Victoria, Australia Makes Hate Speech Against LGBTQ+ Community Illegal
Victoria, Australia finally criminalizes anti-LGBTQ+ vilification-a long overdue legal shield for queer safety.
In a move that should feel standard by now but somehow still feels radical, the Australian state of Victoria has passed sweeping new legislation to protect LGBTQ+ people from hate-fueled harassment and violence explicitly. The law, passed in early April 2025, makes it a criminal offense to vilify someone based on their sexual orientation, gender identity, sex characteristics, or sex. Not going into effect until 2026, these protections up until now didn’t formally exist as offenses in Victoria’s criminal code.
Let that sink in: until this month, it was still legal to publicly incite hatred or violence toward someone for just existing as LGBTQ+ in one of Australia’s most progressive states.
Related: NYC Defiantly Counters Federal Attacks On Trans Rights With “Protect Trans Future Plan”
Under the new law, people who engage in this kind of abuse could face criminal penalties of up to five years in prison in the most serious cases. Before this, it was dismissed as ‘just opinions.’ This legislation draws a clear line in the sand that you can not weaponize speech against a marginalized group and call it ‘freedom.’ That’s not freedom; that’s a threat.
The change didn’t come out of nowhere. Lawmakers in Victoria say the law is a response to a rise in hate speech and the disturbing increase in the visibility of extremist groups. In recent years, anti-LGBTQ+ rallies and violent rhetoric have seen a spike, so the timing of the bill feels especially pointed, given global trends where LGTBQ+ rights are under legislative attack everywhere.
This law was written with input from civil rights experts to safeguard freedom of expression while also drawing legal boundaries around hate. It is the same protections already in place for vilification based on race and religion, so LGBTQ+ people will finally be covered under that same umbrella.
The law goes into effect on June 30, 2026, to give institutions “time to adjust,” though many LGBTQ+ advocacy groups in Victoria argue that this is already long overdue. Still, a win is a win. In a world that so often feels like it’s rolling backward, Victoria’s move is a push in the other direction—a line drawn and a wall built—not to keep people out but to keep people safe.
Related: The State Of Queer America 100 Days Into Trump: Where Do We Go From Here?
