*Age Of
Consent & Legal Sexual Activity for the State of
From the website of Queer Radio, the gay & lesbian Community Radio program on 4ZZZ fm102.1
in
Correspondence
Summary List…
Items are in reverse chronological order - from the most recent back to
Click the date of each item to go to the FULL TEXT of that
document (with hyperlinks
to jpeg images of the original documents):
30th January
2012 Email to
Premier Anna Bligh and Attorney-General Paul Lucas. Regarding the finalisation of the Change.org petition which I had opened
on 14th December 2011 and which I state that I closed on 28th
January 2012 “in
order to give you sufficient time to be prompted into action by those 254
signatures from around the world. The covering letter for the petition, which
includes the reasons people gave for signing, is stored on my site at: http://www.queerradio.org/EqualAgeOfConsentPetition_covering_letter_30Jan2012.pdf. I beg you to give one last moment of serious
consideration to making all Queensland youth equal under the law.”
9th January
2012 Email to
Premier Anna Bligh and Attorney-General Paul Lucas. Regarding my email to the Courier Mail in which I
highlight that Queensland has the potential to mirror Malaysia in the
prosecution of its draconian sodomy law. I state “This law conflicts with overwhelming public understanding
and acceptance that all people deserve to be treated with equity, whether they
are male or female, gay or straight. Queensland's youth are placed at
unacceptable risk of abuse and suicide by this law which can see them
prosecuted and imprisoned for up to 14 years, merely for physically expressing
their love.”
21st December 2011 Letter from
Attorney-General Paul Lucas. Regarding 1st December 2011 email in which
I praised the Bligh Government for passing the Civil Partnerships Bill, but
also requested that they show the same level of commitment to equity by
enacting equal age of consent reform. The response from Senior Policy Advisor Jasmina Joldie says, in essence,
that the Premier is the one who has decided
that the Party will continue to follow her public statement that the Government
has no plans for enacting equal age of consent reform.
However the only
time that Premier Bligh has ever made any public statement on this issue
was on Madonna
King’s radio show talkback on ABC612 on 27th October 2007 , when
young gay Brisbane man Peter Ridgley had asked her "I was
wondering when the Queensland Government was going to change the age of consent
laws between differing sexual activities from 18 for anal intercourse to 16 to
be in line with vaginal intercourse?" and she
replied: “Peter, our Government has no
plans to consider that issue. So I guess that the answer to your question is
that there is no time frame because we have no plans in relation to that.”
So that’s hardly a public
statement by which the Premier can ever claim to be obliged to stand in
perpetuity.
18th
November 2011 Email to Hon Premier Anna Bligh, Hon Attorney-General Paul Lucas,
Neil Roberts MP and to Courier Mail "Letters" regarding the statement
by psychologist Paul Martin in support of equal age of consent reform for
the sake of our state’s youth.
“On 18th November 2011 highly respected Brisbane
psychologist Paul Martin, of the Centre For Human
Potential, issued a very strong public statement in support of urgent action by
your Government to enact equal age of consent reform. The text of his complete
statement is included below, and is also stored for public access as a pdf file on my site at:
http://www.queerradio.org/Paul_Martin_CFHP_support_for_equal_age_of_consent_reform.pdf
. Paul
Martin's contact details are included in his statement.
The sad truth is that our state's youth are suffering,
and lives may be lost, on every day that the Government delays this long overdue
reform. Since 2003 Queensland has been the only region in Australia which does
not have a truly equal age of consent.”
12th November 2011 Email to Hon Premier Anna
Bligh, Hon Attorney-General Paul Lucas, Dean Wells MP, Neil Roberts MP and to
Courier Mail "Letters" regarding this day’s announcement that
the Gold Coast in Queensland has been named as host of the 2018 Commonwealth
Games, I wrote:
“Will the Queensland
Government finally enact an equal age of consent at 16? Or will it be warning
the rest of the Commonwealth that their 16 and 17 year old gay athletes will
face up to 14 years jail if they choose to do sex while they are here for the
2018 Commonwealth Games?
The current Queensland Sodomy
Law makes Australia one of the worst Commonwealth nations in regard to the
treatment of homosexuals. The law is both damaging and degrading to local
homosexual youth - and it is an appalling embarrassment in terms of global
human rights.
While Bligh Labor still have the chance, they
must act urgently to remove Section 208 from the Criminal Code - for the sake
of our state's youth, and of Australia's international reputation.”
7th November 2011 Letter signed and posted to each of the 51
Labor Party Members of Parliament in Queensland. I highlight that the window of opportunity for enacting
an equal age of consent is closing rapidly, and that it will be lost completely
when the LNP win the 2012 election. I
quote substantially from Dr Wendell Rosevear OAM (from
a statement I recorded on 18th October 2011), who speaks of the necessity of true legal equality for
youth:
“I
think we need to make the age of consent equal because the truth is we need to
make all people feel equally valuable. If you want safety in society you need
to have equal value of every person whether it’s a male or a female, straight
or gay. Otherwise people feel less valuable, or different, or stigma.”
“The
other thing is in terms of preventing youth suicide, and in terms of creating
safe sex information so that people can value themselves and protect themselves
from sexual transmitted diseases like HIV and Syphilis and Gonorrhea and
Chlamydia – not just HIV. We need to be able to educate people so that they can
value themselves and use information to protect themselves.”
“I’m
really keen that we don’t stigmatise people,
otherwise we get bullying, or we get violence, or we even get homophobic murder
– and I know of at least 7 cases of homophobic murder in Queensland. So we need
to attack homophobia, and one of the ways we do that is to say that everybody
is valuable. If we have a law that says “you are not equally valuable”, then
that law is toxic. We can’t afford those beliefs because otherwise we get what
I call “preventable violence” in our society.”
6th October 2011 Email to Premier Anna Bligh. Regarding her 4th October 2011 video contribution to the USA
based “It Gets Better” campaign, which aims to support same sex attracted youth
who are at risk of depression, self-harm and suicide. I remind the Premier that her Labor
Government has not yet enacted the necessary legislation reform which is needed
to fully protect and support Queensland’s own same sex attracted youth.
Queensland’s unequal age of consent criminalises same
sex attracted youth and validates the actions of any bully who wants to abuse
or attack them.
16th September 2011 Letter from the
Office of Attorney-General Paul Lucas. This letter was received as a pdf file
attachment to a 26th September 2011 email in response to my 18th August 2011 email. Senior Policy Advisor Jasmina Joldie advises: “I know that
this is not the reply that you hoped for. I note that you have very strong
views on the issue and you have presented your arguments for law reform in this
area with great passion and tenacity. However, the Government’s position
remains the same, it has no immediate plans to review or amend the law around
the age of consent.”
18th August 2011 Email to Premier
Bligh, Attorney-General Lucas, MP Neil Roberts (Cc to Yahoo groups AusQueer and
ARCQ). In response to the 6th
July 2011 letter received from the Attorney-General’s Senior Policy Advisor
Tess Bishop. I write that: “Tess
reiterates that the Government has no plans to act on equal age
of consent reform, however this was also the first time that any correspondence
from the Government had included an attempt to argue the case for their
inaction. Sadly Tess merely states the very obvious – that age of consent laws
exist to protect young children from harm, and that the Goss Labor Government
set a higher minimum age for anal intercourse when it otherwise decriminalised sex between men in 1990. She fails to
address the key reason why the age of consent ought be equal for all youth at
16 – which is that the Government’s own 1990
Parliamentary Criminal Justice Committee on Reforms in Laws Relating To
Homosexuality had officially specifically recommended that it be so. This
is Recommendation 7, the only one of the Report's 9 Recommendations which was
not applied in the resultant legislation.”
I
also declare:
“All of the required public and expert consultation has been done over
20 years ago to fully justify equal age of consent reform in Queensland. The
only reason I can see for the Government not acting already is that they must
not care enough about the welfare or rights of same sex attracted youth - and
while that seems to have been proven by the stonewalling response by both the
Beattie and Bligh led Labor Governments for the last
11 years, I'd like to believe that reform is still possible - and that logic
and compassion will prevail.
So here's one more
desperate plea for urgent, 20 years overdue, action to enact an equal age of
consent at 16 - while you still have the numbers to ensure passage of the Bill.
If you fail to do this you should all feel eternally shameful and personally
responsible for any young gay or bisexual men who are self-harmed, infected
with HIV or who suicide, purely because their Government insisted on defining
the realisation of their sexual desires as being a profoundly serious criminal
offense.”
