Archive Article

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The Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby is the successor to the Gay Rights Lobby, which was formed in the late 70s and ceased to exist after the decriminalisation of male homosexuality in NSW in 1984. With the election of a Coalition Government in 1988 it was feared that the gains made would be lost. The current Lobby was formed at a public meeting in 1988 as a coalitionist-lobbying organisation. While the threat of re-criminalisation did not materialise, it was realised that lesbians and gays did not enjoy legal equality and continued to experience widespread discrimination and that an effective force in lobbying for our rights was needed. In the ten years since it was formed the Lobby has been most active in campaigning for legislative change and fighting discrimination in a variety of areas. In contrast to some early expectations, it has been involved in lobbying all political parties, independent members of parliament and many other groups.

The major work of the Lobby has been in the area of law reform. Most of this work is done behind the scenes. It tends to be labour intensive but rather unglamorous and includes lobbying individual Members of Parliament, letter writing, making submissions to inquiries and liaising between community and political groups. However, the Lobby is probably at its most visible during large rallies for law reform. In December 1992 thousands attended the “All I Want for Christmas Rally”.

This rally epitomised the Sydney gay and lesbian tradition of combining
activism with fun and entertainment. This was followed by three more rallies in 1993. (Who can forget standing outside Parliament House with thousands of poofs and dykes and our supporters in the pouring rain amid a sea of umbrellas and blowing whistles?) The result was the successful passage of homosexual and HIV/AIDS-related anti-vilification legislation in 1993.

Since this time, the Lobby has concentrated on the age of consent and recognition of relationships. The 1984 law reforms left NSW with an unequal age of consent - 18 for gay men and 16 for everyone else. For those who are under 18 or have underage partners, male homosexuality remains illegal. This was highlighted by the Police Royal Commission, which insisted in defining paedophilia by reference to the unequal age of consent. This resulted in a ludicrous situation where a 19 year old man having sex with a 17 year old man was defined as a paedophile by the Commission which then compounded its mistake by concentrating on homosexual activity. This was to the almost complete exclusion of common forms of sexual abuse. The Lobby coordinated the community response to the Royal Commission through

Commission Watch and following the Commission has campaigned for an equal age of consent. This campaign culminated in 1997 with ads in the gay and lesbian press and Sydney Morning Herald and another rally outside Parliament House when thousands again turned out to support change.
Perhaps the most glaring area of inequality was in the area of legal recognition of same sex relationships. Our relationships are viewed as insignificant and lacking legitimacy resulting in a range of practical problems for gay men and lesbians from difficulty visiting sick partners in hospital to accessing legal services in property disputes. When lesbians and gay men die without a will even quite remote relatives would take precedence over long term partners.The Lobby conducted community consultations on the best way to respond to these problems over some three years around two drafts of the discussion paper, The Bride Wore Pink. Intensive lobbying resulted in a promise of law reform being extracted from the Labor Party prior to the 1995 State election. When the government had still not gone ahead with this reform after three years, the Lobby finalised the government’s own draft bill which was then presented to the upper house by Democrat, Liz Kirkby on 24 June 1998. However, this Bill was not passed despite intense lobbying and
three large and memorable rallies in 1998 in support of law reform (these
included another freezing rain soaked Lobby special in June and the ‘Big Event’ - comedy with a political message which shook Parliament House in September).

The pressure was having an impact, however, with changes to workers compensation being made in December 1998. The Carr Government was returned in a landslide victory in March 1999 which changed the face of the Parliament and made progressive law reform more achievable. Almost immediately it moved on same sex relationships, introducing the Property (Relationships) Legislation Amendment Act into the Legislative Council on 13 May 1999 where it was passed by 37 votes to 3 on 26 May. It proceeded through the Legislative Assembly unopposed on 1 June. This legislation was based on that drafted by the Lobby and embodies the
recommendations of The Bride Wore Pink which was the blueprint for reform.

Visit theRelationships page for more information on relationships rights and the process of reform.

One of the most well known of Lobby projects is the Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project. In October 1988 the Lobby conducted the Streetwatch survey, which examined the incidence of violence against gay men and lesbians. The Streetwatch Report of 1990 led to the establishment of gay and lesbian liaison officers in the NSW Police Service and funding for the establishment of the Anti Violence Project in 1991.

The AVP’s mission is to eliminate hate-related violence against lesbians
and gay men. Its work in the wider community to change the attitudes which perpetrate violence has most recently been seen in the “Homophobia: What are you scared of?” campaign which helped young people take a stand against homophobia and won a Violence Protection Award in 1998. It is also continues the monitoring and research into violence which started with Streetwatch and provides individual services to survivors of violence.

The Lesbian and Gay Legal Advice Service is a project of the Lobby run out of and in conjunction with Inner City Legal Centre providing legal advice to gay men and lesbians through Inner City Legal Centre. Formerly known as the Legal Rights Services it has an important place in the history of the Lobby as it initiated important campaigns such as the successful campaign for recognition of relationships and was responsible for The Bride Wore Pink.

Individual assistance has been given in a variety of areas most related to legal inequality, discrimination and hate-related violence. Family and
relationships law continues to be a focus.

More detailed information about our achievements is available through ourannual reports.