Star of the Sex Party
ADAM KAMIEN, SEPTEMBER 4, 2013

Born male, Star, 37, moved to Australia via new Zealand from Belarus with her family when she was three. She grew up in a traditional household and was a student at Masada College in Sydney, but from a very young age Star knew she was different. As a youngster she was accepted by the girls at her school as one of them, but as she grew and developed she became increasingly isolated. She didn't fit in with the girls and was shunned by the boys.

At 24, Star went to Thailand for sex reassignment surgery, and her life began again in earnest...

She believes the way to counter the sort of prejudice she experienced as a child, which included a brick being thrown at her head, is to educate young people, something the ASP holds up as a key platform. "One of the main reasons the Sex Party is called the Sex Party is we want to destigmatise sex. We're not telling people who you should have sex with or who you shouldn't have sex with, but we want sex to be a topic that is openly talked about – openly, respectfully, without stigma, without shame.

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Vote 1 The Sex Party, Says Melissa Star
Melissa Star, September 1, 2013 10:11 am

Michael Danby, the ALP member for Melbourne Ports recently created two different how to vote cards to "respect a minority group, the Orthodox Jewish supporters, who [he believes] would not like to preference the Sex Party at number two."

I'm Melissa Star, the Sex Party's candidate for Melbourne Ports. I'm a Jewish woman with an Orthodox background and I was observant for many years. I'm a member of Shira Hadasha and spoke in shule on Friday night about why you should Vote 1 Sex Party in both the Lower House and the Senate.

The Sex Party is both economically responsible and socially progressive, and like Yesh Atid in Israel we'd like to increase the separation between religion and government...

One of the reasons we're called the "Sex Party" is to end the climate of silence, shame, stigma, and ignorance about sex and sex-related issues. Party president Fiona Patten played a key role in bringing about the Royal Commission into Child Sex Abuse. Part of the change we want to create is to institute an age appropriate sex education curriculum in every Australian school to make sure that our kids are safe.