NSW Liberal candidate described campaign supporting LGBT youth as ‘grooming tactic’ used by ‘gender extremists’

The Liberal party candidate in Warringah, Katherine Deves, described Wear it Purple Day - a day billed as celebrating diversity - as a "grooming tactic" promoting "extreme body modification" on a now-deleted website.

On the now-deleted website, seen by Guardian Australia, she also suggested a young boy could ask to "remove his penis" after attending a respectful relationships workshop at school.

These comments follow news on Wednesday that Deves had also deleted social media accounts on which she described trans children as "surgically mutilated and sterilised".

Deves, who Scott Morrison lauded as standing up for "common sense" when asked to comment on her advocacy for banning trans women from competing in women's sport this week, was handpicked to run in Warringah despite joining the Liberal party a few months before the election.

While Deves' campaign bio labels her as a "women's advocate", posts from her now-deleted website reveals a series of inflammatory posts about trans people, including one article in which she repeatedly misgenders New Zealand trans weightlifter Laurel Hubbard.

The posts, published last year, also criticise the New South Wales police for taking part in Wear it Purple Day, a decade-old advocacy event aiming to reduce bullying and youth suicide by celebrating "diversity and inclusion" raising "awareness about sexuality, sex and gender identity" and challenging "harmful social cultures".

The event has been adopted by police in both NSW and Queensland who wear purple uniforms. In 2019, NSW police said officers taking part in the event were "spreading the simple message that 'you have the right to be proud of who you are'."