Privileging prejudice: the threat and opportunity posed by the movement for 'religious freedom'

With the help of sections of the media, the No campaign made Catholic Archbishop, Julian Porteous, an innocent victim of a hate speech complaint despite a ruling that there was substance to the complaint, despite him having to do no more than attend a conciliation session, and despite the complaint being dropped.

The No campaign relentlessly attacked Safe Schools for promoting "gender fluidity" despite clear evidence young transgender people are some of the most vulnerable members of the community, and despite the Safe Schools program improving educational outcomes.

The No campaign relentlessly pushed for "religious freedom" protections in marriage equality legislation allowing same-sex couples to be discriminated against ands refused services.

This push that was partly successful when Parliament agreed to allow civil celebrants with religious beliefs and commercial services with links to a faith, to refuse services to same-sex couples.

At the time, it was assumed the No case's postal survey strategy of focusing on religious freedom was about diverting attention from the main issue, which they singularly failed to do.

But if, as it now seems, their goal was to set up a new religious freedom narrative to roll-back LGBTI rights after marriage equality was achieved, the postal survey was a win for them.

A setback for the "religious freedom" movement came with last year's release of the report of the religious freedom inquiry set up by Malcolm Turnbull after the postal survey and chaired by Philip Ruddock.

It found there is no actual threat to religious freedom in Australia. By highlighting existing anti-discrimination exemptions for faith-linked organisations, the Ruddock report also sparked a push to remove exemptions in national discrimination law that allow faith-linked schools to expel LGBTI students and sack LGBTI teachers.

Outrage at such exemptions should come as no surprise. Successive polls, including one by YouGov in May last year, have shown around 80% of Australians oppose exemptions allowing LGBTI students and teachers to be discriminated against by faith-based schools.

But the strategy of the religious freedom movement, and the broader religious right, is no longer to win over the majority of Australians.

It has retreated from its former claim to represent "the silent majority" and now focusses on "the silenced minority".

The "religious freedom election" and a Religious Freedom Act