TAS
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 …
Man fined after refusing to apologise for anti-gay flyers
Tasmania’s Supreme Court has fined a man who refused to publicly apologise for distributing anti-gay flyers. James Durston distributed the flyer titled “Homosexuality stats” in the Hobart suburb of Sandy Bay in 2013. The flyers said “homosexuality should not be tolerated” and claimed scripture rejects homosexuality as “utterly abominable”. The anti-gay flyers made false claims …
Commemorating Stonewall Riot 50th Anniversary in Hobart
Equality Tasmania plan a commemoration marking the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in New York City for Hobart Friday evening. The Stonewall Riots saw patrons of the Stonewall gay bar fight back against repeated police raids on the LGBTI venue. Many now recognise the riots as the beginning of the modern LGBTI rights movement. …
Equality Tasmania points to way forward under Coalition government
Rodney Croome of Equality Tasmania offers hope for future LGBTIQ reform. He says that recent state reform sets a precedent for positive LGBTI law reform under the re-elected Coalition Government. Indeed, Tasmanian LGBTI equality advocates recently achieved the passage of landmark transgender laws through cross-party co-operation. “In Tasmania we have shown it is possible to …
Two Tasmanian Men’s Incredible Tribute For Veteran LGBTI Activist Rodney Croome
Two Tasmanian gay men have launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise $20,000 in a bid to thank long-term equality advocate, Rodney Croome, for his decades of service to Australia’s LGBTI community. The two men said they first met Rodney in 1988, who at the time had founded the Tasmanian Gay and Lesbian Rights Group, fighting …
Tasmanian Government Moves To Wipe Historic Gay Sex Convictions
The Tasmanian government has tabled legislation to wipe the criminal records of men who were convicted of sex with other men under the state’s historic laws criminalising homosexuality. Liberal Premier Will Hodgman (pictured, right) is also set to apologise to those who were convicted under the state’s former laws, a move he was the first …
Eric Abetz Denies Suggesting Gay People Can Become Straight
Tasmanian Liberal Senator Eric Abetz has said he wants to see more “balanced” media reporting on people in “gay relationships who have then gone into straight relationships,” but denies he suggested being gay is a choice. On Tuesday Sky News host Samantha Maiden asked: “So do you personally believe that gays and lesbians can pull …