*Age Of
Consent & Legal Sexual Activity for the State of
17th May 2011 Email to Premier
Anna Bligh, Attorney-General Paul Lucas, Neil Roberts MP and Dean Wells MP. On this day opinion
polls predicted a continuing trend of failing popularity for Queensland Labor,
with the strong likelihood of them being thrashed in the 2012 election by a
margin of 2 to 1.
Again I urge the Labor Government to demonstrate that it can live up to
its own moral principles, as written in its Policy Platform, and enact equal age
of consent reform, at age 16, while they still hold a clear majority. They know
that this reform is justified and long overdue – they just need to find the
fortitude to act by their conscience and ensure that this legislation is safely
passed, because it will never be enacted by the outspokenly homophobic
Liberal National Party.
From: John Frame [mailto:jvframe@ozemail.com.au]
Sent: Tuesday, 17 May 2011 5:54 PM
To: Dean Wells MP for Murrumba; Attorney - SMTP; The Premier; Neil
Roberts Nudgee Electorate Office
Subject: Labor must pass equal age of consent reform while they still
hold a majority
To the Honourable:
Premier Anna Bligh,
Attorney-General Paul Lucas,
Neil Roberts MP (my local Member) and
Dean Wells MP (who was A-G in 1990 when
Labor ought to have enacted an equal age of consent
at 16).
Dear
Premier, Attorney-General, Neil and Dean,
With poll
results today indicating a certain loss for Labor in
2012 I am begging you to finally act on your Party's Policy Platform commitment
to equity in laws related to age of consent.
Dean will
tell you that a deliberate, but not publicly explained, decision was made in
November 1990 to ignore just one of the nine majority Recommendations of the
PCJC Report No 2 of 1990 on Reforms in Laws Related to Homosexuality ( http://www.queerradio.org/PCJC_law_reform_report_October_1990.pdf
).
Recommendation 7 was that "THE AGE OF CONSENT
FOR HOMOSEXUAL ACTS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PRINCIPLES OF SEXUAL EQUALITY AND
ANTI-DISCRIMINATION BE THE SAME FOR MALES AS IT IS FOR FEMALES, IRRESPECTIVE OF
WHETHER THE SEXUAL ACT IS HETEROSEXUAL OR HOMOSEXUAL.”
Dean is
responsible for the only effort made since 1990 to follow through on that
Recommendation, which was in 1995 with his Revised Criminal Code - which was
tragically repealed in 1996 as the first action of the short-lived Borbidge National / Liberal coalition. The Nationals stance
on this law remains unchanged - the ingrained homophobia of their membership
and their Members of Parliament will ensure that same sex attracted Queensland
youth will continue to be discriminated against and to be persecuted as a
direct consequence of the 1899 Criminal Code's "Sodomy Law" (Section
208).
The only
hope for equity in law for all Queensland youth lies in your hands. After 20
years surely you must all realise that the 1990 decison
to allow a discriminatory age of consent was very wrong, and you must
acknowledge that it is of immense importance that the law be seen to protect
and support all youth with equity.
In
February 2010 eminent retired High Court Justice Michael Kirby publicly
declared his absolute support for equal age of consent reform in Queensland (http://www.queerradio.org/Hon_Michael_Kirby_3rdFebruary2010.pdf),
concluding by stating: "It is time that this last relic of criminal legal
discrimination was removed in Queensland. It is a hangover from earlier,
ignorant and prejudiced days. It exposes homosexual youth in Queensland to
grave differential criminal penalties; potential harassment; and impedes effective strategies to respond in
Queensland to the risks of HIV and AIDS in young people. All of the reasons
given for the noteworthy decision of the Indian judges apply here. What India and
the rest of Australia have already done, Queenslanders should now do by
parliamentary action. It is a basic matter of equality of citizenship."
I don't
ever want to see Labor lose power in Queensland, but
if the loss is inevitable, then I want to see the Party go down having proved
that the Party has the moral fortitude to both act by and to fight for its
stated Principles. As per the timeless quote from Joseph
Heller's "Catch 22": "It is better to live on your feet, than to
die on your knees."
I want Labor to live long and prosper, but only if it is willing
to prove that it is a Party worth fighting for.
Please
act urgently to remove the discriminatory Section 208 from the Criminal Code,
and thus allow Queensland to catch up with every other Australian state and
territory in the equal treatment of youth.
I welcome
your response.
Sincerely
yours,
John
Frame
82 Main
Ave., Wavell Hts 4012 Australia
Ph: (07)
3350 1562 / 0409 501 561
http://www.queerradio.org/AgeOfConsent.htm
---"There
is no substitute for equality"---