Tag: gay australia

2 out of 3 LGBTI Australian young people still experience bullying in 2014

A new report by University of Western Sydney researchers has found that bullying is still all too common for LGBTI Australian young people with nearly one-in-ten saying the problem was so bad they had to change schools Almost one-in-ten LGBTI Australian young people has had to change schools because of homophobic bullying and more than… Read more »

Australian Capital Territory first to legalise same-sex marriage

The Australian Capital Territory has become the first jurisdiction in Australia to legalise same-sex marriage. The bill passed after a short debate today by nine votes to eight, just over a year after federal parliament rejected a same-sex marriage bill 98-42. The move was passed in the 17-member ACT Legislative Assembly, backed by Labor and… Read more »

Gay Marriage Hopes Dashed As Conservatives Return To Power In Australia

Australia’s conservative opposition swept to power on Saturday, ending six years of Labor Party rule and the hopes of gay marriage supporters. “The coalition has won 13 seats clearly and with 10 seats still in play,” Australia’s newly-elected Prime Minister Tony Abbott told supporters gathered at Sydney’s Four Seasons Hotel. “And I can inform you… Read more »

Tasmanian Upper House defeats provision to ban offensive anti-gay materials

Tasmania’s Upper House of state parliament has vetoed a bill that would have prohibited offensive homophobic materials just a day after the Australian postal service confiscated 38,000 extreme anti-gay election flyers in the state LGBT rights activists in the Australian state of Tasmania have been floored by a decision by the state’s Upper House to… Read more »

Gay Ambassador to Australia Marries in D.C.

John Berry, U.S. ambassador to Australia, married his partner of 17 years, Curtis Yee, on Saturday. John Berry, the newly confirmed U.S. Ambassador to Australia, married his longtime partner in Washington, D.C., Saturday, reports the Washington Blade. Berry and his partner, Curtis Yee, have been together for 17 years, and married in a ceremony at… Read more »

Tasmania votes to allow same-sex couples to adopt

The last Australian state to legalize homosexuality, and the first to introduce civil unions, has voted to allow same-sex couples to adopt non-biological children for the first time LGBT rights advocates in the Australian state of Tasmania have welcomed the passage of a law allowing same-sex couples to adopt. Since 2003 gays and lesbians in… Read more »

Marriage equality advocates condemn vandalism of Tasmanian anti-gay marriage billboard

Australian marriage equality advocates have condemned the vandalizing of an anti-gay marriage billboard in the town of Wynyard, Tasmania, just days after it was erected Australian marriage equality advocates have condemned the vandalism of an anti-marriage equality billboard in Wynyard, Tasmania, as well as the business signs of the man behind the billboard, sign maker… Read more »

Same-sex marriages revealed in 1930’s Australia

A newspaper from 1932 shows that Australian gay men were holding illegal same-sex marriages behind closed doors eight decades ago A newspaper article from 1932 has been uncovered that shows that gay men were seeking to marry each other in Australia as long ago as 80 years ago. In an article in the tabloid The… Read more »

State schools better for minority students, says Michael Kirby

Gay Australian former high court judge Michael Kirby says state schools are less discriminatory to minority pupils than private or religious schools Gay Australian former high court judge Michael Kirby said that secular public schools are better for gay pupils and other minorities that private or religious schools. Kirby, who describes himself as a Protestant… Read more »

Anti-gay marriage candidates win Tasmania election

Despite a campaign to make local election all about marriage equality, anti-gay-marriage candidates win all three contested seats in Australian state of Tasmania Two candidates who voted against gay marriage in last year’s Upper House vote in Tasmania won their seats in a local election yesterday. The third victor has also said she would vote… Read more »

A secret history of sexuality on the front

Archived files shed light on relationships in the army, writes Andrew Stephens. It was a hot night in Borneo and eight Australian soldiers were sitting around discussing film stars they fancied. The war had just ended – Hiroshima and Nagasaki were ashes – but most soldiers in Asia remained on active duty in the all-male… Read more »

Thousands march for marriage equality in Australia

Thousands took to the streets this weekend in support of marriage equality, while the Australian Green party has pledged to move legislation in every parliament in the land until the issue is settled Nearly a thousand people marched for marriage equality in central Sydney on Sunday, with thousands more marching in other cities over the… Read more »

Tasmanian gay marriage bill defeated

Gay marriage advocates have vowed to keep campaigning as numbers mount against them in the first attempt at pioneering state-based same sex marriage. The numbers for reform in Tasmania were lost tonight when the eighth voice against the bill was declared in the 15 member state upper house, the Legislative Council. Australian Marriage Equality spokesman… Read more »

Constructions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer identities among young people in contemporary Australia.

