Category Archives: LGBTI

LGBTI Refugees and the 2013 Federal Election

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It appears that my previous post on LGBTI asylum seekers was overly optimistic (well, to be perfectly honest it wasn’t that optimistic to begin with – it’s just that the reality has turned out to be even worse than the already dire situation).

After more than 9 months of trying to get an answer out of the Commonwealth Immigration Minister (first Chris Bowen, and then Brendan O’Connor), when I eventually received a response from the Immigration Department instead in June, it failed to answer whether the criminal laws against homosexuality of Nauru and Papua New Guinea applied to refugees in processing centres there.

This omission clearly implied that the criminal laws do in fact apply. However, the letter left open an interpretation that refugees who were LGBTI, and feared persecution (or prosecution) in these countries, could apply to the Minister to be transferred to Australia, on the basis that their rights could not be guaranteed in those countries.

Unfortunately, that no longer appears to be the case. In the time since that response the Prime Minister changed, and within a month of Rudd’s return he had announced the ‘PNG Solution’, with a similar deal with Nauru revealed shortly afterwards. These policies moved beyond offshore processing, to include the permanent ‘resettlement’ in those countries of any and all refugees who arrive in Australia by boat.

Now, let me say from the outset that I completely oppose these policies, and believe them to be unconscionable, inhumane, and probably contrary to international law. Australia should not be in the business of abrogating its responsibility to offer protection to people who are fleeing persecution by simply dumping these people in other countries. And my opposition applies to the ‘resettlement’ of all refugees, irrespective of the grounds of their persecution (eg race, religion, nationality etc).

However, as a gay man, and in particular as a passionate advocate for LGBTI rights, I find policies that involve the resettlement of LGBTI refugees in countries that criminalise homosexuality particularly abhorrent. That is exactly what Australia is doing – taking any LGBTI refugee who arrives by boat and sending them to countries which make male homosexuality a criminal offence, liable to up to 14 years’ imprisonment.

I know that many other people agree with me – in fact, the only pleasing thing arising from this horrible situation has been the emergence of a variety of voices condemning these policies. This has meant that the Labor Government has been unable to avoid questions on this particular topic (something which they had largely managed to successfully do in the previous 10 months).

But it doesn’t make the answers given by Government Ministers any easier to stomach. On 8 August, Serkan Ozturk of the Star Observer reported that the Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus (an intelligent man who really should know better): “confirmed the government intends to send all asylum seekers who arrive in Australia by boat without a visa – including LGBTI people fleeing persecution and people living with HIV – to Papua New Guinea (PNG) for processing and permanent resettlement despite laws criminalising homosexual sex, high rates of HIV infection and limited medical and social infrastructure on the impoverished island-nation…

When questioned by the Star Observer on whether LGBTI asylum seekers would be sent to PNG, Dreyfus was unequivocal.

“You’ve outlined an aspect of PNG law which is of general application but as I say we are not ruling out any group,” Dreyfus said.

“At the same time our Minister for Immigration, Tony Burke, has made it very clear that those transfers won’t occur until there is appropriate accommodation and appropriate circumstances for everyone who is sent.”

Pressed on whether that meant the Australian government would be placing pressure on PNG to reform legal codes, Dreyfus said he would not be drawn “giving a running commentary” on the laws of neighbouring countries, including PNG, Indonesia or Malaysia.

“We don’t think that’s necessary in order for Australia to comply with our international legal obligations and the obligations we have under the Migration Act.””

The fact that the Government is aware of this situation, and specifically the potential consequences of sending LGBTI refugees to these countries, but has continued on along this path irrespective of the dangers, is damning.

Sadly, the Foreign Minister, Senator Bob Carr, isn’t any better. On 6 August the ABC reported (from what I believe was a response to an oursay question from Senthorun Raj) that Senator Carr similarly confirmed that homosexual asylum seekers who arrive in Australia by boat will be resettled in PNG despite facing prison under local laws, even though those laws conflict with contemporary Australia values.

“I am concerned about… what we see as a grotesquely outdated, legal position applying in PNG. I understand – and I know this is little comfort – but there have been few if any charges laid or prosecutions made under laws prohibiting homosexual activity in PNG,” he said. You are right on one thing, Senator Carr: that is little comfort.

Tony Burke, the current Minister for Immigration (and the third person to hold that post this year), also believes that this policy is appropriate. However, in one of the most Orwellian moments of the 2013 federal election campaign (or indeed in recent Australian politics more generally), he stated that he had been advised that ‘no part of the caseload so far’ had arisen (ie no LGBTI person had been sent to Nauru or PNG so far).

The transcript, from a media conference on 1 August, is as follows:

Question: Sorry Minister, just to go out to Manus Island for a moment. Given that homosexuality is still considered a crime in PNG, but our government has pledged to transfer all asylum seekers regardless of their sexuality, what efforts have been undertaken to make sure that those transferred will not be persecuted for their sexuality, either as detainees, or if they are then settled in PNG?

Tony Burke: In the first instance we have no part of the caseload so far where this issue has arisen, no part of the caseload where this has arisen. In…

Question: So does that mean…

Tony Burke: Please, please, when other people were talking over you I made sure you got the run so allow me to answer your question.

I’ve been very careful throughout all of this to not carve out any exclusions from the policy. And I explained the implications of that with the specific reference to what the Opposition have attempted to do with women and children. There are very deep implications if we start carving people out. And if you do that, you are by no means taking a – I’m saying you, but anyone doing that is by no means taking a compassionate response because of the automatic reaction that people smugglers will engage in.

My language on this has not changed, which is people will be sent when we are confident they will be safe, when we are confident that appropriate accommodation and services are in place, and I’m not going to define it further than that.”

Which raises far more questions than it provides answers. It is possible that what he meant to say was that no-one sent to Manus Island has lodged a refugee claim on the basis of persecution of sexual orientation, gender identity or intersex status. But that doesn’t mean those claims won’t emerge at a later point (it is definitely possible that a LGBTI refugee will not disclose their status in the limited time after arrival in Australia and before transfer, but that it would instead emerge at a later point).

And it ignores the fact that someone who is seeking refugee protection on the basis of race, religion or other grounds can also be LGBTI (even if just as someone who has sexual intercourse with someone else of the same sex). This would not be immediately apparent to an interviewer and there are foreseeably several reasons why they would NOT disclose their particular circumstances (especially if fleeing as part of a family group where their family is unaware of their sexual orientation).

But the most obvious flaw in Minister Burke’s advice is that all refugees who arrive by boat, including children, are being ‘resettled’ in PNG and Nauru. Those children could grow up to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, or they may have been born intersex, and it may not be known to that child, their family or indeed anyone else at the time of resettlement. It does not make it any more acceptable that as a country we exposed that child to future criminal prosecution (or at the very least, societal discrimination), simply because we didn’t know of their status.

We DO know that this policy is wrong and should be stopped, which means that we are collectively responsible for what happens in the future as a result of it.

Unfortunately, while some of the positive reforms of the Rudd/Gillard/Rudd Labor Governments will be dismantled by the incoming Abbott Liberal-National Government it seems there is bipartisan agreement on the idea of resettling refugees in South Pacific countries. Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, and Shadow Minister for Immigration Scott Morrison, both appeared to welcome the announcement by Rudd of the PNG policy, while they have also announced their own plans to resettle refugees in Nauru (aka “tent city”).

It should also be pointed out that, last September, at the same time that I wrote to the Immigration Minister (and Prime Minister and Attorney-General), I also wrote to the Shadow Minister, Opposition Leader and Shadow Attorney-General, raising the same concerns about the processing or resettlement of LGBTI refugees in countries which criminalise homosexuality. No-one from the Opposition ever responded to these letters, which perhaps indicates how seriously they take those concerns.

The fact that, as it stands, both major parties endorse this policy means that, no matter who is elected on Saturday, the incoming Government will continue to abrogate its responsibilities to offer protection to all refugees, including refugees who are LGBTI. That it will inevitably continue to be cheered along by sections of the press will make it even harder to endure.

Perhaps the only ray of hope in this awful mess is that the High Court might do what the public should (but won’t) on Saturday – tell our MPs, from both the ALP and the Liberal-National Coalition, that resettling refugees in PNG and Nauru is unconscionable, inhumane, and, hopefully, unlawful. So, to our distinguished High Court Justices I say: no pressure, but it seems this is now entirely up to you.

