Religious right to discriminate will end: Kirby

Former High Court justice Michael Kirby has declared that anti-discrimination loopholes that allow religious groups to discriminate against GLBTI people in the businesses they own and the services they provide will come to an end one day.

“I would never want to force religious people to marry gay people if that was their religious understanding,” Kirby said, noting that such understandings change over time.

“But I think the question is how far does that respect for religion go once religion gets into the marketplace of activities that are societal activities and, at least arguably, running hospitals, running welfare agencies, running schools are societal activities.

“I suspect, in due course, the law in most civilised countries will move to respecting the temple but saying outside the temple you are in society and you have to conform to social norms.

“If it is shown that prejudice against GLBTI people is a primitive, ignorant, unscientific, irrational attitude then at least where you get into informing young minds or healing the bodies of people, at least where it is relevant to [what is] often business activity, you will have to conform to the norms of society.”

Kirby made the comments in response to questions at Telstra’s Sydney headquarters where he delivered a speech praising the telecommunications giant as “a leader in the challenge of responding to diversity in employment in Australia”.

Kirby also praised Telstra for sponsoring diving champion Matthew Mitcham after the Beijing Olympics when no other Australian corporation had been willing to.

In a telecommunications-related anecdote, Kirby also recalled using a code when calling his then new boyfriend Johan van Vloten in 1969 in the hope of avoiding detection by the authorities.

“I … would ring twice, then pause, then ring again,” he said. “That’s what you had to do in those days — you had to hide yourself, your identity.

“I feel mildly, not obsessively, but mildly resentful that I had to grow up in such a society.

“Well, that’s over. No more coded messages … We have gotten over these obsessions.”

He also shared that van Vloten had told him the night before that they should get married when it is legal in Australia.

Kirby told the room that after 41 years the affirmation of their relationship was in its longevity.

“[But] that it should be available for those who want it, as equal citizens of a fair country, is undoubted. That it will come is undoubted.”