Call on Princess Mary to highlight benefits of inclusion / Tasmania has lessons to teach Faroes
This release was issued to the Danish and Faroese media on Sunday November 26th, 2006.
Gay rights advocates in the Australian island state of Tasmania have written to Denmark’s Crown Princess Mary asking her to point out the benefits to her childhood home that have come from its greater acceptance of gay and lesbian people.
The letter is a direct response to recent media reports of anti-gay harassment and the absence of anti-discrimination laws in the Danish-administered Faroe Islands, and coincides with the Princess’s latest Tasmanian visit.
Tasmanian Gay and Lesbian Rights Group spokesperson, Rodney Croome, said that Tasmania has an important lesson to teach the Faroes and other island communities about the benefits of accepting diversity, and Princess Mary is in a perfect position to pass the message on.
“In the 1990s Tasmania had a global reputation as ‘bigot’s island’ because it refused to repeal laws criminalising homosexuality, despite condemnation from Amnesty International, the UN Human Rights Committee, and the rest of Australia”, Mr Croome said.
“This international ignominy sent out the message that change, innovation and difference were not welcome and it’s no coincidence our economy and population went into decline.”
“A decade on Tasmania has turned the corner with some of the most progressive anti-discrimination and relationship laws in the world, and as a result Tasmanian society is now more united, confident and prosperous.”
Earlier this month reports emerged from the Faroe Islands of anti-gay discrimination and violence, highlighting the fact that the Faroes are the only Nordic society without laws preventing discrimination and guaranteeing equal rights for same-sex couples.
Mr Croome said it would be inappropriate for Princess Mary, as the future Queen of a constitutional monarchy, to speak publicly about political matters, but added that she has every right to talk about how Tasmania has changed for the better.
"Princess Mary has been an excellent ambassador for Tasmanian tourism, produce and design, and she can be an equally good ambassador for Tasmanian ideas, including the idea that island societies can transform themselves from being closed and intolerant to open and accepting."
“I’m sure no-one would resent Princess Mary gently and graciously pointing out lessons from her homeland that may benefit some of her future subjects.”
"A word in the right ear at the right time could make all the difference."
A copy of the letter to HRH Crown Princess Mary, and background notes on homosexuality in Tasmania and the Faroe Islands, are enclosed below.
For more information contact Rodney Croome on +61 (0)409 010 668 or rodney.croome@tglrg.org
***
LETTER TO HRH CROWN PRINCESS MARY OF DENMARK
Ms Claire Bonner
Secretary
Tasmanian Gay and Lesbian Rights Group
Rm 17, Level 3
McDougall Bdg, Ellerslie Rd
Battery Point, Tas., 7004
Australia
Ph: +61 (0)3 6224 3556
Fax: +61 (0)3 6223 6136
Email: claire.bonner@tglrg.org
Her Royal Highness
Crown Princess Mary of Denmark
Christian VIII Palace Amalienborg
Slotsplads 7 DK-1257
PO Box 2143 DK-1015
Copenhagen K Denmark
Ph: +45 33 40 1010
Fax: +45 33 40 1115
Re: Human rights in the Faroe Islands (delivered by facsimile transmission, at 5pm AET, 23.11.06)
Your Royal Highness,
Recent media reports of discrimination and harassment against an openly-gay citizen of the Faroe Islands have highlighted the failure of the Faroese Government to enact laws preventing discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and giving equal entitlements to same-sex couples.
The absence of such laws has sparked indignation in Denmark, condemnation from representatives of other Nordic nations, and a petition for reform from Faroese human rights advocates which has been signed by over 20,000 people worldwide.
We understand that you are the future Queen of a constitutional monarchy and that it is completely inappropriate for you to intervene in the legislative process or comment publicly on political matters.
However, we also understand that you are loved and admired by the Danish and Faroese people, and that they will respect your right to talk about how your home island of Tasmania has benefited from the kind of legal and social reform which has taken place in every Nordic society except the Faroe Islands.
As a young woman growing up in Tasmania in the 1980s and 90s you witnessed the way prejudice can divide and damage an island community.
