Date: Sat, 18 May 1996 20:02:47 +1000 From: leto@rabbit.com.au (Brendon Wickham) Subject: Long - (Australia) Brother Sister News - 16/5/96 BROTHER SISTER - QUEER NEWS FROM DOWNUNDER Issue 106 - 16/5/96 Including: 1. Call to dump couples 2. Howard's man attacks 'gayness' 3. Tasmanian gay law action 4. Banking on Credit Union 5. Farewell to Fairfield 6. BRIEFS - Mardi Gras, High Court challenge in Perth This and previous postings are archived for the QRD. Point your URL to http://werple.net.au/~leto/news - or go through the Pacific Region of the QRD at http://www.qrd.org/qrd/world/pacific/ =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ CALL TO DUMP COUPLES *Controversy has erupted over calls to drop a clause covering same-sex couples from the Sexuality Discrimination Bill, due to be introduced in Federal Parliament by Democrat Senator Sid Spindler.* Spindler has criticised requests by the Australian Council for Lesbian and Gay Rights that a section dealing with same-sex couples be removed from the Bill. Senator Spindler told Brother Sister that dropping Part 6, Clause 107 of the Bill, which aims to remove discriminatory provisions against same-sex couples from Commonwealth Law, could make its passage more difficult. "It's a politically hard line to run, that 'we want equality, but not when it disadvantages us...(in cases like) Social Security claims' " he said. In a letter to Senator Spindler outlining their concerns about the Bill, the ACLGR claimed there was "...no consensus in our community about the way in which our relationships should be legally recognised". Co-convenor of the Council, Robyn Walsh, said the offending section of the Bill was "far too general," and "not representative of opinion in the gay and lesbian community." "Some people may not want to be defined as a couple, and it fails to cover other supportive (gay) relationships that aren't sexual or don't fit their definition of defacto," she said. When asked what mandate her organisation had to agitate for such a change to the Bill, Walsh said the community had not yet voiced its approval for the clause. "There's a great variation in what people think about the legal definition of couples. We want the section removed from the Bill because we aren't sure of it's negative implications - and there's been no debate in the community yet." "We feel that this blanket approach may not work, and that tackling the specific issues might be more beneficial for the community. People see clause 107 as being a quick fix," she said. However, Senator Spindler told Brother Sister that his own survey of attitudes in the gay community had revealed "overwhelming" support for keeping the same-sex couples clause. "The majority say that we should leave the clause in - more than two thirds," he said. In its letter to Senator Spindler, the ACLGR asserts that "the most efficient and effective way to approach same sex relationship recognition is issue by issue, rather than the broad brush approach taken by your Bill." "We therefore call on you to withdraw this section of your Bill. We do, however, continue to support the inclusion of provisions that recognise our relationships in specific areas such as superannuation and insurance." Senator Spindler rejects the notion that approaching individual issues like superannuation is the way to go. "Unless you put a lever in the Bill - like the couples clause - to introduce that kind of legislation is a massive exercise. Making those kinds of individual changes is almost an impossible task." "It would take a year in preliminary discussions, and then a further two to three years for all those changes," he said. Senator Spindler said he would continue to consult the gay community about the development of the Bill, and had not yet decided on the fate of the disputed clause. The Sexuality Discrimination Bill aims to eliminate discrimination against people based on their sexuality or transgender. The Democrats plan to reintroduce the Bill to Parliament this term. Matthew Denby HOWARD'S MAN ATTACKS 'GAYNESS' *Christopher Pearson, openly gay editor of the Adelaide Review and formerly John Howard's speechwriter during the recent federal election campaign, says that 'gayness' is a crass political construct which has long worn out its usefulness.* In a talk entitled Gay Stalinism? Political Correctness and the Gay Community convened by the Institute of Public Affairs, a right-wing think-tank, Mr Pearson said that 'gayness' was a crass over-simplification of human experience. "Gayness is transparently packaging, the sort of thing an advertising agency might have come up with. If 'gayness' ever had a strategic usefulness in promoting solidarity, it has well and truly passed its use-by date. "I doubt it was ever worth it, because 'gay' collapses a whole range of different behaviours into the one label, and by forcing people to commit to the label, it becomes a coercive exercise in identity politics." Mr Pearson questioned the personal value of making premature statements about one's sexual preferences. "Part of the trouble of confessional statements of most kinds is that they close one's options, change others' expectations of you. Certainly in my case relations with girls were made far more problematic than they need have been. "In the 1970's, the act of coming out, at the behest of gay ideologues in the name of gay liberation, caused much unnecessary pain for many gay men and their families, without any clear gain. "Saying 'I'm gay' seems