Issue Ninety-SixIf you’re a parent, uncle, aunt,sister, brother of a young person,it is easy to understand why bloodbornevirus education at school is soimportant.While generally parentsdon’t want to encouragetheir kids to usedrugs, they alsoknow that kidswill be kids.What they may notknow is that theaverage age forinitiation intoinjectiung drug use isnineteen years of age.Without proper knowledge of howto stay safe, young people who startinjecting are at serious risk of infectionwith HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C.C me Community Advocates acrossNSW are currently campaigning forBBVin HPE (Blood Borne Viruses inthe National Health and PhysicalEducation curriculum) to ensure viralhepatitis education is included on theNational Health and PhysicalEducation curriculum which will betaught in every public school in NSW.Hepatitis NSW has made a writtensubmission on the draft curriculumand has encouraged a number of otherorganisations to make formalsubmissions. <strong>The</strong>y believe that theBBV (Blood Borne Viruses) on the HPE(National Healthand Physical Education) Curriculumdraft curriculum does not includesufficient information to teachstudents and young people aboutblood awareness, and morespecifically about blood-borne viruseslike hep B, hep C and HIV/AIDS.Hepatitis NSW is also using Twitteras the newest weapon in the onlineadvocacy arsenal. C me communityAdvocates have been provided with abook to guide them in using this newadvocacy tool as well as a list ofsuggested Tweets for the campaignBBV on the HPE.<strong>The</strong> Guide to Tweeting for C meHep C virusCampaigning and a list of suggestedtweets will be loaded onto the C mewebsite, www.hep.org.au/c-me foranyone else who would like to beinvolved in the campaign.Reprinted from<strong>The</strong> Champion,newsletter of the Hepatitis NSW C meproject. Edition 3, May 2013C me WANTS YOU!Become a member of Hepatitis NSW and join the movement to achievea world free of viral hepatitisC me - Community action on hep C<strong>Polare</strong> page 12July-September 2013
News Items of InterestRADFEM RISEUP 2013CONFERENCE BARRED FROMMEETING PLACE IN TORONTO,ONTARIO FOR BEING ANTI-TRANS<strong>The</strong> Radfem Riseup organisation of radicalfeminists has been banned from holding its2013 conference at the Beaver Hall Gallery inToronto, after complaints were received thatthe conference was non-trans-inclusive. <strong>The</strong>conference, organised by a group who are alliedwith Deep Green Resistance that calls for theabolition of industial civilisation and a return to“natural” living. <strong>The</strong>radical wing of thisorganisation believes thatgender is used as a castesystem to oppress womenand would like to eliminatethe concept of genderentirely.<strong>The</strong> group has beencriticised in the past forallowing only womyn-born-womyn toparticipate and for writings and speeches by itsleaders that maintain that transwomen are notwomen. <strong>The</strong>y profess to being sympathetictowards transwomen but that they disagree onthe definition of gender and therefore havedifferent aims and priorities.One of their blogs states that “<strong>Gender</strong>ists thinkgender is an identity, an internal set of feelingpeople might have. Radical feminists thinkgender is a caste system, a set of materialconditions into which one is born. Radicalfeminists are critical of gender itself. We arenot gender reformists - we are genderabolitionists.Without the socially constructed gender rolesthat form the basis of patriarchy, all peoplewould be free to dress, behave and love others inwhatever way they wished, no matter what kindof body they had.”MICHAEL FERNANDEZ,, DRUG ANDALCOHOL WORKER, HONOUREDDrug and Alcohol worker, Michael Fernandez,has been awarded the Order of Australia formore than twenty years work on the preventionof communicable diseases such as hepatitis C.Issue Ninety-SixSEX DISCRIMINATIONAMENDMENT BILL PASSED BYFEDERAL GOVERNMENT<strong>The</strong> Discrimination Act has at long last beenamended to include LGBTI people who willhave the same protections against discriminationas anyone else, including the much-discussedremoval of the exemptions that allowed religiousorganisations to discriminate against the agedin care facilities (see also p.24).<strong>The</strong> religious exemption was opposed in theSenate, led by George Brandis who eventhreatened to remove the support of theOpposition to the entire Bill if it was not amendedby removing the religious exemption, claimingit violated the freedom of religion.Liberal Senator Sue Boyce defied Coalitionpolicy who said that she didn’tthink “religious organisationscan have it both ways. <strong>The</strong>ycannot say, ‘we don’tdiscriminate ... but we don’twant any legislation thataffects the way we treatpeople.’” She crossed thefloor and voted in favour ofremoval of religiousexemptions, thus allowing theSenatorSue Boycevote to move to the Lower House, where, despiteopposition from Liberal and National Partymembers, it passed into law.MALAYSIAN LEGISLATOR HIRESTRANSGENDER AS POLITICALSECRETARYTeh Yee Cheu, a Malaysian assemblyman hashied a transwoman, Hezreen Shaik Daud, 33, toassist in gathering data and attempting to lowerthe social stigma associated with transgender.Hezreen admits to feeling nervous but is lookingforward to the challenge. She statesthat even when transgenders arequalified they are often turneddown because of his or her status.Teh announced the appointmenton Wednesday 10 July with topHezreenShaikDaudaims including accessibility tohealth care, to employment andequality in schools and hospitals.<strong>Polare</strong> page 13July-September 2013
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