April Holcombe: Last News

Hundreds of people rallied in the rain at Sydney’s Town Hall against the Religious Discrimination Bill on Saturday afternoon.Organised by the Community Action for Rainbow Rights (CARR), speakers included NSW Greens MP David Shoebridge, Sydney Girls High year 10 student Sumaya, and CARR’s co-convenor April Holcombe.Sumaya, who identified as a queer Muslim, rallied the crowd with a passionate call to action, saying, “the Bill means that queer people across all areas of public life must live in fear. At the very best, we hide who we are. At the very worst, we lose everything.”Holcombe spoke of the continuing threat of the Bill, which was indefinitely shelved by the government on Thursday. “It might have been shelved this week, but it is not dead.

After October’s protest against Mark Latham’s proposed Education Legislation Amendment (Parental Rights) Bill 2020 went ahead despite being banned by the Supreme Court, Community Action Or Rainbow Rights (CARR) is planning a second protest for this Saturday.Speaking to Star Observer, CARR Co-Convener April Holcombe said, “we have plenty of rainbow facemasks left and attendees are welcome to them, for a small donation where possible.” Holcombe also stated that “hand sanitiser will be provided and those with symptoms will be required to stay home.”Since the protest in October, NSW restrictions have now changed to allow up to 500 protestors to gather.

Yesterday’s protest against Mark Latham’s Education Amendment Bill, which would see the erasure of transgender and gender-diverse identities within the New South Wales school system, was prohibited by the NSW Supreme Court on October 9.The protest went ahead nevertheless.In correspondence with Star Observer April Holcombe, a representative of the organising group Community Action for Rainbow Rights (CARR), stated that the day was an overall success. Holcombe was positive after the day’s events, stating that the overall feeling was that “we had won this one.”There was a strong police presence at the event.