to internalise just a packaging abstraction, which tells us practically nothing about ourselves. Adolescents in particular need the space which a premature 'coming out' denies them." Discussing the ultra-leftist 'gay stalinism' of ten and twenty years ago, Mr Pearson said there are still residual tendencies of the tactics of the past in gay politics today. "The most obvious is 'outing', which is simply the labelling of one's political enemies. Another example of the jackboot tendency was seen during the recent NSW State election in the seat of Bligh. The ALP put up an openly lesbian candidate, not with the intention of winning the seat, but just to defeat Clover Moore, the incumbent with a clear gay-friendly record. "This attempt failed, due to a rational choice by sophisticated electors who were immune to gay rhetoric, even though the seat of Bligh takes in the hub of the gay community around Oxford Street. Gay political leaders can no longer deliver the votes of the masses en bloc." Mr Pearson conceded there was some value in constructing a lesbian or homosexual identity. "This value lies in its role as an essential way of combating discrimination, or negotiating the hazards of everyday life. It is a necessary fiction, but a fiction it remains. "Gays have this legislative tendency to divide the world up into four strata: at the pinnacle, there are the openly 'gay', just above the 'closets'. "Then come objects of considerable scorn, bisexuals, who are at best confused part-timers, and who lack the courage of their real convictions. Finally at the bottom there are the 'hets', or 'breeders'. "Gay identity is not constructed without cost or victims. This is plainly a psychotic view of the world, which makes no allowance for the variability of desire." Mr Pearson expressed scorn for a pattern of thinking common among gay men which he referred to as 'colonism', whereby all same-sex sexual acts or activities are equated with 'gay' acts. "This total colonisation of gender identity and sexual intercourse inevitably classifies all individuals who have or will have a sexual experience with their own gender, as belonging exclusively to the gay world. 'Gayness' of this sort involves a forced polarity. "From my experience, I'm uncomfortable with the idea of a gay community which is not really one of genuine community, but one which pretends that one aspect of our social existence is really more important than all the others. "The idea of a gay community, with its obsession with numbers and its role as a sort of comforting umbrella for a diverse grouping of individuals with a notional commonality, is on its last legs." "Equality and liberty are conflicting qualities, and watching the record of communist regimes in the 1970s, I came to believe the latter is more important." When asked about relations between lesbians and gay men, Mr Pearson replied that historically it's often been the case that women got more change out of the women's movement than out of their notionally gay brothers, in terms of concessions and human understanding. TASSIE GAY LAW ACTION *Tasmanian gay law reform activists have welcomed a commitment by the Greens to force debate on the repeal the State's anti-gay laws within the next few days. It is believed that this may be the last opportunity for the Tasmanian Parliament to repeal these laws before the High Court considers a case against them later in the year.* Tasmanian Greens leader, Christine Milne, said she expected the controversial reform to be debated in the Lower House this week and passed with the support of the ALP as well as some members of the Liberal Party. Tasmanian Gay and Lesbian Rights Group spokesperson, Rodney Croome, whose group has been campaigning for reform for eight years, said that a recently announced Liberal Party conscience vote gives reform its best chance ever of passing through the traditionally conservative Tasmanian Upper House. "We understand that several members of the Upper House who have been antagonistic to gay law reform in the past may now change their minds because of growing community support for the reform as well as a desire to see the issue finally resolved. "In August the High Court is due to consider whether our anti-gay laws are invalidated by the national sexual privacy law passed in response to UN condemnation of these laws in 1994. "Given that we have a strong case and are hopeful that the Court will rule in our favour, this may be the last opportunity the Tasmanian Parliament has to overturn these outdated and destructive laws," Mr Croome said. In a separate move, the Tasmanian Gay and Lesbian Rights Group has launched a national fundraising campaign aiming to raise $25,000 to cover the costs of the current High Court Case against Tasmania's anti-gay laws., According to High Court Challenge Fund organiser Nick Toonen, who with Rodney Croome is taking Tasmania's laws to the High Court, the major hurdle to success in the High Court is raising enough money to cover the costs involved in the case. "While our lawyers are very generously donating their time, the case still involves considerable costs in court fees, travel, and the expenses of communications and media work. Without the financial support of Australia's lesbian and gay communities, we may lose our chance to have Tasmania's anti-gay laws invalidated. "We have a very strong case. In the first High Court hearing in March, the Chief Justice stated that our case contained constitutionally