Senate committee recommends new anti-discrimination law be passed listing 'intersex' separately as a protected identity 

Gina Wilson, President of Organisation Intersex  International (OII)Australia

21 FEBRUARY 2013 | BY ANNA LEACH

Following calls from LGBTI rights groups and legal experts, the Australian Senate committee drafting the new Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Bill has recommended that 'intersex' be included as a category in its own right in the proposed law.

'The committee recognizes that intersex individuals are often the subject of discrimination in public life, and that as such there is a need for protection on the basis of intersex status in Commonwealth anti-discrimination law,' said the report published today.

The report said the committee agreed with campaigners that 'intersex is a matter of biology rather than gender identity,' so protection from discrimination was not covered by the definition of gender identity in the draft bill.

'This is a profoundly important report in that it recognizes that intersex is a “matter of biology rather than gender identity”, and reflects “innate biological characteristics”,' said Gina Wilson, president of Organization Intersex International Australia (OII Australia).

'Internationally it represents best practice, proposing the explicit inclusion of intersex people in anti-discrimination legislation for only the second time anywhere [after Tasmania].'

The Senate committee's report added that 'since intersex status is a condition related to the innate biological characteristics of an individual, it should not be an attribute to which any religious exceptions apply'.

Regarding religious exceptions, the committee recommended that they be removed from religious groups who provide services, but remain for employment.

Wilson thanked the many LGBTI rights groups and legal experts, including New South Wales Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby, the National Association of Community Legal Centres and Australian Human Rights Commission, who added their voices to the call for 'intersex' to be listed separately on the Bill.

If passed, the new law would protect the rights of sexual orientation and gender identity minorities from discrimination in Australia for the first time.

'This is an historic reform that is long overdue, and will provide significant benefits to sex and gender diverse Australians,' said the Senate committee's report.

Victoria Gay & Lesbian Rights Lobby (VGLRL), OII Australia and TransGender Victoria released a joint statement today calling for the government to pass the Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Bill into law before the next election.

'We urge the government to adopt the recommendations of the committee and pass the legislation as soon as possible, to deliver on its commitment to introduction discrimination protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity,” said VGLRL convener Anna Brown.

Intersexion, a documentary about the difficulties that intersex people face in society, is showing at Sydney Mardi Gras film festival this month and Melboure Queer Film Festival next month.

Related articles

• Intersex, Theology and the Bible (christianityandsexuality.org)
• Include intersex in Bill, say lobby groups and legal experts (dailyqueernews.wordpress.com)
• Intersex concerns on human rights bill (dailyqueernews.wordpress.com)
• Does Intersex Belong in the LGBT Movement? (jamieleescrystalconnection.wordpress.com)

Tom Ballard (1989 - ), Australian.Radio host and comedian

b.  26 November 1989

A tall, blond, fast-talking, openly gay, Australian radio presenter and comedian.

Ballard began his comedy career by playing Blitzen in a local amateur production of Rock n Roll Santa in 1997. He was a three-time Class Clowns National Finalist and a Raw Comedy National Finalist by 2006. He performed in Upwey, Warburton, Healesville and Lilydale as part of the Young Blood Comedy Tour in 2007 and was a guest entertainer in the 2007 Melbourne Comedy Festival's Eskimo Jokes show.
He was one quarter of The Comedy Zone at the 2008 Melbourne International Comedy Festival

Tom was a presenter for Warrnambool's 3WAY FM community radio station with Alex Dyson.[7] On the strength of his Raw Comedy performance, Ballard was given the chance to develop some demos with Australian youth radio station Triple J and, along with Alex, was given regular Mid-Dawn (1am to 6 am) shifts.
In December 2008, Tom and Alex were the presenters for the weekday summer lunch slot (10 am to 2 pm) and in 2009 moved to the weekend breakfast slot.[8] On 23 November 2009, Triple J announced that Tom Ballard and Alex Dyson would take over as hosts of the 2010 Breakfast show.