Submission on Redrafted National Health & Physical Education Curriculum

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The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) released a slightly redrafted version of the national Health & Physical Education curriculum for limited public consultation over the past 2 weeks. While there were some modest improvements from the original draft released in December 2012, there are still significant problems with what is proposed, especially as it fails to ensure that content is relevant for LGBTI students, and that every classroom is genuinely LGBTI inclusive.

This afternoon I provided my personal submission to the process, which included attachments covering my previous petition to the Commonwealth Education Minister, the Hon Peter Garrett MP, and the comments which people made on that (although not reproduced here because both are too large). Anyway, here is my submission (I understand that a range of groups, including the NSW Gay & Lesbian Rights Lobby and others, will be making submissions too, so hopefully there is more change before the final document is released later this year):

Submission on Redrafted National Health & Physical Education Curriculum

I am writing to provide a personal submission in response to the redrafted national Health & Physical Education (HPE) curriculum, as published on the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) website in July 2013.

I also provided a submission in April 2013 in response to the original draft HPE curriculum as released by ACARA in December 2012. Please find a copy of that submission at Attachment A. In it, I outlined a range of substantive concerns with the draft curriculum, and in particular in relation to how it related to (or, more accurately, ignored) the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex students.

These concerns included that:

  • The draft curriculum did not explicitly include LGBTI students by name, nor did it ensure that every classroom in every school included content that was relevant to LGBTI student needs
  • The draft curriculum also concentrated on ‘reproductive health’ meaning that it effectively excluded the sexual health needs of LGBTI students and
  • The draft curriculum did not even include the term HIV, let alone ensure that groups at higher risk of contracting HIV (including gay and bisexual men) receive appropriate education to help prevent new transmissions.

Following the lodgement of my submission, I also initiated a national petition to the Commonwealth Education Minister at the time, the Hon Peter Garrett MP, and his state and territory counterparts. I have since sent this petition to the new Commonwealth Education Minister, the Hon Bill Shorten MP, and the NSW Education Minister, the Hon Adrian Piccoli MP.

This petition, which called for the three issues listed above to be remedied as a matter of urgency, received an incredible level of community support, garnering more than 6,000 signatures in less than four weeks.

However, just as important as the number of signatures, the comments which people provided demonstrate the breadth and depth of community concern about the failure of the original HPE curriculum to address the issues of LGBTI inclusion, sexual health education and HIV.

These comments show that this is an issue which matters not just to LGBTI people themselves, but also to their family members and friends, as well as a broad cross-section of the community who understand that everyone has a right to inclusive, appropriate health education, irrespective of sexual orientation, gender identity or intersex status. I would strongly encourage you to read these comments, as many of them are far more articulate and passionate about why LGBTI students must be included than I could ever hope to be.

Having examined the redrafted HPE curriculum released on the ACARA website earlier this month, I would like to acknowledge that there have been some improvements made from the December 2012 version, including an attempt to include reproductive health and sexual health, rather than just reproductive health.

However, it is also disappointing to note that many of the significant problems which existed in the original draft have not been resolved.  I will use the remainder of this submission to identify those areas which still require amendment in order to meet the needs of LGBTI students, including specific recommendations to make these much needed improvements.

Recommendation 1:  The national HPE curriculum must directly and explicitly include lesbian, gay and bisexual students, and content which is relevant to their needs

As with the original draft submission, I believe that it is irresponsible for a national HPE curriculum not to even include the words lesbian, gay or bisexual. These are the most common forms of sexual orientation for people who are not heterosexual. To deliberately exclude these terms from the curriculum contributes to the marginalisation of students who may grow up to identify with any one of these terms.

By excluding these terms/sexual orientations, I believe that the curriculum would inevitably lead to some schools ignoring the health needs of these students, and ultimately contribute to higher level of mental health issues across the lesbian, gay and bisexual communities, including higher rates of depression and youth suicide.

I must also highlight that including the term same-sex attracted (in the ‘aspirational’ paragraph on page 18 – more on that at recommendation 3, below – and in the Glossary) is insufficient in and of itself to ensure that lesbian, gay and bisexual students are included in both classrooms and content. While I acknowledge that it is an inclusive term, I do not understand how referring to the term ‘same-sex attracted’ twice (and only once in the body of the document, and even then not in the content description for any year), without providing more information, will help ensure that all students learn what being lesbian, gay and bisexual mean, in the same way that they would learn what being heterosexual means.

In fact, I find it impossible to see how excluding the words lesbian, gay and bisexual does anything other than ensure that students who happen to be lesbian, gay or bisexual are denied their right to an equal and fair health education, irrespective of which school they might attend.

Recommendation 2: The national HPE curriculum must directly and explicitly include transgender and intersex students, and content which is relevant to their needs, whilst noting that gender identity and intersex status are different things meaning that education about these issues must make this distinction

I acknowledge that the terms transgender and intersex are at least included in the redrafted national HPE curriculum. However, they are only included in the glossary on page 45, and unfortunately the curriculum incorrectly includes both as part of the definition of gender-diverse. Transgender may fall within this term, but intersex is a distinct characteristic as a biological sex status.

I am not an expert in this field, and expect that submissions from the National LGBTI Health Alliance as well as Organisation Intersex International (OII) Australia will provide recommendations to improve the curriculum in terms of transgender and intersex inclusion. I would encourage you to give full consideration to their suggestions in these areas.

Recommendation 3: The statement about LGBTI inclusion must explicitly refer to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex students, and ensure that all schools are inclusive of these students, irrespective of whether students have publicly identified their orientation, identity or status

I note that the ‘aspirational’ statement of inclusion on page 18 of the redrafted curriculum has been amended from the original December 2012 draft. In particular, I am concerned by the decision to omit the statement that ‘same sex attracted and gender diverse’ students exist in all schools. It is unclear why this statement of fact has been removed, given we know that people who are LGBTI have come from all school communities across the country.

This omission also presents some complications when read together with remainder of the paragraph as redrafted, which talks about “becoming increasingly visible”, “designed to allow flexibility” and “have a responsibility… to ensure teaching is inclusive and relevant to the lived experiences or all students”. One reading of this paragraph is that schools now only have a responsibility to be inclusive where they are aware that students are LGBT or I (ie where schools are aware of the lived experience of their students).

If this is the case, it is not acceptable. All students have a right to be included, and to have their health and physical education needs met, and most importantly should not have the onus placed on themselves to disclose their orientation, identity or status in order to receive this education (especially when such disclosure can risk discrimination from other students, teachers and sometimes from the school itself).

I strongly recommend that this paragraph be amended so that it:

  • Explicitly names LGBTI students (for example, same-sex attracted students, including lesbian, gay and bisexual students, and transgender and intersex students) and
  • States that all school communities must provide content and classrooms which are inclusive of LGBTI students, irrespective of whether they disclose their orientation, identity or status.

Recommendation 4: The statement about LGBTI inclusion must be supported by explicit references to LGBTI content in the year descriptions

While an ‘aspirational’ statement on page 18 is welcome, in order to be most effective it should be backed up by explicit references to issues of concern to LGBTI students at relevant points throughout the curriculum.

For example, the terms transgender and intersex should be introduced and explained from Foundation/Years 1-2, given these identities and statuses can be present from early childhood and/or birth.

Ideally, the orientations lesbian, gay and bisexual should be introduced and explained in Years 3-4, so that students who experience same-sex attraction in puberty (which can commence for some in these years) are aware that these attractions are normal. At the latest, all students should be aware of the concepts of heterosexuality, as well as homosexuality and bisexuality, by the end of Year 6.

This would then leave room from comprehensive and inclusive sexual health education (and not just reproductive health) in Years 5-6 (more on this at recommendation 5, below), or Years 7-8 at the absolute latest.

I note with particular concern the sub-strand Being healthy, safe and active, on page 27 of the redrafted curriculum, which includes the following points under Years 7-8:

  • Examining the impact of physical changes on gender, cultural and sexual identities and
  • Exploring sexual identities and investigating how changing feelings and attractions are part of getting older.

