Good Evening. This is ABC News. I'm Jefferson Dufflecoat.

ANZAC day was a solemn day of reflection in most parts of the country with marches commerating Australia's veterans held in most major centres around the country. The main focus however was on the major regional centres in Victoria of Mildura, Bendigo and Traralgon where their respective branches had announced bans on allowing transgender veterans from the Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan wars to march, drawing widespread condemnation from the community and from many of the politicians in Australia.

Despite the best efforts of politicians and the public alike, the bans in Regional Victoria remained in place and the marches continued without the trans veterans, with police deployed to stop protestors of the bans from clashing with members of the respective RSL's as they marched.

There was a concerted effort from many politicians to try and get the respective RSL's to overturn the ban, Newly elected MP for Nicholls model-slater was one of the many voices who supported the trans veterans, urging the RSL to reverse the ban in "A sign of extreme goodwill (..) and (to) reduce the division in the veteran community" while also reaching out to the veterans impacted by the bans expressing solidarity and great sympathy and concerns with the bans being imposed upon them.

The government were also quick to condemn the bans from both the RSL and sporting organisations. The Prime Minister SmugDemoness said the bans "speaks to a deep rooted issue of not only just transphobia but also of misogyny". Contrabanned said that they "always thought this country gave people a fair go" and that "Veterans are veterans, regardless of their gender identity" while RealBassist said that "Our country must stand together with the trans community and say with one voice "Enough"".

The Prime Minister also promised to look into reforms to help trans prisoners following the ABC News report that showed more than 90% of prisoners are not sent to the prison that complies with the gender they identify with and many are kept in solitary confinement.

Other states held off on bans despite the protests of some regional members, thanks mostly to the backlash of the Victorian RSL decision and the intervention of MP's before decisions were made.

In South Australia, Member for Mayo Slow-Passenger-1542 met with RSL leaders in Adelaide and expressed the belief that trans veterans should be allowed to march, pointing out that the RSL should not leave anyone behind and also called on the government to do more to help transgender prisoners and those suffering abuse by increasing housing stock and putting a cap on rent prices.

In the NT Lingiari MP Model-Jordology wrote to RSL members urging not to impose a ban on trans veterans in the NT while calling the bans in Victoria "disgusting" and saying that they 'Called into question the very reason the RSL was founded"

Jordology also called for calm given the plans for a gathering in Melbourne's Federation Square on Saturday to give thanks to the trans veterans affected by the bans in Regional Victoria that many law enforcement officers fear will turn into a protest against the treatment of trans people in Australia, saying that "Violence is never the answer and speaking of a "need to come together and find a solution so that all Australians feel respected and welcome in our country"

The planned gathering at Federation Square is still scheduled to go ahead Saturday Afternoon with up to a thousand people expected, however ABC News can reveal plans for a counter protest supporting the RSL bans, expected to be held on the steps of the Shrine of Rememberence in Melbourne.

The counter protestors have been buoyed by the words of Nicholls By-Election candidate model-s007, who slammed the Government's response in a scathing statement, saying the government was "steering the nation towards a reality where ideological conformity overshadows biological reality and historical context" and accused the Prime Minister of engaging in a "deliberate distortion that fuels division" as well as pushing a "neo-woke agenda".

Many counter protestors over social media lauded the comments, praising model-s007 for "being the only one unafraid to say what needed to be said" and that the people supporting the trans veterans would be "the first ones to surrender when the bullets started flying in any real war"

The veterans at the centre of the controversy, while disappointed at not being allowed to march and thankful for the response, supported the calls from model-jordology against turning the event into a protest, saying "no one of us wants anyone to be a martyr for us". Whether their pleas will be heard at this hour, remains to be seen.

This is ABC News.