Source – College of Human and Health Sciences, Swansea University , UK. Abstract This paper focuses on young people’s construction of lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer (LGBQ) identities in contemporary Australia. Through the perspectives of young people, it seeks to position their understanding of LGBQ identities alongside current theoretical and empirical debates about the individual and… Read more »

Australian Senate Joins House In Rejecting Gay Marriage Bill

The Australian Senate on Thursday rejected a bill which would have legalized gay marriage in the country. The Senate voted 41 to 26 against the measure. Yesterday, the House of Representatives defeated the measure with a 98 to 42 vote. Liberal Senator Sue Boyce broke ranks with her party during debate on the bill. “Gay… Read more »

Australia votes against legalising equal marriage

Lawmakers in the Australian Parliament have overwhelmingly rejected a bill that would have introduced equal marriage rights for same-sex couples. The House of Representatives voted 98-42 against the legislation last night. It was the first of four bills introduced to the parliament that aimed to lift the country’s ban on same-sex marriage. A separate bill… Read more »

Australian doctor banned for prescribing gay ‘cure’ to teen

An Australian doctor has been severely reprimanded and banned from working as a general practitioner after prescribing a drug to a teen who came to him for help to “cure” his homosexuality. An Australian doctor who is a member of the Exclusive Brethren Christian sect has been banned from practising as a General Practitioner after… Read more »

Australia: Premiers of South Australia and Tasmania promise same-sex marriage

The premiers of South Australia and Tasmania say that they will legislate to introduce same-sex marriage regardless of what Australian federal Prime Minister Julia Gillard or parliament does. While there are two marriage equality bills before the federal parliament, South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill told gay rights campaigners at a rally in Adelaide that he… Read more »

‘Gay panic’ killer walks free after four years

An Australian man who killed a man he claimed had made a gay pass at him has walked free after only four years in jail after using the so-called ‘gay panic defense’ to downgrade a murder charge to manslaughter An Australian killer who claimed his victim made a gay pass at him has walked free… Read more »

Tasmania: 250 attend vigil at ‘Excellent Marriage’ anti-gay marriage conference

250 people attended a vigil outside an anti-marriage equality conference in Tasmania last night as it was revealed the winning video message in the conference’s competition to define an ‘excellent marriage’ was from a gay man. The Excellent Marriage conference was attended by around 350 organisers said today, with an address by former senator Guy… Read more »

Australia: Former High Court judge speaks up for equal marriage

A former High Court judge in Australia, in testifying to a parliamentary inquiry into equal marriage, has said that all rights afforded to heterosexual citizens should also be afforded to LGBT citizens. Michael Kirby, 73, and in a relationship with his partner for 43 years, said: “My brother is left-handed and I was gay [sic].”… Read more »

Matthew Mitcham happy to be seen as an LGBT icon

The Australian Olympic champion, Matthew Mitcham, has said that he’s happy to be seen as an icon for the LGBT community, and did not mind the attention that would be drawn to his personal life as a result. Mr Mitcham, 24, came out shortly before the Beijing olympics, where he won the 10-meter platform event,… Read more »

Poll: Australia leads Britain and US in support for equal marriage

Australia is leading Britain and the US in its support for the implementation of equal gay marriage rights, a poll released today suggests. An equal right for gay couples to marry had 49 percent support in Australia, 43 percent support in Britain and 42 percent support in the US, the Angus Reid Public Opinion survey… Read more »

Gay Asians fight stereotypes

A new magazine hopes to reach gay men in Asian communities – both in Australia and abroad – in a fight against cultural stereotypes and sexual hierarchy. Video The magazine’s editor and some contributors told SBS about their vision for the groundbreaking publication, in an environment rife with racism and misconceptions. The editor of A-Men,… Read more »

Catholic priest wins ‘gay panic defence’ fight

The Queensland government has announced it will make the changes necessary to ensure ‘gay panic’ cannot be raised as a partial defence to murder. Recommendations to amend the Criminal Code have been made after a petition by a Catholic priest garnered more than 25,000 signatures and international support. So-called “gay panic” has been invoked by… Read more »

Regional action needed on homophobia

Australian gay rights activists have called on the Gillard Government to take a stronger stand on LGBTI rights in the region following the release of a United Nations report into high levels of violence faced by LGBTI people worldwide. The report was released in Geneva last week after a UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution… Read more »

Australian Psychological Society backs call for equal marriage rights

The Society backed the American Psychological Associations August resolutionThe Society backed the American Psychological Associations August resolution The Australian Psychological Society has officially given its support to full marriage equality for gay couples, adding the voice of its 20,000 members to the debate. The group’s board approved an endorsement of the American Psychological Association’s resolution… Read more »

Sydney LGBTI leaders speak of hopes and wishes for 2012

Sydney – Marriage equality, rapid HIV testing, an expansion of services for LGBTIQ youth in need, and anti-discrimination laws that offer every person protection no matter what their sexuality, gender or sex identity, are a few of the things that some of the country’s leading LGBTI bodies and community groups will be fighting for and… Read more »

Bill repeal will traumatise gays: psych

Repealing laws allowing same sex couples to form civil unions will cause psychological damage to gays and lesbians, a psychologist says. Independent Queensland MP Rob Messenger on Tuesday announced he would put forward a private member’s bill after the state election to repeal the same-sex civil union bill passed recently by Queensland parliament. Brisbane-based psychologist… Read more »

Australia lifts ban on certificates for gay couples marrying abroad

The Australian government has lifted a ban which hindered the ability of gay couples to marry overseas. Many countries require Certificates of No Impediment to Marriage before they allow a couple to wed, but for gay Australians, these have been impossible to acquire from their home government. Attorney-General Robert McClelland announced the change of policy… Read more »

Video: Australian marriage equality short becomes overnight hit

A pro-marriage equality video by Australian action group GetUp has become a Youtube sensation since its release before the weekend, racking up 1.6 million views over four days. The film, entitled It’s Time, charts a relationship from first meeting to engagement, and is shot from the point of view of one character, who strikes up… Read more »