Included in the Same Same list of 25 Most Influential Australians, 2010

“Comedian, breakfast radio presenter and GLBT Youth advocate has achieved so much at only 21. I can't think of any performer more deserving to be in this list.”

Australia’s largest youth broadcaster's career and going wonderfully, from his early morning radio broadcasts to his hilarious stand-up comedy shows. In April 2009, Tom brought his debut solo show, Tom Ballard Is What He Is to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and was the youngest person EVER to take out the prestigious Melbourne Airport Best Newcomer award. His show was also nominated for a Golden Gibbo Award; an award that recognises independent shows that "buck trends and pursue the artist's ideas more strongly than it pursues any commercial lure."

Growing up and coming out in regional Victoria wasn't too bad, he reflects. "I didn’t come out until I was in Year 12, so I was never the ‘gay kid’ at school," he told the Gay News Network last year. "But there were certainly a lot of times where you’d feel like you couldn’t talk about it.

"Everyone assumes you’re straight, particularly when you’re not an overly camp and obviously gay guy. I’d never had a girlfriend but I think people were kind of surprised in their own way, then they got used to the idea."

Tom Ballard is heading for a busy 2011 of touring his comedy to funny festivals around Australia.

Senator Penny Wong (1968 – ) Australian. Politician

b.  5 November 1968

Australian Labor Party senator for South Australia and the Federal Minister for Finance and Deregulation, Wong is the first openly gay member of the Australian federal cabinet, and the first Asian-born federal minister.

Born in Malayaysia, she arrived in Australia as a child. As an immigrant from a minority ethnic group, she faced many difficulties (including at times direct racial abuse)but overcame these, to forge a successful career in law, as a barrister and solicitor in Adelaide and an adviser to the Carr Government in New South Wales, before entering politics. She has been open about her sexuality since 2002, and was the first sitting member of the Australian Labor Party to "come out" while still in parliament.

In August 2011, she announced that she and her partner, Sophie Allouache,are expecting a baby. The child was conceived by IVF with the help of an anonymous sperm donor, but done outside of her home state of South Australia, where IVF treatment for gay couples is illegal. Nevertheless, the news made hardly a ripple in Australia - a measure of how easily gay and lesbian relationships are now accepted in Australia. Although the influence of the Catholic Church is strong and Australia remains a generally socially conservative country, it has also become a very tolerant country, content to leave decisions on personal morality as just that - strictly personal.

Wong was named by the Australian LGBT site "Same Same" as one of the 25 Most Influential Gay and Lesbian Australians. In 2007, 2008, and 2010. Controversially, she was initially reluctant to go against her party's officially declared stance against same-sex marriage - which may explain her otherwise surprising ommission from the list in 2009. She has since dropped her reluctance, and has become a firm advocate for changing the party policy (which it may well do at the federal conference in December 2011). Her entry on the Same Same website notes that subsequently, as soon as nominations opened for the 2010 list, nominations for Wong came pouring in.

Sources:

Penny Wong , Wikipedia

Penny Wong Same Same Top 25
Penny Wong: Australia's Non-story of the week. BBC News

Related articles

• Neal Blewett (1933 - ) Australian Politician (itsaqueerworld.blogspot.com)

Neal Blewett (1933 – ) Australian Politician

b. 24 October 1933

Australian politician, was an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives representing the Division of Bonython, South Australia from 1977 to 1994.

Under Bob Hawke's governernment, he served as Minister for Health, and later as Minister for Trade and Overseas Development. When Paul Keating became Prime Minister, he became Minister for Social Security until he retired from politics in 1994. In 1994, Neal Blewett was appointed Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, as which he served until 1998. At the same time, he was on the Executive Council of the World Health Organization.

