*Age Of Consent & Legal Sexual Activity for the State of Queensland, Australia - A campaign to remove our Sodomy Law (which was enacted in 1990).

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8th October 2006 Email to Premier Peter Beattie (Cc Attorney-General and editor of Sunday Mail) suggesting a strong link between the negativity contained in the article “Teen failed for stand on gays” in the Sunday Mail on this date and the current unequal age of consent (which exacerbates misinformation and anti-gay sentiments).

 

 

----- Original Message -----

From: John Frame

To: Premier Peter Beattie

Cc: Attorney-SMTP ; smletters@qnp.newsltd.com.au

Sent: Sunday, October 08, 2006 12:49 PM

Subject: encouraging informed awareness in high schools in regard to homosexuality

 

Dear Mr Beattie

 

(Cc to Hon Attorney-General Linda Lavarch, and the editor of the Sunday Mail)

 

The Sunday Mail today (8th October 2006) published the article "Teen failed for stand on gays" by Darrell Giles, which portrays as scandalous any attempt in a State School classroom to encourage informed awareness in regard to homosexuality.

 

The Sunday Mail's webpage for that article http://www.news.com.au/sundaymail/story/0,23739,20542442-952,00.html even poses the poll question "Is it appropriate for teenagers to discuss homosexuality in the classroom?"

 

I believe that this situation is exacerbated by your Government's refusal to doing anything toward reforming Queensland's unequal age of consent. The current 1990 law entrenches an overriding (though erroneous) impression that all sex between men is illegal under the age of 18 - creating the situation where parents, educators and even mainstream media are all ill-prepared to offer same-sex attracted youth the support and protection which they vitally need.

 

Again I urge you to follow through with your personal commitment to enacting an equal age of consent as you had specifically and clearly declared in your Report as Chair of the 1990 Parliamentary Criminal Justice Committee on Homosexual Law Reform (which was in itself a clear recommendation of The Fitzgerald Report).

 

I welcome your response.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

John Frame
Ph: 07 3350 1562 / mobile: 0409 501 561
Post: 82 Main Avenue, Wavell Heights 4012, QLD, Australia.

 

----"There is no substitute for equality"----