Brighton – Aleph Melbourne

Aleph Melbourne 2022 Voters Guide for LGBTIQ+ Equality – Victorian State Election

ALEPH MELBOURNE
VOTERS GUIDE TO LGBTIQ+ EQUALITY
VICTORIAN STATE ELECTION 2022
#ALBERT PARK #BENTLEIGH #BRIGHTON #CAULFIELD #CLARINDA #HAWTHORN #MALVERN #OAKLEIGH #PRAHRAN

This guide is designed to inform voters who want to select candidates who have comprehensively demonstrated or pledged support for LGBTIQ+ equality and inclusion.

This election the guide covers Victorian electoral districts (as per 2022 electoral boundaries) with 700 or more people with Jewish religious affiliation as at the 2021 census.

What to look for in candidates that PRIORITISE LGBTIQ+ equality:
* A candidate statement
* [BEST] A comprehensive LGBTIQ+ policy platform and/or unequivocal commitment to LGBTIQ+ issues (green tick)
* [OK] A policy platform that shows some level of support to LGBTIQ+ issues (yellow tick)
* Are declared as an ally or LGBTIQ+

What to look for in candidates that OPPOSE LGBTIQ+ equality:
* A warning symbol against their name in the LGBTIQ+ column
* A policy platform that is inconsistent with LGBTIQ+ equality (red cross)

What if a candidate has not declared themselves as an ally and/or does not have an LGBTIQ+ policy platform?
We recommend you contact the candidate or their party and ask them directly. They have not responded to our emails.

Feedback, corrections and updates are invited via our contact page. Information is provided here in good faith and on the understanding that it is correct.

Aleph Melbourne – 2022 State Election Guide

Albert Park Bentleigh Brighton Caulfield Clarinda Hawthorn Malvern Oakleigh Prahran

Albert Park District

Candidate (in ballot order)	Party	LGBTIQA+
DRAGWIDGE Georgie	Independent	(not stated)
TAYLOR Nina	Australian Labor Party	ALLY
SAMIOTIS Kim	The Australian Greens	ALLY
ANTUNOVIC Elizabeth	Freedom Party Victoria
BRADEA Viorel	Family First Victoria
SHERSON Lauren	Liberal	ALLY
SMART Lance	Liberal Democrats	(not stated)
WESTWOOD Cassandra	Animal Justice Party	ALLY

Bentleigh District

Candidate (in ballot order)	Party	LGBTIQA+
GNIESLAW Simon	Independent	ALLY
STAIKOS Nick(incumbent)	Australian Labor Party	(not stated)
GALLI-MCROSTIE Alana	The Australian Greens	ALLY
HARRIS David	Animal Justice Party	ALLY
RYAN Paul	Family First Victoria
TAYLOR-HAYNES Debbie	Liberal	(not stated)

Brighton District

Candidate (in ballot order)	Party	LGBTIQA+
TIMMS Allan	Independent	(not stated)
SCIOLA Nick	Family First Victoria
DEKIERE Sarah	The Australian Greens	ALLY
GIBSON Sally	Independent	ALLY
FREDERICO Felicity	Independent	ALLY
WALKER Alicia	Animal Justice Party	ALLY
NEWBURY James (incumbent)	Liberal	ALLY
CRAWFORD Louise	Australian Labor Party	ALLY
CASLEY John Tiger	Independent

Caulfield District

Candidate (in ballot order)	Party	LGBTIQA+
KALTMANN Nomi	Independent	ALLY
EDWELL Lynne	Family First Victoria
IAMPOLSKI Rachel	The Australian Greens
MYERSON Asher	Animal Justice Party	ALLY
SOUTHWICK David(incumbent)	Liberal	ALLY
HAREL Lior	Australian Labor Party	ALLY
ABELMAN Michael	Liberal Democrats	(not stated)

Clarinda District

Candidate (in ballot order)	Party	LGBTIQA+
WHITE Caroline	Independent
HASTINGS Karen	Family First Victoria
WOLFE Steve	Freedom Party Victoria
VO Hung	Independent
TAK Meng Heang (incumbent)	Australian Labor Party	ALLY
RICHARDSON Anthony	Liberal	(not stated)
MOFFETT Jessamine	The Australian Greens
LITCHFIELD Sue	Animal Justice Party	ALLY

Hawthorn District

Candidate (in ballot order)	Party	LGBTIQA+
FUHRER Faith	Animal Justice Party	ALLY
KENNEDY John (incumbent)	Australian Labor Party	ALLY
TRIANTAFILLIS Ken	Family First Victoria
PEPPARD Richard	Liberal Democrats	(not stated)
LOWE Melissa	Independent	ALLY
SAVAGE Nick	The Australian Greens	ALLY
PESUTTO John	Liberal	ALLY
BELL Stratton	Democratic Labour Party

