of people born female.
Greens City of Melbourne councillor Rohan Leppert also faced criticismfor his interpretation of the laws governing gender-affirming care in Victoria.
The Greens aren’t the only party grappling with what constitutes free speech and what crosses a line. Last month,Victorian Liberal MP Moira Deemingwas suspended from the state party room after attending the Let Women Speak rally,which was also attended by neo-Nazis.
She is expected to return to the party room in December.
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