Scarlet Alliance recognises the deep pain and anger in our communities following Queensland’s ban on gender-affirming healthcare for trans youth. This is a cruel, unscientific policy that has devastated hundreds of trans youth and their families. We stand firmly against it.
We acknowledge that our attendance at the Queensland World AIDS Day Parliamentary Breakfast has caused concern. This matters, and we want to be clear about who we are and what we stand for.
Our values and commitments:
Scarlet Alliance exists to advance the health and human rights of sex workers, and to challenge any government policies, legislation and practices that are discriminatory or fail to promote our rights and autonomy. Trans sex workers are at the heart of our movement: as members, leaders, and voices that shape our advocacy. We cannot and will not abandon the trans community.
We signed onto the Every Child Deserves Care open letter calling for the Queensland ban to be repealed. We will continue to amplify and share statements from allied organisations fighting this harm. Solidarity is a key value of Scarlet Alliance.
The World AIDS Day Parliamentary Breakfast:
Held annually, the 2025 World AIDS Day Parliamentary Breakfast was a community-led event hosted by Queensland Positive People, Queensland Council for LGBTI Health, 2 Spirits, QuIHN, QuIVVA, Respect Inc, and the Queensland LGBTIA+ Alliance; organisations representing people living with HIV, LGBTIA+ people, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTIQ+ Sistergirl and Brotherboy people, people who use drugs, and sex workers. The event is hosted by and for people living with HIV, and other communities affected by HIV. Each year representatives from both major political parties are invited to attend, speak and listen to a range of speakers representing the community organisations. This continues the bipartisan support for Australia’s response to HIV.
The HIV sector has long engaged across political lines to ensure our communities’ needs are represented to all governments, including those enacting harmful policies. We recognise this approach will not satisfy everyone, and we hold that tension seriously.
Our work against the coordinated anti-rights movement:
Beyond statements, Scarlet Alliance is actively engaged in countering the escalating attacks on trans rights and broader human rights. We recently participated in a cross-sector strategy convening organised by Australian Progress, bringing together advocates from feminist, sexual and reproductive health rights, LGBTIQ+, trans justice, democracy, racial justice, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander justice and climate movements.
The convening addressed the increasingly coordinated nature of the anti-rights movement in Australia, a movement that actively works against the recognition, protection and advancement of human rights. Anti-trans groups in Australia are often working in concert with campaigns against reproductive freedoms and sex worker rights.
Through the convening, Scarlet Alliance joined with other organisations to develop shared, cross-movement strategic pillars for countering this movement; recognising that the attacks on trans rights, reproductive healthcare, sex worker rights, and migrant and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander justice are interconnected elements of a single anti-rights agenda, not separate battles.
We will continue this work as central to our organising, recognising that sex worker liberation is inseparable from trans liberation, reproductive justice, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander sovereignty.
Closing:
We acknowledge that these are complex times. Not everyone will agree with every strategic choice we make. But our commitment to all sex workers and our interconnected liberation is unwavering. That commitment is written into our constitution, embedded in our values, and lived through our actions.
We remain in solidarity with trans people, their families, and all sex workers fighting for the right to safety, health, and justice.