World championship axeman and Tassie icon comes out as PFLAG dad

This media release was issued by the TGLRG on 6.8.11

World champion axeman and Tasmanian icon, David Foster, has come out as the proud father of a lesbian daughter.

During an interview about his life published in today's edition of the Hobart Mercury, Mr Foster says, "yes, I have a lesbian daughter and I love her and am proud of her".

Mr Foster says his daughter Sally, her partner Lilly, and their daughter Wren, live in the Foster's home town of Latrobe on Tasmania's North West Coast.

Tasmanian Gay and Lesbian Rights Group spokesperson, Rodney Croome, praised Mr Foster for standing by his daughter and said Foster's status as a Tasmanian icon will profoundly challenge prejudice in the island state.

"David Foster is not only a famous and respected Tasmanian because of his sporting prowess and charity work, he is seen as a hero by many blue-collar, rural and older Tasmanians."

"In the whole history of Tasmania's often troubled relationship with its LGBT community, few statements will echo more powerfully or do more good than what David Foster said today."

Mr Foster has won every woodchopping championship in Australia and New Zealand multiple times, becoming the first person in sporting history to win over 1000 championships.

In an article published in the Burnie Advocate in March 2007 Mr Foster acknowledged that he was once "as big a bigot as you could possibly find" towards LGBT people but that he has changed.

"You mature, you learn tolerance and acceptance of others and you learn the prejudices you had were irrational and uninformed", he wrote at the time.

Mr Croome said Foster's statement shows the importance of personal stories in creating change, and is a symbol of how much Tasmania has transformed itself since it was the last state to decriminalise homosexuality in 1997.

Mr Foster's comments can be found on page 6 of the Mercury's Saturday Magazine. The text of the above-mentioned column in the Burnie Advocate can be found here: http://www.rodneycroome.id.au/other_more?id=2367_0_2_0_C

For further information contact Rodney Croome on 0409 010 668.