Although married, Blewett was definitely gay. He was married for 26 years to Jill Blewett, a renowned Australian playwright, with whom he had two children. Jill died when she was accidentally electrocuted in their home in October 1988. The following year, he moved in with his long-term partner Robert Brain, whom he had met as a university student 50 years previously. When a radio station claimed that he was gay, he successfully sued for defamation. But in 2000, he revealed he was homosexual in a May 2000 issue of The Age's Good Weekend magazine, which profiled his relationship Brain.

Poll: Australia leads Britain and US in support for equal marriage (PinkBananaWorld.com)

Australia is leading Britain and the US in its support for the implementation of equal gay marriage rights, a poll released today suggests.

An equal right for gay couples to marry had 49 percent support in Australia, 43 percent support in Britain and 42 percent support in the US, the Angus Reid Public Opinion survey found.

The survey also found that in Canada, where gay couples have been allowed to marry since 2005, a higher proportion of the public, 59 percent, were in favour of keeping that right in place.

The poll also found that 59 percent of Canadians, 53 percent of Australians and 49 percent of Britons believe people are born gay. 40 percent of Americans agreed.

Women across the four countries were more likely to back equal rights than men.

-Pink News

'via Blog this'

Matthew Mitcham, Olympic Diver

 b. March 2, 1988

"Being ‘out' for me means being just as I am with nothing to be ashamed about and no reasons to hide."

Australian diver Matthew Mitcham is one of the few openly gay Olympic athletes. At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Mitcham won a gold medal after executing the highest-scoring dive in Olympic history.

Mitcham grew up in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. He competed as a trampoline gymnast before being discovered by a diving coach. By the time he was 14, he was a national junior champion in diving. A few years later, he won medals in the World Junior Diving Championships.

In 2006, after battling anxiety and depression, Mitcham decided to retire from diving. The following year, he returned to diving and began training for the Olympics.

In Beijing, Mitcham won an Olympic gold medal in the 10-meter platform dive. It was the first time in over 80 years that an Australian male diver struck Olympic gold. After his triumph, he leaped into the stands to hug and kiss his partner, Lachlan Fletcher.

Mitcham was the first out Australian to compete in the Olympics. There were only 11 openly gay athletes out of a total of over 11,000 competitors in Beijing.

Mitcham was chosen 2008 Sports Performer of the Year by the Australian public. The same year, Australia GQ named him Sportsman of the Year. After accepting the GQ award, Mitcham joked, "Oh, my God, I’m a homo and I just won the sports award!"

Mitcham competed in the 2010 Gay Games in Cologne. He is studying at Sydney University and training for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

"I look at the last 20 years as a long, winding path of lessons and some hardship," Mitcham said in 2008. “I hope I do have more lessons to learn. I look forward to that."

Bibliography

• Bradshaw, Don. "Aussie Olympic Gold Medalist Matthew Mitcham to Attend 2010 Gay Games in Cologne." Philadelphia Examiner. 1 June 2010.
• Buzinski, Jim. "Olympic Diver is Openly Gay.” Outsports.com. 1 June 2010.
• Fonseca, Nicolas. "Matt’s Next Act.” The Advocate. 1 June 2010.
• Halloran, Jessica. "Out, Proud and Ready to Go for Gold.” Sydney Morning Herald. 1 June 2010.
• Jensen, Michael. "Catching up with Matthew Mitcham.” AfterElton.com. 1 June 2010.
• "Matthew Mitcham.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 1 June 2010.
• Williams, Rebecca. "Sensational Dive Earns Matthew Mitcham Gold Medal in Beijing.” FoxSports. 1 June 2010.