This is both far too old (covering students who are turning 13 and 14 across most states, beyond the age which many people have first realised that they are same-sex attracted, including myself) and far too vague, to be genuinely inclusive of LGBTI students and their needs.

LGBTI issues should also be explicitly mentioned in the outline of the Relationships and sexuality learning area on page 9 of the document, which is reproduced in the Glossary on pages 47 and 48. For example, the dot point “changing identities and the factors that influence them” could be redrafted to include “developing sexual orientations, include heterosexual, lesbian, gay and bisexual, and the factors that influence them” while transgender and intersex should be included in in this Area of learning in Foundation to Year 2 (as indicated above).

Recommendation 5: The term sexual health should be preferred to reproductive health throughout

I welcome the amendment from the original draft of the HPE curriculum, with the addition of sexual health to the redrafted curriculum. However, I am confused by the inclusion of both reproductive health and sexual health, and the definitions of both which are provided in the Glossary on pages 48 and 49 respectively.

In particular, the definition of reproductive health seems to try to ‘cover the field’ for the physical aspects of sexual health, even though for many people their sexual anatomy/systems are not primarily related to ‘reproduction’. This is especially apparent when considering the definition of sexual health, which uses the shorter World Health Organisation definition of sexual health, but not the 2006 longer and more inclusive definition which begins:  “…a state of physical, emotional, mental and social well-being in relation to sexuality; it is not merely the absence of disease, dysfunction or infirmity” [emphasis added].

This longer definition makes it clear that sexual health includes the physical health aspects of sex education. As a result, I believe that the much more inclusive term sexual health should be used throughout the document, and if explicit references to reproduction are considered necessary, then the term should be ‘sexual health, including reproductive health’. This would help to ensure that the needs of all students are considered and not just those of heterosexual students.

Recommendation 6: The topic of sexual health should include more detailed information on safer sex, including condom usage, and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs)

While it is welcome that sexual health has been added as a term to the redrafted HPE curriculum, it is unclear where it is intended that detailed sexual health education, including STI information and prevention, is included in the content for specific years.

As indicated above, I believe that comprehensive sexual health education should be included in Years 5-6 (and by 7-8 at the absolutely latest). In order to meet the needs of all students, whether LGBTI or otherwise, it must include specific references to safer sex, and condom usage, as well as ensuring that students learn about STIs and how they can best be prevented (and where relevant treated). I cannot locate this information in the redrafted document.

I believe it would be irresponsible for a HPE curriculum not to ensure that students learn this information prior to the age at which they become sexually active.

Recommendation 7: The national HPE must include Blood Borne Viruses, and in particular HIV

Building on the inclusion of sexual health, and comprehensive sexual health education, including STIs (recommendations 5 and 6 respectively), I believe that it is vital for the national HPE curriculum to explicitly refer to Blood Borne Viruses, including HIV.

As a gay man who has just turned 35, I find it almost incomprehensible that HIV, including information about how it can be prevented, has been omitted from the HPE curriculum, both in the original draft and in the redraft. While HIV is no longer a ‘death sentence’, diagnoses with HIV is still a serious thing, and we should be maintaining our efforts to minimise new transmissions. This is particularly important for younger gay and bisexual men, with male same-sex intercourse remaining the primary means of HIV transmission within Australia.

The importance of this message is reinforced by recent figures which show that the number of HIV notifications in NSW rose by 24% in 2012, including 19% among men who have sex with men. The HIV epidemic is not over, and it is essential that a national Health & Physical Education curriculum provides relevant information for young people to help them avoid future HIV transmissions.

Recommendation 8: The national HPE curriculum should ensure that all students learn about homophobia, bi-phobia, trans-phobia and anti-intersex prejudice, and the damage caused by each

One of the pleasing aspects of the original HPE curriculum, released in December 2012, was that it explicitly named ‘homophobia’ as something that students should be taught about (and implicit in this, was the assumption that students would learn the damage caused by discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation). In my original submission, I argued that this should be amended to include bi-phobia, trans-phobia and anti-intersex prejudice as well, as these encompass similarly destructive beliefs and behaviours.

Unfortunately, it appears that the reference to homophobia has now been deleted, and replaced by a much more generic statement on page 34: “examining values and beliefs about cultural and social issues, such as gender, race, sexuality and disability” and “researching how stereotypes and prejudice are challenged in local, national and global contexts.”

To me, these statements do not ensure that students learn that homophobia, bi-phobia, trans-phobia and anti-intersex prejudice are entirely negative phenomena, which can cause immense hurt amongst members of these groups (indeed, the first statement makes no value judgment at all about different ‘values and beliefs’ in relation to sexuality, and leaves it open to some schools teaching that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex status is acceptable behaviour).

I would strongly urge you to reconsider the drafting of these dot points, and to include homophobia, bi-phobia, trans-phobia and anti-intersex prejudice as subjects about which students should learn, including being taught about the damage caused by these types of discrimination.

Conclusion

Thank you for reading my detailed submission, and attachments. I acknowledge that much of what I have written is strongly worded, but it is only done so out of genuine concern that, if the redrafted national HPE curriculum was implemented without further amendment, it would fail to meet the needs of our LGBTI students, and fail to provide them with the sexual health and HIV prevention education that they have a right to.

Research has shown that younger LGBTI people are amongst the most disadvantaged students across the country, with high rates of bullying and harassment, and consequently of mental health issues including depression and youth suicide.

I believe that the development of a national Health & Physical Education curriculum is an ideal opportunity to remedy some of the active discrimination which exists against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex students, through the introduction of LGBTI-inclusive content, and hopefully leading to LGBTI students being genuinely included in classrooms across the country. I hope that the final version of the HPE curriculum will implement as many of the above recommendations as possible, to help make this a reality.

Sincerely,

Alastair Lawrie

Rainbow Crossings? What else have you got?

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The City of Sydney held its Rainbow Flag/Crossing public consultation on Tuesday night (July 16th) at Paddington Town Hall.

While I am not the world’s biggest fan of a Rainbow Flag (I think that it would be a ‘nice’ thing for Sydney to have to commemorate the LGBTI history of the city, but there might be better options to do that as well – see discussion below), I went along because the forum also included a panel looking at the most important issues confronting Sydney’s LGBTI community today.

The following are my four main observations about the forum:

1. Who knew that butcher’s paper, hastily scrawled ideas and scribes reporting back to the broader group was still a thing, especially in a room full of more than 100 people? It was certainly not what I expected when I walked in the door (and I still don’t know whether it worked or not).

2. The forum, including a presentation from the person who ‘led’ the Rainbow Crossing movement, probably demonstrated the limitations of that particular form of activism. While chalking is/was a great opportunity to engage different people from across the wider community (and extend the message of acceptance to straight allies), its moment may have passed. And showing photos of Chinese children chalking a rainbow outside rubble, or Vietnamese orphans living with HIV jumping behind a rainbow, might not be as inspiring as you think – it might instead lead audience members to wonder about the much bigger problems which these people face, and which will not be overcome with temporary distractions.

3. There are probably better, although admittedly more expensive, ideas for celebrating the LGBTI community of Sydney than either a Rainbow Flag or Rainbow Crossings. Our table’s (entirely unoriginal) idea was to provide for a permanent LGBTI museum, which could provide an ongoing reflection on the history of LGBTI Sydney, and Australia. I think something might have been lost in the translation of our notes to what ended up on the City of Sydney website on this – whereas we wrote ‘permanent LGBTI museum’ the website describes it merely as ‘permanent space for a museum and exhibitions’. To put it bluntly, we don’t just want the space, we want the funding to help make a museum happen (link to Have Your Say consultation here: http://sydneyyoursay.com.au/GLBTI?module=news#tool)

4. The discussion of the issues confronting the LGBTI community in Sydney today was probably the most interesting part of the night. A lot of worthy ideas were raised (including youth suicide and mental health, discrimination in schools, religious exceptions, transgender services etc). But one issue which was apparently not raised outside our table, and which certainly wasn’t reported on by anybody back to the group (we weren’t asked) was the issue of rising HIV notifications. Less than 2 weeks since the release of figures showing a 24% rise of HIV notifications in NSW in 2012, and an 18% rise in notifications resulting from sex between men (which still accounts for 81% of transmissions in the state), it seemed that HIV notifications, and the enormous challenges which lie beneath it, wasn’t worth much of a mention. I was a little bit shocked by that result (although some older, more cynical heads around the table described it as disappointing but not surprising).

