It's over: 9 year gay law reform campaign ends in victory
An overview of Tasmania's gay law reform campaign.
Thursday May 1st 1997
After a nine year campaign which saw the involvement of the United Nations, Amnesty International, the Federal Government and the High Court, supporters of gay law reform have finally achieved their dream of equality before the law for all Tasmanians.
The one remaining barrier to gay law reform was removed today when the Tasmanian Upper House voted against discriminatory amendments which had threatened to derail reform by making it unacceptable to the Lower House.
Tasmanian Gay and Lesbian Rights Group spokesperson, Nick Toonen, said that today is an historical day for supporters of gay law reform, for Tasmanian and for the nation.
"A destructive criminal stigma has been lifted from the shoulders of gay and lesbian Tasmanians and hopefully Tasmania's reputation as a bastion of prejudice will also now begin to disappear."
"Today also marks the end of a 25 year campaign to rid Australia of criminal laws barring all homosexual activity."
"We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all those people, including a clear majority of the Tasmanian people, who shared our vision of a more inclusive Tasmania."
"Tasmania has come a long way in the last few years, and in our view it is now one of the most tolerant places in Australia."
"The passage of gay law reform is simply belated recognition of a much more profound change in community attitudes."
Mr Toonen said that Tasmania can now boast greater equality in the criminal law for homosexual and heterosexual people than most other Australian States including New South Wales and Western Australia.
"Supporters of gay law reform in Tasmania should be proud, not only that we have achieved gay law reform, but that we have achieved it on the basis of equality."
"Tasmania now has better criminal laws than NSW and WA which continue to have age of consent laws that discriminate against gay men."
Mr Toonen went on to say that the Tasmanian Gay and Lesbian Rights Group will continue to campaign for legal reforms and community acceptance.
"Tasmania is the only State without a broad based anti-discrimination law, and now one of our main aims will be the enactment of such a law with protections against discrimination on the grounds of sexuality."
"We will also continue to work against the myths, ignorance and prejudice which stand in the way of achieving the respect and dignity deserved by all people, including all lesbian and gay people."
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Homosexuality And Tasmania's Criminal Law:
From The Worst In Australia To One Of The Best
Following gay law reform in Tasmania, a quarter century campaign to rid Australia of laws which criminalised all private consenting adult homosexual activity has now come to an end.
Gay law reform in Tasmania not only finally rids the country of these offensive and damaging laws - it also sets a high standard for the equal treatment of all citizens.
In comparing gay law reform in each State and Territory it is apparent that Tasmania, along with South Australia and the ACT, now leads the way in treating its homosexual citizens equally under the law.
Areas in which the criminal law continues to discriminate against gay men
(taken from the Australian Institute of Criminology Trends and Issues Paper on Homosexual Law Reform, Jan 1991)
State/Territory
(date of reform)
Discriminatory age of consent laws
Discriminatory public decency laws
Preamble condemning homosexuality
Homosexual promotion & encouragement laws
Tasmania (1997)
no
no
no
no
South Australia (1972)
no
no
no
no
ACT (1976)
no
no
no
no
Victoria (1980)
no
no
yes
no
New South Wales (1984)
yes
no
no
no
Northern Territory (1983)
yes
yes
no
no
Queensland (1990)
yes *
yes
yes
no
Western Australia (1989)
yes
yes
yes
yes
*In Queensland the age of consent for anal sex is 18, and 16 for other sexual activity.
Up until gay law reform in Tasmania the trend was for the principles of equality which underlie gay law reform to be increasingly compromised by discriminatory age of consent, public decency and public advocacy laws. This trend has been reversed by gay law reform in Tasmania.
We hope that this heralds a new era in which discrimination in the criminal law on the grounds of sexual orientation becomes increasingly unacceptable across the country.
Of particular importance will be the removal of discriminatory ages of consent laws in Western Australia and New South Wales.
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Milestones In The Campaign For
Gay Law Reform In Tasmania
Gay law reform has been an isue in Tasmania since the late 1970s. The latest campaign for gay law reform began nine years ago in 1988 with the formation of the Tasmanian Gay and Lesbian Rights Group.
1979 - Victimless Crimes Committee recommends gay law reform. First Tasmanian Homosexual Law Reform Group formed.
1982 - Tasmanian Law Reform Commission recommends gay law reform.
March 1988 - Tasmanian Gay and Lesbian Rights Group (TGLRG) formed.
December 1988 - TGLRG wins right to have stall at Salamanca Market following Hobart City Council ban on stall and arrest of 130 protesters.
June 1989 - Labor and the Greens commit to gay law reform as a part of their Accord.
June/December 1990 - pro and anti-gay rallies across Tasmania.
December 1990 - gay law reform passes through the House of Assembly for the first time.
June & November 1991 - gay law reform defeated in the Upper House by 14 to 4.
December 1991 - gay activists take laws to the UN Human Rights Committee.
June 1993 - gay law reform introduced in Upper House and defeated 12 to 6.
April 1994 - UN Human Rights Committee finds that Tasmania's anti-gay laws violate the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
June/December 1994 - pro and anti-gay rallies across Tasmania.
July 1994 - boycott of Tasmanian produce.
December 1994 - Federal Parliament passes Human Rights Sexual Conduct Act (aka sexual privacy law) attempting to over ride Tasmania's laws.
November 1995 - gay activists take a case to the High Court asking the Court to find that the federal sexual privacy law conclusively over rides Tasmania's anti-gay laws.
May/June 1996 - Tasmanian Liberal Government drops opposition to gay law reform and has a conscience vote on the issue. Gay law reform passes through the Lower House but is again blocked by the Upper House 10 to 8.
February 1997 - High Court agrees to hear case against Tasmanian laws.
March 1997 - Tasmanian Government drops objections to Green's gay law reform bill which passes through Lower House with overwhelming majority.
April 1997 - Tasmanian Premier announces vision for a socially inclusive Tasmania. Upper House supports the principle of gay law reform.
May 1997 - Gay law reform passes without amendment.