Kirby is joined by Sophie L'Estrange from Melbourne Activist Legal Support (MALS), a group of human rights advocates, lawyers, paralegals, and law students who advocate for people's right to protest. Besides researching and communicating people's rights in protest and activist contexts, MALS also provide legal observation services and analysis (including analyses of police tactics). One of the findings of this analysis is that police responses have shifted and become more heavy-handed over the years. Police are statistically more aggressive, disrespectful, and more likely to use heavy-handed tactics towards people of marginalised groups including queer, trans, and gender-diverse people who have the same rights and legal obligations as every other protestor.

In this conversation, Kirby and Sophie discuss further examples of police misconduct, people's rights, and the specificities of queer, trans, and gender-diverse protestor's experiences: what to do and what to expect when thinking of attending protests, considering risking arrest, and when interacting with police or in custody.

For more information and resources, head to Melbourne Activist Legal Support, Activist Rights, or Q+Law, a free legal service for and by LGBTIQA+SB people.

Photo credit: MALS Instagram