LGBTI Australians celebrate and mourn former PM Malcolm Fraser

LGBTI Australians have celebrated and mourned former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser today, who died early this morning after a short illness.

Fraser was Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal Party from 1975 until 1983, coming to power following the dismissal of Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam.

While he was the object of significant resentment from the progressive side of politics during his time in office, in large part due to his role in the Whitlam dismissal, in his later years Fraser became estranged from the Liberal Party.

He left the party in 2010 following increasing public criticism of its policies, particularly around foreign affairs and asylum seekers.

Fraser was a supporter of same-sex marriage, and argued the Liberal Party’s failure to grant its MPs a conscience vote on the issue was evidence the ideology of the party had shifted from classically liberal to conservative.

Many prominent LGBTI Australians have taken to social media today following the news to share their thoughts and memories of the man, praising his human rights advocacy and liberal values.

https://twitter.com/paulkidd/status/578692640511672321

Vale Malcolm Fraser. He certainly surprised and inspired us in his later years

— Fiona Patten (@FionaHPatten) March 19, 2015

Such sad news. RIP. RT @abcnews #BREAKING Former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser has died. More to come.

— Chris Pycroft (@chrispytweets) March 19, 2015

Honouring #MalcolmFraser can take many forms. One of them is rather simple: treat refugees with respect. http://t.co/E4OfrzkWTw #auspol

— Senthorun Raj (@senthorun) March 19, 2015

Malcolm Fraser: a Liberal leader who wasn't racist, helped asylum seekers and banned whaling. Good times… http://t.co/Qq7N4Qg5Cc

— Tom Ballard (@TomCBallard) March 20, 2015

Go well, Malcolm. My uncle got to be an Australian after you offered an amnesty for illegal immigrants, and my sister was named after Tami.

— Benjamin Law (@mrbenjaminlaw) March 20, 2015

My younger self wld never have believed that I wld one day say this – am deeply sad to hear of passing of #MalcolmFraser our last statesman?

— Magda Szubanski (@MagdaSzubanski) March 19, 2015

Vale Malcolm Fraser, one of the most courageous leaders we’ve ever had. Such a sad way to start the day.

— Tim Christodoulou (@tim_chr) March 19, 2015