Unions rolled back, surrogacy next to go
In a truly remarkable display of anti-gay animus, the Queensland government has not only voted to rollback civil unions overnight, but also flagged its intention to ban same-sex couples from having children through surrogacy.
It signals even darker days ahead for the state’s gay community, who have now seen more than $2.5 million in LGBT health funding pulled, the loss of relationship recognition and flagged parental rights changes, all prioritised by a hostile, conservative government not even 100 days into power.
Queensland Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie announced plans for the surrogacy ban during the nearly five hours of fiery debate in state Parliament last night, where there were incredible scenes of community anger.
At one point the public gallery erupted with chants of “Shame, bigots, shame!”, while another man cried out “We’re human beings, not animals” earlier in the evening. The public were eventually ejected from viewing the debate to prevent further disruption.
Bleijie identified a similar surrogacy ban proposal by the LNP’s Lawrence Springborg in 2009 – which would remove surrogacy rights from single people, same-sex couples and de facto couples of less than two years – as being the blueprint for the LNP’s new ban.
Queensland’s surrogacy laws were amended by Parliament in February, 2010 to make it legal for any person, regardless of relationship status, to enter into altruistic (non-commercial) surrogacy arrangements.
The plans for a new ban suggest Premier Campbell Newman has all but lost control of the far-right of his party, having been adamant only in March that there would be no tampering with surrogacy laws.
“We will not be making any changes to the laws on those matters,” he told Seven News just prior to the state election.
Newman had also pledged that the Civil Partnerships Act would only be amended to remove access to state-sanctioned ceremonies for same-sex couples, but was reported to have faced stiff opposition to the decision not to fully repeal the laws from within the LNP.
Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) Queensland director Wendy Francis, meanwhile, welcomed the announcement that same-sex couples would be prevented from “acquiring babies”.
“ACL congratulates the government on this move. This is the right thing and is in the best interest of the child, something the state is bound to uphold under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child,” she said.
“There is a message to federal politicians currently subject to a propaganda war from gay activists that it is possible to resist the activists’ agenda.
“We appreciate the LNP protecting marriage in Queensland, given the abuse from intolerant gay activists, the Greens and GetUp that anyone standing up for marriage is subjected to.”
The news of a surrogacy ban eclipsed the changes to the Civil Partnerships Act in the early hours of this morning.
The amendments passed in a vote of 69 to eight just after midnight and will now see state-sanctioned ceremonies removed, civil unions known as “registered relationships”, and a streamlining of their dissolution process through the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, rather than the District Court.
The government argued that a court process to end same-sex unions may appear too similar to ending a marriage.
Marriage equality advocates said the rollback showed why only changes to marriage laws can deliver full equality for same-sex couples.
“The problem with civil unions is that they can be tampered with and watered down, as is currently occurring in Queensland, but marriage will always provide full and unequivocal recognition,” Australian Marriage Equality national convenor Alex Greenwich said.
“Same-sex marriage is the only way to deliver true equality for same-sex couples.”
You May Also Like
A tragic development that shows how much the fight is never over, against narrow minded conservatism, ignorance, bigotry and discrimination. As if Queensland is not in enough trouble with economic downturns, natural disasters and declining tourism. Now it has to contend with outdated and regressive government (anyone hearing Joh echoes).
All gays and lesbian living in Queensland have just been told that they are second class citizens by a “back-to-the-dark-ages” Premier. The mental health consequences for young gays, lesbians and transgender people placed at risk again!
What should be the answer to this winding back of gay and lesbian rights?
1) No more gays touring Queensland would be a start. Boycott everything Queensland and every time you make decision to avoid travel or product of Queensland, send an email to Queensland Premiers Department to inform them of their loss.
2) Start an Australia wide campaign for all gay & lesbians to put pressure all levels of Queensland Government who participate in the removal of rights. Emails, Calls, letter drops, protests, satire, performance….