6th
July 2011 Letter
from the office of Attorney-General Mr. Paul Lucas in reply to my 17th May 2011 email. Senior Policy Advisor Tess Bishop
reiterates that the Government has no plans to act on equal age of consent
reform, but this is also the first time that any correspondence from the
Government has included an attempt to argue the case for their inaction. Sadly
she merely states the obvious – that age of consent laws exist to protect young
children from harm, and states that the Goss Labor Government set a higher
minimum age for anal intercourse when it otherwise decriminalised
sex between men in 1990. She fails to address the key reason why the age of
consent should be equal for all youth at 16 – which is that the Government’s
own 1990 Parliamentary Criminal Justice Committee on Reforms in Laws Relating
To Homosexuality had officially recommended that it be so (this is
Recommendation 7, the only one of 9 Recommendations which was not applied in
the resultant legislation).
The 1990 PCJC Report , on pages 44 – 50,
justified Recommendation 7 by quoting from the testimonies of experts and others
who had participated in the Public Hearings which were held on 6th
August 1990 and 7th
August 1990. Recommendation 7 (supported also by
Chairman Peter Beattie) was that: THE COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS 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. (THIS
PRINCIPLE IS HIGHLIGHTED IN POINT ONE ON PAGE 60 OF THE (Criminal Justice)
COMMISSION’S REPORT.)
2nd June 2011 Letter from Director-General of the Department
of Justice and Attorney-General, Philip Reed. In response to my 17th May 2011 email to the Attorney-General and the
Premier. Mr. Reed advises: “Your correspondence is
currently receiving attention and a response will be provided to you as soon as
possible.”
This is the first time that I have ever received
correspondence from the Director-General of the Department of Justice and
Attorney-General, and I can only hope that it is an indication that
Attorney-General Paul Lucas has requested a recommendation on reform action
from his Department.
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
8th April 2011 Letter from Senior Policy Advisor on behalf of
Attorney-General Paul Lucas. In response to my 28th February 2011 email to the Attorney-General and the
Premier, in which I had highlighted a 27th February 2011
Sunday Mail article which discussed the very real risk of suicide for homosexual youth caused
by Government refusal to treat homosexuals with genuine equity.
In this reply the new Attorney-General makes I clear that the Premier is
calling the shots on this issue – and that she has stated that there are no
current plans for reform action.
NB: Paul Lucas is the sixth Labor MP to have been appointed as Attorney-General since
this campaign began in February 2000. He was preceded by Cameron Dick, Kerry
Shine, Linda Lavarch, Rod Welford and Matt Foley. All
of them have failed in their duty of care for the welfare of Queensland youth,
and in their responsibility to reflect Labor’s Policy
Platform in the enactment of law reform (i.e. in ensuring equity in laws
related to age of consent).
28th February 2011 Email to Premier Anna Bligh and new
Attorney-General Paul Lucas Regarding the Sunday Mail online article 27th
Feb 2011 “Queensland homosexual youth still find it a battle to 'come
out' " - in
which esteemed local psychologist
Paul Martin discusses the very real risk of suicide for homosexual youth caused
by Government refusal to treat homosexuals with genuine equity. I
state that equity in age of consent is one thing that the Queensland Government
can do to reduce the suicide risk.
30th November 2010 Email to Premier Anna Bligh and
Attorney-General Cameron Dick (Cc Neil Roberts MP) Regarding the Courier
Mail article 30th Nov 2010 “Indians proudly parade in landmark gay
gala”. I remind the Premier and Attorney-General that in February 2010 Australia’s former High
Court Justice Hon Michael Kirby CMG had cited the July 2009 legal reform in
India as proof that Queensland is wrong to continue to deny equal age of
consent reform. I also refer to my September 2010 guest address to Rainbow
Labor, the consequent resolutions passed by several Labor Party branches and to
my discussion on changing attitudes among Labor MPs with Dean Wells MP in
October 2010.
1st October 2010 Email to Premier
Anna Bligh and Attorney-General Cameron Dick. Regarding the 2nd June 2010 declaration
by Queensland Council for Civil Liberties of support for equal age of
consent reform; also the impending
20th anniversary of the “Sodomy Law”.
8th June 2010 Letter from a Policy Advisor on behalf of
Attorney-General Cameron Dick. In response to my 10th May 2010 letter to each individual
Member of Parliament which included a copy of the 3rdFebruary 2010
statement by Michael Kirby. Note that this letter is worded to suggest that Premier Anna
Bligh is the specific person responsible for the ongoing blocking of equal age
of consent reform.
25th May
2010 Letter from
Opposition Leader John-Paul Langbroek. In response to my 10th May 2010
letter to each individual Member of Parliament which included a copy of the 3rdFebruary
2010 statement by Michael Kirby. NOTE: Mr Langbroek writes that the Liberal/National Party views the
unequal age of consent as being fair, because it technically applies to any
person. That misperception was an intended
consequence of the original Section 208 and 209 re-wording of the Criminal Code
in the Bill which decriminalised sex between men in
November 1990. Anal intercourse had traditionally been a virtual synonym for
“homosexual sex” and that’s precisely why the Parliamentary Criminal Justice
Committee made the following majority Recommendation in their 1990 Report No 2,
on Reforms In Laws Relating to Homosexuality: “RECOMMENDATION 7: 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.”
10th May 2010 Letter to all Queensland Members of Parliament
(posted individually to their electorate office). I draw their attention to the 3rd February 2010 statement
by retired High Court judge Hon. Michael Kirby in which he clearly states
that Queensland’s discriminatory age of consent law should be reformed. The letter follows up an email sent to each Member of
Parliament on 21 April 2010 to account for the possibility of any of the emails
having been blocked by spam filters.
1st March 2010 Email with to Premier Anna Bligh and Attorney-General Cameron
Dick. Regarding the 3rd February 2010 statement by
the Hon. Michael Kirby AC CMG of strong support for equal age of consent
reform in Queensland. Michael Kirby retired as a Justice of the High Court
of Australia in February 2009. The
email contains the full text of the statement by the Hon. Michael Kirby (rather
than adding the pdf file as an attachment or risking
that the recipient wouldn’t bother to download it).
10th December 2009 Email with
confirmation letter to Premier Anna Bligh, Attorney-General Cameron Dick and to
my local MP Hon. Neil Roberts. Regarding the QNews magazine article “Gay Sex In
4th December 2009 Feature article by John Frame published by QNews magazine in their
4th December edition (#235) on page 9 “. Slightly edited for space by Toby
Longhurst, with the headline “Gay Sex In
23rd September 2009 Email to all
29th July 2009 Email to Premier
Anna Bligh, Attorney-General Cameron Dick and to the Courier Mail as well as
The Australian. On the previous evening, 28 July 2009, Tony Fitzgerald – author of the
1989 Fitzgerald Report on widespread official corruption in
1st July 2009 Email to all
I pose two questions:
(1) As
Members of Parliament, regardless of your personal moral conviction, you are
all mature men and women. How many of you would reasonably expect that 16 and
17 year olds who are living as a couple would not be engaging in
sexual intercourse?
(2) How
many of you would expect that it would be fair for young same sex couples
in
29th May 2009 Email to Premier
Anna Bligh, Attorney-General Cameron Dick, my local MP Neil Roberts and to the
Courier Mail. I point out that I have discovered that, since at least 2008, Queensland Labor’s official Policy Platform has
included written support for equal age of consent reform: Section
7.9 of the Justice and Governance Chapter has been: "7.9
Labor will ensure uniformity of age among laws relating to the age of consent
for lawful sexual activity;". Also on 18th
October 2008 Queensland Labor’s Kingston Regional Conference officially called for the Attorney-General to
act on that policy, but there was no response from the Attorney-General.
I ask “Since it is clearly Queensland Labor's own written
official Policy to act on equal age of consent reform, when will the Queensland
Government bring this state into line with the rest of
24th
April 2009 Email to Queensland Attorney-General Cameron
Dick. I refer to my 21st
April 2009 letter and I correct my statement
about the age of an adult under
21st April 2009 Letter to newly appointed Attorney-General
Cameron Dick citing Qld Anti-Discrimination
Susan Booth’s 15th July 2005 letter calling for urgent reform
and offering a brief outline of how the unequal age of consent should never
have been passed. I show that there is no Hansard
evidence of any Member of Parliament arguing either for or against a higher age
for anal intercourse in the three opportunities for them to do so. I state that
Queensland Labor has a proven record that they have a moral obligation to enact
equal age of consent reform and ask for an honest commitment and effective
timeframe for action. Premier Bligh has
advised that the decision on reform is entirely in the hands of the
Attorney-General and we can only hope that this new Minister will prove himself
to be a man of integrity and action.
