Rodney Croome . gay advocate

a) Gay Tasmania

Light at the end of the tunnel

This article was published in MCV and SX News on 26.9.11

Last Wednesday’s debate on a marriage equality motion in the Tasmanian Parliament was a preview of what it will be like when the Federal Parliament finally deals with the issue.

Gay rights advocates and anti-equality clergy greeted each other courteously and uneasily in the lobby. TV journalists hunted for vox pops among the supporters and opponents milling in the lobby. Teary same-sex partners hugged pro-equality MPs.

In what we can only hope is also a sign of things to come, the House erupted with cheers when the motion was passed thanks to the unanimous support of the Greens and Labor.

But the passage of last week’s motion was much more than just a dress-rehearsal for the real deal, and far more than the “meaningless distraction” its opponents claimed it to be.

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a) Gay Tasmania

The heart-shaped island

This article was published on the Drum on 23.9.11

Tasmania has become the first Australian state to officially endorse the idea that same-sex couples be allowed to legally marry.

On Wednesday the Lower House of State Parliament passed a Greens motion in favour of marriage equality thanks to unanimous support from the Labor Party. The motion called on the Federal Government to amend the Marriage Act to allow same-sex couples to marry.

The passage of the motion sends a strong message to the Federal Government that it is increasingly out of step, as well as a message of hope to same-sex couples and their families that reform is coming and is unstoppable.

My more immediate hope is that other state and territory parliaments will follow Tasmania’s lead to magnify the message.

The motion also packs a punch because it has some unlikely supporters and comes from what George Negus described as “the most unlikely state”.

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d) Family, relationships and marriage

What I can't give

This address was given at the Greens Same-Sex Marriage Forum, Backspace Theatre, Sep 13th 2011

A lot has been written about same-sex marriage in recent times.

But occasionally a single statement cuts through everything else and shows us the core of this much-disputed issue.

One such statement was recently printed in a letter to the Mercury from a 21 year old gay man living in Hobart, Jason Tegg.

Jason said,

“It’s hard to explain to people who aren’t gay what it feels like knowing the law stops me from marrying. It’s not what I can’t have that makes me feel excluded. It is what I can’t give”.

Jason’s words are important because they remind us there is another dimension to the case for same-sex marriage that goes beyond the words we commonly hear – words like discrimination, equality and entitlements.

These words are important. It is fact that same-sex partners are not legally equal until we can marry and can too easily be denied equal spousal entitlements unless we are married.

But Jason focuses our attention on two even more fundamental words that are often missing from this debate, “love” and “commitment”.

When we marry we promise to love, cherish and care for our partner for the rest of our lives.

It is one of the most important decisions and most profound commitments we can ever make.

It is so important the government and society feel it warrants legal recognition through being called a marriage.

But because the Marriage Act doesn’t allow same-sex partners to marry, we are denied the opportunity to give ourselves to the one we love, and to have that recognised.

The message this sends out is that we are not capable of the level of love and commitment that is associated with marriage.

It re-inforces the stereotype that we are selfish and immature.

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c) Activism and social change

Debating marriage

This article was published in MCV and SX News on 8.8.11

The debate on marriage equality is almost as important as the reform itself.

Voices too rarely heard are speaking truths Australia too rarely considers.

For example:

During a recent round of meetings in Canberra, psychologist, Paul Martin, explained to leading law-makers how LGBTI people internalise the hatred directed at us, how that diminishes our lives and relationships and how legal equality helps repair the damage.

This was a revelation even to some of our most supportive MPs. They will bring these insights to every LGBTI issue they now confront.

Two weeks ago in Brisbane elderly parents from across Queensland had lunch with Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, to put the case for marriage equality.

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o) Articles by other people

Lady Liberty: what marriage equality in New York means for Australia

This article was written by AME National Convener, Alex Greenwich

New York state is surprisingly similar to Australia. Its population is about 20 million. It is divided between big city and traditional country. It has an influential Catholic Church and its centre-right party has a powerful conservative wing. Marriage equality is in the hands of legislators not judges. Popular support for that reform stands at about 60% with the projected economic dividend of equality being substantial.

