The Leichhardt Women’s Community Health Centre (LWCHC) joined ACON’s Pride in Health + Wellbeing as an act of atonement for allowing pro-woman articles to be published on their Facebook page.
They did not make a strategic decision that it was the best thing for their organisation to do. They were hounded into the decision by a Facebook mob and a Greens MP.
It happened over the course of a few days in February 2022.
26th February – someone from LGBTI Rights Australia noticed that LWCHC had published a link to a 2020 article by JK Rowling. LGBTI Rights Australia is a facebook group with 271K members.
26 February – LGBTI Rights Australia publicly posts a request “seeking clarification” about LWCHC sharing an an article by JK Rowling. They tag peak bodies NSW Health and Sydney Local Health District to intervene in a local health centre’s Facebook usage.
They call JK Rowling “transphobic” and harmful. The blame her for self-harm and suicides of young people.
27 February – Noting that the LCWHC has “doubled down” (meaning they have not capitulated to bullying) LGBTI Rights Australia publishes the contact details for LWCHC.
“We call on you our Awesome Allies to contact Leichhardt Women’s Community Health Centre directly and ask that they clarify their position on this issue.”
LGBTI Rights Australia
They encourage allies to stop “fascist views” from being shared. Yes, they said “fascist” and they repeat the claim that JK Rowling, by publishing a short essay, is responsible for young people attempting suicide.
They call on members to help address the issue. This means contacting the centre to tie up its resources and posting harassing comments on the LWCHC Facebook page. Some members threaten to boycott the centre. One person (bizarrely) accuses the centre of now being lead by Scott Morrison.
28 February – A clarification is received and an acknowledgement is issued. It talks of a “bright feminist future”. Then the acknowledgement is “paused”(!?) because yet more material to be “addressed” by LWCHC has been located.
28 February – LGBTI Rights Australia created yet another public post tagging the Leichhardt Women’s Community Health Centre, and yet more related governing bodies. NSW Health, Sydney Local Health, Jamie Parker MP and a number of advocacy groups including ACON.
They have declared the content “transphobic rhetoric”. They imply that allowing women to express a view is illegal discrimination against trans people. This is untrue.
The articles published by LWCHC concern women, women’s rights, and words used for female bodily functions such as breastfeeding. These are the screenshots they shared to direct members to target.
28 February – Jamie Parker MP (Greens) stepped in to meet with LWCHC and broker a truce. LGBTI Rights Australia labels LWCHC’s posts as “right-wing misinformation”.
Note the urgency of tone.
28 February – LWCHC capitulates, publicly apologises and agrees to join ACON.
Source
Not content, LGBTI Rights Australia members suggest the staff member who posted the content at LWCHC should be disciplined.
“using their voices” to enforce their beliefs on LCWHC
Source
Now in control, LGBTI Rights Australia publicly request additional content be removed.
To be clear: this is a facebook group dedicated to LGBTI people directing the public communications of a community health organisation dedicated to the health of women. In the traditional demarkation between special interest groups, LGTBI Rights Australia has no authority to control what women say or do. They have overstepped.
They did not privately message to understand what was happening with LWCHC. They did not accomodate LWCHC’s different needs and perspectives, or show tolerance to a group with different political views. They did not accept that some people are different and have different backgrounds, different concerns, and the right to a different opinion.
They were not kind, tolerant or inclusive.
Finally, ACON wasted no time in updating their Pride in Health + Wellbeing website to reflect the newest member: Leichhardt Women’s Community Health Service.
LWCHC now pays several thousand per year for membership of ACON’s scheme. It is likely they will also spend much-needed funds on ACON’s training and on crafting an annual submission to the Health Wellbeing Equality Index.
All because a woman thought she had the right to share content created by women with members of a woman-centred service.
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