3) Absolutely no G&L support or votes for any party or group who support winding back hard won rights.
4) Make sure that these quietly executed law changes do not remain hidden. That the sad consequences are reported and that the outrage is felt everywhere.
I’m sure there are more things we can do to make sure this does not go unanswered. Above all we will not be silent.
“Why do so many people who grow up in Queensland move away? In part the conservative social and political culture.”
It is assumptions like this that drag the state back as well the pollies. So many people move but so many come here Sacha stop living in a 70’s mode I bet you were not born then you inherited that attitude, in fact have you ever been to Queensland? You get what you look for.
You can all sit in your Oxford and Lygon Street centres of the universe and judge with smugness while people up here will fight on. Stop associating and punishing gay, lesbian and trans people who live in Queensland. You tar us all with the feather just because the stupid government made the wrong decisions. We will fight it and get around it just stop painting all of us that choose to live there and enjoy the progress that has occurred. You are the ones with the issue.
I also see a darker side to all of this.
If this can be repealed, what is stopping any Government from repealing the “Decriminalisation of Homosexuality” and making it a criminal offence again.
No Government of any persuasion is going to take any notice of the charter they all signed with the United Nations on Gay and Lesbian rights, if they don’t want to.
We must all be vigilant, keep our heads out of the sand.
You are all warned.
All this says that all man made made statutes and legislations are not worth the paper they are printed on.
If they can be repealed, what chance do we have that further advances that we have made are not also repealed.
When a stroke of a pen can change everything we have a achieved.
Let a new war begin.
We are voters too and it is time to let the Government, Federal and States know who put them there.
My partner and I were considering moving to Queensland in our retirement. NOT NOW!
I am thinking this is the thin end of a wedge from Queensland. Surrogacy next and then where.
The ACL now see that they can manipulate the Newman government for their own agenda. So stand by! I suspect the next moves will be further attempts to erode the status of GLBT in that state. This may well include further reduction in status of same sex relationships, education about LGBT issues in schools, and access to community services etc.
This is very similar to the conservative right movement that is currently going accross the United States.
Don’t let it happen! It is time for our community to coalesce again and fight against this insidious trend from the evangelical gay haters.
Purse-lipped and bigoted Christians have the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, might be happy.
I’m staying here in the Deep North to fight these religious thugs.
While you’re at it, Campbell Newman and the ACL, why not legally sanction eugencis in Queensland. You and your fucked up kind can have the perfect christian, homophobic, hate mongering, bigots this side of the Westboro Baptist Church; because you’re like the Fred Phelps of Australia. I’m disguted and ashamed to call myself an Australian for fear of being tarred by the same brush as this Qld. regime.
This stinks. It is little boys and little girls literally drunk on power. Have they not seen QLD debt? Infrastructure problems? Social deprivation? Sure they have. But they weren’t really elected to solve that, so they seem to think. They were elected, apparently, to roll back human rights and discriminate actively against some of the highest contributors to state tax funds and some of those who least drain its resources through public health care and schools etc etc. the gay and lesbian and trans community. I any believe I moved here. Seriously considering leaving. And I don’t doubt that more professional LGT will leave too. What draconian conservative right wing alarmist crap. It really is enough to make me cry. Makes me truly AShAMED to call myself an honorary queenslander. Marriage is not a Christian institution. Neither should it be the reserve of straight couples. They demean themselves and show their true disgusting colors by these moves. Queensland has always it seems had a rep as a backwards yockel state. Now it has nailed those colors firmly to the mast. Backward. Regressive. Discriminatory. Hateful. Spiteful. Non-inclusive. Jingoistic. Fundamentalist right wing. Pandering to the god of hate- who is as evidence-based as the god who the suits turn up to pay lip service to on Sundays. Well all I can say is that if that god exists the LNP and their cronies are gonna have a whole load to answer for when they die. Disgusting and foul. And it shows what their true colors and priorities truly are. Barely into power an the politics of hate takes precedence over real progress. We really should all pack up and leave. Shame on you LNP. And shame on those who voted you in and never opposed your creeping policy agenda at the election.