significant issues and referred it to the full bench of the Court later this year," Mr Toonen said. The High Court Challenge Fund is appealing to all lesbian, gay and bisexual Australians to contribute to the Fund and help end the injustice we've been fighting for so long. The High Court Challenge Fund is being publicly supported by Australian International Rugby Star Ian Roberts, who says "Tasmania's anti-gay laws are an embarrassment to all Australians. We should all be supporting Tasmania's lesbian and gay communities in their efforts to secure their human rights. Contributing to the High Court Challenge Fund is an excellent way to do our bit." Contributions to the Fund can be made to "TGLRG, GPO Box 1733, Hobart TAS 7001". Further information about the High Court Case is available from Rodney Croome on (002) 243 556 or Nick Toonen on 019 405 679. BANKING ON CREDIT UNION A "household name" financial institution is interested in offering insurance and other products through a gay and lesbian credit union which may be set up later this year. Research released this week by a volunteer committee working on the credit union proposal shows overwhelming support for a gay and lesbian financial institution, initially serving the Sydney and Melbourne market. One of the convenors of the Gay and Lesbian Financial Institutions Research Project, Tim Dyce, said 86 percent of 300 respondents to a survey of potential users thought the credit union proposal either "an excellent idea" or "a reasonably good idea". Dyce described that result as "a resounding vote of confidence" in the establishment of a financial institution tailored specifically for the gay and lesbian community. Names under consideration include the Pride Credit Union or the Rainbow Credit Union. Dyce said a series of cross-reference questions in the survey established the degree of support gays and lesbians would give the credit union if it went ahead. Lesbian respondents said they would deposit close to 75 percent of their income during a 12 month period; gay men expressed similar support, Dyce said. The products respondents most wanted from the credit union were a savings account with ATM access, a cheque account and a credit card. The next step is to convert the market research into a business plan with 10 year projections, then place the proposal before State and Federal regulators. "We're moving on the financial planning work as fast as we can, but our overriding concern now is to ensure that the structure we propose to our community will be secure, commercially viable and professionally managed. "Very tight regulations are in place to govern the security of non-bank financial institutions. We will be working with the appropriate regulators to ensure that the structure we propose meets the necessary requirements," Dyce said. A significant hurdle faced by any group wanting to establish a credit union is the need to establish an untouched capital base of at least 8 percent of the institution's assets. It is not yet clear how the proposed gay and lesbian credit union would raise this capital base, but one option would be through membership subscriptions. So who is the "household name" interested in servicing the pink dollar? "I can't tell you yet," Dyce said. "We've had preliminary discussions...and should be able to talk more about it after our first annual general meeting this June." Dominic O'Grady, SSO FAREWELL TO FAIRFIELD *Fairfield Hospital's HIV/AIDS services were shut down earlier this week on May 13, amid strident criticism by HIV/AIDS support groups and the Opposition of the "insensitive" and "bungled" handling of the closure and transfer of patients and services to the Alfred Hospital.* According to the Victorian AIDS Council / Gay Men's Health Centre (VAC/GMHC), the original date to transfer patients to the Alfred Hospital, the new primary site for HIV/AIDS services, was May 20, but because Fairfield Hospital management had not resolved their industrial relations problems with specific staff sectors, the welfare of patients suffered. Mr Bradley Engelmann, spokesperson for the National Association of People Living with HIV/AIDS (NAPWA), reported that people with HIV/AIDS were refused admission to Fairfield Hospital, and that attempts to move patients to the Alfred failed because the hospital is not yet ready to accept them and is in any case unwilling to risk the spread of industrial action should it accept them. "We sympathise with industrial action taken at Fairfield Hospital by workers who are faced with an uncertain future, together with inadequate redundancy payments, after a decade of exemplary service", said Mr Engelmann. "Volunteers and staff ensured over recent weeks that patients have not been placed at undue risk. The North Eastern Health Care Network is callously exploiting the industrial situation, attempting to rid itself of HIV/AIDS patients well before the announced closure of the HIV/AIDS wards at the end of the month." Mr Joe McCluskey, convenor of People Living With HIV/AIDS Vic (PLWHA), expressed outrage over the move. "We were told to expect the best possible HIV/AIDS service that would lead Victoria into the 21st Century. Instead, we were offered this debacle by inadequate management. "If any other group in the community were treated in this way there would be absolute outrage. But because this is PLWHAs, there is community indifference to this type of treatment. How many more patients' lives will be placed at risk before