Victoria
Win for transgender people in Victoria’s Lower House
A bill to allow transgender and gender diverse Victorians to change the sex marker on their birth certificate without surgery has passed its first vote. Trans rights advocates cheered the passage of the amendment to the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act in the state parliament’s lower house on Thursday. Equality minister Martin Foley …
Australian brewery apologises for posting homophobic beer meme
A brewery in Victoria has apologised for posting a meme slammed by Facebook users as homophobic and offensive. Southern Bay Brewery, in Geelong, Victoria, posted the “beer meme” on Monday night. The post read: “Non-alcoholic beer – you mean gay lemonade?” But within an hour the brewery pulled the post after a backlash on its …
Surgeon charged with rape after allegedly ‘stealthing’ male doctor during sex
A Victorian surgeon charged with raping a fellow doctor after he allegedly “stealthed” him while having sex has been allowed to keep treating patients. The prominent surgeon, whose name has been suppressed, was arrested and charged by Victoria Police last September over the incident in mid-2017. “Stealthing” is the non-consensual removal of a condom during …
Petition launched calling for transgender law reform in Victoria
Transgender advocates in Victoria have launched a petition calling on the Premier Daniel Andrews to reform gender identity laws. Under current legislation, trans and gender diverse Victorians must undergo sterilising sex reassignment surgery before they can update their gender marker on their birth certificates. In 2016, a bill to make it easier for Victorians to …
Homophobic harassment still a problem within Victoria Police ranks, report finds
Warning: distressing language Homophobic and transphobic threats and jokes are still tolerated by some in Victoria Police ranks including senior officers, according to a new report released on Friday. The report, by the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, found a lack of trust in internal reporting processes and “poor management responses” hindered LGBTIQ …
Melbourne drag queen cops vile online abuse over children’s story time event
A Melbourne drag queen who copped a barrage of online abuse for hosting a children’s storytime event at a Victorian library has said she won’t be deterred and the event will go on. A Facebook post by Whittlesea Library, north-east of Melbourne, announcing the “Rainbow Storytime” hosted by drag performer Annie Depressant was removed after …
Labor candidate Luke Creasey resigns over lewd social media posts
Victorian Labor candidate and Rainbow Labor Victoria co-convenor Luke Creasey has resigned after a string of lewd social media posts joking about rape, lesbian women and religion came to light. Creasey shared memes in 2012 that included one joking about rape playing on the song “Call Me Maybe” reading “Hey I just met you, if …
‘Notorious homosexual’: Liberal candidate resigns after homophobic rant
A Victorian Liberal candidate has resigned after comments he made describing “the homosexual lifestyle” as “dangerous” and a homophobic rant against gay Liberal MP Tim Wilson came to light. The party’s candidate for the inner-north Melbourne seat of Wills, Peter Killin, commented on a conservative blog in December that not enough Liberal Christian right members …
Victorian Liberal candidate Gladys Liu under fire for LGBTIQ comments
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has defended Victorian Liberal candidate Gladys Liu after comments she made in 2016 disparaging LGBTIQ issues resurfaced. Liu, the Liberal candidate for the seat of Chisholm in Melbourne’s east, told The Guardian in 2016 that Chinese immigrants believe same-sex marriage “is against normal practice”. “The Chinese people come to Australia because …
GLOBE offering $33,000 in grants to Victorian LGBTIQ community
LGBTIQ business organisation GLOBE has announced it will award $33,000 to Victorian LGBTIQ individuals, groups and businesses through its long-running Community Grants program. Each year, Gay and Lesbian Organisation of Business and Enterprise (GLOBE) reinvests the revenue from its annual Community Awards ceremony into the state’s LGBTIQ community through the annual Community Grants program, with …