In response to John Howard’s election date announcement, the GLRL is calling upon and urging gays and lesbians to ensure that they are correctly enrolled to vote in the forthcoming federal election.

“Events this year have already demonstrated that this federal election is a crucial one for gay and lesbian equality”, said GLRL Convenor Rob McGrory. “The GLRL is working hard to ensure secure further commitments from major political parties on the issues important to our community.”

“Our community has endured for nearly 9 years a conservative government that has attacked our rights at every available opportunity. Unfortunately, the Labor opposition has not been as supportive of our community as we hoped. Now more than ever, our community needs to make its votes count,” said GLRL Convenor Somali Cerise.

“The first step in influencing the federal election, is to ensure that you are enrolled to vote so that you have the opportunity to stand up and make your voice heard at the ballot box”, continued Cerise.

“This is especially important for gays and lesbians who have recently turned 18 and those who have moved house. In some marginal electorates it can come down to a few votes and it these votes can be the difference between having someone in parliament who supports our rights and someone who doesn’t,” McGrory concluded.

Enrolment forms can be found at Australia Post offices or downloaded from the Electoral Commissions website, www.aec.gov.au.