20th October 2008 Email to Editor of the Courier Mail (C.c. to Premier Anna Bligh and Attorney-General Kerry Shine) in which I highlight that Queensland’s
Anti-Discrimination Commissioner advised the Government on 15th July 2005 that the discriminatory
unequal age of consent is in clear contravention of Article 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights. This was the argument which brought
international pressure to force law reform in
20th June 2008 Email to all
12th May 2008 Email to Tim Herbert, Senior Policy Advisor to
12th
May 2008 Email from Tim Herbert, Senior Policy Advisor to
30th April 2008
Email to Premier Anna Bligh and to Attorney-General Kerry
Shine referring to the 30th
April 2008 announcement by Federal Attorney-General Robert McLelland
that the Rudd Government would be acting to fix 100 identified areas of
national law which currently discriminate against same sex couples. I state
that “The Rudd Government's action is highly praiseworthy -
however equality in Queensland needs to first take the step
of bringing its legal treatment of same sex attracted youth into line with
the rest of Australia, by equalising the age of
consent”.
I also question the validity of the Bligh
Government’s claim that there are widely held views in opposition to this
reform – citing the
fact that a statewide hour long program on the ABC local radio network (7-8pm,
23 April 2008) discussed Queensland’s unequal age of consent in detail – and
yet not one person opposed the suggestion that the age of consent should be
truly equal at 16.
16th April 2008 Email to Editor of the Courier Mail (C.c. to Premier Anna Bligh and
Attorney-General Kerry Shine) regarding their 14th April 2008 article in which I note the quote
from the Premier: "I can certainly say that as
(a past) education minister, I'm aware that many teachers and many guidance
officers and school support staff face the reality of talking to young people
about their sexuality."
I challenge the Bligh
Government to answer these two key questions:
(1) In 1990 Peter Beattie's PCJC Committee recommended an equal age of
consent at 16, so why is our
(2) When can
12th April 2008 Email to Premier
Anna Bligh and to Attorney-General Kerry Shine referring
to my 12th April 2008 email to the
Courier Mail and their 12th
April 2008 cover story “School bans gay couples” (by Robyn Ironside). The same journalist also wrote a complementary page 2
article “Teenagers
well aware of their sexual preferences”- which included the unequal age of
consent.
12th April 2008 Email to Editor of the Courier Mail regarding their 12th April 2008
cover story “School bans gay couples” (by
Robyn Ironside).
The same journalist also wrote a complementary page 2 article “Teenagers well aware of
their sexual preferences”- which included the unequal age of consent.
3rd April 2008 Email to Editor of the Courier Mail (C.c. Premier Anna Bligh,
Attorney-General Kerry Shine, ADCQ Commissioner Susan Booth). "Bligh
should be as proud as Goss of our Anti-Discrimination Act". I refer to a recent statement on the ABC TV’s 4 Corners by
former Premier Wayne Goss that he counted the Anti-Discrimination Act as one of
his proud achievements as Premier. I point out that it is now nearly 3 years
since Queensland Anti-Discrimination Commissioner Susan Booth wrote to the
Premier and Attorney-General calling for urgent equal age of consent reform. I
state that: “The Bligh Government ought to prove that it
continues to respect and take pride in our Anti-Discrimination Act by finally
responding to the Commissioner's recommendation - with the knowledge that they
will be doing a great good by allowing necessary legal equity for all
Queensland youth.”
22nd March 2008 Email to Editor of
the Courier Mail (C.c. Premier Anna Bligh, Attorney-General Kerry Shine) regarding the
19th January 2008 Email to all
5th December 2007 Letter from Premier Ana Bligh in response to my 26th October 2007 email. The problems with
this letter are:
(a)
it misrepresents the nature of the
needed reform – which is in fact about allowing equal support and protection
for all youth at age 16, and NOT about ”lowering
the age of consent for sex between males”. This shows that the Government is
as ignorant as those in the general public who assume that the act of anal
intercourse virtually defines “sex between males”. The truth is that the
current law makes anal intercourse the only
sexual activity which is illegal for any
person (of any gender or sexuality) if aged under
18. Widespread ignorance leads many to assume that ALL sex between males is
illegal if either of them is aged under 18. A truly equal age of consent is necessary
in order to remove the current resulting discrimination against same sex
attracted youth and also to enable the maximum protection and support of all youth.
(b)
it does not address the two specific Equal
Age Of Consent questions which required urgent answers. They were:
1. "Exactly what are the specific reasons for the Queensland
Government's failure to enact a truly equal age of consent, especially in light
of the specific July 2005 recommendation (as repeated in
full further below) by its Anti-Discrimination Commissioner
that urgent action was necessary.
2. "Considering that it has been at least three years since every
other Australian state and territory enacted a truly equal age of
consent, by which year will Queensland finally allow that same vital
act of equal support and protection for youth?
NB: On 7th
January 2008 I phoned Deputy Chief Of Staff Stephen Beckett’s office, hoping to
discuss the above points. He was not available. On 9th January 2008
I received a call from Jessica, a worker in his office. She took details of my
concerns and assured me that someone with legal authority would phone me in the
near future.
2nd December 2007 Email to ABC Radio 612 announcer Madonna King regarding
her blatant attempt to sabotage my “talk back” question for Premier Anna Bligh
on 30th November
2007 on the issue of Equal Age Of Consent Reform. On the eve of World AIDS Day, I particularly wanted The
Premier to address the fact that the current law actively impedes adequate
relevant safe sex education for 16 and 17 year olds. Sadly ABC presenter
Madonna King allowed The Premier to get away with an answer which was pure
obfuscation.
30th November 2007 Email to Premier
Anna Bligh re her ABC Radio 612 dismissal,
earlier this day, of my own question on the issue of Equal Age Of Consent
Reform. On the eve of World AIDS
Day, I particularly wanted The Premier to address the fact that the current law
actively impedes adequate relevant safe sex education for 16 and 17 year olds.
Sadly ABC presenter Madonna King allowed The Premier to get away with an answer
which was pure obfuscation.
Listen to the question and
response here as an mp3 ( 570k, 1m 40s). Please
note: Madonna King did her level best to sabotage my question. On 26
October 2007 I had spoken off-air only
with her show’s producer and I was advised that they do not allow more than one
question to the Premier on any one topic – and that my only option would be to
phone back on 30 November and take my chances with every other caller at
getting to put my question to the Premier.
I had asked:
"Regarding the fact that Queensland, since 2003, it's been the only
state or territory Australia which has an unequal age of consent and that
leaves Queensland's 16 and 17 year olds in a situation where they're not getting
adequate relevant safe sex education, why is the Queensland Government not
willing to change the law so that Queensland 16 and 17 year olds are treated
with equal protection, equal support - especially regarding HIV infection - as
is every other youth around Australia?"
I had clearly stated that 16 and 17
year old youth were not getting “adequate relevant” safe sex education – I did
not say that the current law blocks all safe sex education. It seems clear from the
experience of both Peter R. On 26 October 2007 and myself on this day, that Premier
Bligh cannot be expected to give a straight answer to any question on this
issue.
2nd November 2007 Email from the office of Hon. Attorney-General Mr. Kerry
Shine in
reply to my 24th
September 2007 email. The Attorney-General ignores the issue I had raised of the
increasing risk of HIV for youth as a result of the current law and once again merely repeats the
Government’s standard line of “no … plans for reform in this area”.
1st November 2007 Letter from Premier Ana Bligh – still no action. The Premier acknowledges my 10th October 2007 email
in which I referred to newly published data on increased incidence of HIV
infection in
Premier Bligh notes the contents
of my email but continues Peter Beattie’s stance of leaving all responsibility
for official decision making on this matter with the Attorney-General.
26th October 2007 Email to Premier Anna Bligh
re her declaration, earlier this day on ABC Radio 612, that her Government is
not even considering the issue of Equal Age Of Consent Reform.
On
26th October 2007 Premier Anna Bligh spent just seven seconds
on ABC612’s “Madonna King” program dismissing a 19 year old gay
Peter of Taringa
was told by the show’s producer that he had to keep his question to the Premier
succinct, so he asked:
“I was wondering when the
Queensland Government was going to change the age of consent laws between
differing sexual activities from 18 for anal intercourse to 16 to be in line
with vaginal intercourse?
Premier Anna Bligh’s response
was:
“Peter, our Government has no
plans to consider that issue. So I guess that the answer to your question is
that there is no time frame because we have no plans in relation to that.”
When I
heard this I immediately phoned the ABC in the hope of asking Premier Bligh for
exact reasons why her Government is not considering this reform, but I was told
that they do not allow callers to ask questions on matters which had “already
been dealt with”. I then sent this email to Premier Bligh expressing my
disappointment at her display of indifference, and also posing the 2 questions
that she needs to answer in detail.
