Convenors’ Report
A year of lobbying: a Committee member's perspective
Mardi Gras Developments
DISCRMN8
INVSBLE CRMNL16
Pride Week 2002
Farewells & Thanks
THE LOBBY TEAM
Female Convenor
Somali Ghosh
Male Convenor
Andrew Picklesi
Secretary
Suzy Tay
Treasurer
Luke Gahan
Committee Members
Nikki Maloney
Anthony Powell
Shane Garland
Grant Colquhoun
Paula O'Sullivan
David Scamell
Matthew Baird
Amanda Millar
Robert McGrory
Luca Balboni
Jenni Millbank
To Contact Us:
Phone: 02 9360 6650
Fax: 9331 7963
glrl@glrl.org.au
NEWSLETTER: September 2002 |
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DISCRMN8 INVSBLE CRMNL16
The introduction of the long delayed "Missing Pieces" legislation, somewhat overstated in the community media as "Equal Rights" when announced in May, has now been delayed yet again because the government claims they have "run out of time" during the budget session of Parliament. It is important to note that, even if/when passed, the "Missing Pieces" legislation will leave its own "missing pieces". These will be in areas such as exemptions from anti-discrimination laws by religious institutions. In addition, the Government's foot dragging, even at this late stage, on fairly uncontroversial legislation, illustrates the importance of the Lobby's role as pressure group and the need for continued community pressure on Parliamentarians for the implementation of reforms.
In response to the "missing pieces" and other areas needing
reform, the Lobby's "NSW - THE LAST STATE" pre-election campaign
is gearing up. A series of hard-hitting postcards and posters, featuring
some very realistic mock NSW licence plates, have now hit the streets,
thanks to some great work by volunteer Luca Balboni and the Lobby Committee's
Shane Garland.
The first in the series - "DSCRMN8" - which can be viewed at
www.glrl.org.au, highlights general discrimination against gay men and
lesbians. There are now two new additions: "INVSBL" which focuses
on the State's laws that still discriminate against lesbian and gay parents
and their children, and "CRMNL-16" which points to the unequal
age of consent for young gay men.
Postcards are available from various venues and stores in gay/lesbian friendly neighbourhoods. If you have trouble locating them, particularly if you are located outside central Sydney or are part of a community organisation requiring large numbers of cards, please send an email message with your mailing address and the numbers required to glrl@glrl.org.au or phone 02 9360 6650.
There's been an encouraging response by the community so far to the campaign, with over 200 postcards reported to have been sent to Premier Bob Carr's office by the end of July. However, it's vitally important that we get as many of our friends, family members and colleagues, as possible to mail them in, so that a strong message is delivered to the Premier and his Government that our community and, indeed, the larger NSW community, will no longer tolerate apartheid-like laws.
Particularly significant is the age of consent campaign, following controversy earlier in the year spurred by the Heffernan affair and the unfortunate political opportunism of a small element in the ALP in reacting to the election of the pro-age of consent reform Liberal leader John Brogden. With statements of in-principle support for reform by both Brogden and Carr, and the overwhelming evidence of harm caused by an unequal age of consent (as identified in the Age of Consent and Gay Men in New South Wales report, produced for the Lobby, by the University of NSW School of Social Work's Richard Roberts and Peter Maplestsone) the window for change is open a little wider.
There has also been a positive development with combined statements made in July to the Sydney Star Observer by leaders of the youth wings of three major political parties. All have strongly supported equalising the age of consent in NSW. Young Democrats national president, Matthew Bogunovich, Young Labor NSW vice-president, Ryan Heath, and Young Liberal Movement NSW vice-president, Simon Moore, who all identify as gay, stressed that age of consent reform is an issue on which they have the overwhelming support of their young membership.
Two private members bills to equalise the age of consent are still on the parliamentary agenda. The Lobby is maintaining it's ongoing contact with both members: Labor's Jan Burnswoods and the Democrats' Arthur Chesterfield-Evans, as well as hardworking Parliamentary supporters of equality, the Greens' Lee Rhiannon and Independent member for Bligh, Clover Moore, and other strategic MLCs.
The struggle for gay and lesbian rights received a boost in July with the awarding of a $13 000 grant from the Law and Justice Foundation of NSW towards the next phase of the lesbian and gay parenting campaign. The money will be used to produce a document designed to follow up on our two previous reports. Those showed that although gay and lesbian family environments are as good as, if not better than, heterosexual versions, significant discrimination is being experienced by our families. It is expected that the proposed report will help the Lobby identify law reform options to present to the Government.
Despite these signs of progress, the present harsh reality is that in the last parliamentary session before a State election campaign, politicians are likely to do anything they can to avoid issues that they see as potentially damaging, no matter how absurd and unfair the status quo. This is why it is so important right now that as many of us (and our contacts) as possible let those in Parliament know, by sending a postcard, letter, or fax, or making a phone call, that equality for all is an election issue.
NSW will continue to be "The Last State" until our politicians of all persuasions have the courage to legislate comprehensively against sexuality-based discrimination and to support social reforms in this area. The Lobby appreciates the support of all of its members as we continue the fight to achieve this goal.
Contacts for the two Bobs:
Bob Carr
Ph: 02 9228 5239
Fax: 02 9281 1115
Email: bobcarr@www.nsw.gov.au
Bob Debus
Ph: 02 9228 8188
Fax: 02 9281 1115
Email: minister@min.epa.nsw.gov.au