In any event, the failure of rising HIV notifications to register at a community event like this, and especially less than 2 weeks since the data was released, means that there is a lot of work for groups like ACON to do. But just as importantly, I think it means there is a collective responsibility for the gay male community of Sydney to consider why we don’t think increasing HIV notifications is a major issue for our community in 2013.

How Does Tony Abbott’s Paid Parental Leave Scheme Affect Same-Sex Parents?

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The following is a letter which I have tonight sent to the Leader of the Opposition, the Hon Tony Abbott MP, about his Paid Parental Leave (PPL) policy. Despite the fact that PPL has been Liberal-National policy for more than 3 years, it remains unclear whether same-sex parents are included on an equal basis and, if so, how the rate of payment to the primary carer is calculated.

While I probably don’t expect an answer from him before the election, I think it is incumbent upon all activists in this area to keep asking these questions until we get a response – because after all, we deserve to know how this policy will affect LGBTI people before cast their votes.

Dear Mr Abbott

PAID PARENTAL LEAVE AND SAME-SEX PARENTS

I am writing to you concerning the Paid Parental Leave (PPL) policy which you are taking to the 2013 Federal Election. Specifically, I would like to know how the PPL policy will apply to same-sex parents.

Firstly, can you please confirm that same-sex couples will qualify, on an equal basis, to PPL under a Liberal-National Government? This should include the ability of one parent to access primary carer leave, and another parent to access the shorter, paid parental leave – in the same way that heterosexual couples would qualify.

Secondly, I would like to know how the rates of these payments will be calculated. Based on information already released, my understanding is that, for all heterosexual couples, primary carer payments will be calculated according to the salary of the ‘mother’ (irrespective of who is in fact the primary carer after birth).

How are payment rates for the primary carer calculated for same-sex couples, including male couples who have children through adoption or surrogacy? The salary of the ‘birth mother’ in these circumstances may be irrelevant, especially where she does not become a parent of the child. In this case, would same-sex parents be able to nominate the primary carer and therefore the salary according to which the payment is calculated?

These are important questions which you and the Liberal-National Coalition should answer ahead of the election – Australia’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) community deserve to know how one of your long-standing policies affects them, or indeed whether it covers them at all.

Thank you in advance for considering this correspondence.

Yours sincerely

Alastair Lawrie

Submission to Involuntary and Coerced Sterilisation Senate Inquiry

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Last week, in amongst the craziness of the Sex Discrimination Amendment Bill, and the US Supreme Court marriage equality decisions, the Organisation Intersex International (OII) Australia put out the call for people to make submissions to the Senate Community Affairs Committee Inquiry into the Involuntary and Coerced Sterilisation of People with Disabilities in Australia.

So, on Saturday afternoon I put together the below submission. Given the rush it is admittedly not my best work, but I am glad to have put something in with respect to this important inquiry, and today OII Australia tweeted that they appreciated my effort, so that’s good enough for me. The submission was published on the Senate’s website this morning, so here it is:

I would like to make a brief submission in relation to this important inquiry.

Specifically, in my submission I will address the second term of reference for the inquiry, namely:

2. Current practices and policies relating to the involuntary or coerced sterilisation of intersex people, including

a) sexual health and reproductive issues; and

b) the impacts on intersex people.

In doing so, I will be drawing heavily on the submission provided by the Organisation Intersex International Australia.

I am writing this submission as a gay man, and someone who does not have any personal experience of what it is like to be an intersex individual. However, that does not mean I cannot recognise the fundamental human rights of others, or support broad principles according to which each and every person should be able to live their life.

These principles include the right to personal autonomy – to have physical control over one’s body – including the right to determine whether to consent, or not to consent, to medical procedures (wherever possible). This is especially important for procedures which can have long-term, and often permanent or irreversible, impact on core matters such as sex and reproduction. These principles also include the right for individuals to be different, including differences of sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex status, and for these differences to be respected by the medical profession, the Government and society at large.

Sadly, it seems that for far too many intersex Australians they have been unable to live their lives with the benefit of these principles or rights.

It is disturbing to read the following quote from pages 3 and 4 of the OII submission dated 15 February 2013:

“Every individual member of OII Australia has experienced some form of non-consensual medical intervention, including the following:

  • Pressure to conform to gender norms and to be a “real man” or “real woman”.
  • Involuntary gonadectomy (sterilisation) and clitorectomy (clitoris removal or reduction) as an infant, child or adolescent.
  • Medical and familial pressure to take hormone treatment.
  • Medical and familial pressure to undertake genital “normalisation” surgery.
  • Surgical intervention that went outside the terms of consent, including surgery that was normalising without consent.
  • Disclosure of non-relevant medical data to third parties without consent.”

For any individual to experience any of these interventions is disturbing. That every member of OII Australia has experience of at least one (and possibly more than one) is genuinely shocking.

That is why I have no compunction in backing the recommendations made by OII in their submission. In particular, I support their Medical protocol recommendations on pages 20 and 21, namely:

“1. Medical intervention should not assume crisis in our difference, nor normalisation as a goal.

2. Medical, and in particular surgical, interventions must have a clear ethical basis, supported by evidence of long term benefit.

3. Data must be recorded on intersex births, assignments of sex of rearing, and of surgical interventions.

4. Medical interventions should not be based on psychosocial adjustment or genital appearance.

5. Medical intervention should be deferred wherever possible until the patient is able to freely give full and informed consent; this is known as the “Gillick competence.”

6. Necessary medical intervention on minors should preserve the potential for different life paths and identities until the patient is old enough to consent.

7. The framework for medical intervention should not infantilise intersex, failing to recognise that we become adults, or that we have health needs as adults.

8. The framework for medical intervention must not pathologies intersex through the use of stigmatising language.

9. Medical protocols must mandate continual dialogue with intersex organisations.”

I also endorse their call for a review of terminations on the basis of intersex differences – as intersex status should not be used as the basis for an otherwise undesired termination (in the same way that, if pre-natal tests were to become available at a later date to determine homosexuality, bisexuality or transgender status, I would ethically object to these tests being used as the basis for terminations).

Similarly, I support OII Australia’s call for a review of the use of off-label use of dexamethasone (and note with concern the possibility that this steroid could be used to prevent physical masculanisation and to “prevent homosexuality” – as highlighted on page 11 of the OII Australia submission).

I also have no qualms in supporting their Legal recommendations on page 21:

“We wish to live in a society where we are not obliged to conform to binary sex and gender expectations, where our biological distinctiveness is not treated as it it’s an errant behaviour, where we are protected despite our innate differences, and where intersex people are also not singled out or “othered” as a class. We wish to live in a society where our sex assignments are mutable, and not problematized, and where we (and others) can choose to remain silent on the matter of our sex, through an “unspecified” sex classification.

We seek recognition that our treatment by the medical profession and by the state is a human rights issue. We seek explicit inclusion in human rights and anti-discrimination legislation on the basis of our biological distinctiveness, without our having to submit either to medical intervention, nor a requirement that we “genuinely” identify as one gender or another.”

Of course, it is pleasing to observe that at least some of these recommendations have been achieved since that submission was written, with the passage this week of the Sex Discrimination Amendment (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Intersex Status) Bill 2013, as well as the recent release of the Australian Government Guidelines on the Recognition of Sex and Gender. But other work, especially with the medical profession, remains to be implemented.

Finally, I would like to strongly endorse the Community support recommendations of OII Australia on page 21 of their submission. The recent history of OII Australia demonstrates that it has had incredible success in firstly, drawing attention to some important, but hitherto largely ignored, human rights issues and secondly, to achieving some key victories (such as the recent passage of federal anti-discrimination protections, which was a world first at federal level).

The fact that it has done so as a small, member and volunteer-run organisation, with no government funding, is truly impressive. With many issues yet to be resolved, hopefully the Commonwealth can see fit to provide an ongoing funding source for OII Australia.

LGBTI refugees on Nauru & Manus Island

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So, the past few weeks have been pretty busy (with the SDA Bill and my Change.org petition to help ensure the national Health & Physical Education curriculum is genuinely LGBTI-inclusive). One thing which happened earlier in June, which I had previously committed to place on my blog, is that I finally received a response to my letter to the then Minister for Immigration, Chris Bowen – which I first sent in September 2012!