10th October 2007 Email to Premier Anna Bligh (C.c. Attorney- General Kerry
Shine and the Editor of the Courier Mail) referring to
newly published data on increased incidence of HIV infection in
24th September 2007 Email to our new Premier, the Honourable
Ms. Anna Bligh (C.c. Attorney- General Kerry Shine) urging the announcement of a fixed time-frame for equal age
of consent law reform – ideally with a date of effect before 1st
December 2007 (World AIDS Day), in order
to prove the Bligh Government’s commitment to fighting the spread of HIV for
all Queenslanders, and their commitment to the equal protection and support of
all youth.
31st August 2007 Email from the office of Hon. Attorney-General Mr. Kerry
Shine in reply to my 27th July 2007 email (to the Editor of the Courier Mail, C.c. to the
Attorney-General) in which I had quoted Peter Beattie from 1990 to support the need for an equal age of consent to help
prevent HIV infection of our state’s youth. The Attorney-General advises “I agree that we need to ensure young
people have access to safe sex information, and an attitude of openness,
honesty and frankness will facilitate this.” However he then repeats the stock Government line that “the issue of the age of
consent is one in which there are deeply held and opposing views. The
Government has no plans to alter the applicable law at this time…”
27th July 2007 Email – letter to the Editor of the Courier Mail (C.c. to the Premier, Attorney-General and Neil Roberts MP) – with the heading “Beattie
Government leaves
16th July 2007 Email sent as a “letter to the Editor” of the Courier Mail (not published):
“National same sex couples equity debated
while
“While media has recently focused attention on the unequal treatment of same sex Australian couples, I believe that most Queenslanders would be outraged to learn that since 2003 we have been the only state or territory which does not allow equal treatment of our same sex youth.
In a 1990 PCJC Report, Peter Beattie declared his
support for the majority recommendation of a truly equal age of consent,
so exactly when will his Government enact reform to allow all
2nd July 2007 Letter to the Leader of The
Opposition, Jeff Seeney in reply to his letter dated 26th
June 2007.
Confirming
the message delivered in my 29th June 2007 phone call to his
Parliament House office. I point out that Mr. Seeney
has clearly been given inaccurate advice regarding the majority recommendations
in the 1990 all-party Parliamentary Criminal
Justice Committee Report on Reforms in Laws Relating to Homosexuality. I include a copy of
page 49 of that Report (pdf file page 52) in which
Recommendation 7 is very plainly in favour of a truly
equal age of consent.
The
text for Mr. Seeney’s letter had apparently been
copied (word for word in the last 3 of four paragraphs) from a 24th
January 2006 letter which was sent to me by Lawrence Springborg
(then Leader of The Opposition). In my reply I include a copy of the 27th
January 2006 letter which I had sent to Mr Springborg. That letter remains equally relevant in
addressing, in detail, the Leader of The Opposition’s assertion that no
circumstance has arisen since 1990 to justify any reconsideration of their
position.
26th June 2007 Letter from The leader of the Opposition, Jeff Seeney acknowledging
receipt of the DVD-Video/CD-ROM pack “6 Statements of Support for Equal Age Of
Consent Reform in
Mr.
Seeney states that the Nationals stance is that they
do not support an equal age of consent. However
he then wrongly claims that the all-party 1990 Parliamentary
Criminal Justice Committee (chaired by Peter Beattie) had made a majority
recommendation in Report favouring an unequal age of consent. Mr Seeney has clearly been given inaccurate advice – because
the Majority Recommendation number 7 of the Committee’s 1990 Report (on report page 49) was that: “THE
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS 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. (THIS PRINCIPLE IS HIGHLIGHTED IN POINT ONE ON PAGE
60 OF THE COMMISSION’S REPORT.)”
I
phoned the office of the Leader Of the Opposition on Friday 29thJune
2007 to explain this factual error in Mr Seeney’s letter – and I was advised that my message would
be passed on to Mr. Seeney, but that the attitude of
the Opposition would be unchanged. I said that I believed the Opposition are enititled to their opinion,
but that it should be based on factual grounds.
26th June 2007 Letter and DVD-Video/CD-ROM package sent to the Chief of Staff, The Courier Mail newspaper. After receiving the 22 June 2007 letter from
Attorney-General Kerry Shine advising continued inaction on reform, I contacted
the Courier mail by phone and sent them (by Registered Mail) a detailed package of printed information as well as the
same DVD-Video/CD-ROM package as was sent to every Queensland Member of
Parliament. I wrote that “I believe that
Premier Beattie will be content to remain inactive on this reform, for as long
as he knows that there is no pressure from mainstream media. He should be
forced to explain exactly why his Government has been refusing to allow equal
protection and support of all
22nd June 2007 Letter from the office of Hon. Attorney-General Mr. Kerry
Shine in reply to my 18th
May 2007 letter and DVD-Video/CD-ROM pack. The
Attorney-General merely repeats the
Beattie Government’s standard line of
“no … plans for reform in this area” – with absolutely no justification for
that inaction. This is in spite of the fact that the six statements on the DVD
made it very clear that the current law should be reformed urgently because the
law has a severe negative impact on the health and well being of youth – and
also because the Anti-Discrimination Commissioner has declared that the law is
blatantly discriminatory.
June 2007 A DVD-Video/CD-ROM package entitled “6 Statements of Support for Equal Age Of Consent Reform in
Since
early 2000, when I started pursuing this reform, the Premier and his various
Attorneys-General have all refused (or failed) to meet with a representative
group in order to discuss the need for urgent reform. So I decided to bring the
people to them via the medium of DVD-Video. Filmed between February and May
2007, the six contributors are Qld
Anti-Discrimination Commissioner Susan Booth, QAHC General Manager Paul Martin,
Brisbane PFLAG President Shelley Argent, ARCQ spokesperson Rod Goodbun, Queer Radio presenter Felix Kellett
and psychologist/psychotherapist Tim Klein. I believe that the combined
statements constitute a compelling argument for urgent reform.
This link goes to the covering letter which was personalised for each recipient and below that you’ll find the image of the cover art as well as all six statements as embedded YouTube videos – and links to each full
transcript.
NB: The June edition of
(click the image for full text plus link to a full
size jpg of the article)
18th May 2007 DVD-Video/CD-ROM
package entitled “6 Statements of Support for Equal Age Of
Consent Reform in
This
file is the covering letter
specifically worded for the Attorney-General and includes the full video
interview transcripts. I sent this a couple of weeks before any other packs
were made up because I had hoped for a timely positive response of commitment
to reform action. I received a letter from the
Attorney-General’s Senior Policy Advisor Paul Bini, dated 28th
May 2007, stating “The Attorney-General has asked me to advise you that he is
seeking further information and a full response will be forwarded to you
shortly.” No further response has been received from his office.
See full details of the
DVD-Video/CD-ROM pack – including covert art and YouTube videos of all six statements at: AOC_June_2007_DVD_CD-ROM_pack.htm
16th January 2007 Email to Hon. Attorney-General Mr. Kerry Shine acknowledging his 22 November 2006 emailed
message and urging him to accept the
consideration of an equal age of consent as being a totally separate matter to
issues affecting same sex couples. I advise that his department already posesses all the arguments necessary in order to justify
urgent enactment of an equal age of consent. I am concerned that there
would most likely be a very prolonged process of consultation involved in
identifying and justifying a range of reforms which affect same sex couples
(for example adoption, fertility clinic access etc). An equal age of consent is
a youth-specific issue, just as is the age of an adult under Criminal Law (17
in
30th November 2006 Courier Mail
article by feature writer Jane Fynes-Clinton. In this detailed and
concise feature, especially related to World AIDS Day, Jane connects many of the more important issues related to Queensland’s
unequal age of consent – including that the current law places youth at
increased risk of HIV infection. She personalises
the story with bookended references to Keith Phillips, an openly gay year 10
student at Alexandra Hills State High in
22nd November 2006 Email from newly appointed Attorney-General, Hon. Kerry Shine
acknowledging my more recent emails and
stating “I advise that
at some point in the near future, I plan to meet with groups interested in
these and other same sex couple issues to discuss them further.”
In
the past six and a half years of pressing the Beattie Government for equal age
of consent reform, this is the very first contact
from either the Attorney-General or the Premier which expresses a willingness
to meet with relevant groups in order to discuss the issue. I hope this means that
the Beattie Government is also considering declaring a timeframe for action on
reform. Urgent action on reform had
been strongly recommended in July 2005 by Queensland Anti-Discrimination
Commissioner Susan Booth.
