ISSUE
2009:01 JUNE 2009
YOUR REGULAR UPDATE FROM GAY & LESBIAN EQUALITY (WA)
GALEForce Inside this issue The coming culture war?
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Perth Human Rights Consultation
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1 Aug 2009: National Day of Action
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New anti-homophobia website
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Get active
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TAKE ACTION Concerned about the rising tide of fundamentalism in the Liberal Party?
…plus a petition to Parliament, and more!
1. Read the article A PDF of Amanda O’Brien’s article is over at the GALE website: www.galewa.asn.au
2. Write to the Premier You can express your concerns to Premier Colin Barnett by email to: premier.barnett@dpc.wa.gov.au or by phone to 08 9222 9888 or by post to: The Hon. Colin Barnett Premier of Western Australia 24th Floor, 197 St Georges Tce Perth WA 6000
3. Contact your local MPs Check out the WA Parliament web to
The new Liberal culture warriors? By Rod Swift, GALE media spokesperson
During the 2008 state election, GLBTI advocates including GALE raised concerns about a looming threat To equality laws after the Liberal Party preselected a number of candidates with fundamentalist Christian backgrounds. Many of those candidates now sit as MPs in the Legislative Assembly. Next month, even more new MPs will join the parliament when the term of the new Legislative Council commences. Do these new politicians represent a real risk to gay and lesbian law reform? Just after the election, former Australian Democrats Senator Brian Greig wrote about the challenge faced by Premier Colin Barnett in keeping the theocrats and homophobes on his party's backbench at heel to maintain his fragile hold on government.
find your MLA and your six MLCs are: www.parliament.wa.gov.au Follow the link to “Members” and find out their contact details.
4. Stay informed Join the GALE Red Alert email list to stay informed of campaign actions: www.galewa.asn.au
That challenge will become difficult over the next few years when Premier Barnett's religious backbenchers flex their brand of so-called 'muscular Christianity'. An article by Amanda O'Brien in The Weekend Australian newspaper on 4 April 2009 – titled 'Church and state reunited' – details the coming balancing act Premier Barnett faces as moral issues like prostitution and drug laws return to parliament.
volunteer Albert Jacob in Ocean Reef, and Tony Krsticevic in Carine. Thirteen new lower house MPs were elected last year, and Ian Britza says nearly all of them hold similar views: "We do have a powerful bloc. We meet pretty regularly; we have a little debates among us so that when the time comes we are unified bloc or we know where we are at." The article also describes how these MPs were forced to support the recent passage of surrogacy laws, with Peter Abetz saying that they'll be prepared to fight back the next time a moral issue comes up. There are even more religious MPs entering the Legislative Council, like Nick Goiran in the South Metropolitan region. It is now clear that to protect equality in WA, our community must respond. Each and every one of us can start by writing to the Premier, and to these and other MPs, expressing our concerns and asking for a guarantee on gay rights. For more ideas and help on how you can make a difference, or to read the article from The Weekend Australian, check out the GALE website at www.galewa.asn.au. Also, a full list of MPs' contact details is available at the WA Parliament website.
The article details the background of some of these new Liberal MPs: religious pastor Peter Abetz in the seat of Southern River, former pastor Ian Britza in Morley, former church www.galewa .as n.au
Convenor’s report “... Barnett's porky
GALE co-convenor Kitty Hawkins discusses recent developments in GLBTI law reform… and what the future months holds.
HUMAN RIGHTS CONSULTATION VISITS PERTH On 12 May 2009, the Human Rights Consultation rolled into Perth. Despite over 60% of Australians supporting the creation of a Human Rights Act, we are yet to do so – therefore leaving Australia lagging behind other Western nations on having a comprehensive human rights framework. GALE attended both the morning and afternoon sessions of this particular consultation and ensure that GLBTI human rights were heard by this allimportant consultation process.
squarely in the GLBTI naughtycorner, and unfortunately it doesn't seem like he'll be the only homophobic in the village...”
GALE will be shortly launching a number of campaigns and lobbying the government to address issues affecting same-sex attracted and transgendered people in both State and Federal law, particularly in relation to civil unions, same-sex marriage and discrimination within religious organisations.
Readers will be pleased to know that equal rights for GLBTI people and their families were high on the agenda for the majority of the participants.
Along with these campaigns, we will be keeping a close eye fixed upon our politicians – both local and interstate – with the regular GALE political watchdog and community focus column that you can find in Out in Perth.
You can also check out the Freedom Centre's campaign, 'Faces For Freedom', for an opportunity to make a fun, photographic submission to the Human Rights Consultation.
Now that the conservative WA government is officially in power, there are legitimate concerns about the Barnett Government's attitude towards GLBTI equality.
More information is at the Consultation’s website at:
In 2005, Premier Colin Barnett pledged to raise the age of consent for homosexual males.
humanrightsconsultation.gov.au
pies put him
During the 2008 State Election, he was caught out denying the policy ever existed. Barnett's porky pies put him squarely in the GLBTI naughty-corner, and unfortunately it doesn't seem like he'll be the only homophobic in the village from here on in. The new Minister for Child Protection and Women's Interests, Robyn McSweeney, previously made very thinly-veiled comparisons between paedophilia and homosexual sex. And Rob Johnson, the new Police Minister, referred to the Pride Parade as 'an opportunity for homosexual predators to persuade young people to adopt the homosexual way of life'. Graham Jacobs, the Minister for Mental Health, has a track record of being anti-gay and now has the power to potentially cut the funding to GLBTI community groups such as GLCS. Worrying? Definitely.
