"Bamboozled", the winner of TropFest Australia 22, claims to be making a statement about media and reality television. Matt Hardie also claims that the homophobic and transphobic influences are clearly "the baddies" in the film and that furthermore, there isn't actually even a transgender character.

We suggest that whatever point Mr. Hardie is trying to make is lost by making the struggles of gay and transgender individuals into a punchline. There are myriad ways that this critique could have been presented, without the explicit statement that being "caught" having sex with a transgender person or a person of the same sex is universally humiliating. Further, in using gay and transgender people to make this point, TropFest and Matt Hardie have grossly misrepresented the lives of gay and transgender people and are perpetuating damaging stereotypes.

The Sex Discrimination Act makes it unlawful to discriminate against and/or vilify someone on the basis of their sexuality, gender identity or intersex status. Regardless of whether this was Mr. Hardie's intent and whether TropFest and the judging panel intended to condone it, it is clear that this film has caused many people in Australia's GLBTIQ community to feel further marginalised and ridiculed.

We ask that TropFest to issue a public apology on its website and social media channels for the hurt and offense caused by the promotion of this film.

We also ask that Matt Hardie acknowledge and apologise for the hurt and damage caused by the misrepresentations in his film, regardless of his intent.

We would also like to see TropFest commit to developing greater levels of cultural awareness and sensitivity on an organisational level, with an undertaking to explore awareness building with community organisations such as Pride in Diversity.