17th October 2006 Email to Premier Peter Beattie and Attorney General Linda Lavarch directing their attention to the 16th October
2006 announcement by the Hong Kong Government that they will no
longer contest their High Court’s decisions that an equal age of consent for
sexual activity must apply to all citizens at age 16. I ask that the Premier
and Attorney-General find the Hong Kong decision to be inspiration for finally
enacting a truly equal age of consent of 16 in
*** a brief
letter has been received from the Office of The Premier, merely advising that
this matter falls under the responsibility of the Attorney-General. However in
his several terms as Premier Mr Peter Beattie has
often enough been known to publicly declare that he would be instructing the
Attorney-General to take action in reform of the Criminal Code. He cannot claim
that his role as Premier precludes influencing the actions of the
Attorney-General.
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).
*** a brief
letter has been received from the Office of The Premier, merely advising that
this matter falls under the responsibility of the Attorney-General. However in
his several terms as Premier Mr Peter Beattie has
often enough been known to publicly declare that he would be instructing the
Attorney-General to take action in reform of the Criminal Code. He cannot claim
that his role as Premier precludes influencing the actions of the
Attorney-General.
10th September 2006 Email to Premier Peter Beattie and Attorney General Linda Lavarch acknowledging the
return of the Beattie Government with a massive
majority and suggesting that can now feel safe
in enacting age of consent reform. I also point out that since there is no Hansard record of any Member of Queensland Parliament ever
speaking either for or against the unequal age of consent, there is little
likelihood of opposition to reform.
7th September 2006 Email to Premier Peter Beattie, Attorney
General Linda Lavarch and my local Member Neil
Roberts highlighting a 6th September 2006
article in the Courier Mail which states the high risk of suicide in same sex attracted
youth. I
suggest that, since we all do know the definite link between oppression of same
sex attracted youth and the drastically higher rate of suicide for
them, the very least the Beattie Government can do is to immediately
reform the one basic flaw in current Criminal Law which is known to actively
impede the acceptance and support of same sex attracted youth - namely the
unequal age of consent.
12th June 2006 Email to all
31st May 2006 Letter from Premier Peter Beattie – still no action. The Premier acknowledges my 10th April 2006 letter and my 5th May 2006 email.
However he addresses not one of the issues that I had raised in those
communications – which had included asking how the Premier morally justifies
his inaction. I am advised that the Premier “appreciates your ongoing efforts to keep him apprised of
your views on this issue.” However the Premier
is well aware that these are not my views alone – they are shared by the
Queensland Anti-Discrimination Commissioner Susan Booth, the management of the
Queensland AIDS Council, Brisbane Parents and Friends of Lesbians And Gays and by 740
NB: I believe that the Premier
perceives an advantage in trying to portray me as being a “lone voice”. There is no doubt that
the lack of community
action is primarily due to the current lack of a broadly focused local LGBT
rights group, and to the almost complete disintegration of university student action
groups. The other major problem is that there is only one statewide newspaper –
The Courier Mail – and their senior editors have so far refused to print any
relevant article on this overdue reform.
5th May 2006 Email to Premier Peter Beattie (with C.c. to Attorney General
Linda Lavarch and the Editor of the Courier Mail) referring to Mr. Beattie’s appearance on ABC Television’s evening news in which he stated that he had been asked to
comment on the inaugural Civil Union of two women which was performed that day
in the British Embassy, Brisbane. Mr. Beattie stated that he supported equal
treatment for gays and lesbians, but did not support gay marriage. In my email
I remind the Premier that his refusal to enact an equal age of consent in
11th April 2006
Email to my
local Member of Parliament Neil Roberts (Member for Nudgee) – regarding the 10 April 2006 letter which I
posted to the Premier in reply to the Premier’s letter dated 5 April 2006. I included copies of both these letters for
Neil’s reference, and I express my concern that “If
the Labor Party doesn't care enough about youth to enact something as basic as
an equal age of consent, then how can they be trusted to care about
anything else in our community?"
10th April 2006 Letter to Premier Peter Beattie in
reply to his letter dated 5 April 2006 which had
suggested that the correct information which is displayed on the Youth Advocacy Centre website constitutes an effort
made by his Government toward adequately informing the public in regard to age
of consent and legal sexual activity. In my reply I advise that it was own
persistence from July 2000 in lobbying the YAC which resulted in their decision
to amend their displayed information in December of that year and that the YAC
are not really a representative Government body.
I remind
the Premier of other highly relevant points in support of reform, including his
own proven involvement in the history of the Queensland Sodomy Law, and I ask “How can the current law be considered moral or just? How
can your Government justify its ongoing failure to enact reform?”
5th April 2006 Letter from Premier
Peter Beattie – regarding the Youth Advocacy
Centre. The Premier is responding specifically to my 1st December 2005 emailed comment that “When I
interviewed you on
In my 10th April 2006 letter of
reply to the Premier, I detail why the Youth Advocacy Centre’s correct
information is mainly a result of my own persistent efforts in 2000 – rather a
result of any action by the Queensland Government.
22nd March 2006 Official Ministerial
Response posted by Queensland Attorney General Linda Lavarch
to Parliamentary
E-Petition Number 421-05 (which was finalised on
In
preceding weeks the Courier Mail had reported that Peter Beattie was actively
negotiating with the conservative religious Family First Party to secure
preference deals for the upcoming state election (hoping to split the
conservative vote). Successive polls had shown the Nationals to be almost
certain to win at the next election. Nationals Leader
Lawrence Springborg has clearly stated that they will
not support an equal age of consent.
21st
February 2006 Email to Attorney-General Linda Lavarch
– (with copy to local MP Neil Roberts) expressing concern that Beattie Labor
must act urgently on Sodomy Law Reform while it still holds a clear majority of
Members of Parliament. Today’s Courier Mail ran an article which states that
the results of two recent polls indicate a landslide victory for The Nationals
in the next state election (which may be as early as November 2006). When
previously in power in ‘96/’97 the National Party not only reinstated the
Sodomy Law, but also simultaneously changed the terminology (“anal intercourse”
to “sodomy”), raised the minimum age (from 17 to 18) and doubled the penalties
(from 7 to 14 years gaol). The Nationals leader
Lawrence Springborg has clearly advised that they do
not support any reform of the Sodomy Law.
7th
February 2006
Letter from
Premier Peter Beattie which ignores the
vital matter of actually reforming the Sodomy Law and refers instead to a
consideration of whether or not the Government might have done anything to
educate the public effectively in regard to the current law. In my 1st December 2005 email I had written: “When I interviewed you on
27th
January 2006 Letter to
24th
January 2006 Letter from
Mr Springborg also attempts to dismiss the validity of Sodomy
Law Reform by claiming that “No circumstance has arisen since that time to
justify any reconsideration of this position.” See my 27th January 2006
response.
19th
January 2006 Email to all Queensland Members of Parliament – on
the fifteenth anniversary of the commencement of the Sodomy Law I wrote to all
MP’s calling for support of urgent reform and drawing their attention to the
written opinions of support from Queensland
Anti-Discrimination Commissioner Susan Booth (15 July ’05), from Brisbane Parents & Friends of Lesbians And Gays (14
July ’05), from over
twenty respected Community Groups (MidOctober ’05)
and from 740 signatories to the Parliamentary
E-Petition (tabled 9 August ’05).
1st December 2005 Email to Premier Peter Beattie on this World AIDS Awareness Day: pointing out that
it is a sad state of affairs for the Beattie Government to persist with
inaction on Sodomy Law reform, when they know that this law places youth at
increased risk of HIV infection.
I refer in
this email to my telephone conversation on
23rd November 2005 Letter from Attorney-General Linda Lavarch, in reply to my 20th
October 2005 letter in which I had:
(1) requested an official Ministerial response to the finalised Parliamentary E-petition
calling for Sodomy Law Reform, which had been referred to her office on
(2)
requested a response to several earlier requests for a representative community
group meeting with the Attorney-General.
However the
Attorney-General’s response fails to address either of these points and merely
reiterates that “the Government has no plans to alter the applicable law at
this time.”
On the
afternoon of the day I received this letter,
17th
November 2005 Email to Premier Peter Beattie referring to his statement in the ABC television special
“Political Football” (
2nd November 2005 Letter from
Shelley
concludes by saying: “The AIDS Medical Unit, HIV/AIDS Report of 2004, states
that HIV and sexually transmitted diseases are on the increase in
25th October 2005 Letter from Attorney-General Linda Lavarch,
in reply to my 25th July 2005 email in which I had
referred to the letters by ADCQ Commissioner Susan Booth15th July 2005, Brisbane PFLAG 14th July 2005
and I also welcomed a favourable response the
Parliamentary E-petition
which was just about to close at that time.
