The last few months have seen a new age of activism in Perth take off, when Greens MLC Giz Watson and Labor MLC Louise Pratt, hosted a debate at sKandalous Nightclub, on whether Western Australia’s Queer Community want to fight for Civil Unions in this State, or at a Federal level.
Ms Watson told the crowd on the night she had had a recent conversation with the WA Attorney General Jim McGinty, who had told her, that the WA State Government is more than happy to look at the matter, but will only do so if there is a commitment from the Queer community to push for relationship recognition.
“It was great to see so many people turn out,” stated Ms Watson.
“When it’s standing room only then I think that in itself is a great indication that this is an issue that the community wants to get involved in.”
The night started with an introduction by the hosts who told, the over 70 strong crowd what the aim of the night was, and further outlined what the present laws in WA allow for, including the current debate over “Living Wills”.
The Honourable Louise Pratt, told OUTinPerth that she too was happy with the attendance but was further impressed by the level of knowledge participants had on the matter.
“I was pleased with the attendance and the diversity of not just views, but the diversity of people too, who came out to talk about this issue,” Ms Pratt said.
“There is certainly strong support for relationship recognition in WA, what form that relationship recognition takes is now up to the queer community as a whole to determine.”
The comments from invited speakers, including former GALE Convenor Damian Douglas-Meyer, added further depth to the discussion.
Mr Douglas-Meyer, spoke to the audience of the various models around the globe, highlighting the UK Civil Partnership model, the New Zealand Civil Union model and the Tasmanian Domestic Partnership regime highlighting them as some of the examples the queer community here in WA should look at when considering what to push for.
The way forward from here according to both Ms Watson and Ms Pratt is greatly determined by how much momentum can be mustered.
“The show of hands of those who are prepared to mobilise on this matter is very encouraging,” stated Ms Watson.
“We now have a database of those who attended and I encourage the community to take ownership of the issue and not only become empowered but have fun driving the issue at a State and Federal level.”
A follow up meeting at Lotterywest House in West Perth on September 20 saw the birth of Equal Love WA.
“As was discussed, the community needs to now spread the word and develop a strategy to push the agenda,” added Ms Watson.
“The strategy will need to encompass what model we want, how to work with politicians, and other sections of the community including ethnic groups and churches.”
To get involved and to find out more please visit www.equallovewa.info
