Peak LGBTIQA+ body calls for anti-vilification laws after queerphobic flyers distributed in letterboxes

The State Government is under pressure to introduce sexual vilification laws after a series of shocking queerphobic flyers began circulating in letterboxes across Perth’s CBD.

The flyers have been placed in dozens of letterboxes across several suburbs — including Victoria Park, West Perth, Highgate and Maylands — for over a year, and feature photographs of different members of Perth’s LGBTIQA+ community.

The flyers make reference to the queerphobic stereotype that LGBTIQA+ people are paedophiles who poison people.

In one of the flyers, the person photographed is accused of poisoning people — including children — they had met on dating apps.

“(The person) surfs Perth gay apps looking for drug users to poison them with a chemical the LGBTI group calls ‘perfume,’” the flyer reads.

Another flyer alleges the person photographed was trafficked to Perth by a Taiwanese crime syndicate”.

“(They’re) called Daddy D... because of his large genitalia,” the flyer reads. “Say no to human trafficking.”

Misty Farquhar, chief executive of peak LGBTQIA+ advisory body Rainbow Futures WA said the flyers were a form of hate speech because they were targeting people “purely on the basis of their sexuality”.

“They are targeting LGBTIQA+ community members and potentially outing them to their local communities in deceitful ways,” they told The Sunday Times.

“A lot of (the flyers) are accusing people of being criminals in sexual ways . . . accusing them of being paedophiles or being other kids of sexual predators when they are based on nothing.”

One Maylands recipient — who did not want to be identified due to safety concerns — said they originally thought the flyer was a “bad prank taken too far”, but quickly realised it was not a joke.

“I felt angry, alarmed (and) disgusted, but almost in disbelief at what I’m seeing,” the 38-year-old said.

“The individual on this flyer has been targeted and named, so I am, and still am, concerned for their well-being as well as their reputation and safety of the community overall as there seems to be a growing number of incidents like these.

“I worry that these flyers might just seem petty to some, because beyond humiliating specific victims, they have the potential to inflict real damage on a wider scale.”

A WA Police spokesperson confirmed no charges had been laid over the incident.

“We acknowledge and appreciate community support in providing information relating to criminal offences as this is an essential element of our ability to identify and disrupt criminal activity,” the spokesperson said.

Just last month Federal Parliament passed new hate speech laws which criminalised the promotion or incitement of racial or religious hatred.

But Dr Farquhar said the laws did not apply to hate speech targeting sexual orientation or gender identity.

“We only have anti-vilification laws on the basis of race, but no other kind of identity,” they said.

“If somebody was putting the flyers out on the basis of a person’s race, then they could be convicted but they can’t in this way.”

The WA Government is currently in the process of overhauling its Equal Opportunity Act, which would prohibit vilification based on religion, race, sexual orientation or gender identity.

But Dr Farquhar urged the State Government to expand its anti-vilification laws “as soon as possible”.

“Increasingly, we’re seeing people in WA are feeling more and more unsafe, not just in the LGBTIQA+ community but (also) ... people at the intersections of queerness and First Nations communities,” they said.

“There is just this brashness around hate at the moment, and it makes us really scared.

“We know that the government is has been promising to update the Equal Opportunity Act for a long time, and recently they did a consultation around expanding hate crime laws here, which would be amazing.

“I would now very strongly encourage the government to move forward with that ... because we have a hate crimes unit, but they can’t make convictions because there is no law that supports hate speech against our communities.”

Attorney-General Tony Buti said he was aware of the flyers and was “appalled” by their content, and assured the WA Government would introduce new Equal Opportunity legislation very soon.

“It would be a matter for WA Police to investigate the facts of each matter,” he said.

“Various Criminal Code offences could apply, including distributing intimate images.

“The Government is considering the recommendations of the Law Reform Commission of WA and the Disability Royal Commission to expand the scope of existing anti-vilification provisions.

“The Government will also soon be introducing new Equal Opportunity legislation which will improve civil protections relating to vilification and harassment.”