Conferences to explore prospects for human liberation

Two grassroots lesbian, gay, bisexual, sex and/or gender diverse (LGBSGD) rights conferences will take place in Sydney in early December. The conferences will coincide with a national marriage rights rally on December 3, outside the ALP National Conference.

Australia's first Sex and Gender Diversity (SGD) Human Rights and Dignity Conference, is planned for December 2 at the Redfern Community Centre.

Activist norrie mAy-welby will officially open the conference. Last year, mAy-welby became the first person in the world to receive government recognition as “sex not specified” (although this is now subject to legal dispute). mAy-welby was also the first person to receive also recently received an Australian passport under new rules that allow a person’s sex to be marked with “X”.

The sex and gender diversity conference will include several presenters, such as trans queer sex worker Mish Glitter Pony; counsellor, supervisor and educator Elizabeth Anne Riley; sex educator, researcher, therapist and SGD human rights campaigner Tracie O’Keefe; National lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) Health Alliance health policy officer Sujay Kentlyn; Crave Metropolitan Community Church pastor Karl Hand; freelance writer, editor and transgender activist Katherine Cummings; journalist, editor, author and speaker Katrina Fox; and Koori woman and media producer Mish Sparks.

The conference comes on the back of another victory for the trans male community. Conor Montgomery was the victorious claimant in a September court ruling that said people who transition from female to male can opt to change their birth certificate without a hysterectomy or genital surgery.

Other topics covered at the conference will include document changes, legal rights, federal anti-discrimination laws, Medicare rights, anti-poverty issues and disability rights. For more details on the conference visit sageaustralia.org.

On December 3, thousands of people will rally for full marriage equality outside the ALP national conference. In July, Prime Minister Julia Gillard hinted she would override any pro-equality position taken by the ALP delegates.

However, many campaigners have warned that Gillard is most likely to support a parliamentary conscience vote on the issue.



Many campaign groups, such as Sydney’s Community Action Against Homophobia and the Equal Love groups in several cities, have criticised the conscience vote, which could ensure change is not made.

Rainbow Labor — a caucus of LGTBI ALP members — came out against a conscience vote. It said on October 27: “Rainbow Labor believes that matters of equality should not be the subject of a conscience vote.”

On December 4, the “1Love Equality Marriage Freedom Conference” will take place at the University of Sydney.

The equal marriage campaign began seven years ago, there has been no national conferences that includes grassroots groups from around the country.

The 1Love conference will address the marriage campaign and hold workshops on high-school bullying, international solidarity, sex and/or gender diverse rights and to commemorate World Aids Day.

The conference will hear from queer refugees fighting for asylum, who are often subject to homophobic rulings by Australia’s Refugee Review Tribunal.

Conference attendees will also join a refugee rights rally outside the ALP conference at noon that day.

To end the conference, CRAVE Metropolitan Community Church will host a candlelight memorial for those who have been lost to HIV related illnesses. The memorial will include music and various community speakers, including a chant for the dead at sunset by Reverend Ben Gilmour.

[If you register for the SGD Human Rights and Dignity Conference, 1Love Conference registration will be free. Otherwise, 1Love costs are $2 for high-school students, $5 concession or $10 for workers.]