PFLAG QLD CALLS FOR END TO DISCRIMINATION-With a state election due later this year in Queensland, President of PFLAG Brisbane and the organisation’s national spokesperson, Shelley Argent OAM is urging leaders from both sides of the political fence to recognise the rights of same sex attracted couples and their children. In a recent press release Ms Archer said, ‘It’s time to dispel the belief that Queensland is one of the most homophobic states in Australia.’ She believes there is no excuse for discrimination against the GLBTIQ community now that same sex couples and their children are recognised federally.
NATIONS UNITED FOR MARDI GRAS 09-It’s that time of year again, the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras festival is in full swing and the Mardi Gras parade will make it’s way up Oxford Street on Saturday, March 7. The theme for this year’s parade is ‘Nations United’, appropriate for an event that draws a crowd from all corners of the globe. The legendary post-parade party will be held at the Hordern Pavilion in Moore Park, with The Freemasons and Paul Oakenfold as the headline DJ’s and a live performance from Natalie Bassingthwaighte.
EVERYBODY NEEDS GOOD NEIGHBOURS-How well do you know your neighbours? In 2003, an elderly woman was found dead in her Melbourne home. She had died two years earlier and nobody had missed her. This sad incident started Andrew Heslop thinking about the idea of community and he founded Neighbour Day, now an annual international event that has gained support from HRH the Prince of Wales, former President Bill Clinton and former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Neighbour Day is on Sunday March 29, so why not use the opportunity to organise a street BBQ or invite your neighbours round for a Beverage or two and get to know your local community. For more information go to www.neighbourday.org
COMPENSATION FOR ‘EXTRA’ CHILD-A Melbourne lesbian couple who were mistakenly implanted with two IVF embryos rather than the requested one have won a landmark appeal against their doctor and $317,000 in compensation. After their claim was rejected in July last year and they were ordered to pay their doctor’s legal costs, they have recently been successful in the ACT Court of Appeal. The two women said their relationship had suffered as a cause of the unplanned second child and that the birth mother had lost her capacity to love. The twin girls were conceived using an IVF procedure in Canberra in November 2003, using sperm from a Danish donor.
CHILLOUT SURVIVES VICTORIAN BUSHFIRES-The annual ChillOut Festival in Daylesford, Victoria was briefly in doubt after bushfires came within five kilometres of the town just two weeks after Black Saturday. Although some people had evacuated the area, schools and businesses were reopened and the town returned to normal within 24 hours of the threat. ChillOut president Doug Pollard told OUTinPerth that no infrastructure had been lost, Daylesford is not under immediate threat and the festival will go ahead as planned. This year’s theme is ‘Disco Stampede’ and the festival will be held from March 6-9.
