Former Senator for the Australian Democrats, Brian Grieg, was emotional as he recalled his past personal battles for the LGBTIQ community in the fight for equal recognition.
“I want to try and express on behalf of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex community how thankful we are that our mums and dads and brothers and sisters and work colleagues and neighbours are here to say ‘we’re with you’. It wasn’t so long ago that I was 24… there was a tiny group of us and we were trying to change the law. The law said that homosexuality was a criminal offence, the penalty was 14 years in prison. That was 1989. A tiny group of people fought so hard to change that against unsurmountable odds, fierce resistance from the Parliament and very little community support, but we got through with truth and justice. The real stories.”
“It took another 13 years before we got even basic anti-discrimination laws in housing… and provisional goods and services, but WA led the way with some of that stuff. We were the first state to get adoption for children and access to the family court. We can show leadership. So you see there’s been a bit of an arc of history. We’ve got from decriminalisation, to anti-discrimination laws, to de facto recognition and now we need to close the rainbow on marriage.”
Mr Grieg had a simple guide for those interested in showing their support and taking action;
“We need you to do a few things so here’s the call to action.
On Monday, if you have no already done so, phone your federal member of Parliament and tell them what you think.
On Tuesday, email your federal member of Parliament and tell them what you think.
On Wednesday, arrange a visit with your federal member of Parliament and tell them what you think
On Thursday, tell your friends, your neighbours, your colleagues, your mums, your dads, your sisters and brothers to do exactly the same thing
And around it goes until we get to August.”
