In March 2002, State Parliament passed the Acts Amendment (Lesbian and Gay Law Reform) Bill. The legislation gave same sex couples equal rights in transfer of property, medical treatment and inheritance – measures that had broad bi-partisan support. However, when it came to four other areas – lowering the age of consent for gay males from 21 to 16, adding sexual diversity education to school curriculums, IVF access for lesbians, and gay adoption – the debate became considerably more fierce. The Opposition called for Parliament to delay and/or split the bill to allow for further debate and independent votes on the controversial measures of the bill. The bill’s supporters, however, refused to split or delay the debate.
After marathon debates, including one 16-hour sitting, the bill passed the lower house on December 12, 2001. In the upper house, the bill made it through by a single vote on March 21, 2002. With the bill’s passage, Western Australia became one of the most progressive states with regard to GLBT rights laws.
In a Pride month celebration of the fifth anniversary of the law reform, the Diverse Sexuality and Gender Network and Rainbow Labor are hosting a commemorative event at the Court Hotel on Wednesday, October 31 6-8pm. The evening will include speeches from Labor and Green politicians involved in the debates as well as a special appearance by driving force behind the reforms, Attorney-General Jim McGinty.
For our Pride month special edition, OUTinPerth has decided to revisit the debate surrounding gay law reform. Here are the highlights (and low blows) of the debate that took place in Parliament at the time, with an update on what those involved have to say about the GLBT law reform now.
THE OPPONENTS
What adults do in their bedroom is their business. Far be it from me to tell people what they can do in the privacy of their homes. However, when their abnormal practices start to intrude on our daily lives and that of our children, we must apply the brake. We must let them know that they are tolerated, but not accepted… We will not approve their choice of partner. We will not willingly allow them to bring up children in this world who cannot be accepted into a normal society. –Hon. John Fischer, MLC for Mining and Pastoral Region, Independent
The whole tenor of this report, and of the approach of the Labor Government, is to promote equality as such. I support equality as a principle but it is not the only principle. The issue about what is right or wrong must first be addressed. The Opposition will be looking at what is right or wrong in terms of the age of consent or access to in vitro fertilisation technologies. The equality issue does come into it, but it is the issue of right or wrong that comes first. –Hon. Colin Barnett, MLA for Cottesloe, Leader of the Opposition in the Lower House, Liberal
Lies surround this legislation. I wonder why the Government has done that. It was not necessary. It was not called for. It hardly helps anybody, least of all the gay and lesbian community, which has ended up being blamed for this. It is being blamed for the Government’s inept and incompetent handling of this legislation. If the Government thinks that this will lead to a better relationship between gay and lesbian people and the rest of the community, it is wrong. The rest of the community will attribute to the gay and lesbian community the poor handling, arrogant behaviour and failure to consult of this Government. It will be tarred with the Government’s intolerant behaviour and the way in which it has dealt with this legislation. –Hon. Peter Foss, then Leader of the Opposition in the Upper House, Liberal
I liken the actions of the Premier, the Attorney General and this Labor Government to what happened in Nazi Germany in the final days of the Second World War. The Nazi’s social agenda was still a priority. Rome was burning around them, just like it is burning here now. Unemployment is increasing, we have a black hole in the budget and many businesses will go bankrupt over the next 12 months. What is this Government’s priority? It wants to get this Bill through Parliament… The problem is homosexuality. Homosexuality is not normal. Any members on that side of the House who think that homosexuality is normal are living in cloud-cuckoo-land. Members have to accept that homosexuality is not the norm. –Mr. Robert Johnson, MLA for Hillarys, Liberal
What is the Government’s priority? Sodomites committing sodomy!… It is absolutely disgraceful! The people of Western Australia think it is utterly disgraceful. While we are on the subject of priorities, whose priority is this legislation? It is the priority of the Attorney General. One man in consultation with people with a vested interest has brought this legislation to the Parliament. The Attorney General is the hero of the homosexuals, the leader of the lesbians, the bloke sitting side saddle on the horse at the front of Mardi Gras receiving rapturous applause from the masses… This Government is about to do irreparable damage to the family unit. History will treat it very harshly, as will the people of Western Australia. –Mr. Matthew Birney, MLA for Kalgoorlie, Liberal
THE SUPPORTERS
