Thousands sign petition as lawyers pledge to support elderly Melbourne gay couple ordered to remove rainbow flag
Image: Murray Sheldrick, 78, and James Bellia, 72, were ordered to take down their rainbow flag from their Port Melbourne apartment balcony. (Image via Twitter)
HUMAN rights lawyers and online activists have rallied behind an elderly gay couple in Melbourne who were ordered to take down a rainbow flag from their balcony last week.
Murray Sheldrick, 78, and James Bellia, 72, would have faced legal action in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal if they did not comply with a letter from the Melbourne Inner City Management Property Owners Corporation to have the flag removed from their Port Melbourne apartment balcony.
[showads ad=MREC]When the news made headlines this week, a Change.org petition was created by online activist Pauline Pantsdown for the couple in response, which suggested a case of LGBTI bulling and an abuse of powers to justify bullying.
The petition has already attracted over 5600 signatures just one day after it was established.
In addition, lawyers from the Melbourne-based Human Rights Law Centre and Kliger Partners have volunteered defend a gay elderly couple for free.
According to The Age, the letter from the body corporate stated that the couple breached building rules affecting the “peaceful enjoyment” of the other residents.
The letter also said the couple were in breach of rules for “displaying advertising material” and that had to remove the flag immediately. The letter did not make it clear exactly what was being advertised by having a rainbow flag on display.
Bellia told The Age that he and his partner were convinced the email was homophobic as their flag had “nothing to do with advertising, as the body corporation suggested, nor was it obstructing someone’s view”.
“We are positive it is homophobia, there is no doubt about it. Why else would they bother us? The flag is on a huge terrace, it’s not in anyone’s view,” he said.
The Melbourne Inner City Management Property Owners Corporation rejected the suggestion their order discriminated the couple, and said it regretted any hurt they caused.
The owners corporation stated they had to maintain the external appearance of the building, which is why there were rules that banned any flags from balconies.
“A uniform external appearance is to be maintained. Even curtains, blinds and window fixtures are to be of a uniform nature,” the group said in a statement.
Human Rights Law Centre’s Anna Brown told The Age that the order from the owners corporation had “restricted the rights of these men to express a political view and positively affirm their identity”.
“This enforcement action is not only harsh but could be subject to legal challenge if it goes beyond what is permitted by the body corporate rules or those rules have been applied in a discriminatory way, for example if only the pride flag has been singled out,” she said.
Meanwhile, Kliger Partners’ Rochelle Castro, a lawyer who specialises in legal cases concerning body corporates, told The Age that there was nothing in the Owners Corporations Regulations banning a flag on a resident’s balcony.
She also said the flag was a temporary feature – unlike the permanent, fixed nature of blinds or curtains that could be regulated – and that the argument that the rainbow flag was a form of advertising would not succeed in a court case.
You can view and sign the Change.org petition here.
Poor dull drab Central Equaity has no problem with the wonderful Chinese symbols plastered on doors and windows and balconies at Chinese New Year. It is disgraceful homophobia to target good people because the had a rainbow flag up to celebrate Midsummer Festival.
Dirty socks, washing, undies with skid marks, dead pot plants, broken bikes, these a few of Central Equity’s favorite things for a balcony, but not a rainbow flag for a few days of the year. No sir, they say it effects the quite enjoyment of residence. A polite clean gay couple celebrating events like Midsummer has sent Central Equity into a spin.Things like a dog barking all night effects the quite enjoyment of residence, not a rainbow flag. Several solicitors have already offered to take Central Equity’s Body Corporate arm to VCAT for the hell of it. Central Equity owns the MICM that has decided a rainbow flag is advertising it a bit. I have no doubt a VCAT member would giggle on the floor if Central Equity decided to act on their own stupidity and take this shocking piece of homophobic further. But they are digging in, picking on elderly couple who have suffered much homophobia, who have ill health, and are meant to be able to have quite enjoyment of their property. That is right, Central Equity is making it so the only people not able to have quite enjoyment of their property, is the couple with the rainbow flag.
One really does wonder who agreed to this lunacy. These people are just expressing themselves. It seems that this is really homophobia at its pettiest. It would be interesting to see if a similar reaction came from flying the Australian flag. Seriously leave them alone and get on with managing your business not making moral judgements of others lives!