Videos of Matthew Mitcham

• FINA Diving Grand Prix 2008 Shenzhen
• Interview with Matthew Mitcham after the Gold Medal
• Promo for the Gay Games
• Matthew Mitcham on “The Morning Show”

Websites

• Matthew Mitcham Official Website
• Federation of Gay Games
• Official Website of the Olympic Movement

Matthew Mitcham’s Social Network

• Matthew Mitcham’s Facebook Fan Page

Related articles

• Matthew Mitcham: Gay Footballers Should Come Out of the Closet (towleroad.com)
• Mitcham ready to 'complete collection' (news.theage.com.au)
• Matthew Mitcham and the Great Gay NBC Olympics Non-Conspiracy [The Gays] (gawker.com)
• Gay community supports Australian swimmer (topinews.com)

Bob Brown Leader of the Australian Greens

b. 27 December 1944

Australian senator, the inaugural Parliamentary Leader of the Australian Greens, who was the first openly gay member of the Parliament of Australia.Brown has led the Australian Greens since the party was founded in 1992 until the present, a period of growth to poll today at around 10% at state and federal levels (13.9% of the primary vote in 2010.

Brown lives in Hobart with his long-time partner, Paul Thomas, a farmer and activist whom he met in 1996.

(Included on the Same Same list of the 25 most influential Australians in  2010, 2009,2008, 2007)

Like Michael Kirby, Bob Brown has appeared on every Same Same 25 list we've run, securing a huge number of nominations from fans of his political activism and advocacy for social justice.

In 2011 his influence is set to be greater than ever. The Australian Greens currently share the balance of power in the Senate and will hold the balance of power in their own right from July. Heading up the party is a leading light in national politics - Brown's been a public figure for 40 years and was instrumental in early gay rights reform.

"Coming out made [public] life harder," he told the Sydney Morning Herald recently. "It lost me an election in 1982 and in every letterbox in the electorate there were vile pamphlets about my sexuality. I was continually vilified in the streets. But it was the right thing to do and personally it made things a lot easier.

"I am always delighted when a young person comes up to me and says, 'Look, thank you for being who you are because it has meant a lot to me with my own struggle with my sexuality.'"

Sia Furler, Australian. Singer/songwriter.

b. 18 December 1975

"I've always been honest if anyone ever asked me. Before I was actually successful I'd always said I've always dated boys and girls and anything in between. I don't care what gender you are, it's about people.

Pop, down tempo, and jazz singer and songwriter. In 2000, her single, "Taken for Granted" was a top 10 hit in the United Kingdom. Her 2008 album, Some People Have Real Problems peaked in the top 30 on the Billboard 200. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2009, she won the award for 'Best Music DVD' and received six nominations at the ARIA Music Awards of 2010 and won 'Best Independent Release' and 'Best Pop Release' for We Are Born and 'Best Video' for the song "Clap Your Hands".

In 2008, Furler discussed her bisexuality in interviews with Scotland on Sunday and AfterEllen.com. In June 2010, Furler expressed a wish to marry her then girlfriend JD Samson of electro-punk band Le Tigre. The couple have since broken up.

She was included on a list of gay entertainers in the June–July 2009 issue of The Advocate, and was nominated for the Australian "SameSame25" awards as among the 25 "most influential" gay and lesbian Australians in 2010, 2009

"My name is Sia Furler. I am a unicorn fart. I was born out of the butthole of a unicorn called Steve. Someday I'll die. Between now and then I'm going to keep my shit together and sing my fucking heart out."

Clap Your Hands for our favourite singing star! The mega-successful yet humble Sia had unprecedented success in 2010 as the Adelaide-born songbird returned to Australia to accept ARIAs for her latest tracks.

Based in New York, she's enjoying making key music industry contacts - and can now name-drop with the very best of them - but often says in interviews that she misses Australia and one day hopes settle back down here with her DJ partner JD Samson.

Last year she released her fifth album which includes singles Clap Your Hands, Bring Night and You've Changed. The album, which is noticeably more upbeat than her previous few, was honoured picked up three ARIAs, including Best Pop Release and Best Independent Album.

Sia is currently touring Australia and NZ as part of the Big Day Out line-up.

-SameSame 25, 2010 

Australian Labor Party backs gay marriage.

 Today, while the Western hemisphere was asleep, the Australian Labor Party took the decision that has been building for months, and overwhelmingly supported a motion to amend the formal party policy, to provide backing for marriage equality.