PLWHAs receive adequate service?" On the day the last seven AIDS patients were moved to the Alfred, volunteers present were reported as saying it was a "very sad day", like "waiting for a funeral". Mr Barry Janes, president of the VAC, said that there had been no consultation with the VAC in relation to the timing and movement of patients from Fairfield Hospital, noting that the VAC's HIV Liaison Committee meeting scheduled on 3 May 1996 had been cancelled at short notice by the Fairfield management. "It is a tragedy that Fairfield Hospital, which has provided a centre of excellence over so many years, is closing its doors in an atmosphere of tension, trepidation, hostility and despair". Mr John Thwaites, Shadow Minister for Health and Community Services, said that the premature closure and transfer was typical of the Kennett Government's lack of concern about the needs of patients. "It is inhumane of the government to allow the transfer of patients to the Alfred when the expanded services for HIV / AIDS are not yet ready. It is now patently clear that this is yet another health budget cost cutting exercise". In a patient bulletin dated May 8, 1996, Dr Alan Sandford, general manager of Fairfield Hospital, expressed regret that the rescheduling of the move may have caused patients, their family, friends or carers. BRIEFS Mardi Gras Limits Membership People wishing to become members of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras will be required in future to provide reasons why they should be able to do so if they identify as bisexual or heterosexual, or fail to indicate their sexual identity on their application. High Court Appeal A former member of People Lving With HIV/AIDS (WA) has lodged an appeal with the High Court of Australia. The appeal was lodged following a decision handed down by the Full Court of WA in March this year, which dismissed an Equal Opportunity Tribunal finding that the Perth City Council and a number of individual councillors had acted in a discriminatory way in rejecting an application to establish a drop-in centre in North Perth. =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ BOTTOM LINE SMARTARSE Not so en-Cage-ing American queer cinema, filmic reader, has entered a new epoch of cinematic queasiness. I trotted off to see Bird Cage recently. It had all the signs of a Great Gay Film: marketed to the mainstream, investigating the reaction of the Republican Right in America to homosexuality, a bit of drag thrown in to keep us entertained. Now, I don't want to dampen anyone's enthusiasm. It's a lovely film, a charming little number full of campness, glamourous drag queens, stunning shots of Miami's South Beach and amusing little comedy-of-manners situations. At the end, though, I felt like I'd eaten too much fairy floss. I did enjoy the film, and I laughed quite a bit, but I couldn't shake the feeling that the straight audience had enjoyed it far more than I had. In fact, I think that maybe the straight audience got to laugh at the gay characters more than I got to laugh with them. That's a pretty important distinction. Perhaps it's the price that the film-makers paid when they decided to recycle the old movie La Cage aux Folles.. The film is about a situation which was radical in its day; the son of a gay man wants to get married, and in order to impress the parents of the girl, the gay man and his lover, a drag queen, try to play straight for the evening. A 1990s audience is far more sophisticated than the audience of the original film. So what if the girl's parents don't like poofs, a 1990s audience might have asked - they'll get used to it. So in order to beef the film up a little and keep the drama happening, the girl is made into the daughter of the leader of the Religious Right, the Moral Majority. Now we have drama! As the right wing Senator is running for re-election, there's no way he can be linked to a gay couple, one of whom is a drag queen: voila! We return to the original story with the cover-up, and we get to laugh at the poofs trying to tame those limp wrists to make themselves appear straight. In the end, a bit of glamour and a bit of drag save the day. The film encourages the straight audience to laugh at the antics of the very campest gay characters (and they are very camp). There are a few jokes which only the gay members of the audience get, but basically the humour is of the ilk of Mr Humphries in Are You Being Served?. Perhaps, animated reader, I'm just a cynical old twat who doesn't know how to have fun. I, for heaven's sake, almost walked out of Jeffrey, the film chosen to open this year's Queer Film and Video Festival. All that white, middle-class, ultra-refined angst over whether or not to fall in love with your gym instructor. Golly, I nearly passed away with the twee putridness of the whole exercise. Give me a bit of grunge, dear reader. Cut the tinsel, stop trying to impress the straight audience, and shock my homosexual little socks off with a bit of cinmea verite. Perhaps I should stick to the torrid old docos on gay resistance fighters or something. Jeffrey Smart =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Brother Sister is a fortnightly newspaper published in Melbourne, VIC and Brisbane, QLD, Australia. I have selected the main news stories as well as items of interest. Overseas media who utilise any or all of the above material please credit Brother Sister as your source (and by-line if it is listed). Thank you. Brendon Wickham