Ghassan leaves wisdom for next volunteers

Ghassan leaves wisdom for next volunteers

The Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby’s first paid employee, Ghassan Kassisieh, moved on from six years active work for the organisation last week, saying much more can be done if the community can get over its fear of opposition.
The parenting campaign that saw reforms passed last year for co-mothers was one of the bravest decisions the Lobby had made, he said, but despite early resistance there was little real opposition in the end.
We do see a lot opposition, but it isn’t as big as we think. We thought parenting reforms was this horrendously difficult issue, and in some ways it was, but if you look at the Coalition conscience vote, over half voted for the reforms, Kassisieh said.
The Christian lobby is quite loud, but look at all the issues they’ve lost over the last couple of years: the same-sex reforms, the abortion bill in Victoria. I can’t think of many things they’ve actually won.
Kassisieh first volunteered during the 2003 age of consent campaign in his first year of studying law. He said he’d been fortunate so many reforms were achieved during his time at the Lobby.
It started just being on the contact list, writing letters to politicians. It was an exciting time because there was a bill already in Parliament. Lobbying takes years -” a good six years to get a bill, I’d say.
Keeping momentum going during those long periods was the greatest challenge for lobbyists, he said.  They used the time for consultation and preparing for opportunities like the 2007 Same-Sex: Same Entitlements report that pushed the biggest round of reforms in Australian history.
Sure, there’s a bit of luck but it’s how you strategise around those times. Then you had the Wentworth seat [during the 2007 federal election], where gay rights were a real issue because of the marginal nature of the seat. It became a real pressure point.
Most federal politicians had declared their support for equality reforms as early as 2004, he said, but that wasn’t the same as getting it on the agenda. Even on the most controversial gay rights issues at state level, most MPs said they just wanted the tools to convince their electorate that it’s a good thing.
There have been a lot of politicians who’ve impressed me. One who really impressed me was [National Party MP] Russell Turner, who had a gay son, and put principle and family first.
As policy development coordinator, Kassisieh represented the Lobby during the frequently confrontational committee hearings on issues like surrogacy and family law.
I’m a glutton for punishment. I much prefer to be in a room with someone who is hostile or ignorant or potentially hasn’t seen the issue than someone who is just going to say they support the issue. You give those people the resources to convince their colleagues.
Kassisieh’s next position will be with the Gilbert and Tobin law firm, where he’d like to keep advocating for the community through the area of litigation.
Lobby alumni do all sorts of things in their day and then help out at night. I’d like to keep doing things with the community, whether it’s though law or by choreographing a float. You have to be versatile.

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3 responses to “Ghassan leaves wisdom for next volunteers”

  1. Hi there,

    Yes a slight correction – I was not the first paid employee, but the first Policy and Development Coordinator at the GLRL.

    Cheers, G.

  2. Ghassan was not the first paid employee of the GLRL. There were several employees on a fulltime basis managing the lobby at 94 Oxford st prior to his arrival.