今日吃瓜

LIBERAL MPs in Western Australia have renewed attacks against Safe Schools ahead of this weekend鈥檚 state election, making claims about the program that many advocates have dispelled as inaccurate.

While Labor and the Greens have both promised to fund the anti-bullying and pro-LGBTI program if elected, the Liberal party has said it will not if elected to a third term in government.

Liberal member Joe Francis posted a video to Facebook earlier this week deriding Safe Schools, stating that nothing is more important than the future of young children.

鈥淚 will never accept Labor鈥檚 proposal to use your money to fund the so-called Safe Schools program, which is anything but safe,鈥� he said.

鈥淚鈥檒l never accept it鈥檚 okay to tell a child as young as four that they can choose and change their gender on a daily basis.鈥�

Despite Francis鈥檚 claims that the program would teach four-year-old children about gender theory, the program has only ever been rolled out in high schools in Western Australia.

In a report by , Chief Executive of the WA AIDS Council Andrew Burry said the program is聽an important resource for teachers.the

鈥淭he Safe Schools program is simply professional development for teachers and allied staff and is implemented at schools, only through consultation with their parent body,鈥� he said.

A spokesperson for the National Office of the Safe Schools program also discounted the claims made by Francis, saying that none of the program鈥檚 approved resources suggest that gender can change daily.

鈥淸Safe Schools] continues to support secondary schools as its main focus. We also respond to requests from primary school educators for assistance such as support, advice, and staff training in meeting the needs of their students and school communities,鈥� they said.

Despite Francis鈥� claims being dispelled, fellow Liberal member Peter Abetz similarly posted a video to Facebook denouncing the Safe Schools program and the funding the Labor party intends to push into it.

鈥淸Labor leader] Mark McGowan is going to give money to a group to push radical gender ideology into our schools,鈥� he said.

Abetz then highlighted The Gender Fairy, a trans-inclusive children鈥檚 book penned by author and trans advocate Jo Hirst, calling it 鈥榥onsense鈥�.

鈥淎s a father, I know that it鈥檚 nonsense,鈥� he said.

鈥淏ecause our gender is determined by our biology.

鈥淟abor are intent in pushing this nonsense into our schools at the expense of our children.鈥�

While the video lends much time to Abetz deriding Hirst鈥檚 book, The Gender Fairy is in fact not a Safe Schools resource.

Hirst took to Twitter to defend both her book and the Safe Schools program.

https://twitter.com/thegenderfairy1/status/839945908250779649

鈥�The Gender Fairy is not a Safe School鈥檚 resource,鈥� she wrote.

鈥淭rans kids are normal, and some are four years old.鈥�

The planned funding and continuation of Safe Schools will be a major election issue facing LGBTI people in Western Australia. If elected the Labor party will use $1.4 million in funding towards the program over the next four years.

The 2017 Western Australian state election is scheduled for Saturday.