Tasmania
Call For Reform After Trans Woman Allegedly Raped In Men’s Prison
Warning: distressing content A transgender rights group is calling for reform after a Tasmanian trans woman was allegedly gang-raped while housed in a male prison. The mother of Martin Harwood, who identified as Marjorie, told ABC News she supported her child’s gender expression. “I’d walk down the street with him, I used to buy his …
Letter ‘From Jesus’ Threatens Storms If Same-Sex Marriage Isn’t Banned
A letter claiming to be written by a “servant of Jesus” has threatened to inflict “killer storms” on Tasmania if same-sex marriage isn’t repealed. The note, which some Facebook users reported discovering in their letterboxes around the city of Hobart, warns locals to “repent.” Tasmanian LGBTIQ advocate Rodney Croome shared an image of a similar …
New Tasmanian Lobby Group Calling For Transgender Law Reform
A new group has been launched in Tasmania to call for “overdue” law reform in the state to provide equality and dignity for transgender, intersex and gender diverse Tasmanians. The group’s formation comes as the Tasmanian government plans to remove a legal requirement that transgender partners must divorce before their gender can be officially recognised. …
Advocates Slam ‘Hypocritical’ Archbishop For Silencing Pro-Equality Priest
LGBTIQ advocates have slammed a “hypocritical” Catholic Archbishop’s decision to bar a priest from speaking at a conference in Tasmania over his pro-marriage equality views. Father Frank Brennan, Australian Jesuit priest and chief executive of Catholic Social Services Australia, was told by the Archbishop of Hobart Julian Porteous (pictured) he should not talk at the …
Tasmania To End Trans ‘Forced Divorces’ But Advocates Say More Is Needed
Tasmanian LGBTIQ advocates have welcomed the state government’s commitment to removing the requirement that transgender people be unmarried before their gender can be officially recognised on their birth certificates, but they say the reform should go further. The state’s Attorney-General Elise Archer on Thursday confirmed the Government will move to scrap the “forced divorce” law …
Tasmanians Mourn Death Of Longtime LGBTIQ Ally Mary Binks
LGBTIQ Ally Mary Binks Tasmania’s LGBTIQ community is mourning the death of one of its greatest allies and supporters, former Mayor of Devonport, Mary Binks OAM, who died on Tuesday at age 84. Mary Binks was horrified by the pain and trauma experienced by young LGBTIQ people on Tasmania’s North West Coast during the bitter …
LGBTIQ People Share Their Stories At Kevin Andrews’ Anti-Safe Schools Event
LGBTIQ community members have shared personal stories of classroom discrimination with a crowd of Safe Schools opponents during a public meeting convened by Liberal MP Kevin Andrews in Hobart on Tuesday night. Andrews and Catholic Archbishop Julian Porteous addressed the public lecture, held at Hobart Town Hall, and criticised the Safe Schools anti-bullying program. Writing …
Tasmanian Man Crowdfunding To Help Preserve His State’s Queer History
A Tasmanian man is crowdfunding to raise money to help preserve his home state’s queer history. Robert Thompson said his involvement in the queer community spanned forty years and he began the GoFundMe campaign to help him document Tasmania’s queer scene, particularly during the 1940’s, 50’s and 60’s. “The focus on much Tasmanian and indeed …
Tasmania Elects First Openly Lesbian MP To Parliament
Tasmania has elected the state’s first openly lesbian MP to parliament during the state election earlier this month. Labor candidate Alison Standen was elected to the Tasmanian Parliament after standing in the state seat of Franklin. On the campaign trail, Standen said, “Leadership to me is about connection to values; and about courage to stand …
Why Tasmania May Well Be The Apple Of Your Aisle
Tourism operators in Tasmania are pushing for the Apple Isle to become a premier destination for same-sex couples to tie the knot and enjoy their honeymoon. Tasmanians United for Marriage Equality has teamed with the Tourism Industry Council Tasmania to launch a social media campaign extolling the virtues of the state. It comes as this …