As a gay man, I’m tired of Labor’s photo-op politics. So I quit!

It was a great photo op for Anthony Albanese and Penny Wong to walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge for World Pride. Or who can forget when the PM and the foreign affairs minister joined the Mardi Gras Parade with NSW Premier Chris Minns last year? But performative politics is easy; real and substantive change is more difficult.

The federal government has announced that it will not be including questions to identify the LGBTQ+ community in the 2026 census despite such a move being recommended by the Australian Bureau of Statistics and supported by the Actuaries Institute of Australia, among many others. This comes on top of the decision to exclude questions on ethnicity. Why are these groups being ostracised when it is well known that such information can help in the effective development of policy and planning, particularly regarding health?

Federal Labor has also reneged on its promise to deal with discrimination by religious schools against members of the LGBTQ+ community by deferring any consideration of this issue in the current parliament. We have teachers in religious schools at risk of immediate termination due to their sexuality and needing to mask their true identities.

In 2016, Labor promised to create an LGBTQ+ rights commissioner – this has also been relegated to the policy dustbin of history.

At the NSW state level, the Labor government keeps deferring the debate on an “equality bill” by independent MP Alex Greenwich which seeks to address all legislative barriers to LGBTQ+ health and wellbeing. Again, a promise made while in opposition is being kicked into the long grass.

In the aftermath of [former Labor] Senator Fatima Payman crossing the floor, a virtue was made of Penny Wong maintaining caucus solidarity over the marriage equality vote. But let’s not forget that marriage equality ended up being passed by the Turnbull Coalition government after the result of the same-sex marriage postal survey. This cannot be counted as a Labor success. Labor under Julia Gillard did not even allow a conscience vote on the issue.

This history of broken promises from Labor to the LGBTQ+ community, and the lack of real support for the community, means that I am stepping down from the party’s state executive board in NSW. I’m also reconsidering my membership of the ALP.

What’s driving this lack of ambition to support vulnerable groups? Of course, “tactical” and “small target” political considerations play a part, but currently, diversity beyond gender within Labor is accidental. It should be enshrined in the party rules.

A new Muslim parliamentarian who wears a hijab is celebrated as she should be, but we all saw what happened there. A gay minister gets married at a posh winery? Fabulous! But when it comes to fundamental issues in relation to minority communities, is Labor really committed to finding solutions?

The ALP’s affirmative action rules apply to gender only and have been incredibly successful. The party has introduced many gender-based policies including improved childcare, paid family leave and many other improvements.

With women now in the majority within government ranks, this is a natural outcome. However, when we look at the LGBTQ+ community, the culturally diverse and disability communities, the policy record is disappointing. There seems to be a lack of effective voices in the overwhelmingly white and straight caucuses at both the federal and NSW state levels. In my experience, there is often a fine line between tokenism and effective inclusion.

I have regularly been “the only gay in the village” within forums and on committees, and it is often incredibly difficult to speak up. What is worse is that often this view is rejected, and you are patronisingly told what you “should” be doing (and thinking) and that you should be grateful to have a seat at the table. In other words, “Shut the f--- up and listen to your superiors.”

I can only imagine what it can be like for a sole member of caucus from a minority group to speak up and then be dismissed and gaslit by the overwhelming majority.

Policies and activities which create photo opportunities and do not impact the rest of society seem to be the current dominant (and easy) Labor policy in respect of minority groups. The NSW government helping to fund a queer museum in the gaybourhood of Darlinghurst creates another “community” photo op. Marching in Mardi Gras or World Pride or turning up at multifaith, multiethnic functions are all very easy to do.

However, when the rubber hits the road for more substantive (and difficult) reforms to protect and support our communities, we hear crickets. This must change.

Mark Baxter is the founder and chair of Australian LGBTQ+ Board & Executive Inclusion and a former chair of the NSW Labor Audit & Risk Committee. He also served as an ALP state executive board member.