Kellie-Jay Eager-Minshull, also referred to as Posie Parker, and Senator Lidia Thorpe would possibly seem to don’t have anything in widespread.
However their attention-seeking, hold-no-prisoners’ method, and their blatant disregard for others overshadows the advocacy they undertake to win supporters.
Thorpe is entitled to really feel upset, even outraged, at Eager’s views. All of us ought to be. However Thursday’s stunt by Thorpe confirmed – identical to Eager – that she has little regard for anybody else, or an even bigger image, in her pursuit of private publicity.
And within the course of, she has even perhaps made Eager appear like a sufferer, and lent assist to the bigoted views of those that assault anybody who questions their very own gender.
That is sufficient on Thorpe, as a result of this column should not be about her show-off antics. Its rightful focus is the blinkered, fanatical and intolerant views of somebody who has arrived on our shores, to unfold hate.
And Eager is doing it with exceptional success.
Is that this the nation we would like? A rustic the place 30 males, from the Nationalist Socialist Community, march down a road in Melbourne performing the Nazi salute?
A nation the place rallies are held to incite hatred and division and to assault particular law-abiding minorities?
A nation the place some youngsters and younger adults are attacked as a result of they’re struggling, notably within the aftermath of COVID, to seek out themselves, and are genuinely questioning their gender?
I am unsure whether or not Eager ought to even have been welcomed into our nation; a nation the place we’re working so arduous to construct unity and to offer a voice for individuals who are too usually muted.
And positively, New Zealand’s determination to permit her to cross the ocean subsequent week and unfold the hatred that sits alongside her message is disappointing.
In fact, freedom of speech ought to be cherished. However so ought to how it’s articulated, and the affect of the phrases used to convey a message.
The issue of transgender is difficult. As a result of books I’ve authored about teenagers, I’m frequently asked to speak to school parent communities. And this issue is raised almost every single time.
Perhaps there is a contagion around it. Psychologists also believe that teenagers, particularly girls, want to provide the space for their friends to make up their own minds. And only a tiny proportion of those seeking to find their identity will become transgender – but it’s a necessary journey also for some.
That’s the view of almost everyone who is educated in this area: Counselors and psychologists, senior educators and those adults who remember, with honesty, some of their own teenage struggles.
Some of our teens are proudly transgender. Some are secretly transgender. And many simply don’t know.
But our job, as adults, surely is to provide a forum where the issue is discussed respectfully, and where children and young adults feel safe.
Keen and her global rallies trample all over that. Her views are ignorant and bigoted and incite emotions that simply make it harder for those struggling to put their hand up.
She is an extremist. A show-off. And like Thorpe, her public advocacy shows little empathy for others. Notoriety wins out over any message.
It’s sad. It spreads hate. It ignores a small proportion of our young population who really need to be heard.
And if we can’t agree on that, I would be incredulous that we could join as a nation and make history with an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
