Close to the heart of gay rights mpaigner Rodney Croome are two flags ma om the drs of drag queens who fought police the Stonewall rts New York. They'll now be prerved a llectn of memorabilia documentg the battle to change society's views.
Contents:
- GAY SEX WAS ILLEGAL TASMANIA UNTIL 1997. HOW DID TURN SELF AROUND?
- TASMANIAN GAY AND LBIAN RIGHTS GROUP
- HOW A TASMANIAN GAY RIGHTS BATTLE FLUENCED THE WORLD
GAY SEX WAS ILLEGAL TASMANIA UNTIL 1997. HOW DID TURN SELF AROUND?
Equaly Tasmania (formerly the Tasmanian Gay and Lbian Rights Group) is an advocy group ma up of volunteers, who are specifilly pursug equaly for the LGBTIQA+ muny Atralia. Homosexualy.
Bee we know virtually nothg about the place of same-sex relatnships digeno Tasmanian culture, the island's homosexual history begs wh early explorers like Matthew Flrs, who, wh Gee Bass, circumnavigated Tasmania 1798�99, provg an island. In the island's gaols ercive and power-based homosexualy was mon. Not long afterwards Port Arthur's prison dormori were re-signed to keep mat unr nstant surveillance, and the hated separate and silent prison was built as the fal solutn to nvict homosexualy.
Acrdg to Robert Hugh, this is why the new Atralian natnal inty that the anti-transportatn movement gave birth to, was tated by profound homophobia well to the twentieth century.
TASMANIAN GAY AND LBIAN RIGHTS GROUP
Reprsn of homosexualy remaed a feature of Tasmanian life. Soon afterwards, gay bars and then clubs emerged central Hobart, spe police harassment that clud pilg lists of the nam and r registratn numbers of patrons.
Wh this tumultuo legacy full of ntradictns and extrem is no surprise that the history of Tasmania's morn gay and lbian movement is also dramatic. Inspired by the globally signifint Tasmanian environmental mpaigns of the 1980s, led by openly gay Greens' lear, Dr Bob Brown, the Tasmanian Gay and Lbian Rights Group formed 1988. A ne-year bate over the crimalisatn of homosexualy, which volved the Uned Natns Human Rights Commtee, the feral ernment, the High Court and Amnty Internatnal, saw the issue bee the fg social reform of the 1990s, and rulted a dramatic crease popular support for gay rights, and gay law reform 1997.
HOW A TASMANIAN GAY RIGHTS BATTLE FLUENCED THE WORLD
Tasmania was the last Atralian state to crimalise homosexualy. But the divind of this long polarisg bate was better laws and polici on homosexualy than the other stat. Tasmania now has some of the world's bt school anti-homophobia programm, anti-discrimatn laws and same-sex relatnship laws.
Gay Law Reform. This fact taken alone suggts that gay law reform Tasmania was remarkable for no other reason than arrived so late. The first lls for the crimalisatn of homosexualy Tasmania occurred the mid-1970s wh the formatn of the Tasmanian Homosexual Law Reform Group Lncton and the g out of a Lncton-based doctor and environmentalist, Dr Bob Brown.
The issue arose aga 1988 wh the formatn of the Tasmanian Gay and Lbian Rights Group Hobart. It was no cince that gay and lbian activists followed a siar route. Wh months of the formatn of the TGLRG, a Hobart Cy Council ban on the Group's stall at Salaman Market prompted weekly protts and arrts that grew to Atralia's largt-ever gay rights civil disobedience leadg, turn, to a Council backdown.