In this
letter the Attorney-General acknowledges the key points and correspondence, but
advises:
“I agree
that we need to ensure young people have access to safe sex information and
that our laws operate fairly and justly. However, the issue of the age of
consent is a vexed one and one in which there are deeply held and opposing
views. The Government has no plans to alter the applicable law at this time.”
24th October 2005 Emailed “letter” to the editor of the Courier Mail
in response to their feature article “AIDS battle not yet over” (Jane Fynes-Clinton, CM 24 October 2005, P9). The article
addressed rising rates of HIV infection in
20th October 2005 Letter to Attorney-General Linda Lavarch
requesting a Ministerial response to the finalised Parliamentary E-petition
calling for Sodomy Law Reform, which was referred to her office on
Mid October
2005 Community Services Group letter to the Beattie Government
calling for urgent reform of the Queensland Sodomy Law.
Over twenty
highly respected health and welfare community groups and organizations
co-signed this letter which had been initiated by the (1) Open Doors Youth Service, (2) Brisbane Parents and Friends of Lesbians And
Gays, and (3) peak HIV health body the Queensland
AIDS Council. Troy Hakala of the Qld AIDS Council advises that the letter was posted to the
five respective Ministers in mid-October.
12th August 2005 Email to the Attorney-General Linda Lavarch
referring to the May 2005 Non-Government
Report on the Implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights Of the Child In Australia which clearly calls for
reform of the Queensland Sodomy Law. I also point out that the National Children’s & Youth Law Centre
have been lobbying for our state to join the rest of Australia in setting 18 as
the age of an adult under criminal law (currently it is 17 in Queensland). I
suggest that these two reforms are linked in that they help protect and support
youth and that they should be enacted simultaneously.
2nd August 2005 Email to Attorney-General Linda Lavarch
confirming my
25th July 2005 Email to the newly elected Attorney-General Linda Lavarch asking for her favourable
support for urgent reform of the Sodomy Law. I inform her regarding the
important letter of opinion sent by Queeensland Anti-Discrimination Commissioner Susan Booth
and of the Parliamentary
E—petition which will be presented in Parliament on
15th July 2005 Letter from Queensland Anti-Discrimination
Commissioner Susan Booth to
Attorney-General Rod Welford and to
Premier Peter Beattie declaring that
The
Commissioner concludes by stating that “It is now
imperative that
14th July 2005 Letter
from Brisbane Parents and Friends of Lesbians And Gays to Premier
Peter Beattie calling for urgent reform of the Sodomy Law. This
letter expresses the great concern of parents for the health and well-being of
their same sex attracted children, just as for their heterosexual children –
and highlighting the critical risks to same sex attracted youth which are
perpetuated by the Sodomy Law. “PFLAG parents want the government to provide
the same rights for our gay youth as our heterosexual youth.”
6th July 2005 Letter from Attorney-General Rod Welford, advising
that he has considered my 21 June 2005 email and my
6 June 2005 letter with attachments in which I had
highlighted the severe and increasing risk of HIV infection which is presented
to youth as a direct consequence of the Queensland Sodomy Law. Regardless of
the risk to youth, the Attorney-General reiterates that “The Government has no
current plans to amend these laws.”
4th July 2005 Letter from Attorney-General Rod Welford, advising
receipt of a forwarded email from Education Minister Anna Bligh ( she had advised me she would do this). I was given some
hope by the Attorney General’s advice that “I have noted the contents of your
email and will bear the information in mind in the context of any discussions I
may have on the subject with my Cabinet colleagues.”
21st June 2005 Email to Attorney-General Rod Welford, Premier Peter Beattie
and Health Minister Gordon Nuttall
advising them that I had been interviewed on ABC Radio 612 by Steve Austin on
6th June 2005 Letter with attachments to Attorney-General Rod
Welford, Premier
Peter Beattie and to Health Minister Gordon Nuttall
calling for urgent action on Sodomy Law reform in the light of two significant
publications during May 2005:
(1) a Queensland Health announcement that HIV infection rates
continue to climb in our state (by 19.% in 2004), and
(2) a detailed report by
(1)
Attorney-General and Minister for Justice Hon Rod Welford (go to Word
file copy)
(2) Health
Minister Hon Gordon Nuttall (go to Word file
copy)
(3) Minister For Child Safety Hon Mike Reynolds (go
to Word file copy)
3rd
June 2005 Today I am advised by the
Attorney General’s office that regardless of the risk of HIV to the state’s youth,
the Beattie Government will not consider enacting reform of the Sodomy Law –
certainly not within the current term of office (up to 2007). It is totally unacceptable that the Beattie
Government can hold such an unsubstantiated and clearly politically motivated
position on this reform. The health and well-being of the state’s youth should
always take precedence over pandering to conservative/fundamentalist voters for
the next election. The Sodomy Law should not have been enacted in the first place, and a Government with” moral fibre”
would certainly have enacted reform years ago. We wait and hope for a change of
heart and mind by the Beattie Government.
2nd June 2005 Email to all members of Queensland Parliament,
extending from my email of 25th August 2004 I
highlight the recent announcement by Queensland Health that HIV infections in
our state increased by 19.2% in 2004 and that on 25th May 2005 La Trobe
University published research
on 1,749 same sex attracted youth Australia-wide which shows that 15-18 year
old youth are choosing to do anal intercourse at an early age and that 25% of
them are not using condoms. In
3rd
February 2005 Press Release by Paul Martin, Manager of the Queensland AIDS
Council - stating that “The current law causes confusion amongst
many in the community who believe that all sex between men is illegal before
the age of 18” said Paul R Martin of the Queensland AIDS Council. “We are
concerned that young people who are sexually active are reluctant to come
forward to access sexual health services and receive sex & relationships
education for fear of being prosecuted”.
Mr Martin went on to say “There is no legitimate reason why the age at which young men and women
can have vaginal sex, which may result in child birth, should be any different
from the age at which people can legally have anal sex. The current law does
nothing to protect young people, on the contrary it
criminalises young people who choose to have anal sex”.
4th December 2004 Email to
5th October 2004 Email to Health Minister, Gordon Nuttall
(C.C. to Premier and Mark Counter). I point out that Queensland
Health’s youth-specific sexual-health website www.istaysafe.com does not
include any mention of anal intercourse (or anything other than heterosexual
sexuality).
1st October 2004 Letter from Health Minister, Gordon Nuttall,
in which he expresses concern for risks presented to youth by the Sodomy Law,
however he refers to the Department’s www.istaysafe.com website as if that site was a flagship for
HIV/AIDS education and yet that site does not even mention anal intercourse
(“sodomy”).
Mr Nuttall states that the Department is about to launch into
a major statewide school-based sexual health program – which will no doubt
completely exclude sexual health matters related directly to anal intercourse.
This is of extreme concern, considering that recent Australian research
indicates that up to 4 % of all 16-19 year old Australian men and women choose
to engage in anal intercourse (for various reasons). It is appalling that
these youth will be deliberately denied life saving sexual health information.
3rd September 2004 Letter from Opposition Leader,
25th August 2004 Email to all members of
10th August 2004 Email (with confirming letter) to Premier Peter Beattie,
pointing out that there is a high HIV risk to youth inherent in the Queensland
Sodomy Law. His 1990 PCJC Report clearly connected that a Sodomy Law would
prevent effective HIV/AIDS information from reaching persons doing anal intercourse
– that’s why they recommended against it. Research published by Dr Jo Lindsay
for La Trobe University in late 2001 indicates that nearly a quarter of all
Australian male and female youth engage in anal intercourse – but in our state
they don’t get access to any safe sex information on that activity. I urge Mr Beattie to reform the Sodomy Law for the sake of all
existing and future
28th June 2004 Letter from Attorney General Rod Welford, in
response to my 27th May 2004 letter. Mr. Welford
states that the Queensland Government has no plans (and therefore no time
frame) for reform of the Sodomy Law. The state of
22nd June 2004 Letter from office of Premier Peter Beattie,
responding to my letter dated
29th May 2004 Email to the Editor of the Courier Mail. Seeking
mainstream press support in raising public awareness of the need to reform the
Queensland Criminal Code by removal of the Sodomy Law.