On a more positive note, it looks as though the Federal Government has committed $300,000 to NGOs to educate the GLBTI community about the implications that the Federal reforms, due to come in on 1 July 2009, will have on services such as Centrelink for same-sex partners and their families. However, so far funding has only been allocated to organisations dedicated to HIV/AIDS and GLBTI health issues. Confused? So are we. The Australian Bureau of Statistics have also announced that the 2011 census will count marriages between samesex couples. Unfortunately, this is the only recognition of couples have been married overseas in countries that allow same-sex marriages. Still, it's a start. — Kitty Hawkins kitty@galewa.asn.au
Coming up: Marriage NDA — get involved! ONLINE LINKS
On Twitter? See our tweets... If you’re the
BREAKING NEWS: Majority of West Aussies support GLBTI marriage A Galaxy Poll released in mid-June has found 59% of Western Australians support same-sex couples being able to marry under Australian law. So why is it that the Federal Government is still supporting a viewpoint only being held by a minority in the community? In the lead up to the fifth anniversary of the ban on
same-sex marriage, WA’s GLBTI community and activist groups will be joining forces to plan the annual National Day of Action against the ban, in August 2009. The Perth event will be one of a series of protest actions right across Australia and we are seeking supporters to help us participate in this day of protest and send a clear message to the Rudd Government that the ban on same-sex marriages is not
supported by the majority of Australians. More details of the protest's location and date will be available from our website at www.galewa.asn.au soon, so keep checking back for more information. If you'd like to get involved in organising the event, please contact Kitty Hawkins on 0414 13 37 37, or by e-mail to kitty@galewa.asn.au
Anti-homophobia website launched for IDAHO Celebrating the International Day Against Homophobia on 17 May 2009, a new web site was launched to publish the faces of people affected by homophobia. The new website at www.stophomophobiatoday.com features pictures of celebrities and everyday individuals who have uploaded photos of themselves with their message of tolerance and acceptance. Long-time GALE supporters Kelly and Sam Pilgrim-Byrne, and their daughter Charlotte, sent in this picture. Check out the website for many more.
technological type, then you can now follow GALE using our official Twitter feed. Just follow the user 'galewa' and you'll be kept informed of coming events, GLBTI news headlines as well as updates to our website. www.twitter.com/galewa
On Facebook? Link up with us... If you’re into the Facebook craze, you can also link up with other GALE supporters at our group’s page. Facebook links are annoyingly long to type in, so we shortened it. Just surf the web to this link to join up. bit.ly/galewafacebook
Some things you can do for GLBTI equality... • Join GALE or donate some time or money to help our work. A membership and donation form is attached to this newsletter. Your membership and donation helps fund GALE’s work and keeps you informed. Consider donating some time to help with keeping equality.
Get Active: Here's a quick list of some of the things you can do right now to help win and protect GLBTI human rights in WA.
• Spread the word about fundamentalism in WA’s parliament. See page 1 for details of the rise of religious fundamentalists in the Liberal Party, and the risk to GLBTI human rights. Talk with your friends and family and encourage them to write in too. You might even want to give them a copy of this newsletter. • Collect signatures for the petition calling for de facto certification. A copy of our petition is attached asking the WA Parliament to consider a registry and certificate for de factos (i.e. civil unions). Please help us by getting your friends, family and work colleagues to sign up, then send it in to us. • Come help us protest the marriage ban. See page 3 for more details of the National Day of Action in August.
GALEForce Issue 2009:01 June
PO Box 420 Northbridge WA 6865 www.galewa.asn.au
MEMBERSHIP AND DONATION FORM
PO Box 420 Northbridge WA 6865 www.galewa.asn.au
Your details: Name(s):
_______________________________________________________
Postal Address: _______________________________________________________ Home Telephone: ________________
Mobile Telephone: __________________
Email Address: _______________________________________________________ I would like to:
receive activist alerts by email volunteer time to GALE events take part in GALE project work
Membership Type:
Donation Amount:
Organisations -- $50 Couple Members -- $30 Standard Member -- $20 Unwaged Member -- $10
Platinum Donor -- $1000 Gold Donor -- $500 Silver Donor -- $250 Bronze Donor -- $100 Other Donation -- $________
Payment Method:
Direct Deposit Money Order
Cheque Cash
Direct Deposit: Now you can pay your membership or make a donation directly to GALE using direct deposit from your financial institution. Contact rsvp@galewa.asn.au for more information. The Cheque and Money Orders: Please make cheques and money orders payable to Gay and Lesbian Equality (WA) Inc.
Send your completed forms to: Gay and Lesbian Equality (WA) Inc PO Box 420 Northbridge WA 6865
PETITION PETITION IN RELATION TO DE FACTO RELATIONSHIP REGISTRATION AND CERTIFICATION To the President and Members of the Legislative Council of the Parliament of Western Australia, in Parliament assembled. We, the undersigned residents of Western Australia, acknowledge that law reforms enacted by the Western Australian Parliament has allowed both same-sex and opposite-sex de facto couples to now be treated similar to married couples under WA law. Whereas couples married under the Marriage Act 1961 (Commonwealth) are entered into a registry and thence issues with a certificate, de facto couples are not able to access a similar registry under WA law and hence have no certificate to prove that their relationship exists. Your petitioners therefore respectfully request the Legislative Council to support the enactment of further law reforms to create a registration and certification scheme for de facto couples in WA law. Full Name
Full Address
Signature
Please return this petition to Gay and Lesbian Equality (WA) Inc., PO Box 420, Northbridge WA 6865. This petition must not be altered and only original signatures are permitted. Faxed copies of signatures cannot be accepted.