Disgusting, degrading and hateful: we need to stop the online abuse

Content note: transphobic abuse

Today the Courier posted a followup editorial, after the article in which I spoke about transgender rights received hateful comments on the newspaper’s Facebook page.

Mx Bayley had spoken with The Courier about the proposed changes to the way the gender diverse, transgender and intersex community in Victoria may soon be able to apply to have their gender changed on their birth certificates without the need for invasive and expensive gender affirmation surgery.

…

Our team at The Courier spent the day monitoring the flood of comments on the post, which ranged from positivity about such a story being published to shocking death threats.

When the story was posted to The Courier‘s Facebook page, we were stunned by the insensitive and degrading comments that were being posted.

It is difficult to comprehend how people can so unashamedly put their names to such disgusting comments on a public forum.

Despite there also being a lot of genuine discussion and support – including Mx Bayley answering people’s questions – we unfortunately had to remove it at the end of the day for fear that comments would continue without our being able to monitor them.

The transgender community should feel safe, as should everybody who lives in this country.