Malvern District

Candidate (in ballot order)	Party	LGBTIQA+
NATOLI Amelia	Animal Justice Party	ALLY
NATALE Darren	Australian Labor Party
O’BRIEN Michael (incumbent)	Liberal	ALLY
STEFANOPOULOS Steve	Independent
SCHMIDT Judy	Family First Victoria
FULLER Mitchell	The Australian Greens	ALLY

Oakleigh District

Candidate (in ballot order)	Party	LGBTIQA+
MURPHY Dominique	Independent
DIMOPOULOS Steve (incumbent)	Australian Labor Party
SOK Edward	Family First Victoria
GRIVOKOSTOPOULOS Jim	Liberal	(not stated)
KIOUPELIS Parashos	Independent
HSIEH Hsiang-Han	The Australian Greens
FABB Loraine	Animal Justice Party	ALLY
JACOBS Tony	Freedom Party Victoria

Prahran District

Candidate (in ballot order)	Party	LGBTIQA+
LE HURAY Alice	Animal Justice Party	ALLY
LUCAS Matthew	Liberal	ALLY
CHAU Wesa	Australian Labor Party	ALLY
MENADUE Alan	Independent	ALLY
HIBBINS Sam (incumbent)	The Australian Greens	ALLY
EMILSEN Ronald	Family First Victoria

Candidate statement: Sally Gibson – Independent for Brighton

The following political statement has been supplied by Sally Gibson who is running as a candidate for Brighton District in the 2022 Victorian State Government election.

Aleph Melbourne will endorse all political candidates who unconditionally support equal rights for LGBTIQ+ Jews and whose values align with ours.

Hi Michael.

I am supporting Equality Australia’s 10-point plan for LGBTIQ+ equality.

I unconditionally support LGBTIQ+ Visibility, inclusion and acceptance.

sallygibson.com.au/platform

Candidate statement: Felicity Frederico – Independent for Brighton

The following political statement has been supplied by Felicity Frederico who is running as a candidate for Brighton District in the 2022 Victorian State Government election.

Aleph Melbourne will endorse all political candidates who unconditionally support equal rights for LGBTIQ+ Jews and whose values align with ours.

STATEMENT FOR ALEPH MELBOURNE
FROM FELICITY FREDERICO OAM
INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE FOR BRIGHTON ELECTORATE

Equality is one of the cornerstone issues of my campaign as the Community Independent Candidate for Brighton.

I stand in solidarity with the LGBTIQA+ and allied communities in my electorate and in Victoria.

I pledge to work constructively with these communities should I be elected the MP for Brighton, and will consult with LGBTIQA+ organisations on every question coming before the Victorian Parliament impacting upon their lives. This consultation will include Aleph Melbourne and the Victorian Pride Lobby amongst others.

In particular, I support the Victorian Pride Lobby “Vision For Victoria” statement very strongly, and will do everything in my role as MP for Brighton to help make this a reality. Their vision statement can be found on my campaign Facebook Page:

www.facebook.com/felicity4brighton22

The State Opposition has announced that it intends to wind back hard won protections for LGBTIQA+ people and single parents in employment in faith based institutions and schools.

The Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV) has stated that it is satisfied with the provisions of the Equal Opportunity Act (EOA) that prohibit discrimination in the hiring and firing practices of schools. I support the JCCV position absolutely.

The Australian Jewish News has reported that JCCV president Daniel Aghion stated, “The JCCV is comfortable with the present legislative settings. In particular, we understand that the larger Victorian Jewish day schools have not expressed a desire to exercise this power or a need for it.”

The AJN also reported that Bialik College principal Jeremy Stowe-Lindner reiterated his firm opposition to any form of discrimination in schools, which he had stated in his submission to the 2018 Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee inquiry into legislative exemptions for faith-based schools. I fully support his 2018 Senate Submission and his stance against discrimination.

As the Independent MP for Brighton, I will strenuously oppose Liberal & National Party moves to wind back current protections in the Victorian Equal Opportunity Act, and will stand up for equality in employment of all Victorians, free from discrimination. I will also strenuously oppose any moves to repeal or water down so called “Conversion Therapy” legislation in Victoria. These practices are currently unlawful in our State, and I intend to keep it that way, given the profound damage they do, and the expert medical advice we have.

There are many other important issues facing the Victorian and Brighton LGBTIQA+ communities in this election campaign. I want to assure you, that having read, studied and understood the Victorian Pride Lobby State Election Platform, I am in fullest agreement with all of their specific initiatives, and will work towards making these a reality in Victoria. I attach a copy of the VPL Election Platform below.

