Courtney Act has responded after a Senator called her out for reading a children’s book about a girl wearing pants in an episode of Play School, and accused the show of grooming children.

‘The program was rated G and has been heavily promoted on TV and on the app. Why is the ABC grooming children with this sort of adult content?” Senator Antic asked about the clip.

After an argument with the opposition, he added: “Cross-dressing. Let me ask you this, does ABC agree that transgender or cross-dressing are adult concepts?”

It is amazing what triggers a response. The truth. The truth that the ABC is grooming our children.”

Last night, Courtney Act responded to the accusations during an appearance on The Project, saying she was shocked.

“I was actually at a 10-day silent meditation retreat when all of this went down,” she said. “And you hand in your phone, have no contact with the outside world and you always wonder when you’re in there, what’s going on in the outside world? Have I been cancelled?” She asked.

Act continued, “I came out to learn this news and I was in the perfect place to sort of receive that ’cause I’d been meditating and feeling my sensations on my body for the last 10 days and I was really taken aback that I would be accused of such a thing ’cause grooming is really serious, right?

“Like, grooming is the act of an abuser, manipulating a child so they can sexually abuse them. It’s really a serious thing.

“And to use terms of abuse when no abuse is actually happening really takes away from the occasions when it is happening. And you know, I’m on television, reading a children’s book. There was nothing untoward about it. I – yeah, it was really quite a shocking thing to be accused of.”

Act questioned why the senator was upset about the female character wearing pants and suggested he was offended because it was her reading the book.

“We have all agreed women can wear pants – it felt a very peculiar thing for him to zoom in on. I think it was probably more to do with the fact that it was me reading the book.

“I think the reason that is – and the reason the term grooming was used – is because somebody like Senator Antic might see my identity as sexualised and there’s this idea that who I am is inherently sexual.

“And I think the reason behind that is the thing that makes me maybe different from him is my sex life, who I have sex with, and because I’m attracted to men and I’m a male person who’s attracted to men, that sort of reduces my whole identity just down to who I have sex with.”

Act stood by her decision to read the book, and said that she was simply reading an innocent book to children, without any underlying motives.

“Obviously I’m much more than just that, and I think that he – him viewing me as inherently sexual is probably the place where we get a bit off track because – you know, all sorts of performers – you know, he’s married with a kid so he’s obviously had sex at some point in his life.

“But obviously we know what’s appropriate in different circumstances. In that circumstance I think what I was doing was completely appropriate. Kids just see colour and sparkles and fun. They’re not sexualising me. That’s something the adults do.”

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