AGMC Working Group
Interactions between Australian LGBTIQ+ Identity and Far-Right Ideologies
In September 2021 the AGMC National Committee agreed to establish a working group on ‘Interactions between Australian LGBTIQ+ Identity and Far-Right Ideologies’ in response to unreported, anecdotal stories from multicultural, multifaith (MC MF) LGBTIQ+ experiences. MC MF LGBTIQ+ communities are vulnerable to abuse from – and also participation with – a broad spectrum of groups which can be termed ‘Far-Right’. They are broad in the sense that they offer multiple entry points for people who don’t share their views. Projecting an acceptance of LGB (but rarely TIQ+) is one of many ways that some groups can be perceived as ‘rainbow-accredited’ and less harmful in societies where LGBTIQ+ are mostly accepted by the wider community. We refer to them as “alternative-progressive far-right groups”*.
Ongoing Community Consultations
AGMC are asking our member networks – and the broader multicultural and multifaith LGBTIQ+ community – for their stories around our terms of reference (see below). We are interested know about your feelings of safety and inclusion in your LGBTIQ+, multicultural or faith community. Send us an email outlining your background as a multicultural, multifaith person or how you identify as a person of diverse sexuality and gender (DSG). It is not necessary to identify with LGBTIQ+ identity or culture, or to be ‘out’, but our project is very specifically about DSG/LGBTIQ experiences. Your insights will help us to support others. Email us at: communitysafety@agmc.org.au.
Terms of Reference
- Australian LGBTIQ+ members – and its multicultural & multifaith members – may become vulnerable to various forms of threats or abuse by right-wing groups holding negative views about people based on their Diverse Sexuality and Gender
- Multicultural LGBTIQ+ people of faith experience racism within their own local LGBTIQ+ communities
- Some LGBTIQ+ people may become vulnerable to information contrasting some depictions of faith, multiculturalism, or ethnic diversity as homophobic or transphobic; while depicting some libertarian, nationalist or white supremacist ideologies as LGBTIQ-inclusive.
- any related matters.
Working Group Members
- Acting Chair: Giancarlo de Vera (President AGMC)
AGMC National Committee Member - Maria Pallotta-Chiarolli (AM) (AGMC National Committee)
AGMC National Committee Member, Honorary Fellow at School of Arts/Ed, Deakin University, Victoria. - Mario Peucker (Research Expert)
Senior Research Fellow, Victoria University, Institute for Sustainable Industries and Liveable Cities (ISILC), Victoria
Thank you to our special advisers
- Alice Sibley (UK)
Alice is a PhD researcher at Nottingham Trent University in the United Kingdom specialising in the new far right. - Christopher Conner (US)
Professor at University of Missouri researchers social media, connectivity, racism in LGBTIQ+ and QAnon.
Updates
2022
- January – current: Community consultations will continue throughout 2022.
- January: The working group Chair gave evidence in support of AGMC President Giancarlo de Vera and AGMC Committee Member Michelle McNamara’s to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee’s Inquiry into the “Religious Discrimination Bill 2021 Religious Discrimination (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2021 Human Rights Legislation Amendment Bill 2021”. Read the Hansard Transcript
- February: The AGMC sent Australia’s Minister for Home Affairs The Hon Karen Andrews a copy of AGMC’s 2021 Navigating Intersectionality report. AGMC recommended intersectionality training for National Security Hotline staff to improve access to MC MF LGBTIQ+ to report national security concerns. Home Affairs replied to AGMC in late March acknowledging the importance of the issues and thanks us for contributing a copy of the Navigating Intersectionality report as a resource for their staff.
2021
- October: The working group members collaborated on a written submission to Australia’s Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security’s “Inquiry into extremist movements and radicalism in Australia”. We are awaiting the tabling of this report and will publish or link to AGMC’s submission when available.
- September: AGMC recently launched a report which intersects with the community safety working group. Navigating Intersectionality: Multicultural and Multifaith LGBTIQ+ Victorians talk about Discrimination and Affirmation was funded by the Victorian Government and covered by SBS News. A key finding is that multicultural multifaith LGBTIQ+ are not reporting violence and abuse, a deep concern to AGMC.
Other Resources
- Living and Loving in Diversity: An anthology of Australian multicultural queer adventures (Wakefield Press) by Chief Editor Maria Pallotta-Chiarolli and AGMC, the anthology contains more than sixty voices from across the spectrum of sexualities and genders, families and relationships in Australia.
* References
Term adapted from ‘Straighten Up and Fly Right’: Radical right attempts to appeal to the British LGBTQ+ community by Russell David Foster & Xander Kirk, January 24, 2022, The British Journal of Politics and International Relations.