Good morning friends! For those that don’t know me, I’m Hiero Badge (they/them) and I’ll be live tweeting the public hearings from the inquiry into the rental and housing crises in Victoria today🧵 Today’s hearings are being conducted by the Legal and Social Issues Committee which has eight members: three Liberal, three Labor, one Greens and one Legalise Cannabis and four additional non-voting members

Aus monkeypox (MPX) update: Last week the WHO declared MPX a global emergency. There are 16,000+ cases in 75 countries, including 41 in Australia as of 19 July [1/10] Gay, bi and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) urgently need (and want) access to the vaccine. The good news is that the health sector is expecting vaccine supply very soon, possibly within a matter of weeks [2/10]

The Age has published an opinion piece from Linda Gale this morning which spins pushback against transphobia in the Victorian Greens as a “social media mob”. A few thoughts… [1/8] A lot of it is about wether Gales’ views are transphobic. In 2019, she co-wrote a paper which implied that trans women might exploit their identity to assault cis women, among much else [2/8]

In the interest of transparency I want to flag that The Age approached me this afternoon to commission an article about their latest anti-trans piece. Needless to say, I declined… (1/4) Anything I wrote would validate their editorial policy of publishing “both sides” as if they are equally fair and factual. In my opinion, it is the editors’ task to prevent disinformation in their paper, not mine (2/4)

The Age has published a second piece in a week about the Cr Leppert saga. Right from the headline it frames trans people as sinister enemies who oppose women’s rights (1/10) The author’s argument is that trans rights are inherently in conflict with women’s rights, an argument you’ll only ever hear from anti-trans quarters and typically about trans women (2/10)

not to get theoretical on the tl but there’s a brand of Marxist theory & labour politics that views any deviation from class analysis as a threat to solidarity or a waste of time (1/4) traditionally this meant rejecting the politics of recognition, crudely rendered as “identity politics”. Feminism, multiculturalism and now transgender rights are presented as petty “distractions” from material concerns (2/4)

Hi friends, this weekend someone pulled me up for something and I want to recognise my wrong and apologise for it (1/4) In 2018 I wrote a thread about the historical links between the Confederate South and colonial Queensland. In it I referred to racial slurs common at the time and, foolishly, did not censor them as I should have (2/4)

Last month I lodged a query at my new uni about my pay and the details of my casual contract. Yesterday I was told that I “won’t be needed going forward” w/o any reason or explanation (1/4) Three days ago my supervisor praised my performance and offered me work across multiple units. I have received praise from students in writing and I expect that my teacher evaluations will be positive, but none of this matters (2/4)

Thread: I'd like to take a moment to unpack how much work it took to secure a rent reduction during the pandemic w/ some templates for people in similar situations (1/10) We started by asking for a rent pause, emphasising the relief that banks are offering to landlords. If they're getting a break why shouldn't renters? (2/10)

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Hello friends! I want take a moment to talk about COVID-19 criminalisation as state govt's bring in tighter restrictions and dramatically ramp up policing (thread) Policing & criminalisation don't address underlying social problems like poverty & homelessness. They attack symptoms of inequality w/o addressing the cause. This approach also targets certain groups...

I try not to "debate" bad faith actors but it's very important to understand how unscientific and distorted The Australian's campaign agains trans people actually is. So what's "social contagion theory"? (1/9)

https://twitter.com/Bernard_Lane/status/1226686014015471616

Social contagion argues that queer ppl "make kids trans" through social media. The latest version kicks of in 2018 w/ a paper which claims "Reports suggest the share of girls among teens suddenly declaring themselves trans during puberty may be 80%"

journals.plos.org/plosone/articl… (2/9)

If you are angry about this then I encourage you to submit a complaint to the Australian Press Council. Here's a quick thread on how to do that, it takes less than 5 minutes (1/8)

https://twitter.com/joshuabadge/status/1226658849379086336

Go to the APC complaints page, scroll down to the bottom and click 'Make a Complaint"

presscouncil.org.au/making-a-compl… (2/8)

Thread: So the govt just announced a restructure (read: cuts) to the public service. Sounds mundane but even something as small as a department name tells us a lot about what we can expect. For example, have a look at how the former Immigration Department changed over time So what's new with this restructure? The short answer is that the govt is cutting four departments, 18 down to 14. The govt says it's not about saving money but to "improve decision making" whatever that means

https://twitter.com/political_alert/status/1202382493720014849

Thread: off the back of the #righttoknow campaign I’d like to spill some tea about how utterly broken Australia’s freedom of information laws are by using some examples I’ve encountered in my FOI work around My Health Record, the amyl ban & sniffer dogs in Vic Example 1: the ADHA (agency in charge of MHR) collected data on everyone in the country. Exactly what kind/how much? Collected how? The relevant legislation at the time had about two sentences authorising the ADHA to do this and it was *extremely vague*

Firstly (since this needs saying) you can absolutely discriminate against people while acting according to some religious beliefs. This Trojan horse enshrines a positive right to discriminate against many groups including LGBTI people, divorcees, single or unmarried parents etc Religious bodies and schools can already discriminate based on a person’s religious belief or activity, sex, sexual orientation, lawful sexual activity, marital status, parental status or gender identity. This law seems to extend this right to any person of faith

A thread: the Morrison govt's religious discrimination bill overrides existing anti-discrimination law & enshrines the right to discriminate against LGBTI people. It may also support vaccine denialism and overturn abortion clinic Safe Access Zones 🚨 #ReligiousFreedom #auspol Really, the govt could have just been honest and called the religious discrimination bill “Folau’s Law”. It says that employers may not impose rues limiting employees from making “statements of belief”… say, like a social media post demeaning gay people to millions of followers

Howdy y'all! The TGA has just published their decision on whether or not poppers will be banned. So what's staying and what's changed? Let's have a look... ✨

tga.gov.au/scheduling-dec… What's being banned: isopropyl nitrite

This specific chemical has been linked to temporary and permanent eye damage, which is why you hear folk tales of people "going blind" from poppers. A ban on this one is a good thing, we don't really want to be using a dangerous substance

I am about to officially lose it over this ridiculous article about “queer fascism”. How dare you @smh Tens of thousands of gay people were arrested, tortured, sent to concentration camps and murdered by fascists. They were treated with exceptional violence and cruelty. I cannot even begin to explain how deeply, deeply homophobic it is to call queers fascists

A thread: I'd like to go over the *worst* take from the white guy who sat quietly while #KAK used the suffering of Indigenous people to dismiss Invasion Day: "History was pretty horrible so colonialism wasn't that bad. Also nobody is racist" #auspol

news.com.au/entertainment/… So right off the bat there's a switch: the "unheard side of the Studio 10 debate" is actually a think piece about #changethedate with no explanation for why Hildebrand stayed silent while Kerri-Anne went off on one. Not an important topic, I guess

A thread: a bunch of white folks rocked up at a train station with baseball bats in Melbourne yesterday looking for black people to assault. How do the Australian & Herald cover it? #auspol

theaustralian.com.au/news/victorian… In a story where race is actually relevant for once, there's no initial no mention of ethnicity. The title and lede obscure the whiteness of the group and avoid mention of the racial motivation. Instead the article repeatedly focuses on a prior assault

Here at the Wheeler Center to hear @SaraNAhmed discuss her research on ‘complaint’. Crowd is buzzing with excitement! Will be live tweeting the juicy bits for the folks at home Absolutely packed to the rafters!