9 March 2010
Open letter to opposition leader Tony Abbott
Tuesday 9 March 2010
Mr Tony Abbott MP
Leader of the Opposition
PO Box 6022
House of Representatives
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
RE: Invitation to meet LGBTI community / Federal anti-discrimination laws
Dear Mr Abbott
I write today on behalf of the Australian Coalition for Equality in regards to your recent comments on 60 Minutes and Lateline regarding your feelings towards homosexuality.
We are deeply concerned that the alternative Prime Minister of Australia says he feels threatened by and that this feeling is shared by "so many people". Further, we are dismayed that when provided an opportunity to clarify your remarks, your explanation was to suggest that gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people Australians challenge "orthodox notions of the right order of things".
In response to your specific statements, we would like to take the opportunity to refer you to research conducted by Roy Morgan's National Consumer Poll that shows in 2008 only 29% of Australians believe "homosexuality is immoral". This is hardly a basis for your statement that "so many people" feel threatened, as stated on the 60 Minutes program. Indeed Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine was quoted in September 2009 as saying "What we've noticed over the last 10 years is that Australians are becoming more open-minded in their views about a lot of things, including homosexuality."
We note your further statements that you "try to treat people as people and not put them in Pigeonholes". While this is an admirable quality to possess, we are deeply concerned that your statements appear to imply that the majority of LGBTI Australians are somehow inferior or abnormal as they challenge the "orthodox notions of the right order of things", yet may be removed from this classification in some individual cases, based on treating the person as you find them.
In addition to being inconsistent with the view of a majority of Australians, we are deeply concerned that your comments have the potential to inflict unintended harm to a minority group within Australia.
We note that in the same Lateline interview in relation to comments on your new parental leave policy you stated "But I think that where circumstances change and your understanding deepens, the mature thing to do is to adjust your position, and that's what I've done". You noted that part of the basis of your change in parental leave policy was from discussions with "a number of people who I think are insightful in this area".
We thus write to you today to invite you to meet with members of the LGBTI community and discuss with them your views on the issues of homosexuality and more broadly bisexuality and sex and gender diversity. We hope that such a meeting could be conducted in the spirit of deeper understanding of each others perspectives. We would be prepared to work around your schedule to convened this meeting at a time and location of your choice, to ensure that you feel safe and unthreatened in the environment chosen.
We draw your attention to the 2005 paper Mapping Homophobia in Australia where the researchers comment:
"While not everyone who is homophobic engages in discriminatory behaviour towards gay men and lesbians they are more likely to contribute to a general attitude of intolerance. Thus derogatory and insulting remarks about gay men and lesbians by, for example, prominent radio personalities reinforce intolerance and appear to sanction discriminatory behaviour."
We believe that your recent comments have the potential to be interpreted by some within Australia as sanctioning discriminatory behaviour and while we do not believe your views have resulted in such discrimination occur, unfortunately there are still some Australians who share your sense of threat, and who, in some cases, treat LGBTI Australians unfairly.
In recent years the Opposition has shown bi-partisan approach to the removal of discrimination faced by same-sex couples. Indeed we note that the authoritative report that led to these historic reforms, Same Sex: Same Entitlements by the Australian Human Rights Commission was commissioned by the Howard Government. We again note our congratulations and thanks for the Oppositions enlightened approach to such matters.
Given that your comments were made in your capacity as the leader of the opposition we are alarmed that such comments may signal the end of this bi-partisan approach to key policy issues involving sexuality, sex and gender diversity. As such we respectfully request an opportunity for the Australian Coalition for Equality to engage in further dialogue with you about key policy issues remaining for the LGBTI community. There are a range of policy issues, but perhaps one of the key legislative issues is that of Federal anti-discrimination laws.
As you may be aware the Australian Parliament has discussed the issue of Federal Anti- Discrimination legislation since 1995, including a committee inquiry into a private members bill tabled in 1997. The recent National Human Rights Consultation report recommended that priority be given to anti-discrimination legislation and noted in its discussion that the absence of federal antidiscrimination legislation was of particular concern.
Federal laws prohibit discrimination on a more limited range of grounds than the state laws. There was a particular concern that discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people is not prohibited at the federal level.
Indeed the Australian Liberal Party national platform supports creating opportunities for Australians by committing itself to "oppose discrimination based on irrelevant criteria". In previous versions of the platform, where specific criteria were specifically included I understand the criteria of sexuality was mentioned.
In June 2009 the Australian Coalition for Equality commissioned national research as part of the Galaxy omnibus on the issue of Australian support for the introduction of federal antidiscrimination legislation on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The research found that 85% of Australians support such legislation being introduced, including 83% of coalition voters.
Mr Abbott, we hope this unfortunate recent incident provides an opportunity for meaningful and productive dialogue with yourself (and your office) on issues facing the LGBTI community. I look forward to hearing from you in relation to the matters raised in this letter and specifically your response to below key questions:
1) Will you meet with members of Australia's LGBTI community and their families to discuss your fears and feelings? We would welcome the opportunity to provide our community with an opportunity to convince you that we do not challenge orthodox notions of the right order of things or are a community that people should feel threatened by?
2) Will you publicly commit the Opposition to supporting the introduction of federal anti-discrimination laws on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity to ensure that all members of the LGBTI community do not face unwarranted discrimination ?
Please feel free for yourself or a member of your office to contact me on the details listed below should require anything further
Yours sincerely
Corey Irlam
Australian Coalition for Equality