This does not mean that Australia will necessarily get the enabling legislation passed any time soon. In a parallel decision, but by a narrower margin, the party conference also agreed that the party will allow a conscience vote when the matter comes before Parliament. Some MP's, including the Prime Minister, will use this latitude against. Without the support of some opposition MP's, the measure will certainly fail. The question then becomes, will the opposition similarly allow a conscience vote, and if they do, how many will vote in conscience in favour? It's too soon to tell.

What we do know, is that there will be a bill introduced to Parliament, and the opposition will be forced to take a stand - just as the ALP has done. With a comfortable majority of Australian voters have supporting equality, blanket resistance by the opposition is sure to lose them votes. Whether it comes next year, or later, marriage equality is now clearly on the way in Australia.

 Labor backs gay marriage. 

The Labor Party has voted resoundingly to change its policy to one of supporting gay marriage.

But federal MPs will not be forced to support gay marriage when the issue comes before Parliament next year because the party also voted to endorse a conscience vote for its politicians.

The votes were held this morning after passionate debate for and against the changes at the ALP national conference in Sydney.

The Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, had called for a conscience vote and personally moved the amendment backing this.
Had this been defeated, Ms Gillard’s leadership would have suffered a serious blow. She dodged a bullet when the conscience vote was endorsed by 208 votes to 184.

The platform change endorsed today says ‘‘Labor will amend the Marriage Act to ensure equal access to marriage under statute for all adult couples irrespective of sex who have a mutual commitment to a shared life’’.

The amendments to the platform also exclude the churches and other religious organisations from having to marry gay people if they do not want to.

-full report at  Sydney Morning Herald.

Related articles

• Australia's ruling Labor Party backs gay marriage (france24.com)
• ALP gay marriage vote not enough: Greens (smh.com.au)
• Change is coming (furiouspurpose.me)

Marriage Update, Australia: Opinion poll favourable, Gillard to allow conscience vote

Numerous polls have shown that Australians support legal recognition for same -sex marriage, by a wide margin. A new poll goes one step further than simply counting heads, and attempts to assess the impact on voting patters for the Australian Labour Party, if it endorses support for equality at its December conference.  

Gay marriage a vote winner for ALP: poll

"Labor could expect a five per cent swing in its favour if it supports gay marriage, a new poll suggests.A Galaxy poll, commissioned by lobby group Australian Marriage Equality (AME), found almost half of Australian Greens voters and a third of young voters would be more likely to vote for the ALP if it allowed same-sex couples to marry.The ALP's national conference is due to debate changing party policy in December, but Prime Minister Julia Gillard says the legal definition of marriage - being between a man and a woman - should not be changed."

9 News

Meanwhile, it is reported that Prime Minister Julia Gillard, while not holding back her personal opposition to marriage equality, is about to reverse her position on a parliamentary vote. She is now expected to permit a conscience vote.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard's free vote on gay marriage 

JULIA Gillard is set for a reversal on gay marriage, with government sources claiming she would announce within weeks a conscience vote on the issue. Government sources said the Prime Minister would state her position ahead of the Labor Party's national conference in December.

It could come as early as Monday or after the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth finishes at the end of next week, The Daily Telegraph reported.

Left wing and some Right-wing MPs who are delegates to the Labor conference will push for a reversal of the party's platform, which currently opposes gay marriage." 

News.com.au:

Related articles

• Idea of gay marriage slowly expands in Australia 
• Tas gay marriage vote to pressure ALP 

• Gillard's free vote on gay marriage (heraldsun.com.au)
• What's that? Gillard's giving in to gay marriage... (thepunch.com.au)
• Rann call to legalise gay marriage (theage.com.au)
• Outlook bleak if gay bill goes to conscience vote (theage.com.au)

Australia court in transgender ruling

"Australia's highest court has ruled that two transgender people can be legally recognised as men, even though they have not had complete sex changes.

The decision has been welcomed by support groups for transgender people.

