Victorian opposition leader, Matthew Guy, has asked reporters to “give me a break” when questioned over comments made by Liberal candidate Moira Deeming attacking transgender rights and her claim LGBTQ+ children were being taught to be “narcissistic”.
Moira Deeming, a teacher and Melton councillor, was preselected at the weekend to represent the Liberals in the Western Metropolitan Region, replacing outspoken MP Bernie Finn ahead of the November state election.
In a 2020 interview, Deeming described Victoria’s Safe Schools program as created by “paedophilia apologists”, claimed teachers were actively trying to change children’s gender and sexual identity, and criticised initiatives aimed at celebrating gay and transgender students, saying they were “teaching them to be really narcissistic”.
Deeming said she was “very disappointed” in changes to the law in Victoria to allow transgender people to change the sex on their birth certificate without having to undergo reassignment surgery, as well as the recent ban on conversion practice.
She also called an unnamed Liberal party member an “idiot” for not being across transgender laws, describing it as her “number one issue”.
On Friday, Guy would not say whether he had read Deeming’s comments.
“I’m not interested in comments she’s made in the past, I’m interested in what she’s doing as a candidate,” he said while in Tarneit, in Melbourne’s west.
“All of us in the Liberal party are committed to making sure that this precinct gets built, that we’ve got good representation in the western suburbs and more to the point, that the west is not ignored.”
After announcing a commitment to provide $100m for a new stadium and community recreation facilities if the Liberals win government, Guy would not say if he had advised Deeming to restrict her social media use after her preselection.
Instead, he said Deeming had not made the comments “as a candidate”.
“When did she post these comments … 2020? You’re asking me about a post in 2020? Give me a break,” he said.
Guy said he did not think it was fair to describe LGBTQ+ students as “narcissists”.
“Any commentary on any of these matters should be respectful and I’ve made it very clear. I’m not going to dredge up comments from anyone from years ago,” he said.
“I’ve said when someone’s a candidate representing this party they are respectful to everyone.”
Guy maintained the party had no plans to amend the laws banning gay conversion practices and said the Liberal party supported gay and transgender students.
“I’ve got a number of candidates from the LGBTI community, I was campaigning with one yesterday. So, we not only have their back, but we want some of them in parliament to help make sure they are protected and respected in every way,” he said.
Deeming’s preselection has been met with criticism from within the Liberal party, with one MP likening her to Katherine Deves, the party’s federal candidate for Warringah, who became a lightning rod for criticism over her comments about transgender people.
Andrew Olexander, who was the first openly gay MP in Victorian parliament when he was elected to represent the Liberal party in the upper house in 1999, criticised Guy earlier this week for failing to condemn Deeming’s views, while Andrew Elsbury, who represented the Liberals in the Western Metropolitan Region from 2010 to 2014, quit the party in response to her preselection, describing it as the “final straw”.
“I feel that I’m no longer in tune with the party membership here in the west, so it’s best for me to walk away,” Elsbury said.
All 11 lower house seats that make up the Western Metropolitan Region are held by Labor, the majority by comfortable margins. In the upper house, the region is represented by five MPs, none of whom are Liberals, after Finns’s expulsion from the party.
In Australia, the national counselling and referral service for LGBTQ+ people, QLife, is 1800 184 527. The crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. Other international suicide helplines can be found at befrienders.org
