Oscar Wilde and Lord Alfred Douglas
It was Victorian Liberal premier Rupert Hamer and attorney general Haddon Storey who in 1981 repealed laws that criminalised homosexual sex. It is Liberal Coalition premier Denis Napthine and attorney general Robert Clark who have introduced a bill, debated today, to finish the job and expunge the convictions of those men who were criminalised under this profoundly unjust law.
Decriminalisation was arguably the most significant step in the fight for acceptance by the gay community (lesbians were never targeted by the Crimes Act). It laid a fundamental base for further advances to be made by the LGBT community in its quest for equality and freedom from discrimination. But the move to decriminalisation did not address the issue of those who had already been convicted.
Victoria is now leading the way in this expunging reform and other states are also preparing similar legislation to right these wrongs. It has taken three decades but a wave of reform could now sweep Australia. NSW will shortly introduce a bill and in Tasmania, which in 1997 was the last state to decriminalise, there is bipartisan support for expunging legislation in that state.
The importance of expunging legislation cannot be underestimated. It is an acknowledgement that we as a community got it horribly wrong in demonising gay men. Around the world, governments are acting to expunge convictions. The Conservative party in the UK set up an expungement scheme in 2012. Sadly there are still many countries where homosexuality remains a crime.
The impact of the stigma of a criminal conviction is significant, particularly for those gay men who have otherwise lived law abiding lives. The mental health of our elderly gay population is something which does not get much attention in the media. Many men have kept their convictions secret and have lived with the understanding that the government considered them to be criminals. The fact that their convictions remained on the record books after decriminalisation has served as a constant reminder to them of the discrimination they suffer for being gay.
Expunging these convictions is not just symbolic. These convictions continue to have an effect on the lives of these men. Employment, travel, and working with children checks are just some of the areas where a criminal conviction can be an impediment.
Perhaps most importantly we need to show the elderly gay members of our community who were convicted of these “crimes” the respect and acceptance of their sexual orientation that they should always have had, by erasing their criminal records for good.
In the broader community the development of this expunging legislation has not had much attention. Same-sex marriage has been the high-profile issue in recent years. I am supportive of same-sex marriage but as a state parliamentarian there is little that I can practically achieve on that issue, given marriage is a federal responsibility. However, there are many areas where state representatives can make a difference.
Over the course of the Napthine government, practical investment has been made in programmes designed to remove discrimination and assist LGBT people. We have funded the Safe Schools coalition, which provides programmes in state and private schools to assist school communities in supporting same sex attracted kids. The Minus 18 organisation has been funded for the first time to help them run inclusive events, such as the same sex formal. There has been $4m directed to LGBT mental health.
David Davis, the minister for health, secured the World Aids Conferencethis year in Melbourne and was instrumental in getting Australia’s first free community HIV testing facility, Pronto, set up in Melbourne. Davis announced at the conference that Victoria would amend the Crimes Act to remove discrimination against HIV-positive people.
There is goodwill on all sides of politics to further address discrimination against the LGBT community. However, the nature of politics is that is often adversarial. Some of the best work in parliament is done when parliamentarians come together on bipartisan committees, where the political allegiances are left at the door.
I am keen to work with my Labor and Green colleagues to set up a Parliamentary Friends of the LGBT Community group should I be returned at the Victorian state election in November this year. One of the first activities I would like to pursue is an exhibition of LGBT law reform in Victoria, with material from the Australian lesbian and gay archive.
We have passed an historic milestone in Victoria for the LGBTI community with the introduction of the expunging legislation. It would be appropriate for the parliament as a whole to mark this occasion with an exhibition in Queens Hall tracking the proud history of legislative reform in this state on the first sitting week of the next parliament.
http://www.theguardian.com/
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