And the Benevolent Society wants gay people to assist with providing foster care for unwanted kids brought into this world by lousy heterosexuals??? I dont think so! They are not our responsibility. It isnt just Qld that is backwards, it’s Australia as a whole!
As a 19year old gay man I couldn’t wait to get the hell out of Queensland! I’ve spent years living in places like Melbourne, Perth and Sydney and recently made the huge mistake of moving back to QLD last year! So many of my friends in the LGBT Community have given up on this backwards and hateful state! I sure as hell won’t be staying here for long after these recent and terrible acts by the QLD State Government!
So depressed about this. I just keep thinking, what’s next?
I hope they all burn in hell! Start packing your bags dogs, because u aint going up when you die! Your all going to hell for being inhuman! Once you all die off and the next generation takes over! This will be a better place for everyone! Your just skrewing everything up! the gays will win in the end! becuase we aint going anywhere! I give blood! And its in my blood! and it will run through the veins on everyone!
Federal Labor stopped a dam being built in Tasmania. They can at anytime intervene, but lack leadership. Gillard has supported most of Tony Abbott’s policies, and voted with him to alter the Marriage Act, and like Tony does not want Australians who are same-sex attracted to be included in the Federal Equal Opportunity Act.
The Federal Government also controls most of the funding to the States. I am yet to see Gillard at a press conference calling this bloody outragous, because like the LNP, she believes not all Australians should be equal.
Queensland. “The Boycott State”?
Conservative reactionary Qld politics strikes again! If anyone had thought that Qld had generally evolved – here’s evidence that its evolution has been limited. Why do so many people who grow up in Queensland move away? In part the conservative social and political culture.
The LNP government’s move is completely consistent with what would have happened under the ’80s Qld National Party mindset (albeit although they now accept that people may not be straight).
Welcome to the narrow-minded and anti-individualistic world of Qld conservative politics.
Folks – Federal Labor/Federal Government can’t do anything about what the Queensland Liberal Government is doing.
Surrogacy is a matter for State law – so they can’t over rule what Queensland is doing. They can’t dictate what the State Government funds/doesn’t fund.
Marriage would help in terms of relationship recognition, obviously, but that’s already in process in terms of working towards a vote in Parliament.
It’s all seriously bad.
And a real wake-up call
a) for people who say there is no difference between Labor/Liberal (THIS is the difference); and
b) that we can never, ever be complacent
Ahh Queensland, beautiful one day, bigoted the next…
Looks like a return to the Bjelke-Peterson years of corruption. What next, legalised gay-bashing by the police?
lets see QLD survive without the almighty pink dollar… they certainly wont be getting any more of mine
Now they are trying to make parents criminals. Where else but Queensland, beautiful one day, tragic the next. Where is the Federal Leadership from Labor? We are again seeing the deliberate targeting of people on the basis of their sexuality.
As a lesbian I hope to never have to rely on surrogacy to have a child – my partner and I have two wombs between us after all – but that doesn’t mean I think surrogacy is unimportant. The fact of the matter is, any right that heterosexuals have must not be arbitrarily denied to LGBT people based on the fear or ignorance of our politicians. This latest attack by the QLD government honestly chills me to the bone and I fear for the future of LGBT people in QLD.
Clearly, we need good federal legislation on both this issue and anti-discrimination requirements to keep the Time Warp State in line.
Shame on you Campbell Newman for failing to stick to your own election promises in the shadow of the LNP Religious Right.
This is terrible. What’s worse is that it shows how backwards Queensland is especially because the LNP said they’d do this. Something has got to be done, if not, by the next election gays and lesbians will have as many rights as gays and lesbians in Saudi Arabia. Maybe it could mean over-riding them with federal legislation.