It has only taken 9 months, including a follow up letter to Minister Bowen, a new message to Minister Brendan O’Connor, who was appointed in February, and then some ongoing twitter harassment/stalking. Even after all of this the response which I have received is not from the Minister himself (either of them) but rather from the Director of the relevant Branch in the Department.

I have included the full text of the letter below. But I have chosen to omit the name of the Branch Director, because as a former public servant I can only imagine that they were instructed to draft the letter in this particular way, and after all, this is about the Government’s policy and not an individual.

In my original letter (see: https://alastairlawrie.net/2012/09/07/letter-to-chris-bowen-on-lgbti-asylum-seekers/), amongst other questions, I asked whether the Government supported the rights of LGBTI people to seek asylum, as well as whether these asylum seekers would be subject to the laws of Nauru and Papua New Guinea (Manus Island) which still criminalise homosexuality.

The response to the first question appears to be yes – the letter at least accepts the fact that people can claim refugee status on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity (although it is less clear that intersex status is accepted). How well Australia implements this commitment is, of course, a much longer discussion.

However, the letter refuses to answer the second key point. I can only assume that, based on the Director’s avoidance of this issue, the criminal offences relating to homosexuality in Nauru and Papua New Guinea do, at the very least, technically apply to the asylum seekers which we as a country distressingly continue to send to these places.

The letter then rather cryptically goes into detail about what individuals can do if they object to being transferred to a particular Regional Processing Country. While I would fully expect that the ‘Ministerial discretion’ which is alluded to would be exercised to override such concerns, I believe that the lawyers who represent LGBTI asylum seekers being sent to Nauru or Manus Island should at the very least raise their concerns under s198AE with the Minister (whoever that might be after the reshuffle tomorrow).

As an aside I don’t actually think that it matters whether the particular asylum seeker is seeking protection because of persecution on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity (or intersex status), merely that they are LGBTI and fear persecution by the Governments of Nauru or Papua New Guinea because of their ongoing criminalisation of same-sex activity.

I will now endeavour to ensure that LGBTI and/or general refugee advocates are aware of this advice and can take any appropriate steps (noting that these applications may have already been made to, and rejected by, the Minister for Immigration since the detention centres were reopened last August).

Overall, of course, even if LGBTI asylum seekers were removed from Nauru and Manus Island, this would only be ‘fiddling at the edges’ of the revived Pacific Solution, a policy so awful that it brings shame to the entire Australian population, myself included. No asylum seeker, whether LGBTI or not, should ever be sent to such places, for an indefinite period, merely for exercising their fundamental right to seek protection from persecution.

Most depressingly of all, the upcoming federal election doesn’t appear like it will change these policies – if anything, the probable election of Tony Abbott as Prime Minister, with Scott Morrison as Minister for Immigration, will make things substantially worse.

On that ‘glass-completely-empty’ note, here is the response from the Department which only took 9 months to conceive:

Dear Mr Lawrie,

Thank you for your email of 7 September 2012 to the former Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, the Hon Chris Bowen MP, concerning the treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) asylum seekers. Your letter has been referred to me for a reply. I apologise for the delay in responding.

The Australian Government’s commitment to removing discrimination was demonstrated by its reforms to remove discrimination from 85 Commonwealth laws. These reforms, which passed in 2009, removed discrimination and equalised treatment for same-sex couples in areas of taxation, social security, health, aged care, superannuation, immigration, child support and family law.

The Government is also proceeding with introducing long overdue protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex status. On 21 March 2013, the Attorney-General introduced the Sex Discrimination Amendment (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Intersex Status) Bill 2013. This Bill will ensure that protections from discrimination for people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex are put in place as soon as practicable.

Concerning the transfer of post-13 August 2012 irregular maritime arrivals (IMAs) to Regional Processing Countries (RPC) and the treatment of LGBTI asylum seekers, as a signatory to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol (the Refugee Convention), Australia takes its international obligations seriously and is committed to providing protection to refugees consistent with the obligations set out in the Refugees Convention and other human rights treaties to which Australia is a party. Any person has the right to seek protection in Australia from persecution in their home country.

The Government has signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with the Governments of Nauru and Papua New Guinea which permit people who arrived irregularly by boat on or after 13 August 2012 to be taken to Nauru or Papua New Guinea (Manus Island) for assessment of their claims against the Refugee Convention. Changes to the Migration Act 1958 (the Act) which give effect to regional processing arrangements were passed by the Australian Parliament and became law on 18 August 2012.

The MoU signed with Nauru and Papua new Guinea reaffirms the commitment of both countries to the Refugee Convention, with people transferred to the Regional Processing Country (RPC) to be treated with dignity and respect in line with human rights standards.

The Department of Immigration and Citizenship recognises that human rights abuses and gender-related persecution can also be experienced by people on the basis of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity. As such, an applicant’s gender-related claims may include claims relating to their
sexual orientation and/or gender identity.

In the guidelines set out in the Departmental Procedures Advice Manual 3 (PAM3), for the guidance of interviewing officers, they are advised that

“Unlike other persecuted groups, sexual orientation and gender identity is not a readily visible characteristic and has to be revealed by the individual. Homosexual and transsexual applications may, therefore, have only spoken to a handful of people, or none at all, about their sexuality and have kept it a secret. Interviewers and decision makers should, therefore, not be surprised if an applicant suddenly raises the issue of sexual orientation or gender identity late in an application process, prefaced perhaps by an earlier weak or false claim on other grounds.”

Pre-Transfer Assessment is undertaken prior to a person’s transfer to an RPC to consider whether there are specific circumstances or special needs that mean it is not reasonably practicable to transfer an asylum seeker to an RPC at this time.

Where a person raises concerns against a designated RC, the Departmental officer refers to relevant country information, as well as the assurances received by Australia from the RPC governments, to assess if those charges are credible. If the person makes credible protection claims against all RPCs, the case is brought to the Minister’s attention in accordance with his guidelines for considering the exercise of his power under section 198AE of the Migration Act 1958 to exempt that person from transfer.

A copy of the Minister’s s198AE guidelines and the Pre-Transfer Assessment form and guidelines can be found at the Department’s website at: www.immi.gov.au/visas/humanitarian/whatsnew.htm

Also for your information, I attach a copy of the relevant sections of PAM3 regarding gender and sexual orientation. For a full interactive copy of that document you may need to contact your nearest public library which should be able to provide free access.

Thank you for writing about this matter and I apologise again for the delay in respond.

Yours sincerely

[Name withheld]

Director

Protection Policy Section

6 June 2013

Letter to Ministers re National Health & Physical Education Curriculum

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So, you may recall that I lodged a submission with the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) regarding the draft national Health and Physical Education (HPE) Curriculum which they released for public comment in December 2012 (see my post in April 2013 for a copy of my submission).

Well, the draft HPE curriculum is now being considered in detail between different state and territory Governments, and the Commonwealth Government, before its expected agreement in the second half of this year.

It is unclear what, if any, changes have been made to the curriculum as a result of the consultation process. Given the importance of the issue, today I wrote to the Commonwealth Minister for School Education, the Hon Peter Garrett MP, and his NSW counterpart, the Hon Adrian Piccoli, expressing my concerns about the draft. And, because of the potential impact on LGBTI health, I copied in the Commonwealth Health Minister, the Hon Tanya Plibersek MP, and the NSW Health Minister, the Hon Jillian Skinner, to these letters.

It is still my hope that someone, somewhere, will finally realise that it is completely inappropriate and detrimental to adopt a Health and Physical Education Curriculum that does not specifically mention lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex (LGBTI) people, and does not even explicitly include HIV.

Anyway, here is a copy of my letter to Minister Garrett:

Dear Minister Garrett

NATIONAL HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION CURRICULUM

I am writing to you to express my significant concerns about the draft national Health & Physical Education (HPE) curriculum.

The draft curriculum that was released for public consultation by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) in December 2012 fails to appropriately include lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) students, and does not guarantee that content relevant to their needs is provided in every classroom.

