GAY AUSTRALIA

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GAY AUSTRALIA

Gay Australia is a topic with many angles. For those who are interested in a piece of Gay Australian History a few data:

1700’s  The first recorded execution for sodomy

1828-63  People found guilty of sodomy are executed

1899-1900  In the Australian Colonies, the ‘abominable crime of buggery’ is punished by a sentence of life imprisonment

1950’s  In 1951, the NSW (New South Wales) Crimes Act is amended to ensure that ‘buggery’ is a criminal act ‘with or without the consent of the person’ – removing legal loophole of consent

1969  It remains a crime for men to engage in homosexual sex in every state and territory in Australia

1970  In 1970 the Campaign Against Moral Persecution (CAMP) is formed

1971  CAMP organizes the first gay and lesbian demonstration in Australia outside the headquarters of the Liberal Party in Sydney

1972  The political activist association, Gay Liberation, is launched at Sydney University. Groups soon flourish on campuses around Australia

1975  The first National Homosexual conference is held at Melbourne University, and attracts around 60 delegates. Under Premier Don Dunstan’s Government, South Australia becomes the first Australian state to decriminalize homosexuality. Campaign, the longest running commercial gay magazine in Australia, is launched

1976  In ACT (Australian Capital Territory) homosexual law reform legislation is passed

1978  The largest gay rights march in Australia history is held, commemorating the 9th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. Of the 2,000 odd demonstrators, 53 are arrested on charges of offensive behavior and resisting arrest

1979  The first FM gay radio program ‘Gaywaves’ begins broadcasting on Sydney’s 2SER

1980  The ALSO Foundation is established in Melbourne in response to the Hamer Governments decriminalization of homosexuality

1981  The first Australia media reference to AIDS is made in the Gay and Lesbian newspaper The Sydney Star Observer. The Gay Rights Lobby is formed concentrating on the decriminalization of homosexuality

1982  NSW becomes the first state in Australia to pass laws prohibiting discrimination against homosexuals. Homosexuality is not decriminalized in NSW, however, until 1984.

1984  The Australian Medical Association agrees to remove homosexuality from its list of illnesses and disorders. Decriminalization of homosexuality is enacted in NSW. The Gay Rights Lobby disbands. Three gay men are elected to Sydney City Council

1988  The Sydney Gay Mardi Gras becomes the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.

1994  ACT passes the Domestic Relationships Act. First jurisdiction to give same-sex relationships the same legal standing as heterosexual de facto relationships. UN Human Rights Commission rules that certain Tasmanian legislation discriminates against homosexuals and so breaches the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The Federal Government passes legislation, which establishes the right to sexual privacy, effectively overriding Tasmanian’s anti-gay laws.

1995  The Pride Sydney Lesbian and Gay Community Center opens

1996  After 3 years of often-divisive community debate, Sydney’s first lesbian cultural and community center, the Lesbian Space Project, is opened

2009 Australia still bans recognition of same-sex marriages at federal level, but the current Australian Labor Party government favors synchronized state and territory registered partnership legislation (as in Tasmania and Victoria). The Australian Capital Territory has civil unions

To be continued…

Gay Australia

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