Australia is now one of a growing number of countries to relax the rules on surgical requirements to determine gender.

The two people at the centre of this case have not been identified.

Both had their breasts removed and underwent male hormone therapy, but they both retain some female sex organs."

BBC News'

Related articles

• Sex-free British passports to help transgenders mooted | Metro.co.uk (itsaqueerworld.blogspot.com)
• ACLU steps in to aid transgender Ga. elementary student (itsaqueerworld.blogspot.com)
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Tas gay marriage vote to pressure ALP

The Tasmanian parliament's historic vote to support gay marriage will put pressure on the federal government to change the law, proponents say.

The Tasmanian House of Assembly on Wednesday became the first in Australia to formally support same-sex marriage.

A motion calling on the federal government to amend the Marriage Act, was passed with the support of minority government partners Labor and the Greens."

-full report at Sydney Morning Herald

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• UK Government set to allow full gay same-sex marriage  
• Woodchopping champion supports gay marriage (Australia) 
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• Gay marriage vote passed in Tasmania (Herald Sun)

Tasmanian Lower House set to back gay marriage - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Tasmania's Lower House looks likely to become the first in Australia to vote in support of same-sex marriage.

Labor has indicated it will support a motion from its state power-sharing partners the Greens, who have tried and failed to introduce state-based same-sex marriage legislation in the past.

Greens leader Nick McKim last week announced the party would bring on a motion in Parliament this week expressing in-principle support for marriage equality and calling on the Federal Government to amend the Marriage Act."

 - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Tasmania to vote on marriage equality | Star Online

The Tasmanian House of Assembly will vote on a Greens motion that make the Tasmanian Parliament the first in Australia to express in-principle support for marriage equality.

Tasmanian Greens leader Nick McKim will introduce a notice of motion, which will also call on the Federal Parliament to reform the Marriage Act, on Tuesday – with debate and a vote on the motion expected on the Wednesday.

“If this motion is passed, it will be a historic milestone for marriage equality in Australia,” McKim said, “Tasmania could lead the way from being the last Australian state to decriminalise homosexuality to the first to endorse marriage equality, with all the social and economic benefits that would follow.”

-more at Star Online

Australian Passport Regulations to Reflect Gender Complexities

Gender and biological sex are not simple matters of binary opposites. It is simply not true that we are all either male or female. A small but significant proportion of people are born with one or other intersex condition (although the deviance from male or female norms may be so small, they may not even be aware of it). Others   may experience a disconnect between their biological sex and their experienced gender identity, leading them to a journey of gender transitioning. For all these, myopic bureaucracies that attempt to force everybody into simple "male" or "female" categories consistent with birth certificates create real problems. 

Now, in a welcome move, Australia is introducing changes to its passport procedures that move towards greater recognition and accommodation for the complexities of gender in the real world. For intersexed people, there will in future be a provision for a "neither" category, in addition to the usual "male" and "female". For those who are undergoing gender transition, regulations permit applicants to identify themselves either by birth sex, or by the new gender identity - according to choice.

Australia to Allow Third Gender on Passports  

"In an effort to boost sexual and gender equality, Australia will make it easier for its citizens to apply for passports that reflect a third gender that is neither male nor female, or a gender different from the one on their birth certificate.

Transgender people who haven't had sex-reassignment surgery will now be able to select their new gender on the passport application, and the process of applying for a passport designating the holder as intersex—neither male or female—will be simpler, the government said." 

WSJ.com 

Related articles

• New Australian Guidelines Remove One Form of Discrimination Against Transgender and Intersex People (onebluestocking.wordpress.com)
• Australian PassportRegulations to Reflect Gender Complexities (itsaqueerworld.blogspot.com)
• Australian passports now offer gender option 'X' for intersex people (news.blogs.cnn.com)
• Australia Creates Third Gender Option For Citizens on Passports (jonathanturley.org)
• Australia Admits Third Sex (socyberty.com)

Woodchopping champion supports gay marriage (Australia)

World champion axeman David Foster supports gay marriage. Photo: James Boddington

"World champion axeman David Foster may not be a likely poster boy for gay rights.

