Opinion | Road to Equality: Paving the path |
| Written by Corey Irlam |
| Thursday, 04 June 2009 12:51 |
 The path to equality is paved with many stones. Sometimes people, governments or organisations take away a few pavers. Sometimes they cement down a few. More often than not, it’s the removal or addition of these pavers by others that motivates individuals to come out and help build the path. Last Sunday, the AFL publicly announced they had included “sexual orientation” as a prohibited conduct under their racial and religious vilification laws. This has the potential to be a major step towards achieving substantive equality in Australia. For those of you who aren’t aware, back in the 1990s the AFL introduced groundbreaking policies and have since then conducted education programs to combat racial vilification. Their policy even won a United Nations award for its new approach to mediation. In July 2008, Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett was reported to have made a homophobic comment about sacked bisexual football trainer Ken Campagnolo. In response, various LGBT organisations came out prominently against such a statement by a leader of the AFL’s football community. In particular, my hat goes off to Rob Mitchell from RJM Trust, who has worked tirelessly over the past year to exert pressure on the AFL to adopt more inclusive policies within all levels of the AFL code. The impact of such a strong anti-homophobia message by the AFL will have a ripple effect across the football community. As the AFL starts to educate on the reasons for its ‘no sexual orientation vilification’ or no homophobia policy, a change of culture has the potential to occur, over time. But it will only happen if the AFL continues to take a leadership position in its approach. Tuesday, 26 May 2009 was the day that the Californian Supreme Court ruled on the issue of Proposition 8. The decision confirmed that the 18,000 same-sex marriages created prior to Prop 8 being passed by the voters would remain legally valid marriages. I’m sure you’ve already heard about all of this. The ruling was handed down saying Prop 8 would remain in effect. Over 150 people were arrested and released on the scene for blocking an intersection as they rallied against the decision. Four days later, on Saturday, about 3,000 people went to a rally called ‘Meet in the middle 4 equality’ held in a town called Fresno in California. Pro same-sex marriage supporters believe that in order to win they need to convince the middle heartland of California to support equality, not just those in the big cities. Actor Charlize Theron was on hand to speak at the rally and to challenge middle Californians about their ideas of what is right and wrong. These two events will go down in history as being a part of the road to equality for LGBT people. How big a part – only time will tell. P.S. There are only two weeks to get your submission into the National Human Rights Consultation – www.humanrightsconsultation.gov.au
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