Minister for Climate Change, Energy, Environment, and Heritage, Penny Sharpe, was in town for official Trades Hall business this week but was happy to share her thoughts about the Broken Heel festival and her support for current gender-affirming medical procedures for people under 18 years of age.
Self-confessed Broken Heel Festival regular, Minister Penny Sharpe, acknowledged the importance of festivals that promote diversity and inclusion in regional communities.
“Broken Heel is one of those fantastic events on the NSW calendar that brings a huge amount of tourism to town with such a great feeling of diversity and inclusion – this is the fourth time that I’ve been here,” said Ms Sharpe.
“Watching the parade today, you could tell everyone was very excited, so congratulations to Esther and everyone at the Palace for the work they do,” said the Minister.
Having served as Shadow Minister for Family and Community Services, Minister Sharpe has a long history working on political policies around children (including rights and out-of-homecare), human rights, LGBT (lesbian, gay,, bisexual and transgender) policies and more.
Given recent media attention on internal conflict around gender-affirming care at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead in Sydney, we asked Minister Sharpe about her views around current gender-affirming medical procedures for young people under 18 years of age, which includes double mastectomies (known as top-surgery) for girls, and medications to block children from going through puberty, known as puberty blockers.
“I think the point here is that kids need to be supported and loved for whoever they are and however they are, and they need to work closely with medical professionals and their parents as they’re finding their way through life,” said the Minister.
“The main message that I want to send to young people is that they’re perfect exactly the way they are, and events like this give them some hope that they can be included.”
