Lot's Wife Edition 5 2015

POLITICS 9
"However, does the Labor Party just
support marriage equality and LGBTIQ
rights when it benefits them? "
Australia follows the USA’s lead in a number of decisions,
so this ruling is one of the most effective means of getting
through to our politicians, especially when our many, many
letters, phone calls and media campaigns have apparently
not gotten through to the conservative politicians.
The draft bill introduced in parliament on 1st June
proposed by Bill Shorten was likely a response of the
referendum in Ireland, and will make way for a new bill to be
introduced on 11th August.
This new bill will be brought forward by two Liberal MPs
who are working with independent and Labor MPs with the
support of Greens MPs.
This is a massive step forward for our nation and the first
time Liberal MPs have brought forward a bill in favour of
marriage equality.
It shows that Liberal MPs are in favour of legalising samesex
marriage.
The main thing standing in the way of this bill being
passed is Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
By not allowing a conscience vote on this bill, it is
impossible to pass this amendment.
High level members of his own party support marriage
equality. Among others, Malcom Turnbull has come out in
support of same-sex marriage, yet Abbott has remained firm.
Abbott recently stated that he was the only one left in his
family opposed to marriage equality, which could be a sign
that he may soften his position on this issue in the future.
But until then, this promising bill is doomed to fail.
Labor leader Bill Shorten is strongly in support of marriage
equality and has been for years.
He voted ‘yes’ for the 2012 bill and spoke in favour of samesex
marriage during an Australian Christian Lobby event.
But Labor, even with the Greens and the Independents
cannot pass this bill.
Even if Tony Abbott changes his staunch opposition to
marriage equality or at least allows a conscience vote, LGBTIQ
issues will not be over.
There are some concerned voices within the LGBTIQ
community about the aftermath of securing marriage
equality.
There are many other - arguably more serious - issues that
still need to be addressed and are often overshadowed by the
campaign for marriage equality.
LGBTIQ homelessness is a big issue, especially for
youths. Many have to move out while very young because of
unaccepting or abusive parents, so they end up on the street.
LGBTIQ youth have a much higher rate of homelessness
than the general public, but also find it harder to connect
to homelessness services due to real or perceived
discrimination thanks to 60 per cent of homelessness
services being run by religious organisations.
LGBTIQ people also experience a higher rate of mental
illness, especially depression and anxiety. There is a much
higher rate of suicide of queer youth; however, true figures
are not known due to ineffective data collection and closeted
queer people.
There are higher rates of physical and sexual violence
for LGBTIQ people with 50 per cent of bisexual women
experiencing sexual violence and an average life-span of
transwomen estimated at just 30-32 years old because of
hate crimes and high suicide rates.
Same-sex parent adoption rights are also another issue
that needs to be addressed. It is still illegal for a same-sex
couple in Victoria to adopt a child, although a single parent
can adopt.
There are issues around sterilisations and genital surgery
on intersex children and very few gender neutral bathrooms
available.
And many insults used every day by Australians are
offensive to queer people with the most common ones being
‘gay’ and ‘faggot.’
Many members of the LGBTIQ community, including
myself, are worried that important issues like this will be
lost in the euphoria of marriage rights and that particularly
straight allies will lose interest in fighting less glamorous
issues.
Marriage equality has been a contentious issue in Australia
for years with lot of strong opinions from all sides of debate.
Australians are becoming more accepting and supportive of
the marriage equality campaign with the number of straight
allies growing considerably in the last decade.
With most of the developed nations legalising same-sex
marriage and increasing international and local pressure
on politicians, many feel marriage equality in Australia is
inevitable, but there is still a lot of work to do before that will
happen and, even when it does, the fight for LGBTIQ rights is
not over.
If any of the issues discussed in this article
concern you contact:
BeyondBlue: 1300 22 4636
Qlife: qlife.org.au (LGBTIQ specific online chat and
information) 1800 184 527
Alternatively you can contact the MSA Queer Officers,
Viv Stewart and Jarvis Sparks:
msa-queer@monash.edu
Image Courtesy of: www.flickr.com/photos/nimal/