THE world’s first intersex mayor, Tony Briffa, says she has obtained an intervention order against a man who has been stalking her for more than a year.
Councillor Briffa said she feared for her safety after receiving threatening and homophobic calls to her mobile and office phones for 18 months from August 2011, when she was the mayor of Hobsons Bay City Council in Melbourne’s west.
”The community are very supportive of me, sadly it’s just this one individual who’s really got a gripe. It’s just gone to the extreme,” the councillor said.
The man continued calling Cr Briffa, who identifies as both a man and a woman, last week while she was promoting Hobsons Bay events to celebrate the gay and lesbian Midsumma Festival.
”It’s frustrating and disappointing, but I’m glad Victoria Police assisted me in getting this intervention order. I’m glad the court decision went the right way for me.
”I want to use this to [demonstrate] that there are things the community can do if they experience homophobia.”
The order makes it unlawful for the man to contact Cr Briffa in a number of ways, including stalking, harassing, attempting to locate and follow her and publishing anything online about her.
It requires him to remain 200 metres away from her home or workplace.
He reportedly wrote abusive messages on the councillor’s official Facebook page, threatened to ”get” her and told her to look over her shoulder.
Despite her request to him to stop, the man continued to call Cr Briffa and her staff, ”purely because of my genetic intersex condition, sexual orientation and gender identity”.
”His calls were so abusive I felt unsafe at council meetings and public events during my term as mayor.”
The man is expected to contest the order at the Sunshine Magistrates’ Court in April.
