Forster says her brother is a man with a lot of empathy, but very little understanding of the innate nature of a person's sexuality or gender identity.



"It’s my view that you cannot engineer a child into being transgender or homosexual. And it’s my experience. It’s not something that’s engineered. It’s something that’s inherent to a person," she told BuzzFeed News.



Forster said she's disappointed by the language used by politicians who have been critical of the program.

"I don’t think it’s helpful. It’s negative and unconstructive," she said. “It's because they’ve never experienced it themselves."

"Anyone who has never experienced being gay or being transgender - I can see where they’d perhaps stuggled to get their head around it - But that is people’s reality. You cannot engineer people to be transgender."

The Safe Schools program is doing "good, necessary work", she said.

"I’ve only heard anecdotally good things about the program.That it’s seeking to educate children about diversity and teach them about the very negative ramifications of bullying. That’s why I believe the program should continue to be funded."



Prime minister Malcolm Turnbull last week agreed to review the program after right-wing senator Cory Bernardi raised the issue in the coalition partyroom, saying it pursues a "marxist agenda of cultural relativism".

He's been backed by LNP MP George Christensen, who has linked the program to child grooming, and Labor senator Joe Bullock, who called the program "terrible".

Some MPs and religious activists have claimed the program contains instructions for "penis tucking and chest binding". It doesn't, but an organisation linked to the program does offer instructions for gender diverse children to do those things safely.

Abbott was contradicted by government whip Ewen Jones, who said people need to show more trust in teachers to deliver the Safe Schools lessons in the proper fashion.