Gay supporters farewell Senate

Five of the Senate’s strongest supporters of GLBT law reform walked from Parliament House for the last time on Monday as the results of last November’s Senate election filtered into Canberra.

Among those to lose their seats was Greens Senator Kerry Nettle, who used her valedictory speech to predict same-sex marriage would soon be a reality because the Australian community had accepted it.

The rest of the world is moving on and recognising that we should not be discriminating against people on the basis of whom they love, Nettle told the Parliament.

We are going to recognise it here in Australia before too long. The only things holding us back are those little pockets of homophobia that you find in our parliaments.

We have got to be able to move on and accept that you cannot legislate against people loving each other. It does not work; it is not going to happen that way.

Attitudes in the parliament on public education, public health, refugees, women’s reproductive rights and same-sex couples were homophobic and extraordinarily out of step with community attitudes, she said. But she had faith in the new Greens cross bench of five Senators, which the Rudd Government needs the support of to ensure the safe passage of legislation.

Among Nettle’s achievements for the GLBT community, the Refugee Review Tribunal agreed to new sexuality issues training following her questions about several reversed decisions against Middle Eastern asylum seekers claiming homophobic persecution.

The Australian Democrats also bowed out of Canberra on Monday with a strong gay and lesbian track record.

The party began its 13-year campaign for GLBT law reform when it introduced the Gender and Sexuality Discrimination Bill first in 1995 and again for several years without success.

The party’s current four Senators, Lyn Allison, Andrew Bartlett, Andrew Murray, and Natasha Stott-Despoja, jointly introduced the Same-Sex: Same Entitlements Bill late last year, but were defeated by the Coalition majority.

Allison said the party was examining a merger with the smaller Climate Change Coalition, which also supports GLBT law reform.

Former Democrats Senator Brian Greig, who left in 2005, was the first openly gay leader of a sitting political party at any level of government.

The new Senate balance of power is held jointly by Family First’s Steve Fielding, incoming Independent Nick Xenophon, and five Greens senators.

Have your say: How will the change in the Senate make-up affect same-sex law reform?