Green left Weekly interviewed three Sydney activists about some of the issues facing lesbians and gay men today. STEVEN CARROLL, a Muthi Muthi from south western NSW, is studying politics at the University of Sydney. CASSANDRA POMROY, originally from Urunga on the NSW north coast, is studying for her higher school certificate by correspondence and is an activist in Resistance. JEN CROTHERS is a Community and Public Sector Union delegate and a member of the Democratic Socialist Party.
All three identified violence and harassment as one of the biggest problems for gay and lesbian young people today. "School can be a really dangerous place if you're out", Pomroy noted. "It's no surprise that the suicide rate for young men in rural Australia is one of the highest in the world. Authorities are now admitting that homophobia is a significant factor in these deaths."
Carroll pointed out that other forms of discrimination had an impact on gays and lesbians too, and that racist and sexist prejudices were a problem within the "gay community". Pomroy argued that there was a need to "tackle these problems by raising the awareness of the majority of people that homophobia and any form of discrimination is divisive."
Pomroy continued: "The basic fight is for the democratic rights of gays and lesbians. Education is a part of it, but it isn't everything. We need to put pressure on anti-homosexual structures and the people who maintain these structures. Politicians get scared of losing votes and bow down to pressure from conservatives and the church. We need to counter-mobilise against that pressure, to prove that there are more of us out here that support sexual freedom, and to convince more people to actively support the struggle for liberation."
The term "queer" and the politics associated with it provoked mixed feelings. Carroll identifies as a black man first. "Being queer is still a huge part of my identity, but its not the primary issue in my life", he said. The idea of inclusive politics was welcomed by Pomroy, but she was concerned that "queer" theory led to a lack of focus against specifically homosexual oppression and, in particular, lessened lesbian visibility. "Even though we're all fighting for the liberation of human sexuality, many of the issues for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and trans-gender people are quite different", she said.
The recent achievement of legal reforms in Tasmania was an inspiration for each of the activists. "The UN thing [an earlier decision that the Tasmanian law contravened the UN declaration on human rights] didn't really change the actual situation for gays in Tasmania, but it was a real step forward to get the law repealed", said Carroll.
Crothers told Green Left: "Being from Tasmania, I was hugely surprised, relieved and overjoyed at the move. Tasmania has gone from having the worst law in the country to the best. It just goes to show the power that a political movement can have. The impact that the Tasmanian Gay and Lesbian Rights Group's long campaign has had on Tasmanian society is much bigger than just changing the laws. The population's consciousness and tolerance has progressed."
Pomroy, Carroll and Crothers all talked about the need to be active politically, whether that was around gay and lesbian issues or other instances of oppression. "We need to get rid of the system that causes this discrimination completely", said Pomroy, "or we will always be struggling just to hold on to the reforms that the movements have won in the past."