Constituents in the federal seat of Brisbane will be represented in Canberra by an openly gay MP after the next election – widely tipped to be held on July 2.
For the first time in Australian history, the two main political parties will have gay candidates – Trevor Evans (LNP) and Pat O’Neil (ALP).
Mr Evans (pictured) has been preselected to replace Teresa Gambaro, who has held the seat since 2010.
“Through my professional career, I have been a great supporter and advocate of small businesses, negotiating with governments of all sides, to achieve positive outcomes for all parties,” Mr Evans said.
“I have also been an active member of our local community supporting charities to assist the vulnerable and less fortunate in Brisbane.”
Mr O’Neill told the Brisbane Times that while he acknowledged history was being made, he did not think having two openly gay candidates was such a big issue.
“I think it’s reflective of the fact that Australians, and society in general, come from a whole range of backgrounds and everybody gets treated with a fair go in Australia,” he said.
“So, regardless of if it’s an increased number of women in parliament, whether it’s people from different backgrounds or people with different sexualities, I think it’s reflective of where we’ve come as an Australian society and reflective of the fact the majority of Australians support equality and a fair go.
“People are who they are, they’re doing what they’re doing, and there are a whole lot of factors that make up who we are as a person and sexuality is just one of those factors.”
Whoever wins the Brisbane seat will become the second openly gay member of the lower house in Canberra following Liberal MP Trent Zimmerman, who won a North Sydney by-election late last year.
For the latest LGBTIQA+ Sister Girl and Brother Boy news, entertainment, community stories in Australia, visit qnews.com.au. Check out our latest magazines or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagra
It is a big pity that our own gay press fails to consider The Australian Greens – the ONLY party that has consistently supported and acknowledged our LGBTI community both in their policies and also publicly.
The fact that the LNP chooses to field a gay candidate – someone that their own policies do not support – is pure tokenism and just shows how much of a threat they believe the Greens are.
Maybe if our own press supported us (the Greens) better in your articles, we might actually get somewhere. This failure on your part is a disappointment to us – and as a past openly gay Candidate in both State and Local Elections, I have lost my faith in you.
Dear Fiona,
You have had 6 articles over the last 8 months supporting Greens for your candidacy and rallies for local elections.
We were sent information by both ALP & LNP re their Brisbane candidates, and nothing from the Greens re the seat of Brisbane. We are a community paper that relies on people contacting us to present their case, rather than attack QNews because we don’t know that they exist. We have been contacted by other LGBT candidates around the state and are more than happy to present their policies, together with all political parties.
We have also left 4 phone messages for you to contact us but sadly to date, all went unanswered.
We contacted one candidate after she raised the same question on Facebook, and invited her to contact us and tell us about herself.
All the best,
QNews