I have already lodged a submission to ACARA through their public consultation process. However, I would like to bring these issues directly to your attention because the consequences of excluding these students, and ignoring their educational requirements, are so severe.

I have also copied the Health Minister, the Hon Tanya Plibersek MP, into this correspondence, because many of these consequences will impact on the health of the LGBTI community. These impacts could include increased transmission of HIV and other STIs, as well as the continuing high, and disproportionate, rate of youth suicide among LGBTI people.

As you can see from my submission to ACARA, I have a range of criticisms of the draft curriculum. However, the three major issues which I would like to see addressed are:

1.       The national HPE curriculum must explicitly include LGBTI students and their concerns.

The draft HPE curriculum released by ACARA does not include any references to sexual orientation, homosexuality, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or intersex. This is a gross oversight, and has the potential effect of making these students, and their needs, invisible.

There is a token effort to address this issue on page 18 of the draft, where it acknowledges that same sex attracted and gender diverse students exist in all schools. However, it does not back this acknowledgement up with any concrete action – instead, the draft curriculum notes that “it is expected that opportunities will be taken when implementing the [curriculum] to ensure teaching is inclusive and relevant to their lived experiences.”

This “expectation” does not actually guarantee anything. There are no explicit references to LGBT or I students in any of the band descriptions for years which follow from page 26. It is also difficult to see how any teaching can be “inclusive and relevant” when the curriculum does not even use the terms which most people from the LGBTI community use to describe themselves.

Unfortunately, adopting a national HPE curriculum which does not explicitly refer to LGBTI students or address their particular needs will only compound the feelings of isolation, and the discrimination, which many of these students experience, rather than cater to the health and physical education needs of all students, not just cisgender heterosexual ones.

2.       The national HPE curriculum must provide inclusive sexual health education.

Another key failing of the draft national HPE curriculum is that the ‘sex ed’ which it includes is both narrow in scope and limited in detail.

The primary reference to this essential area of health and physical education is on page 59 where it states students will be taught “investigating practices that support reproductive health and wellbeing”. And that is the extent of the content.

There are two major problems with this approach. First, “reproductive health and wellbeing” is an exclusionary terms, that primarily focuses on sexual health practices and issues for cisgender heterosexual students. It implicitly excludes same-sex sexual activity and other practices which do not relate to reproduction (and in fact omits many opposite-sex sexual activities). It would be far preferable to use the term “sexual health” which would include a much wider range of sexual activities and issues.

The second major problem is that one sentence is insufficient to cover the range of issues which need to be taught as part of sexual health. There should be significantly more detail in this area, including a guarantee that all students learn ‘safe sex’ messages, learn about condoms, basically that all students learn about ways to reduce STI transmission.

3.       The national HPE curriculum must include explicit reference to HIV.

On the subject of STIs, I find it astonishing that the draft national HPE curriculum does not include even a single reference to HIV.

As a gay man who came of age in the 1990s, I think that this is irresponsible, and fails to undertake the most basic requirement of a ‘health and physical education’ curriculum – namely, to provide education on how students can stay safe and protect their own personal health.

Yes, the consequences of a diagnosis have (thankfully) reduced because of improvements of treatment over the past 20 years. Yes, for many people HIV is now a chronic manageable condition rather than a ‘death sentence’.

However, many people, including young people, are still contracting HIV. And some people are still dying with HIV/AIDS at least a contributing factor.

Surely, in a document of more than 80 pages, there is room to incorporate basic information regarding HIV, and the main ways to prevent its transmission?

The NSW PDHPE curriculum finds room to reference HIV in both the K-6 syllabus, and the 7-10 syllabus. I expect that other states and territories would have similar components. At the very least, any national HPE curriculum must do the same.

As I indicated before, I think that the draft of the HPE curriculum released by ACARA in December 2012 fails in its important duty to provide education for the benefit of all students, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex students.

I hope that you and the Federal Government share these concerns and can help address the issues raised in this letter during the inter-governmental consultation on the final version of the HPE curriculum.

Should you have any questions about this letter, or my attached submission, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Thank you in advance for considering this correspondence.

5 Quick Thoughts on the 2013 GLORIAs

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On Wednesday night (May 8), Steve and I attended this year’s GLORIAs Awards at NSW Parliament House. The GLORIAs literally stand for the Gay & Lesbian Outrageous, Ridiculous and Ignorant comments Awards, and are an opportunity for the LGBTI community to get one back on the bigots who say offensive things about us throughout the year, but to do so in a humorous way. The winners of this year’s awards are reproduced at the end of this post. But before we get to that that I thought I might share my five quick observations about the GLORIAs.

1. I think that this is a great event. NSW Upper House Labor MP, Penny Sharpe – who is also one of Australia’s small (but slowly growing) number of out parliamentarians – ‘borrowed’ the idea from the already established Ernies, which themselves ‘celebrate’ sexist and misogynist public comments. It makes for a fun night for those who attend, while also reinforcing the serious point that homophobia, bi-phobia, trans-phobia and anti-intersex prejudice remain ongoing issues, requiring our continuing attention. This is especially important to remember when so much effort can go into legal reforms, like marriage equality, which won’t in and of themselves permanently remove the blight of discrimination from our society.

2. David Marr really is a very funny host. His dry wit certainly adds to the occasion, as does the relish which he brings to announcing the well-deserving recipients of each award. This year, I nominated the winner in one of the categories – Andrew Bolt for his absolutely ridiculous comments about marriage equality (which leads me to wonder what he thinks about his lesbian sister’s own marriage?). Somehow I suspect David took a fair bit of delight in reading that one out. I also had the chance to have a chat with David during the evening – he seems raring to go for the Guardian Australia as they launch ahead of this year’s Federal Election.

3. The courage of Ian Roberts in coming out while at the height of his rugby league career, back in 1995, should not be under-estimated. Ian Roberts was, maybe surprisingly, at this year’s GLORIAs, and this was the first time I had ever had the opportunity to meet him. We chatted about Jason Collins and the impact which his recent coming out will have on other players in the NBA, and indeed other major US codes. Hopefully Collins’ announcement will inspire other people to follow in his footsteps – but then again, that is something many people said after Roberts’ came out EIGHTEEN whole years ago (and no other male Australian football player has done so since). The fact that he did that way back then deserves nothing but respect. [I was also a little bit of a ‘fanboy’ and let him know that him coming out meant a lot to this particular writer, especially given I was a 17 year old closeted student at a religious boarding school at the time – but I don’t think that sentiment would be uncommon amongst gay guys who grew up in Australia in the 1990s.]

4. Duncan Gay has good media advisers. After winning this year’s Golden GLORIA, for the completely unjustifiable decision to rip up the Rainbow Crossing at Taylor Square earlier this year, the Roads Minister mitigated the damage somewhat by coming down from his Ministerial offices to collect the award in person. This led to him receiving a certain level of begrudging respect from some people in the crowd (for being able to face those who had given him the gong), as well as some not unfavourable media coverage afterwards http://www.starobserver.com.au/news/local-news/new-south-wales-news/2013/05/09/glorias-get-gay/103590 . All in all, it was very well-handled by the ironically-named Minister.

5. Tim Campbell, on the other hand, needs some media advice. In ‘defending the honour’ of his partner, Anthony Callea, who won the Silliest comment from someone within the LGBTI community award, Tim took to twitter to make some comments about the ‘sensational’ and ‘biased’ article from which the quotes came. What wasn’t disputed was that the quotes were actually made in the first place. [The relevant tweets: So @TheGLORIAs read a sensational and biased article and decided they can define Callea’s integrity. A shameful and pathetic game you play. Anthony does more to further GLBTI issues in the wider community than your narrow minded group will ever do. @TheGLORIAs]. There was also a now-apparently-deleted tweet direct to Penny Sharpe on the topic. What Tim should have realised is that, in these situations, it is best to ignore and move on, rather than taking umbrage and potentially making a bigger issue out of something that it would otherwise have been. I might be forgetting a lot about what I learnt in politics, but that lesson will stay with me for a long time [PS I am not disputing the content of Tim’s tweets – Anthony may well do a lot for the LGBTI community – just that with something like this, it is always best to be the bigger person.]

