It seems like yesterday the bitterly contested (and unnecessary) plebiscite on same sex marriage ended in the Marriage Act being amended to allow same sex couples the right to marry.
It’s gratifying that, almost a decade later, it’s an unremarkable feature of our society. Not everyone survived the fight for it though. In the midst of celebrating this anniversary we take a moment to acknowledge and pay our respects to those who are not here to share this milestone.
The Australian Democrats were not in Parliament in 2017 to witness this historic achievement. But we laid some of the groundwork. At the time that we lost our parliamentary representation in the Ruddslide of the 2007 federal election, we had a bill tabled in the Senate to grant equal marriage rights to all Australians. It took another decade to come to pass.
We championed queer rights from the start
The Australian Democrats were the first political party in Australia to have a written policy requiring the decriminalisation of homosexual activity. Sounds odd now but former Democrats Senator Michael Macklin remembers it well as an important first step.
In fact, it was the first policy document to be released by our first National Executive in 1977.
“We didn’t just have it in our policy document; we campaigned strongly on it. I was even run out of Longreach during the election campaign by a chap with a rifle who thought that we all deserved to be shot for campaigning for rights for gays.”
Former Senator for Queensland, Michael Macklin
We were the first political party in Australia to be represented by a trans candidate
As well as being one of the longest serving employees of the ABC, where she was the first employee in ABC history to transition, Julie Peters was also the first trans candidate in Australian political history. And she was an Australian Democrat.
In 1995 Peters was endorsed by the Australian Democrats for the Federal seat of Batman at the 1996 federal election. Peters was the first trans candidate endorsed by a major party for a federal seat.
“When seeking endorsement from the Democrats, Julie was asked if she had any 'skeletons' in the closet. She told the party officials she didn't think it was a 'skeleton' but they should know she was transgendered.”
ABC News
We ensured the queer community achieved equality in superannuation benefits
In 1996 we pushed for the elimination of discrimination on the basis of sexuality and later forced the prohibition of discrimination in superannuation against same sex couples. This ensured that same sex couples had the same rights to their partner’s superannuation as married and de facto couples.
Senator Lyn Allison argued at the time that “…For gay and lesbian Australians this means that they are in effect compelled to contribute to superannuation funds at a higher rate than other Australians, because they do not receive the same benefits as other Australians. This is particularly unjust because of the compulsory nature of superannuation.”
Since our inception as a political party, the Australian Democrats have had a proud and strong record in advocating law reform for the LGBTQIA+ community, the effects of which are still being felt today.
