The City of Armadale recently decided to recognise LGBTQIA+ people in their latest five-year strategy, with a policy now part of the plan to mandate inclusive language in official communications, including pronouns, and to promote public events as welcoming to members of said community.
The matter was discussed in the Ordinary Council Meeting on Monday night, with councillors offering differing opinions on the subject.
A letter-writing campaign had occurred beforehand that urged councillors present to reconsider voting in favour of the changes.
In support was councillor Paul Heatherington, who spoke in favour of the new strategy.
“I rise in support of the inclusion of LGBTQIA+ people within the City of Armadale’s Community Development Strategy. I want to begin by making something very clear. When I was elected to represent the City of Armadale, and I say this often, I was elected to represent all the people of the city, not some of them,” he said.
“This strategy is built around some very important principles, those being empowerment, inclusion, social justice and community-led action. It’s about understanding the aspirations and needs of our residents, looking at evidence, listening to our community and responding appropriately. The inclusion of LGBTQIA+ people is consistent with that approach.”
Deputy Mayor John Keogh, on the other hand, raised concerns on aspects of the strategy and requested that a workshop be held to allow councillors and staff to familiarise themselves with the changes prior to implementation.
Councillor Kerry Busby was not in favour of the proposal. Describing himself as a man of faith, he said he believed every person deserves respect and dignity. Nonetheless, Mr Busby felt the proposal had not had enough time to be properly examined and considered.
“I’ve never been made aware in my fifteen years on council in the City of Armadale that anyone in the group discussed has not been respected, treated right, included, or excluded from our events, facilities or sporting clubs. I’ve never been made aware it’s an issue,” he said.
“I was actually surprised it became such a large part of our new strategy. I’ve got questions about using correct language and pronouns in communications. How does that affect our staff? How does that affect council? How does that affect the community?”
Councillor Busby implored the other councillors to vote against the implementation of the strategy to allow for further discussion and consideration.
Ultimately, the strategy was passed, with eight councillors voting in favour and five voting against.
Councillors Sarah Stoneham, Paul Hetherington, Michelle Silver, Caroline Wielinga, Shanavas Peter, Laurie Sargeson, Kris Jorgensen and Mayor Ruth Butterfield voted in support of the strategy. Councillors Daniel Newman, Armit Singh, Gary Smith, Kerry Busby and Deputy Mayor John Keogh voted against it.
Councillors Scott Mosey and Tony Thomas were absent from the meeting.