27th May 2004 Letter
to Premier Peter Beattie, Attorney General Rod Welford and Neil Roberts MP
(my local MP). I request a clear timeframe for removal of the Sodomy
Law. With their renewed massive majority in the current (February 2004)
Parliamentary term this should present no political risk. I remind that
14th January 2004 Email to Honourable Rod Welford MP,
Attorney-General and Minister for Justice pointing out that his 12th January 2004 email is in error in suggesting that
I am requesting a change in age of consent law. I reiterate that what I seek is
removal of the Sodomy Law – early in the next Queensland Parliament (following
the 7th February election).
12th January 2004 Email
from Honourable Rod Welford MP, Attorney-General and
Minister for Justice acknowledging that the Premier has also
referred my 5th January 2004 email to him. Mr Welford’s reply is brief, but it is also in factual
error in suggesting that I am requesting a change in age of consent law. The
age of consent is already a very reasonable 16 for all men and women – but it’s
the removal of the Sodomy Law that needs his particular and urgent attention.
NB: several MP’s from both sides of Parliament have emailed replies to me,
thanking me for bringing this matter to their attention and stating that they
will keep these points in mind for future discussions.
5th January 2004 Email to all members of Parliament in
27th November 2003 Email to the office of Premier of
2nd September 2003 Letter from Attorney General Rod Welford,
in response to my 27th June 2003 email, which had
been forwarded from the Premier’s Office. Mr. Welford acknowledges my comments
in that email which included: “Today the USA Supreme Court has made a landmark
final decision which strikes down similar Sodomy Laws across the entire
Mr. Welford
confirms the Premier’s statement that the Government has no plans to change the
existing law “this term”.
19th August 2003 Letter from the office of Premier of
What I am
specifically seeking is the removal of the “Sodomy Law” (Sections 208 & 209
of the Criminal Code 1899) – a law which applies technically to all women and
men, regardless of their sexuality – but which, in practice, actively
discriminates against 16 & 17 year old men who may be gay or bisexual
(regardless of whether those men are sexually active or not).” (as per my 25th July 2003
letter).
The letter
also reiterates that the Government has no plans to amend existing legislation.
25th July 2003 Letter to Premier of
When our
most eminent public servants can, even inadvertently, seem to equate “sodomy”
with being “homosexual sex”, then it is little surprise that the vast majority
of the general public wrongly believe all sex between men to be illegal under
18 years – with the resultant denial of services, lack of peer support and
increased risk of suicide for those men.
Mr. Beattie
had advised that no further reforms of existing laws would occur during the
current Parliament, so I also ask for a declared commitment to enacting this
reform as a priority, following the upcoming state elections (which are due by
mid-2004).
23rd July 2003 Letter from the office of Premier of
N.B:
“sodomy (anal intercourse)” is not equivalent to “homosexual sex”:
Unfortunately
the Premier’s letter errs twice in suggesting that I am “advocating a reduction
in the age of consent for homosexual sex” – which is not the case at all. It is important to note that the age of
consent is already technically equal, at 16 years, for all men and women –
regardless of their sexuality. The big stumbling block to equal treatment of
gay and bisexual young men in
10th July 2003 Email to
6th July 2003 Email to the Sandra McLean of the Courier Mail
(for their “Perspectives” page), pointing out the inequities of
27th June 2003 Email to the Premier of
27th June 2003 Email to the editor of the Courier Mail (for their
“Letters” page), again referring to
“It is of concern” Mr Doostkhah said, “That while
young gay and bisexual people are at much greater risk of suicide and self-harm
than even other young Queenslanders, the government continues to practise discrimination of this sort against them.”
“We would urge the
10th April 2003 Email to the Courier Mail “letters” regarding
their article “Report
calls for earlier sex education”(Judy Skatssoon
CM 9th April 2003, P 15) regarding the release of a report on “The Australian Study of Health and
Relationships”. The CM article states that sex is known to be happening for
men and women at 16 and that 9% of men have either done sex with men or
have wanted to. This is a powerful statistical tool to influence the Beattie
Government toward swifter reform of the Qld Sodomy
Law. My emailed letter states that
12th November 2002 Letter to Premier Peter Beattie and Attorney
General Rod Welford, responding to Mr
Beattie’s public declarations about his “known stance” on social equity in the
week following the 6th November 2002 proposed Discrimination
Law Amendment Bill 2002. Mr Beattie reminded the
media that he was Chairman of the Committee which presented the October 1990
PCJC Report on Homosexual Law Reform. That report recommended an unqualified
equal age of consent. I again invite details of an opportunity for our
delegation to meet with the Government to discuss amending the law.
28th October 2002 Letter to Premier Peter Beattie (with copy and covering letter to Attorney General Rod
Welford), requesting a meeting with both himself and the Attorney General
by a delegation in order to discuss rapid implementation of the recommendations
made in the October 1990 Report by the (Labor majority) Parliamentary Criminal
Justice Committee Report “Reforms in Laws Relating to Homosexuality – an
Information Paper”. The Report had recommended that no higher age be set
for any sexual activity and that the age of consent should apply equally to
both men and women, regardless of their sexual orientation.
28th October 2002 Letter to Attorney General Rod Welford,
with attached copy of 28th October 2002 letter
to Premier Peter Beattie requesting a meeting with both himself and the
Premier by a delegation in order to discuss rapid implementation of the
recommendations made in the October 1990 Report by the (Labor majority)
Parliamentary Criminal Justice Committee Report “Reforms in Laws Relating to
Homosexuality – an Information Paper” The Report had recommended that no higher
age be set for any sexual activity and that the age of consent should apply
equally to both men and women, regardless of their sexual orientation.
11th October 2001 Press Release to newspaper
The Courier Mail, radio stations ABC, FM104, B105 and Triple J, television
stations Bris 31, ABC TV, Network 10, Channel 7, QTQ 9. Sent with a copy of the age
of consent pamphlet asking for broad media
support in the light of the Attorney General’s 9th
October 2001 statement that he won’t respond to any further correspondence
from me. (no support or response received from
any of these media)
9th October 2001 Letter from the office of Queensland Attorney General Rod
Welford in response to my 26th September
2001 letter (which included a copy of the finished pamphlet
and disputed his claim that community legal centres
are the only source needed to inform the public about age of consent). He
advises that he will not respond to any future correspondence from me on this
issue.
26th September 2001 Letter to Attorney General Rod Welford
with attached copy of finished pamphlet. I point
out that there are only a few Community Legal Centres
and that are not only very hard to find, but also very unlikely to have correct
information to offer to anyone enquiring about age of consent and legal sexual
activity.
21st September 2001 Letter from Attorney General Rod Welford
in which he acknowledges receipt from the Premier of my letter dated 15th August 2001. Mr. Welford ignores my request for
broad dissemination of information and focuses only on the pamphlet. He
restates his belief that Community Legal Centres
alone are the answer to informing the public on these matters.
24th August 2001 Letter from the office of Premier Peter Beattie
acknowledging receipt of my letter dated 15th August
2001. The Premier says he has nothing to say in response to my specific
call for action, but merely intends to pass it on to the Attorney General for
his comment.
15th August 2001 Letter to Queensland Premier Peter Beattie in
response to a letter 13th August 2001 from his
office. I provide a clear and concise statement of my expectations and point
out the failed logic in his letter. I again request a personal interview to
discuss the matter in reasoned detail.
13th August 2001 Letter from the office of Queensland Premier Peter Beattie
in response to my 6th July 2001 letter requesting a
personal meeting or a declaration of planned action. The letter merely concurs
with the Attorney-General’s 22nd June 2001
statement of unwillingness to act.
10th August 2001 Letter to newspaper The Courier Mail, radio
stations ABC and Triple J, television stations ABC TV, Network 10, Channel 7,
QTQ 9. Sent with a copy of the full 10th August 2001 letter to Premier Peter Beattie and
Attorney-General Rod Welford. I ask for media support to encourage
Government action. (no support or response received
from any of these media)
10th August 2001 Letter to Queensland Premier Peter Beattie and Attorney
General Rod Welford (with a copy to MP for Nudgee,
Neil Roberts) requesting a reply my letter dated 6th
July 2001 asking for a personal interview in order to discuss the time
frame for the implementation of Mr Beattie’s 15th
June 2001 commitment to adequately inform the public about existing laws
governing age of consent and legal sexual activity.
9th August 2001 Email to www.ageofconsent.com
following up the emails of 2nd June 2001 and 16th May 2001, again providing
supportive evidence to my request that they amend the information on their site
(They wrongly state that all sex between men under 18 is illegal).
6th July 2001 Letter to Queensland Premier Peter Beattie and Attorney
General Rod Welford asking for a personal interview in order to
discuss the time frame for the implementation of Mr
Beattie’s 15th June 2001 commitment to adequately inform the public about
existing laws governing age of consent and legal sexual activity.
