Greens pledge to create national LGBTI body
| 30 July 2010
The Greens have pledged to establish a federally-funded peak national body for LGBTI Australians.
Over four years $300,000 will be allocated to the proposed body, which is to be established within the Social Inclusion Portfolio to address law reform, health and well-being.
The initiative is part of a three-point plan, along with the reintroduction of Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young’s Marriage Equality Bill, and the inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity clauses in federal anti-discrimination law.
Launching the plan yesterday, Hanson-Young (pictured) told MCV that although the Gillard Government’s Social Inclusion Portfolio provides for people with disabilities, regional Australians and young people, amongst others, federal funding for a national LGBTI body continues to be ignored.
“The Greens are committed to working with the LGBTI community and the representative structure already in place to ensure the funding for this national organisation is directed to the most appropriate peak body,” Hanson-Young said.
“In doing so, we acknowledge that the LGBT Health Alliance are already undertaking many of these functions as a national sector peak and may be well placed to meet the organisation’s objectives.”
Hanson-Young was critical of Labor’s suicide prevention policy announcement, also made last week, saying the Gillard Government’s allocation of $276.9 million over four years was too little over too long a timeframe and did not specifically address the needs of the LGBTI community.
The Greens highlight marriage equality and relationship recognition, birth certificates and registrations, blood donations, health and aged care and a range of criminal codes as areas of LGBTI discrimination that perpetuate social exclusion.
Subscribe to this comment's feedwritten by David_Sale , August 02, 2010
Only in very recent history have people from our community been excluded from same-sex marriage. In the ACT, Federal Labor fought to have any marriage like ceremony excluded from Civil Union legislation. This was absurd.
Various types of same-sex marriages have existed, ranging from informal, unsanctioned relationships to highly ritualized unions.
In the southern Chinese province of Fujian, through the Ming dynasty period, females would bind themselves in contracts to younger females in elaborate ceremonies. Males also entered similar arrangements. This type of arrangement was also similar in ancient European history.
An example of egalitarian male domestic partnership from the early Zhou Dynasty period of China is recorded in the story of Pan Zhang & Wang Zhongxian. While the relationship was clearly approved by the wider community, and was compared to heterosexual marriage, it did not involve a religious ceremony binding the couple.
The first historical mention of the performance of same-sex marriages occurred during the early Roman Empire. For instance, Emperor Nero is said to have married one of his male slaves. Emperor Elagabalus married a Carian slave named Hierocles. While there is a consensus among modern historians that same-sex relationships existed in ancient Rome, the exact frequency and nature of same-sex unions during that period has been obscured. In 342 AD, Christian emperors Constantius II and Constans issued a law in the Theodosian Code (C. Th. 9.7.3) prohibiting same-sex marriage in Rome and ordering execution for those so married.
There have been a lot of lies put out by Penny Wong, Labor, and Christian Groups about the history of same-sex. If we are to use history as a guide, and the many cultures that had same-sex marriage, then we should be talking about bringing back same-sex marriage.
Jim Wallace at the Australian Christian Lobby has spoken about the internet filter blocking same-sex marriage websites. I hope this does not happen and the real history of our struggles through civilizations is not ignored and censored. Penny Wong, a practicing Christian who by her words attends Church on a regular basis, has been a big supporter of the Internet filter. I hope she does not tell lies about our history as she has done about same-sex marriage.