However, these days the prominent North-West Tasmanian is just as happy to be championing same-sex marriage as he is woodchopping.

The reason? His daughter Sally, her partner Lily and their daughter Wren, who soon turns one."

Sydney Morning Herald

Denying gay marriage hurts the children

"All families need to be treated equally, for the sake of the children.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child is a treaty that enjoys almost universal support, having been ratified by 193 countries, including Australia. It provides that in all actions concerning children, the best interests of the child must be a primary consideration.

Contrary to Nicholas Tonti-Filippini's assertion on this page yesterday, a proper application of the principle of the best interests of the child leads to the incontrovertible conclusion that Australia should legalise same-sex marriage."

Read the full opinion at Sydney Morning Herald

'via Blog this'

Australia: Cairns Regional Council to adopt 'alternative' to formalised gay marriage

Cairns Regional Council plans to launch a same-sex couple register to provide an alternative to marriage for gay, lesbian and transgender couples.

An alliance of local support groups is working with the council on the register as a way of providing official recognition of same-sex relationships.

Proponents say it would provide a sense of wellbeing for same-sex couples and provide a legal mechanism to make it easier for them to prove their relationship. Similar relationship registers already exist in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania on both a state and local government level.

Full report at Cairns News 

For Australia, this is more than just a feel-good symbolic gesture. Although there is no formal legal recognition of same-sex marriages or civil unions, the legal system does offer de facto equality of treatment to same-sex couples - if they can demonstrate that a genuine partnership exists. Therein lies the difficulty, of course. I know from personal experience the value of a paper trail in demonstrating such a partnership. When my partner and I left South Africa in 2003, I was able to get a UK ancestry visa on the strength of my partner' ancestry: but to do so, we had to gather as much documentary evidence as we could to substantiate that our relationship was genuine and well-established. The Australian partnership registries, in Cairns and elsewhere, do not in themselves bring direct, tangible benefits, but they do open doors to claiming benefits as a de facto partnership,

They are also a symptom of the growing push towards gay marriage in Australia - and probably contribute to the national feeling of inevitability on the issue.

Idea of gay marriage slowly expands in Australia

TEN days out from the 2010 election, Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott fronted a forum of undecided voters at Rooty Hill RSL, in Sydney's west. It was a media circus, to be sure, but it was also mercifully unscripted, perilous for the leaders, and all too rare in our politics.

One of the moments that lives in the mind was when Janice Waters from Old Toongabbie challenged the Prime Minister on same-sex marriage. Gillard reeled off Labor's policy and her own belief: marriage was between a man and a woman and there would be no change to the Marriage Act.

"I'm a taxpayer," the determined Waters replied. "I'm a law-abiding citizen, and I want to be able to say to that woman that I love, 'Will you marry me?', not 'Will you civil union me?' " The rousing applause that followed showed three things: an audience that felt free to stick it to the Prime Minister, a feeling there was a gap between what Gillard had just said and what was really in her heart, and some evidence that out here in the burbs, confronted with such personal ardour, folks were more relaxed about gay marriage than the woman who was seeking their votes.

-Full analysis at The Australian

Australian minister announces lesbian partner is pregnant as gay marriage debate gathers heat - The Washington Post

Penny Wong and partner Sophie Allouache are expecting a baby, due in December. Source:AdelaideNow

"A senior government minister in Australia has announced that her lesbian partner is pregnant. Finance Minister Penny Wong said in a statement Tuesday that her partner, Sophie Allouache, had conceived through in-vitro fertilization and is expecting her first child in December."

The announcement comes as pressure mounts on Prime Minister Julia Gillard to support overturning her center-left Labor Party’s ban on gay marriage. The policy change will be voted on its annual national conference in December.

- The Washington Post