26th June 2001 Letter from my local Member of Parliament Neil Roberts MP for
Nudgee, in reply to my letter of 22nd May
2001. He hopes that the Attorney General’s 22nd June 2001 letter
"clarifies the Government’s position".
22nd June 2001 Letter from Attorney General Rod Welford, in reply
to my letter of 22nd May 2001. He again declines to do anything to further
inform any agency or the public. He claims that it is sufficient that youth can
contact a few existing legal centres (which may or
may not have access to correct information) and one unofficial website (with
recently corrected information).
15th June 2001 I interviewed Premier Peter Beattie
at the Brisbane Powerhouse Centre for the Live Arts, and asked him about the
potential for progressive law reform in consequence of his party’s huge
majority in the recent state election. I also ask him specifically whether he
will act to effectively inform the general public about age of consent and
legal sexual activity. He clearly stated
"Alright, well if it’s about educative,(sic)
educating about the existing law, well we’re always happy to do that, OK?". He
does not, however, state a time frame for such action.
Hear the
unedited audio in mp3 format at http://www.queerradio.org/PeterBeattie150601.mp3
or read the complete transcript at www.queerradio.org/PeterBeattie150601.htm.
2nd June 2001 Email to www.ageofconsent.com
following up the email of 16th May and including the 21 May 2001 letter from
Attorney-General Rod Welford as further evidence that they must amend their
site.
31st May 2001 Letter from the
office of Queensland Premier Peter Beattie, in reply to my letter of
22nd May 2001. The inference is that he is leaving the matter to the
Attorney-General to handle.
22nd May 2001 Letter sent to each of Attorney General Rod Welford, Premier
Peter Beattie and local member Neil Roberts MP asking for a public
statement to clearly define age of consent and legal sexual activity. In the
light of the Government’s massive Labor majority there should be no
"conservative electoral backlash" concerns to hinder a clear matter
of explaining current
21st May 2001 Letter received from new Attorney-General Hon Rod Welford MP
in reply to my email of 25th April. He confirms the definition of age of
consent and legal sexual activity, but advises that he will not consider
removing the Sodomy Law or make any effort to ensure the public is correctly
informed about age of consent and legal sexual activity.
16th May 2001 Email to TripleJ FM mail@triplej.abc.net.au advising that
www.lawstuff.org.au
have amended their
website to show correct details as from 16th May 2001.
16th May 2001 Email to www.ageofconsent.com
asking them to amend their information back to the correct information they had
displayed prior to March 2001. Last year this site had amended their details
after I had sent them copies of the Attorney General’s letters 5th May 2000 and 5th September 2000. I had not
checked their site for several months and was dismayed to find that they had
reverted to showing wrong data.
25th April 2001 Email to new Queensland Attorney-General Hon Rod Welford MP, asking
for a public statement and action. Copy to Courier Mail.
25th April
2001 Email
to the national youth radio broadcaster TripleJ FM regarding their link at http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/about/cool.htm on their site to the www.lawstuff.org.au site which contains faulty information. Triple J have been prominently promoting that site as a reliable
resource for information across the nation.
24th April 2001 Email
to www.lawstuff.org Website managers requesting amendment of
incorrect information. I came upon this site by selecting a hotlink from the
4ZZZ website’s Program Directory for its Youth Show and found that this
national youth law site http://www.lawstuff.org.au had the same wrong
information that the Youth Advocacy Centre had displayed last year on their
site.
15th February 2001 Email
to Attorney-General Matt Foley MP, passing on the details via PlanetOut.com of the
Arizona,USA repeal of their
sodomy law.
5th February 2001 Email to
Attorney-General Matt Foley MP about the Logan Youth Law Service poster
issued to all Queensland schools, which demonstrates the continued
misinformation due to the lack of action by the Attorney General to effectively
inform the public.
20th September 2000 Letter
from the Health Minister Wendy Edmond MP’s Office confirming the phone advice that
they, also, will not instigate a public awareness campaign. The letter states
that they consider this matter to be outside of their exact frame of reference
and as such more appropriate for the Attorney-General and Justice Department.
(The Attorney General was of course the original government department
approached. This is becoming a cross between a circular argument and a hot
potato - or is it just a political football?).
5th September 2000 Letter from the Queensland Attorney General
Matt Foley’s Office stating the definition of "sodomy"
under the Sodomy Law as being the "penetration of an anus by a
penis", only. Therefore all other consenting sexual activity is legal for
all men and women aged 16 and over.
22nd August 2000 Letter from the Anti-Discrimination
Commissioner, Karen Walters advising
inability to act on the discriminatory nature of the Sodomy Law.
18th August 2000 Email
(and letter sent 22nd August 2000) to Attorney General Mat Foley
requesting a full definition of the word "sodomy" as applied under
the Sodomy Law in Queensland.
10th July 2000 Letter to Anna Bligh MP,
pointing out the drastic misunderstanding she has of the matters mentioned in
my letter and also detailing why the Generate site fails to function in respect
of age of consent awareness.
8th July 2000 The question which was put on my behalf to the
panel of speakers at the "Q21C (Queer in the 21st Century): Challenge &
Response" Symposium at the University of Queensland in July
2000.
6th July 2000 Letter from Anna Bligh MP
Minister for Families, Youth and Community Care, Minister for Disabilities
Family Services about transferring of the file to the Health Department for
their consideration.
3rd July 2000 Letter from Anna Bligh MP Minister for
Families, Youth and Community Care, Minister for Disabilities Family Services,
in which she declines to enact a public education effort and claims that youth
are already adequately informed via the government funded "GENERATE" website. In
fact there was no information on the "GENERATE"
website itself about age of consent, and when I searched the link to
the "Youth
Advocacy Centre", I found their site displayed wrong
information (claiming that all male to male sex is illegal for men under 18). I
telephoned, emailed and mailed the Youth Advocacy Centre about their faulty
information, but they did not amend the site until late December 2000.
23rd June 2000 Letter to the
Queensland Anti-Discrimination Commission to see if
they can have an effect on the Sodomy Law. In this letter I point out the
discrimination against men aged between 16 and 18 which is contained in the
Attorney-General’s advice about the application of the Sodomy Law. Just
recently the Texas sodomy law was struck down for similar reasons.
Mid May 2000 Email. A copy of my
press release on the campaign, issued via email to all local LGBT
press and to many individuals.
17th May 2000 Letter to the Attorney General Matt Foley
acknowledging receipt of the 5th May 2000 letter defining age of consent
and confirming advice that the file has been received at the office of Anna
Bligh MP.
5th May 2000 Letter from the Queensland Attorney-General
Matt Foley’s Office in which he confirms that the age of consent for
sexual activity is 16 for everyone and for every sexual activity except
"sodomy".
10th April 2000 Email.
When no response at all was received from the Courier Mail, it was obvious that
a concerted effort would be needed to achieve a satisfactory outcome. This is the
original email sent to various persons to encourage awareness of this matter
and to seek support.
6th April 2000 Letter to Queensland
Attorney General Matt Foley requesting official definition of
age of consent and for action to effectively inform the public.
22nd February 2000 Letter. The initial letter, hand delivered
to the Courier Mail as a follow up to my phone conversation that same
day with their Features editor, Ian McGoldrick. I
asked for a retraction or correction regarding their 19th Feb 2000 article by
Deborah Cassrels. No written response was received, and no
retraction or correction was printed.
19th
February 2000 Feature article in the Courier Mail (19th February
2000, page 27) “Reasonable Age” written by Deborah Cassrels. Deborah presents arguments which overwhelmingly favour
equal treatment and protection of youth through a truly equal age of consent,
by interviewing eminent gay community activists Dr Wendell Rosevear
of Stonewall Medical Centre, Janet Fitzgerald of the Gay and Lesbian Welfare
Association and Lindon Oldfield of the Gay and
Lesbian Business Association. She also quotes clear support for reform from
Terry O’Gorman, vice-president of the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties
(and president of the Australian Council for Civil Liberties).
NB: the big error in the
article headline “Reasonable Age - An open invitation to paedophiles,
or an end to sexual discrimination? Lowering the age of consent for boys is an
issue which inspires strong debate.” is that in
Deborah also makes
a serious error in stating that “according to Australian law, homosexual sex between consenting
males must involve people over 18. Sex with a 17-year-old female is legal sex
in most states. But sex with a 17-year-old male is paedophilia.” This was
life-threateningly dangerous and wrong information to distribute unchallenged
to the general public. Since 2003
End of list. RETURN
to main age of
consent & sodomy law INDEX
Last updated 26th
September 2011