The plight of gay men and lesbians – their experiences of discrimination and exclusion and invisibility in legislation – has to date been the subject of many reports and inquiries. The Government and I believe that it is now time to change the law in Western Australia to recognise lesbians and gay men as human beings who are a part of Western Australian society. Matters of law reform that relate to deeply held personal beliefs and convictions inevitably generate considerable public discussion and debate. I welcome such debate as an essential feature of any democracy. –Hon. Jim McGinty, Attorney-General, Labor
I do not denigrate the people who oppose this legislation, but by supporting it, we are doing something important and beneficial for the State of Western Australia and the people who live here now and in the future. If we achieve nothing else than this little bit, it will, in my mind, make our entire political careers worthwhile… I will be able to say that I was a part of the process that improved the State of Western Australia by making a fundamental change – removing discrimination against people on the basis of their sexuality. –Hon. Alan Carpenter, then Minister of Education, current Premier, Labor
Let us stop using the word “normal†to justify prejudices. Male-female relationships are normal; same-sex relationships are normal; abstaining from sex – nuns, monks and others – is normal; and two aunts raising a child is normal. Relationships are very diverse. Let us recognize and celebrate that. –Mr. John Hyde, MLA for Perth, Labor
The people who have campaigned for this legislation are not the powerful gay lobby; they are the every day lesbian and gay people and parents and friends from organisations – such as PFLAG – seeking equality for their children. They are the people who have been calling for these reforms. They have lobbied and campaigned and struggled for many years, but it has not been in vain, as the laws passed through this House are the fruits of our efforts. –Hon. Louise Pratt, MLC for East Metropolitan Region, Labor
Demand for equality for lesbians and gays has had a long history – almost 30 years. In my books, it is not a rushed debate. The majority of fair-minded Western Australians support equality for gays and lesbians. They do not see what the fuss is about and they cannot understand why we have had to wait so long. –Giz Watson, MLC for North Metropolitan Region, Greens
No matter what their constitution, families will continue to produce lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender offspring. Despite what some might think, homosexuality does not pose a threat to the traditional nuclear family. It is, in fact, homophobia that strains family relationships. –Mrs Dianne Guise, MLA for Wanneroo, Labor
FIVE YEARS ON…
This is what MPs had to say to OUTinPerth’s Megan Smith about the reforms five years on…
I would say overall the legislation has succeeded. It’s been well received and rightly well received in the community. While there are particular parts of it, that I don’t concur with. I think overall the reform was overdue and has been well accepted… In some of the other areas, such as marriage, adoption, they are broader social issues. They are not to me issues of discrimination or unequal rights. Let me put it this way, I don’t have any difficulty at all with two men standing in a church exchanging commitments to each other. I don’t have a problem with it or with it being recognized legally through civil unions, but to me, marriage is actually a male-female relationship. I don’t see it as discrimination, I see it as different. –Hon. Colin Barnett
Law reform has had a significant impact reducing stigma and discrimination in the community. The fact that people are positively received by their families, workplaces and wider community has a positive effect on people’s happiness and mental health. This is the best part of the law reform. –Hon. Louise Pratt
I go to something like Fairday and I see young gays and lesbians looking happy, confident… You get a sense that for young people it’s so much clearer, it’s so much easier than it was. I’m not suggesting that it’s easy, just easier than it was 10 years ago, and I think the law reform has had a significant part in that. That was one of the things that every time I felt that this is distressing and exhausting and painful and horrible things that are being said about us by people I have to work with every day, I thought if it prevents young people with questions about their sexuality having to go through the sort of difficulties that a lot of us did, then it’s worth it… It doesn’t fix everything, but it fixes the overt discrimination, and in that process it actually requires the community to engage in the debate and that’s why we had to do it. –Giz Watson
The major benefit of the reforms and the Government’s leadership has been the clear signal to all government departments and agencies that lesbian and gay Western Australians are equal and need to be treated equally in all services. –Mr. John Hyde, Parliamentary Secretary to the Attorney-General.
Five years on, I still believe it was a significant reform to pass through Parliament – by removing discrimination against people on the basis of their sexual preference. At the time, I said it was one of those policy debates which made me very glad that I was a member of Parliament. –Hon. Alan Carpenter
