New law gives HR a guide on how to uphold and protect LGBTQI+ rights in the workplace
Last Thursday, the Victorian parliament passed a new law that bans any conduct that “seeks to change or suppress” a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
The Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights (VEOHR) commissioner Ro Allen said it was “momentous” for the state as the law was an “important step towards preventing and responding to harm being inflicted” on the LGBTQI+.
In a media release, the VEOHR said that any conduct that seeks to change or suppress someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity is “a change or suppression practice – even if that person asks for help.” Such conduct includes teachings, counselling, spiritual care activities or other psychological or medical interventions based on the idea that “there is something wrong or broken about people with diverse sexualities or gender identities.”
For professionals and institutions, the VEOHR clarified the terms “sexual orientation” and “gender identity,” saying that “sexual orientation” is the inherent way that a person experiences emotional, romantic, and sexual attraction to other people. Meanwhile, “gender identity” is the physical features that someone was born with that do not necessarily determine their gender or sexual orientation, emphasizing that it is someone’s “personal sense” of being female, male, a blend of both or neither.
Prohibited “change or suppression” practice
HR professionals must be aware of conduct that might fall under the new law’s definition. The conduct must include three elements: (1) directed at an individual; (2) because of their sexual orientation or gender identity; and (3) undertaken with the intention to change or induce that person to change or suppress their sexual orientation or gender identity.
The new law also said the “willingness” of a person to “participate” in any practice does not change their “unlawfulness.”
How HR can help
The VEOHR stressed the importance of the workplace to “affirm and support” its employees, adding that the way someone describes their sexual orientation and gender is “completely up to them.”
“Everyone deserves to be surrounded by people who understand and support them. People without this support are more at risk of homelessness, economic instability, self-harm and suicide and substance abuse,” VEOHR said.
“[The new] Victorian law makes [it] clear that a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity is not broken and does not need to be fixed. This directly counters the harmful messages that sit at the core of change and suppression practices,” Allen said.
