Response from Tamar Cordover, Independent, Franklin

PERMISSION

To ensure we meet our obligations under the Electoral Act we ask for your

permission to publish your responses to our questions. Please write your

name below to give us permission to publish. If you are not an

independent, please indicate your party or grouping.

Name: Tamar Cordover

Party of grouping: Independent for Franklin

Thank you to Equality Tas for welcoming my below submission.

***

1. LEGISLATION NEEDED IN THE NEXT TERM OF

GOVERNMENT

a. Conversion practices

Questions

Do you want to see an end to conversion practices in Tasmania? YES

Will you enact or vote for a prohibition on conversion practices based on

the recommendations of the Tasmanian Law Reform Institute? YES

Do you believe this should be high priority? YES!!!

b. Intersex surgeries

Questions

Will you enact or vote for a prohibition on medically-unnecessary

interventions on children with innate variations of sex characteristics

based on the recommendations of the TLRI? YES

Do you believe this should be high priority? YES!!!!!

Will you support the provision of redress for those who have undergone

damaging, medically-unnecessary and non-consensual medical

interventions? YES

c. Hate crime

Questions

Will you enact or vote for reform of the Sentencing Act that allows for

aggravated sentencing when a crime is motivated by hatred on the basis

of a range of attributes including sexual orientation, gender identity and

variations of sex characteristics. YES

Will you support more resources to enable police to be trained to identify,

collect data on, and prosecute crime motivated by hate? YES, 100% Yes.

This is a priority. Without police training and data collection access to

justice is impacted. We need a wholistic approach to solving issues in the

justice system, which needs to be more accessible, inclusive and educated

to diverse issues.

d. Stalking law reform

Question

Will you support changes to section 192 of the Criminal Code to ensure

victims of those crimes can be sure police are empowered to gather

evidence and bring charges without having to seek prior consent of the

DPP? YES

e. Expungement of historical criminal records

Questions

Will you enact or vote for the review’s recommendations to be

implemented? YES

If you indicated support for the recommendations, does this include in-

principle support for financial redress for survivors, of an amount to be

determined by a parliamentary inquiry? YES. It is vital to recognise that

the significant discrimination caused by criminalising homosexuality has

had impacts to our friends, our neighbours, our community in ways that

are difficult to even quantity. Though redress will never be enough for

those who were forced to experience the ongoing discrimination of

criminalisation, and while financial redress will not resolve the impact of

criminalisation, it is an important gesture of acknowledgment and

apology.

f. An LGBTIQA+ Inclusion Act

QuestionsDo you support an LGBTIQA+ Inclusion Act similar to the proposed

Disability Inclusion Bill? YES, definitely

If unsure, do you support an inquiry into the need for an LGBTIQA+

Inclusion Act? YES

g. A Human Rights Act

Question

Will you enact or vote for a Tasmanian Human Rights Act in line with the

recommendations of the TLRI? YES

2. PROTECTING EXISTING RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS

a. The Anti-Discrimination Act

Questions

Will you vote against any attempt to remove existing protections for

students, staff and clients of faith-based schools and services? YES

Will you vote against any attempt to weaken or otherwise amend section

17 of the Anti-Discrimination Act, including any attempt to allow

intimidation and humiliation etc in the name of religion?

YES. The Anti-Discrimination Act and section 17 offer essential human

rights protections and must be upheld. Any attempt to weaken this

section must be vigorously opposed. There is nothing to be gained by

allowing anti-social and prejudiced extremist perspectives (under the

guise of religion) to overturn protections against discrimination. The

perception that fanatical or zealot behaviours should be allowed to

overturn protections against discrimination are archaic and wrong.

b. Gender recognition laws

Question

Will you vote against any attempt to weaken or otherwise amend

Tasmania’s gender identity recognition laws? YES

c. Respecting parental rights and opposing censorship

Questions

Will you respect parental choice and freedom, and oppose censorship, by

allowing schools and libraries to include age-appropriate LGBTIQA+ books

in their collections? YES. We all have the right to be included and visible.Will you respect parental choice and freedom, and oppose censorship, by

not speaking out against age-appropriate drag story time? YES, I support

age-appropriate drag story time.

3. LGBTIQA+ HEALTH AND WELLBEING

a. Government LGBTIQA+ Framework and Action Plan

Question

Do you give in-principle support to the development and implementation

of an Action Plan and Framework with appropriate funding based on

the Telling Us the Story report? YES

b. Mental health

Question

Do you support a dedicated Tasmanian LGBTIQA+ mental health service?

YES

c. Service delivery and policy-making

Question

Do you commit to maintaining funding that will enable statewide service

delivery by Working It Out? YES

Question

Do you support a continuation of this funding? YES

d. Community fund

Questions

Do you support this fund? YES

e. Housing and substance abuse strategies

Question

Will you support LGBTIQA+ people being a priority group in Tasmania’s

housing and substance-harm strategies? YES. It is vital that people are

housed, and that all, including populations identifies as disproportionatelyexposed to prejudice, that they like all others, can have access to safe

housing choices.

f. Trans and gender diverse health care

Question

Do you support increased funding for the Sexual Health Service to meet

demand and reduce wait times, as well as ongoing professional

development for healthcare providers working with the trans and gender

diverse community? YES

Question

Will you oppose an inquiry into health care for young trans and gender

diverse people? YES

g. Clinic

Question

Do you support a dedicated, multidisciplinary, LGBTIQA+ healthcare

centre? YES

h. Legal Service

Question

Do you support a dedicated LGBTIQA+ legal service? YES. And a

Tasmanian dedicated Disability Legal Service. We all deserve access to

legal supports that can look at the law though the lens of our lived

experiences.

4. Government, parliament and the LGBTIQA+community

a. Professional development for government employees

Question

Do you support funding to ensure all school staff, health staff, police and

emergency services staff, prison staff and Service Tasmania staff have

professional development in the issues facing LGBTIQA+ Tasmanians?

YES, absolutely. To ensure inclusion, equality and access to justice we

need professional development that trains for: multicultural awareness;

LGBTIQA+; disability; and intersectionality training, led by lived-

experience and across all the mentioned arenas.

b. Consultation and representation

Questions

Do you support the continuation of the existing government / LGBTIQA+

reference groups in the departments of education, health, police and

emergency services, justice and across the whole of government (some of

which have been in place for a quarter of a century)? YES

Do you support the appointment of an equality minister in the State

Government? YES

Do you support the appointment of an LGBTIQA+ Commissioner (see

LGBTIQA+ Inclusion Act above)? YES

Do you support the establishment of a Parliamentary LGBTIQA+

Friendship Group? YES

Do you support a Tasmanian LGBTIQA+ Staff Pride Network across the

public sector (there are already agency specific networks in Police and

Emergency Services, State Growth and Health? YES