OPINION April Holcombe from Community Action For Rainbow Rights shares her fears about the proposed Religious Discrimination bill. I remember the day, four years ago, when Australia voted overwhelmingly for a YES to equal marriage rights. The following evening, 10,000 of us marched in victory down Sydney’s Oxford Street. I remember the feeling of pride, of […]
OPINION It’s time to shut the door on religious privilege: why the Religious Freedom Bill should be scrapped completely LGBTIQ+ Australians face the real possibility of a Religious Freedom and Discrimination Bill that is less bad than previous drafts, but still harmful. We must not accept compromise. The Bill must be scrapped so Australia can […]
OPINION: Rodney Croome is a long-time LGBTQIA+ advocate. History is repeating. Ahead of the 2004 election the Howard Government sought to wedge Labor and pick up seats in Western Sydney by introducing a bill banning the recognition of same-sex marriages. It was a backlash to growing legal recognition of same-sex partners. It came straight out of […]
OPINION: David Kernohan We are seeing an increasing number of churches hosting talks by the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) and the ‘ex-gay’ organisation True Identity. Does this matter? For the majority of us, who have scant interest in what churches do or do not do, we may read of these events and roll our eyes, thinking […]
OPINION Professor Braden Hill is Pro Vice Chancellor Equity and Indigenous and Head of Kurongkurl Katitjin at Edith Cowan University. He is a Noongar man and proud member of the LGBTQ+ community in Perth. A Perth drag queen’s racist past has provoked an important discussion amongst LGBTQ+ communities throughout Australia. Scarlet Adams, a well-known queen […]
OPINION David Kernohan Before setting off, down the yellow brick road, a couple of provisos. Firstly, I write from my perspective as a same sex attracted man. While there may be similar experiences for other members of the LGBTIQ+ community, I cannot write with any authority of the differences that may exist for other members […]
OPINION Colin Longworth is a psychologist in private practice and long term volunteer with Living Proud and it’s predecessor organisations. It seems to me that opposition to protecting the public from the ‘noxious weed of ‘conversion therapy’ is raising its ugly head again in Western Australia. Partly it seems, in response to the idea that […]
OPINION Alison Xamon MLC is a member of The Greens in the Western Australian Parliament. LGBTIQ religious conversion ‘therapy’ is still hurting Western Australians. It is hurting them in complex and long-lasting ways. While it is impossible to quantify exactly how many Western Australians are directly affected, La Trobe University’s February 2021 report Healing Spiritual […]
OPINION There is obviously a debate around January 26th as a national public holiday for Australians. Regardless of people’s thoughts on that debate, a group of men dressing up as British Red Coats on that day, walking through the streets of Perth and brandishing a British flag, shouting “Aim, fire,” was a clear attempt to […]
OPINION Last Monday the United States celebrated Martin Luther King Day. Although for most people it was a day off work, it’s not intended to be a holiday. It is a day set aside to commemorate the life of the great man with acts of community service. Martin Luther King Day is a day of […]