You saw discrimination, vilification and violence, sanctioned by bad laws and unmitigated by good ones, drive young gay and lesbian people away, divide families, and deeply damage Tasmania’s social cohesion, international reputation and economic wellbeing.
Since then, you have witnessed Tasmania benefit from becoming a more tolerant and inclusive society in a remarkable transformation underpinned by the passage of some of the world’s most comprehensive anti-discrimination and relationship laws.
Because it now welcomes the contributions of a much wider range of people, Tasmania is socially and culturally richer, and its economy more diverse and resilient. Having opened its arms to all those who wish to belong, the name “Tasmania” has gone from a by-word for bigotry to another word for inclusion.
Perhaps most importantly, you have seen first-hand how social change occurs in proud, tight-knit island communities, not always through heavy-handed pressure from outside, but from a slow and steady process of interpersonal education, a process you are perfectly placed to foster and participate in.
We urge you to draw on your experience in Tasmania to counsel and educate the Faroese Government and its people towards a more inclusive future that benefits all Faroese citizens regardless of their sexual orientation.
Thank you for your time and we hope you enjoy your current Tasmanian visit.
Yours Sincerely,
Claire Bonner
for the Tasmanian Gay and Lesbian Rights Group
November 23rd, 2006
***
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
~ Tasmania and homosexuality
Tasmania was the last Australian state to retain criminal penalties for homosexual activity. The maximum punishment was 21 years in gaol.
The laws were condemned by the UN Human Rights Committee and the Australian Federal Government in 1994 and actively campaigned against by Amnesty International. This led to Tasmania being labelled “Bigot’s Island” in the British press. The then Tasmanian Government responded by declaring the island a “Bible-based society”.
The laws were finally repealed in 1997 but not before investment, employment and population began to decline. Prominent Australian economists such as Saul Eslake have drawn a direct connection between Tasmania’s poor reputation for embracing change and difference and its poor economic performance.
In 1999 Tasmania enacted Australia’s most progressive anti-discrimination laws, followed in 2003 by relationship laws that, for the first time in Australia, allowed same-sex couple to officially register their unions. These changes were accompanied by a shift in community attitudes towards greater acceptance of gay and lesbian people.
Since then the Tasmanian economy and population have made rapid gains, with many more people staying in, moving to and/or investing in, Tasmania. Some are gay but most are heterosexuals drawn by Tasmania’s greater tolerance of innovation and diversity.
~ The Faroe Islands and homosexuality
Earlier this month, following a homophobic attack on popular, openly-gay, Faroese radio host Rasmus Rasmussen, and continued threats following reports of the attack, human rights advocates launched a global petition highlighting the Faroe Islands’ failure to prohibit discrimination. The petition has been signed by over 20,000 people, equivalent to almost half the Faroe Islands’ population.
Meanwhile the matter has been raised in the Nordic Council where continued discrimination in the Faroes has been described as a matter of “global concern”.
The Faroes’ Prime Minister has rejected the criticism saying that his society is well run according to “Christian values”.
References
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-2955.html
http://www.norden.org/webb/news/news.asp?id=6463?=6
http://www.norden.org/webb/news/news.asp?id=6519?=6
http://www.act-against-homophobia.underskrifter.dk/index.php
~ Princess Mary, Taroona High School and homosexuality
Princess Mary attended Hobart’s Taroona High School along with many young people who, like Mary, left Tasmania to live elsewhere.
However, unlike Mary, some of her former class mates were gay and lesbian and left Tasmania because of prejudice and discrimination.
In a sign of how much Tasmania has changed since Mary was at school, media reports of the Viking and Princess competition held at Taroona High School to celebrate Princess Mary’s marriage in 2004, highlighted the fact that the majority of Vikings were girls and the winner of the best Princess competition was a boy.
The Tasmanian Gay and Lesbian Rights Group understands that the winner of the 2005 Couple of the Year competition at Taroona High School was a young male couple.
Reference
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/05/14/1084289884217.html
~ The Tasmanian Gay and Lesbian Rights Group
The TGLRG was formed in 1988 to campaign against the island’s former anti-gay laws. It drove that campaign for a decade and remained central to the achievement of Tasmania’s current progressive laws. The Group’s work has been recognised with several local, national and international human rights awards.