And so here they are, the ‘winners’ for 2013…

Golden GLORIA: Duncan Gay, the NSW Roads Minister, won this year’s golden gong for tearing up the Rainbow Crossing at Taylor Square. As is tradition, this was decided by a ‘boo-off’ by attendees at this year’s event.

Category Winners:
Politics / Law
Tess Corbett, Katter’s Australia Party Candidate who said in interview with The Hamilton Spectator that considered gay people to be in the same category as paedophiles: “Paedophiles will be next in line to be recognised in the same way as gays and lesbians and get rights,” she said.

International
John Sullivan, a councillor candidate for the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) for a series of Facebook posts that said gay activists were like termites; claimed homosexuality could be prevented by regular exercise in schools; congratulated Russia for banning gay pride; and said that although feminism was evil, being gay was even worse.

Media
Andrew Bolt: “But same-sex activists don’t want marriage equality — because they already have it. A gay man is as free as a straight man to marry a woman. A lesbian is as free as any other woman to marry a man. That’s equality…. And if we are to change what marriage means, we have a duty to consider not just the good such a huge change to such a critical social bond could bring, but the evil, too.”

Religion
Southern Baptist Convention President Rev. Fred Luter thinks that support of same-sex marriage and gay rights could be linked to North Korea’s most recent threats against the United States: “I’m not that strong in prophecy but I would not be surprised that there’s not a connection there simply because of the fact we’ve seen it happen in scripture before. I would not be surprised that at the time when we are debating same-sex marriage, at a time when we are debating whether or not we should have gays leading the Boy Scout movement, I don’t think it’s just a coincidence that we have a mad man in Asia who is saying some of the things that he’s saying.”

Sport
Former Major League Baseball player Mark Knudson writing about gay players in team sports: “No one has said that gays should not be allowed to play in the NFL. What has been said is that having a gay teammate would make some players uncomfortable… Nothing that infringes on the cohesiveness of the locker room can be tolerated. If a player who is not an irreplaceable superstar becomes any sort of distraction, he’s going to get released… That’s why it remains the best option for any homosexual athlete in a team sport to keep his orientation private. He’s doing what’s best for himself by doing what’s best for the team.”

Silliest GLBTI comment from within the GLBTI community
Anthony Callea says he’s not interested in activism “I have a great relationship, I live in normal house, I have a dog, I live a normal lifestyle, it’s just part of who I am – it’s not who I am. My friends and family don’t treat us like that either. I think if you make something an issue, then it becomes an issue [in] society.”

The organiser of the GLORIAs, Penny Sharpe, and my beautiful fiance.

The organiser of the GLORIAs, Penny Sharpe, and my beautiful fiance.

Submission on National Health & Physical Education Curriculum

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Below is the text of my submission to ACARA about the draft national Health & Physcial Education curriculum (due tomorrow 12 April). I think that my concern with the consultation draft, as released, shows through. I find it particularly worrying that the curriculum does not use the words lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex.

But it is even more worrying that it omits the terms or phrases condoms, safe sex and HIV/AIDS – that, to me, is negligently putting the lives of young people, and young gay and bisexual men in particular, at risk. Here’s hoping that ACARA listens to this submission, and to others from people writing about this issue.

Curriculum Photo

Submission on Draft National Health and Physical Education Curriculum: Foundation to Year 10

Thursday 11 April 2013

I am writing this submission as an ordinary member of the community. But I am also writing this submission as a gay man, and someone who was profoundly let down by my school education with respect to both inclusivity, and sexual health education.

In my opinion, both of these things – being genuinely inclusive of diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and of intersex people, and providing comprehensive and detailed sexual health education, including HIV prevention – are absolutely essential in any Health and Physical Education (HPE) curriculum.

Inclusivity is necessary because all students, whether they be heterosexual, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex (LGBTI), or a combination of these, have the right to an inclusive education, to learn about who they are, to develop their identity in a safe place, and to be provided with all of the information which they need as they grow up.

These rights are particularly important for LGBTI students because they will be entering a world in which homophobia, bi-phobia, trans-phobia and anti-intersex prejudice remain a sad and unarguable fact. The consequences of not providing an inclusive education can be severe – LGBTI students can be the victims of harassment and bullying on account of their sexual orientations, gender identity or intersex status. LGBTI students, and later adults, also have higher rates of mental health issues, including rates of suicide, as a result of the discrimination which they experience. Any HPE curriculum which is adopted should be furthering the health of LGBTI people – and should not instead perpetuate their exclusion.

Sexual health education is necessary for all students, again, irrespective of whether they are gay or straight and no matter their gender identity or intersex status. However, unless they are specifically mentioned, the needs of LGBTI people can easily be overlooked with teachers and schools sometimes providing for the needs of the majority of their students, while ignoring the fact that every student should receive all the information they need to stay safe.

This is especially important for same-sex attracted boys, given that men who have sex with men remain a high-priority population in terms of HIV prevention. This means that sexual health education cannot be limited to ‘reproductive health’ or simply outline the risks of heterosexual intercourse, but must be comprehensive and teach all students about the risks involved in different types of intercourse, and above all the measures, such as condoms, which reduce those risks.

Of course, there is an additional reason why a HPE curriculum must be inclusive of LGBTI students, and must provide inclusive sexual health education – and that is because in many cases teachers and schools will be unaware which of their students are LGBT or I. Some students do ‘come out’ while at school, and obviously I believe that all schools should provide encouraging and nurturing environments to allow those students to do so. But many students do not come out while at school.

And I do not believe that they should be compelled to do so in order to receive an education which teaches them what they need to know about their identity, and the sexual health education which they need to stay safe.

As I mentioned before, my school education failed, and failed miserably, on both of these grounds. My school did not mention homosexuality, unless it was from a negative perspective. And throughout my education, at both primary and secondary schools, I not once was taught about safe sex in a same-sex attracted (or ‘non-reproductive’) context. Sadly, while many schools have become better at both inclusivity and sexual health education since that time (the early to mid-1990s), many have not.

The development of a national Health and Physical Education curriculum presents an ideal opportunity to address these issues. It is a chance to ensure that HPE, taught in any class room in any school across the country, is inclusive of LGBTI students, and provides sexual health education that is appropriate for all students, not just those who are heterosexual.

Unfortunately, the draft national HPE curriculum released by ACARA in December 2012 does not seize this historic opportunity. In my opinion, it falls far short in terms of its inclusivity (or, more accurately, lack thereof) of LGBTI students. For example, it does not even mention the words lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI), and therefore contributes to what can feel like an all-pervasive silence about these issues. I do not understand how any document can aspire to being inclusive of the full diversity of students when it deliberately omits the words lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex.

The draft national HPE curriculum also falls short in terms of the sexual health education which it provides. As well as beginning too late (in year 7 rather than year 5), the sexual health education which is included appears to focus on ‘reproductive health’ rather than genuinely inclusive sexual health. It should, but does not, cover everything necessary for same-sex attracted students and for HIV prevention.

The remainder of this submission will focus on some of the specific parts of the draft HPE curriculum which I believe should be amended, focusing on the many opportunities for improvement. I hope that these recommendations or suggestions are taken up, so that all students, including LGBTI students, get the education which they deserve.

1. On pages 3 and 4 of the draft HPE curriculum, the ‘key idea’ of being ‘healthy, safe and active’ could be amended to read: ‘confident, healthy, safe and active’. This would reflect the need for students to be confident in their personal identity (which is discussed briefly on page 4, but should be elevated in importance). Personal identity is fundamental to a student’s sense of wellbeing, and just as important as being ‘healthy’ or ‘safe’. It should also be noted that personal identity is not limited to LGBTI students, but would include a wide range of diverse backgrounds and therefore benefit students from across the spectrum.

2. On page 6, under the heading ‘relationships and sexuality’, the dot point which currently reads ‘exploring sexual and gender identities’ could be amended to be more explicit. A possible replacement could read ‘exploring different sexual orientations, gender identities and sex and intersex status’.

3. On page 15, I disagree with the choice to delay relationships and sexuality education until years 5-6 onwards. Instead, I believe it should commence in years 3-4, in the same way that alcohol and other drugs education does. This would ensure that students are aware of the full range of identities as they enter puberty, and do not need to ‘suffer in silence’ because they might be attracted to someone of the same sex. This outcome could be achieved by introducing the ‘themes’ or general concepts of relationships and sexuality in years 3-4 (including the identities of lesbian, gay and bisexual), and then providing more detailed sexual health education in years 5 and 6. As it currently stands, students would not receive detailed sexual health education until year 7 at the earliest, when students are generally turning 13. Given what we know about the sexual activity of young people, and the fact that puberty is starting earlier and earlier, this is too late for effective sexual health education to begin.

