the equality campaign
Accidental activists awarded for support for YES
Accidental activists Tom Snow and Brooke Horne recently received recognition for their philanthropic support during last year’s marriage equality campaign. On Thursday night, the couple won the Award for Best Large Grant at the 2018 Australian Philanthropy Awards. The award recognised their seed funding to what would become the Equality Campaign. The couple’s initial contribution …
Religious Exemptions Allowing LGBTIQ Discrimination Widely Opposed: Poll
Four out of five Australians oppose laws that allow gay, lesbian and transgender students and teachers to be expelled or fired by religious schools, according to a new poll. The YouGov Galaxy poll, commissioned by LGBTI advocacy group Just.equal, found that 82% opposed existing exemptions in anti-discrimination law that allow the expulsion of gay and …
Queensland Advocates Call For Marriage Equality For Trans People
A Queensland parliamentary committee has been told of the unfair hurdles transgender people face to obtain legal recognition of their gender. Brisbane trans woman Roz Dickson addressed the committee, which is examining a bill introduced by the Queensland government this month that would scrap a law requiring trans people to be unmarried before they can …
Why It Was A Mistake To Make Marriage Equality A Small Target
By Rodney Croome When I left Australian Marriage Equality (AME) in August 2016 I said it was to more vigorously oppose a plebiscite. That was true but it wasn’t the whole truth. I also left because the Equality Campaign that grew up around AME was shrinking marriage equality to a tiny political target by avoiding …
‘Overseas Same-Sex Marriages Will Immediately Become Official’
The thousands of Australian same-sex couples who have tied the knot overseas will automatically be recognised as married under Australian law when the same-sex marriage bill comes into effect. Liberal Senator Dean Smith’s amendment bill, currently before the parliament, will scrap the Marriage Act’s ban on recognition of same-sex unions solemnised overseas. The Equality Campaign …
LGBTI Groups Unite To Demand Marriage Equality This Year
More than 160 LGBTI organisations, leaders and supporters from around the country have signed a statement calling on the federal parliament to recognise the will of the people and ensure marriage equality is passed by the end of the year. Debate is continuing in the Senate this week around Liberal Senator Dean Smith’s same-sex marriage …
12.6 Million Voters Have Returned Their Postal Survey Forms
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has estimated that 78.5 per cent of Australians returned their same-sex marriage postal survey forms. Just hours before they stopped accepting forms, the ABS said that 12.6 million Australians had returned their forms by last Friday, or almost four out of five voters. The Equality Campaign’s Anna Brown said on …
WATCH: Aboriginal Elder Harold Hunt Backs Marriage Equality
Respected Aboriginal elder Harold Hunt OAM has given his support to the marriage equality “yes” campaign. In a new video by the Equality Campaign, the 91-year-old says he’s faced discrimination as an Aboriginal man, and wants to see all Australians treated equally. “I’ve experienced racism all the way through… I was treated as different because …
Cory Bernardi Says ‘No’ Voters Are Pretending They Voted ‘Yes’
Cory Bernardi has dismissed opinion polls showing a strong lead for the “yes” vote in the same-sex marriage postal survey and suggested some respondents in the polls are lying. The Australian Conservatives leader told Sky News he believes people feel pressured by political correctness and were telling pollsters they’d voted “yes” even if they’d voted …
Brisbane Supporters Brave The Rain To March For Marriage Equality
Steady rain wasn’t enough to deter around 300 marriage equality supporters from marching through Brisbane on Saturday afternoon. The Equality Campaign’s Shirleene Robinson told the crowd gathered at Queen’s Park that the group had seen support for marriage equality all over the state. “We heard from a young gay man in Bundaberg who works as …