The more things change
(This article has been lost online due to the merger of the Southern Star and Sydney Star Observer websites. Below is the original unedited article. Our apologies for any inconvenience).
The more things change…
Hop into the time machine and take a trip back to ye jolly olde England in about the 15th century. There was a Parliament, but in reality “government” meant the church whispering in the monarch’s ear. That’s how it worked, too bad if you didn’t like it.
Nice quaint history lesson but not relevant in Australia today, you say. But hang on, we’ve just had the unaccountable and unelected spokesperson of a far-away hierarchy i.e. Dennis Hart of the Catholic Church tell our democratically elected parliament what policy to implement on Equal Opportunity Law. Apart from the decision being outrageous, surely the process is a subversion of democracy.
A recent Galaxy poll found 85% of Australians supported equal opportunity law re sexual orientation and gender identity. I didn’t see any exceptions or exemptions qualifying that support. So if reports of the Catholic Church threatening ALP backbenchers in marginal seats on this issue are true, the outrage of Victorians needs to be even stronger.
We have a right to feel disappointed and angry. However, we also need to move forward quickly because we can turn this to our advantage. If our democracy (?) wants to keep laws that discriminate it can equally take other actions to counter that discrimination.
Initial ideas on this were floated at the first meeting of the VGLRL exemptions working group held last Monday. To get your ideas into the mix and get involved email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or watch this space.
And who knows, we might end up like a country that passed a piece of Equal Opportunity law without religious exemptions and told religions that didn’t like it to suck it up and get over it. That country: the UK, including jolly olde England, in 2008.
By: Sally Goldner, the spokesperson for Transgender Victoria.
