Game on AFL – Ken Campagnolo, after winning an anti-discrimination case against the Victorian County Football League (VCFL), has now set his sights higher with the Australian Football League (AFL) being called to a conciliation hearing at the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission. Campagnolo was dismissed by Bonnie Doon football club after 678 games after the club learnt he was bisexual.
Openly Gay Olympian – Openly gay Olympic diver Matthew Mitcham, 20, has requested that his boyfriend Lachlan accompany him to Beijing in August and is confident the Johnson and Johnson Athlete Family Support Program will facilitate his request. Mitcham said regardless of the Family Support Program’s decision, Lachlan will find a way to attend the Olympic Games.
Blood Letting – After making his original complaint three years ago, Michael Cain’s discrimination case against the Australian Red Cross Blood Service is being heard by the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Commission. The Tasmanian Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby has called on the state government to address the issue of discrimination in blood donation by the Australian Red Cross, who currently ban blood donations from men who have had sex with men in the past 12 months.
Fund Positive – This month the Victorian Government announced future funding of $16.6 million for HIV prevention, while New South Wales recommitted to providing $500,000 in annual grants to the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research.
Married in Tassie – The Tasmanian Greens tabled legislation on July 1 that would allow same-sex marriage in the state. Tasmanian gay rights activists have called on both the Labor and Liberal parties to allow an inquiry into state same-sex marriage, citing Australian constitutional experts such as University of New South Wales Professor George Williams, who say that Federal Parliament’s refusal to recognize same-sex marriages through the Federal Marriage Act gives the states the power to enact same-sex marriage laws.
NSW Parenting Reform – NSW passed parenting reform that allows both partners in a lesbian relationship to be recognised on a child’s birth certificate. The group Gay Dads NSW protested the bill, calling for it to extend the birth certificate recognition to include more than two parents and accommodate lesbian couples and gay male couples who have entered into co-parenting arrangements.
Register in Queensland – Queensland announced this month that they will consider a state relationship registry for same-sex couples. The federal government has called on states and territories to provide couples registries to facilitate the current federal reforms aimed at eliminating same-sex discrimination. To date, Tasmania, Victoria and the ACT have registries.