If Aleph Melbourne have specific initiatives you wish to see implemented in Victoria and the Brighton electorate, i invite your feedback, and i will do everything possible to make these a reality too.

With my warm wishes and best regards,

Felicity Frederico
Community Independent Candidate for Brighton.
Brighton Deserves Better!

LGBTIQ-ELECTION-PLATFORM-2022

[PDF]

Candidate statement: Sarah Dekiere – Greens for Brighton

The following political statement has been supplied by Sarah Dekiere who is running as a candidate for Brighton District in the 2022 Victorian State Government election.

Aleph Melbourne will endorse all political candidates who unconditionally support equal rights for LGBTIQ+ Jews and whose values align with ours.

I believe that we should all feel safe and have equal opportunities in life, no matter our sexuality, gender identity or sex characteristics. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer and Asexual (LGBTIQA+) people continue to face discrimination across multiple areas of their lives. We need to improve our laws so that no one faces discrimination or harm because of their sexuality, gender identity or sex characteristics. We need to properly fund LGBTIQA+ led organisations so that people can access quality services that truly meet their needs.

Despite some positive changes, there are still too many gaps in Victoria’s laws which allow discrimination against LGBTIQA+ people to continue. This Discrimination causes harm and its impacts can be deep and damaging.

Our Plan

The Greens plan includes:

An ‘Equality Bill’ for Victoria

The Greens will introduce comprehensive legislation that will:

Strengthen the Equal Opportunity Act to prevent all faith-based schools and organisations from discriminating against LGBTIQA+ students, staff and services users.
Give the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission stronger powers, including stronger investigatory powers and enforceable determinations
Expand anti-vilification laws to protect LGBTIQA+ people and support victims of hate crimes, including by making vilification and public harassment a crime and legislating to make violence motivated by hate a specific criminal offence
Ban deferrable medical interventions on children with intersex characteristics and restrict all sex characteristic altering medical treatment on intersex people without personal consent or oversite from an independent expert panel
Protect the important work of the LGBTIQ+ Communities Commissioner and the LGBTIQ+ Taskforce by enshrining them in legislation

We will also continue to work with the LGBTIQA+ community to identify further areas of reform, including adoption, assisted reproductive treatment and surrogacy, to make sure that our laws protect everyone.

A $200 Million ‘Rainbow State Fund’ for LGBTIQA+ community-led organisations:

This fund will support initiatives such as:

Funding for community controlled LGBTIQA+ services in key areas of need such as mental health, youth services, homelessness and sexual health
Establishing an accommodation facility, with associated support and health services, for trans, gender diverse and non-binary people
Establishing an LGBTIQA+ Community Hub with family services, youth facilities, events, and co-located health services
Investing in additional clinical services for trans, gender diverse and non-binary Victorians
Ongoing funding for pride events and festivals around the state
Social, psychological and peer support for intersex people and their families
Support services for survivors of conversion practices

Candidate statement: Alicia Walker – Animal Justice Party for Brighton

The following political statement has been supplied by Alicia Walker who is running as a candidate for Brighton District in the 2022 Victorian State Government election.

Aleph Melbourne will endorse all political candidates who unconditionally support equal rights for LGBTIQ+ Jews and whose values align with ours.

1 November 2022

Kindness, equality, rationality and non-violence are the core values of the Animal Justice Party.

Our party values and my personal values align very well with the values of equality and dignity at Aleph.

Our current MP, Andy Meddick has been working tirelessly in parliament to create more LGBTQIA+ safe spaces in Victoria particularly for the youth community in areas like Geelong and Ballarat.

I assert that more LGBTQIA+ safe spaces are required throughout Victoria including in the District of Brighton.

I strongly support LGBTQIA+ organisations in our community.

I am a proud parent of a child who has several close friends who identify as belonging to the LGBTQI+ community. We as a family are passionate about advocating for a kinder world for all.

I will support and prioritise the LGBTQIA+ youth voice if elected.

As a party, the Animal Justice asserts that:

Gender and sexuality equality is a fundamental human right and that the health, safety and wellbeing of women, girls and gender-diverse people is paramount.
Reforms are essential to address the causes of gender and sexuality inequality and to protect people against gender and sexuality based violence.
Women and gender-diverse people must be supported, encouraged and empowered to be present and/or prominent in all areas of society, including politics.
Everyone must be supported in informed decision-making with respect to gender and sexual identity;
There must be zero tolerance of sexism, homophobia, queerphobia, transphobia, misogyny and all types of violence (including gender and sexuality based violence) and we must work toward gender and sexuality equality and respect in all areas of society.
Gender-inclusive language should be used.