ACT government to look at reforms to discrimination act to better protect transgender, intersex Canberrans

Lawmakers will examine the territory's discrimination act and will look to reform the areas of discrimination in law that still exist.

Mr Barr made the comments at a ceremony to mark International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia on Monday.

To mark the day, rainbow flags were raised outside the ACT Legislative Assembly in Civic Square. The Chief Minister was one of those to raise the flag.

Mr Barr said the day was one of "mixed emotions".

"It's one that reflects considerable progress and a cause for celebration but there's also recognition that there's a lot more still to do," he said.

"What we've found locally and what research has shown in Australia is that there are still elements of the community who suffer quite significant discrimination and challenges in their everyday lives.

"It's a celebration of the progress we've made but also a day to focus on what comes next."

Mr Barr said the government would seek to make amendments to the territory's discrimination act that would focus on better protecting transgender and intersex Canberrans against discrimination.

ACT Greens backbencher and spokesman for LGBTIQA+ affairs Johnathan Davis said he wanted to be a partner in the reform works.

Mr Davis hosted a panel at the Assembly on Monday with members from the Canberra LGBTIQA+ community. The issue of accessible bathrooms for gender diverse people was brought up in the discussion and the Greens MLA said it was an issue he wanted to explore.

"As a cisgender person, which gives me a certain degree of privilege within the rainbow community, it was particularly shocking to learn there are people in Canberra who don't use public bathrooms because they fear violent attacks," Mr Davis said.

"The idea that we still have rigid binary in our bathrooms that are making it so difficult for some Canberrans to do a very natural thing was really shocking to hear."

The ACT government commissioned Equality Australia to undertake an audit of territory legislation for laws which could discriminate against or cause harm to LGBTIQA+ people.

Equality Australia chief executive Anna Brown said it was heartening to see the ACT government commit to taking further steps and called on the government to reform laws around medical treatment.

"Most urgently the government must put an end to forced or coercive medical procedures on intersex people," Ms Brown said.

"It should also prioritise removing the requirement for clinical treatment in order for transgender people to their birth certificate to reflect their gender."

READ MORE:

The ACT's parliament last week passed a motion that condemned those who support transphobia in light of a proposed NSW bill from One Nation NSW leader Mark Latham.

Mr Latham's bill would prevent gender fluidity from being taught in schools, it is currently before the NSW government's education committee.

As part of the motion, ACT Education Minister Yvette Berry will write to NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell to express concern about the effect of the bill's debate on transgender and diverse children in the ACT.

Ms Berry will also call on the NSW government to vote down the bill.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: