Gaynor had previously applied to the Classification Board to have restrictions placed on a highly pornographic book aimed at children, but the board refused to take into consideration public submissions detailing the “pornographic” and “paedophilic” nature of the book. The federal court has ordered the classification board to review its decision of Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe. The original classification was unrestricted, with the consumer advice of “M – not recommended for readers under 15 years.” Gaynor’s barrister, Bret Walker SC, argued there was a “broadbrush dismissal” of submissions the board claimed were anti-LGBTQ+. Walker said many of them objected to what they saw as depicting a man having sex with a minor – referring to an image portraying Plato’s Symposium. Walker said many of those objections did not refer to the gender of the image’s subjects, just that it appeared to depict paedophilia. In his ruling quashing the board’s decision, Justice Ian Jackman agreed with Walker’s argument.
“The fundamental flaw in that submission is that, as I have said, the Review Board’s description of the public submissions overwhelmingly being ‘broadly anti-LGBTQIA+’ demonstrates that the review board ignored, overlooked or misunderstood those submissions,” he said. “In light of that finding, the review board’s view that the submissions contained little or no evidence that the writers had read the publication, understood the content within the context of the publication, or failed to demonstrate engagement with the publication also proceed from, and are infected by, the review board having ignored, overlooked or misunderstood the submissions.” Jackman ordered the previous classifications decision to be quashed, for the review board to reclassify the book, and for the government to pay Gaynor’s costs. Bernard Gaynor activated multitudes of people and got a great result. Pornographic and paedophilic material should never be freely available or promoted to minors in our country.
Source: Binary
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