Freedom of Speech is under threat globally

Copy of CoAL letter to all members of  the Australian Parliament sent on 13 January 2026.

Dear

Re: proposed Federal Government ‘Hate Speech’ and Anti-vilification Legislation

The Coalition of Activist Lesbians (CoAL) is the peak body in Australia representing the rights of lesbians nationally and internationally. Formed in late 1993, CoAL works towards ending discrimination against lesbians, guided by the United Nations Convention to Eliminate All forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

CoAL urges our Members of the Australian Parliament:

1. to proceed with caution in creating any proposed hate speech laws;
2. not to be drawn quickly into controversial legislation that may appeal due to its public support from widespread grief and anger, but that may cause unintended harm;
3. to consult with CoAL and LGB Alliance Australia on matters relevant to lesbians and gay men respectively, to ensure the passage of fully informed legislation.

Experts warn of the risks to human rights of ‘hate speech’ laws ‘being misused to criminalise legitimate political speech … and to ensure that they don’t have unintended consequences.’ These warnings echo the concerns of LBORI (Lesbian Bill of Rights International) that:

‘Over the last decade or two, Western democracies have shifted from open societies that tolerate disagreement to managed societies that criminalise it. Laws sold as preventing “harm” or “hate” now punish lawful expression, especially when it challenges ideological fashion.’

CoAL shares the widespread concerns of governments and people of Australia to prevent a further recurrence of the violent killing of 15 Jewish Australians and the injury of many more at Bondi late last year. We understand that the government has been under pressure to introduce and widen proposed ‘hate speech’ laws. Media report an omnibus bill is to be rushed through Parliament next week that addresses control of hate speech and guns by listing of prohibited hate groups, creating a new offence for inciting hatred in order to intimidate or harass, and gives the Home Affairs Minister new powers to cancel or refuse visas. The latter seems to suggest that hate comes from people not born in Australia—a concerning echo of Trumpism.

The usual LGBTQI lobby groups (who operate on large government grants and represent mainly TQ interests) have joined with others in a concerted campaign to take advantage of the Bondi tragedy, calling for a widening of scope in the legislation to ‘apply to all forms of hate.’ It has been reported that ‘key lobby groups’ expect to be briefed on draft legislation by the end of this week (we note neither national lesbian and gay organisations that reject gender ideology—LGB Alliance Australia and CoAL—have been approached).

 We submit that such rushed legislation is unwarranted and a dangerous threat to human rights, as set out in the Universal  Declaration of Human Rights, Article 19 which establishes ‘the right to freedom of opinion and expression.’ We already have legislation in place to protect against ‘hate speech’ in the workplace. An example is the Federal Court’s ruling that the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) had no right to sack Antoinette Lattouf after she shared a political opinion about the Israeli military campaign in Gaza. Below we refer to the injustices enacted in new transgender vilification laws.

TQ activists and institutions are well known for using legislative restrictions on free speech to suppress dissent on such topics as biological sex and ‘gender identity’, causing well-documented and significant harm to dissenters’ professional and private lives. Australian examples are:

1. the vilification judgement made in August last year by the Deputy Chief Magistrate of NSW against a woman who had been arguing for separate women’s football for safety concerns and had referred to trans identified men (“transwomen”), in biologically factual terms, as “men”’ (the case of Blanch v Smith (Binary Australia).
2. The current vilification litigation initiated by Jennifer Adrian Buckley against former Australian Breastfeeding Association counsellor Jasmine Sussex—another example of the legal complexities and conflicts in determining rights to freedom of speech and legitimacy of competing knowledge claims.

CoAL supports government controls that aim to prevent violence (eg, against lesbians, women and children) but urges caution with ‘hate speech. ’ CoAL also supports separate legislation updating gun laws and, in particular, the national data base of owners of guns.

Yours sincerely,

Susan Hawthorne,

Convenor.