4. Onto a more specific issue – I think that more consideration could be given to introducing the particular topics relating to transgender and intersex from Foundation onwards, rather than waiting for 3-4 when lesbian, gay and bisexual issues are introduced. This is because gender identity and intersex are not related to sexual attraction, but instead may well be known before or at the commencement of schooling. Obviously I am not an expert on these issues, and would defer to the input of transgender organisations and groups like OII Australia. I am merely raising this issue because it would not appear logical to delay teaching these particular matters until closer to puberty (unlike arguably the same-sex attracted issues referred to above).

5. I welcome the inclusion of a statement about same-sex attracted (SSA) and gender diverse students on page 18 of the draft HPE curriculum – at the very least the curriculum acknowledges that these students exist and have specific needs. However, I reject the idea that the curriculum should provide schools with the ‘flexibility’ to include these students, with a vague and non-committal ‘expectation’ that schools will take opportunities to be inclusive. This seems fundamentally inconsistent with a sentence in the same paragraph which correctly notes that ‘students facing these issues exist in all school communities’.

If that statement is correct, then ALL schools across the country MUST be inclusive. The best way to achieve this is to provide specific and detailed requirements for the inclusion of LGBTI-related content throughout the text of the curriculum, rather than through a non-binding ‘aspirational’ statement at the beginning of the document which will likely only be referred to and applied by those schools and teachers which are already supportive of LGBTI students.

6. As a broader point, while I understand that the terms same-sex attracted (SSA) and gender diverse are included on page 18 because they are considered more inclusive of the diverse range of possible identities, I disagree that these should be the only terms used in the document to describe these groups. The vast majority of students who grow up who are SSA or gender diverse, will over time identify with one or more of the following identities: lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex.

For this reason, I believe that these specific identities/descriptors should be included in the curriculum as well. These students deserve to have their identities spoken about in the classroom – and other students should also learn about the diversity of sexual orientations, gender identities and intersex people, rather than just the catch-all phrases SSA and gender diverse. After all, these are the terms which all students are likely to be exposed to after they depart the school environment. If any students leave school without understanding these terms then I think we are doing them a great disservice.

7. On page 49, at heading 4.2, I welcome the introduction of discrimination on the basis of sexuality as one of the particular examples of negative forms of discrimination which may be discussed in the classroom. However, I would like to see this broadened to look at discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or intersex status (rather than the more generic term ‘sexuality’), and I would also like teachers to be required to use all of these examples (including race, gender, disability etc), rather than simply choosing one or two from the list and potentially ignoring or omitting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex.

8. In the discussion of years 7-8, from page 58 onwards, the curriculum finally looks at sexual health education in detail. As discussed above, I believe this is far too late (and should instead be taught from year 5 onwards). However, turning to the substance of what is proposed, I also believe that it is too narrowly defined and limited in content.

For example, on page 59 the draft curriculum only refers to ‘reproductive health and wellbeing’. This is a very exclusionary term, traditionally focusing on sexual practices which are related to reproduction. This does NOT include other forms of sexual intercourse, including the behaviours of people who are same-sex attracted (as well as a range of other behaviours of heterosexual students which are also unrelated to reproduction). It is for this reason that the term sexual health should be used instead (or at least sexual and reproductive health), as it captures all of the behaviours which should be discussed.

9. The discussion of sexual health also needs to be made significantly longer, with more detail provided about what exactly has to be taught. This should include explicit reference to condoms, safe sex and the need for the prevention of HIV and other STIs. As a gay man who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s, I believe that it is negligent to draft a curriculum for primary and secondary students that does not include the words condom, safe sex or even HIV. Any comprehensive guide for the ‘health and physical education’ of young people must include these terms, especially when considering the health and wellbeing of young gay men, bisexual men and men who have sex with men generally. I would hope that organisations from the HIV/AIDS sector will be making similar points on this particular issue.

10. Finally, in years 9-10, on page 70, in addition to the reference to homophobia, there should also be references to bi-phobia, trans-phobia and anti-intersex discrimination. Students should be aware of the existence of, and unacceptability of, each of these types of prejudice. Of course, logically these types of discrimination cannot be discussed without an understanding of the identities lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex, further underscoring the need for these issues to be taught from earlier in the curriculum.

As discussed earlier, I believe that significant amendments and improvements should be made to the draft national HPE curriculum to ensure that it is genuinely inclusive of, and provides appropriate sexual health education for, LGBTI students. I hope that ACARA takes these suggestions or recommendations for improvement into consideration as it revises the HPE curriculum before it is submitted to the Commonwealth and State and Territory education ministers for approval later this year.

2nd Anniversary of Election of O’Farrell Government

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So, last week I wrote a column on behalf of the NSW Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby (GLRL) for the Star Observer, looking at the 2 year anniversary of the election of the O’Farrell Liberal-National Government in NSW. It has been published today, and can be found at the following link: http://www.starobserver.com.au/opinion/2013/04/03/speaking-out-6/101597 . I will publish the full text of the article here next week (ie after the current edition).

Basically, NSW has not gone backwards on LGBTI law reform over the past 2 years, unlike our neighbours North of the Tweed under Premier Campbell Newman (who continues to wage war against the rights of and services for the Queensland LGBTI community). It is unclear which model the likely incoming Prime Minister Tony Abbott will follow (although one has to suspect he will be more like Newman than O’Farrell).

But just because O’Farrell and his Government have not gone backwards doesn’t mean there has been any great progress either. The next 12 months will be key, in particular seeing whether he and his Government support state-based marriage equality, abolish the homosexual advance or gay panic defence and continue, and hopefully expand, the Proud Schools program.

Full text:

As always, there has been a lot going on over the past month, including the community’s response to police (mis)conduct during the Mardi Gras Festival, as well as the Legislative Council’s hearings into State-based marriage equality laws.

One event which almost went unnoticed was the 2nd anniversary of the election of the O’Farrell Government, which happened last week. This officially marked the halfway point of this term of Parliament.

Many people in the LGBTI community probably greeted the election of a Liberal/National Government back in March 2011 with a degree of trepidation, not knowing exactly what to expect on gay and lesbian issues. The good news is that there have not been any major backwards steps on gay and lesbian law reform in NSW.

In fact, there have been some small wins, with the continuation of the Proud Schools pilot, and the passage of a symbolic motion in favour of marriage equality by the Legislative Council in mid-2012. However, there have been no major advances on gay and lesbian rights under the O’Farrell Government so far either.

As the Gay & Lesbian Rights Lobby, we believe that over the next 12 months it is time for the Liberal/National Government, and the Parliament more broadly, to demonstrate its commitment to treating the LGBTI people of NSW equally.

There are three major legislative and policy issues which are already on the agenda for the coming year. The first is the Upper House Inquiry into the partial defence of provocation, which is due to report by 2 May. We will be looking for the O’Farrell Government to abolish the homosexual advance or ‘gay panic’ defence, because non-violent sexual advances should never be a justification to downgrade a murder conviction to manslaughter.

The second issue is the State-based marriage equality Bill, which should be voted on later in 2013. The GLRL wants parliamentarians of all political persuasions to support the legal recognition of the equality of same-sex relationships.

The third issue which is already on the agenda is a decision on the long-term future of Proud Schools. At the Lobby, we believe that all LGBTI students deserve to have an education free from bullying, prejudice and discrimination. Consequently, we want to see Proud Schools continued and indeed expanded across NSW.

This is obviously not an exhaustive list, and the Lobby will be campaigning on other issues, including removing religious exceptions in anti-discrimination law and calling for a review of the criminalisation of commercial surrogacy arrangements, during the ‘second half’ of this term.

But, by acting on the three issues identified above, the O’Farrell Government, and the NSW Parliament generally, would demonstrate that they genuinely believe LGBTI people should be treated equally. Time will tell.

OFarrell hand

Premier O’Farrell – We won’t let you put these issues to one side this year…