This means there is a lot Australia can learn from the of achievement of marriage equality in New York. Here’s some reasons why New York is our Lady Liberty:

1. Conservative religious legislators can support reform

Four religious Republicans who had previously voted against equality this time crossed the floor to make sure it passed. They did this not despite their values but because of them. They also did it knowing not one politician who ever supported marriage equality lost their seat because of it. This is a reminder to Australians that equality is an issue religious conservatives can support. It is also a warning to centre-left supporters of equality to reach out to supporters on the other side of politics. If Australia’s major parties adopt conscience votes on this reform, it will not pass without the support of Coalition MPs.

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f) Lots of other LGBT issues

Persecution narrative

This article was published in SX News and MCV on 25.7.11

The religious rights’ persecution narrative has reached absurd levels.

When Australian Marriage Equality asked Kevin Rudd’s sister, Loree, to apologise for labelling equality advocates “the gay Gestapo”, Jim Wallace of the Australian Christian Lobby defended her from AME’s “demonisation”.

When Tasmanian Labor MP, Brenton Best, drew attention to the past anti-gay campaigning of Liberal, Michael Ferguson, Ferguson withdrew from a marriage equality debate in Launceston because of “a toxic environment” of anti-Christian hate.

It’s not hard to see the pattern here: whenever the prejudices of anti-equality advocates are pointed out their prejudices they claim they are being discriminated against.

Playing the victim card is the classic response of people who are losing a debate.

It allows them to play for public sympathy while avoiding scrutiny of their case.

By claiming it is discriminated against, the religious right also diverts attention from the discrimination it upholds against LGBTI people.

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d) Family, relationships and marriage

The Gillard Government’s anti-gay marriage policy goes global

This article was published on Crikey.com on 14.6.11

As well as not allowing same-sex couples to marry in Australia, the Gillard Government does its best to block Australians from entering same-sex marriages overseas.

It does this by refusing to issue same-sex partners with the key document they need to marry in another country.

The document, known as a Certificate of No-Impediment to Marriage or CNI, confirms to a foreign government that the Australian who wants to marry under its laws is not already married in Australia.

The Australian Government routinely issues this document to heterosexual Australians marrying overseas, but it has an explicit policy of refusing them to same-sex partners.

This causes an array of problems for Australians entering legal same-sex marriages in other countries.

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g) Lots of non LGBT issues

On doubt and science

Address by Rodney Croome at the launch of Who Wrote Shakespeare’s Sonnets by Peter McIntosh

Shakespeare is a god.

He is praised not only as the greatest writer in English but as “the greatest man who ever lived” by Lytton Strachey and as “the most influential man in history” by one of his contemporary biographers. For Thomas Carlyle Shakespeare was a “Saint of poetry”, for Henry Melville “a kind of deity”.

And like all gods, there is very little direct evidence that Shakespeare created the glittering works attributed to him. What we know of him is scant and inauspicious. His contemporaries hardly mention him. His acclaim was almost entirely posthumous.

This dearth of information about Shakespeare the man and author has opened the door to doubters and infidels of every stripe. Among Shakespeare’s defenders, nagging doubts about the Bard’s authorship have also generated a kind of fundamentalism, as doubt often does, that admits no inquiry into the issue and damns the inquirer.

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b) Gay Australia

Protecting those most vulnerable to discrimination

This article was published in MCV and SX News on 16.5.11

The recently-released Human Rights Commission report into the need for national laws to protect LGBTI people from discrimination failed to tackle the key issue of exemptions for religious organisations.

The report is a reminder that discrimination is rife, that state laws are often too weak to prevent it, and that a national law has the potential to provide real protection.

But the Government knows this already, which is why it’s drafting new national anti-discrimination laws that will probably include sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) as grounds for protection.

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o) Articles by other people

ACE welcomes report on need for Federal Anti-Discrimination laws

This media release was issued by the Australian Coalition for Equality on 3.5.11

The Australian Coalition for Equality (ACE) today welcomed the Australian Human Rights Commission’s Addressing sexual orientation and sex and/or gender identity discrimination consultation report.

ACE spokesperson Corey Irlam congratulated the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) on their dedication in consulting with the community and creating a report outlining the need for federal protections.

“The AHRC’s report will be a valuable tool for the Government in creating new Federal Anti-Discrimination laws.” Said Mr Irlam.

“After 15 years of waiting and with bi-partisan support now available, there’s never been a better time for the Federal Government to finally take action on this issue.” Said Mr Irlam

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