TAS
Calls for prison reform after death of transgender woman
The death of a transgender woman allegedly raped at a Tasmanian prison in 2018 has sparked a petition calling for better protection of trans inmates. Warning: Distressing content Hobart trans woman Marjorie Harwood was jailed for theft offences in 2017. She was placed in the men’s section of Risdon Prison because her birth certificate listed …
SOGI conversion practices consultation launched in Tasmania
The Tasmanian Law Reform Institute this week launched a public consultation on banning conversion practices. Tasmanian LGBTIQ equality advocates welcomed the SOGI conversion practices consultation. The TLRI’s Issues Paper, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Conversion Practices canvasses a number of issues. They include the definition of conversion practices, the ideology behind it, the harm caused and …
Tasmanians convicted under old anti-gay laws may get compensation
Tasmanians convicted of historical homosexuality or crossdressing offences under repealed state laws should get compensation, a legislative review has recommended. Tasmania was the final Australian state or territory to decriminalise consensual homosexual acts in 1997. The state repealed laws against crossdressing in 2001. State legislation allowing expungement of historical criminal records for gay sex and …
Tasmania’s only LGBTIQ nightclub Flamingos to close
Tasmania’s last permanent queer nightclub, Flamingos Dance Bar, is looking for a new home after the sale of its building forced it to close at short notice. On Facebook, the Hobart nightclub’s owners broke the news that the new landlord had asked them to leave. “Yesterday evening we received the heartbreaking news from our new …
Tasmania’s groundbreaking gender reforms prove beneficial
LGBTIQ advocates today welcomed a new report giving Tasmania’s gender reforms the all-clear. They also called for the criminalisation of surgical intervention on intersex children. Scroll down for video explainers The Tasmanian Law Reform Institute (TLRI) report says Tasmania’s groundbreaking new gender laws have had a beneficial impact since they were enacted over a year …
How COVID-19 isolation impacts LGBTIQ Aussies’ mental health
A new study has revealed the mental health impacts of social isolation on the LGBTIQ community during the COVID-19 pandemic. The University of Tasmania study heard from over 200 Tasmanians on their health and social needs during coronavirus lockdown. The study found their concerns included mental health, loneliness, discrimination in healthcare, strained family relationships, and …
Tasmania celebrates biggest turn out ever for TasPride
Earlier this weekend, 1,100 marchers took to the streets of Hobart to celebrate the 16th annual TasPride Festival parade. The marchers mustered in North Hobart, then waved rainbow flags on a parade route that wound into oak-lined Franklin Square in the city centre. A rainbow flag flying proudly from Hobart Town Hall signified the end …
Tasmania’s ‘Love is Love’ Bridge is a tribute to marriage equality
Residents in south Hobart in Tasmania have repainted the city’s rainbow-coloured “Love Is Love” Bridge, and now hope it will serve as a permanent tribute to same-sex marriage. Locals first painted the bridge over Sandy Bay Rivulet in rainbow during the same-sex marriage postal survey in 2017. However, council workers later removed the rainbow colours. …
Tasmanian trans advocate celebrates birth certificate milestone
Tasmanian transgender woman Martine Delaney has become the first to receive a birth certificate affirming her true gender under the state’s historic gender reforms. The new laws passed the state’s parliament in April and came into effect on Friday. They allow trans and gender diverse Tasmanians to amend sex markers on birth certificates without surgery …
Transgender Tasmanians cheer first day of new laws
Tasmania’s transgender community celebrated on Thursday as the state’s historic gender reforms came into effect. The new reforms allow trans Tasmanians to amend gender markers on birth certificates without surgery or remove them altogether. New anti-discrimination provisions also came into effect in the state. Advocates say the gender reforms are the most advanced in Australia …