Contemporary Lgbti Issues in Australia PDF

CONTEMPORARY
LGBTI ISSUES IN
AUSTRALIA
Perspectives from Newspapers articles

Introduction
• LGBTI or Lesbian ,Gay,
Bisexual, Transgender and
Intersex rights movement is
ongoing throughout the world.
• Aimed at uprooting
discrimination against the
LGBT people throughout the
world.

Present situation of LGBT
Community in Australia
• The laws that were
discriminating towards the
LGBT Community was
removed between 1975 to
1997.
• December 2017 was historic
as same sex marriage was
recognised and legalised.
• Most of the discriminating
laws were inherited from the
British Empire (Nash &
Gorman‐Murray, 2014).

The Historic Day!
• Results of votes from the people
of Australia was released on 16th
November 2017
• Finally the same sex marriage bill
was passed by the Australian
Parliament in December 7th 2017.
• “The lower house passed
marriage equality with almost all
members of the governing
Liberal-National Coalition joining
Labor, the Greens, and
crossbench MPs in a free vote to
pass the bill” (Karp, 2017)

The Australian Referendum on
Same Sex Marriage
• A polling/Survey was conducted
by Australian Administration.
• This is to know the people’s
mandate on the same sex
marriage issue.
• The people of Australia came out
in large numbers to vote.
• More than 12.7 million people
voted in huge 79.5% turnout
(Evershed,2017).
• 61.6% voted in favour of same-
sex marriage.

All newspapers reporting the
Australian referendum on same
sex marriage!• All the news papers of the
country reported about the
historic referendum in a
positive light.
• Only exception was The Daily
Telegraph which had a
“gloomy” front page.
• The rainbow coloured “Yes”
representing the positive vote
for legalisation of same sex
marriage was carried in all the
newspapers.

The “DAILY TELEGRAPH” reporting
the incident.
• While others reported the
incident with rainbow flags,
and snaps of celebration, the
Daily Telegraph chose to be
sarcastic (Thedailytelegraph,
2017).
• The front page carried the
picture of “Al Bundy
from Married with Children,
the unhappiest husband in TV
history.”
• This reflects the consequences
of marriage in a sarcastic way. Newspaper
FrontPage 1

Analysis of the front page.
• The news paper could have reported the incident in a positive
light, like other news papers did.
• The news paper wanted to show its sarcastic side by including the
most unfortunate husband in the TV history thus reflecting how
marriages can negatively impact the life of people.
• “NOW WE CAN ALL SHARE THE JOY” in bold white colour added to
the Sarcasm.
• The news paper faced much backlash on social media.

The “THE AUSTRALIAN” reporting
the incident. • The Australian reported the
incident in a positive way with
a large font headline stating
“NATION SAYS YES”
(Theaustralian, 2017).
• A picture of celebrations of
people with the rainbow flag.
• There was details of the
referendum given.
• Front page was in stark
contrast of “THE DAILY
TELEGRAPH”.Newspaper
FrontPage 2

Analysis of the front page.
• The front page was positive, and it was celebrating the fact that
same sex marriage was now supported by the Australian
population.
• The bold headline with large fonts stating “NATION SAYS YES”
reflected the general mood of the nation.
• Everyone’s sexual preference must be given equal rights and
marriage should not be discriminated depending on the gender.
• Australia is a liberal democracy giving individual their right to
decide about their preference and partner.
• The sub headline is “Wedded to the future, past pains over”.

Comparing both the news papers
front page.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
• The newspaper reported the
incident in a negative way.
• The newspaper chose to be
sarcastic.
• The newspaper did not publish
any rainbow or celebration
photos
THE AUSTRALIAN
• The newspaper reported the
incident in a positive way.
• The newspaper report chose
to be direct.
• The newspaper published
celebration photos.

The Australian Gay Rights
Movement
• There have been several
troughs and crests in the gay
rights movement in Australia.
• The Discriminatory Acts were
mainly sourced from British
Colonial Rule.
• In 1975 South Australia
decriminalised Gay sex
(Bernstein, 2015).
• 2008 Property rights were
given to the community.

Protection of LGBT community
from discrimination
• The Human Rights (Sexual
Conduct) Act 1994 states the
state cannot interfere in
consensual sex among two
adults.
• Sex Discrimination
Amendment (Sexual
Orientation, Gender Identity
and Intersex Status) Act 2013.
makes it illegal for anyone to
discriminate against the
community.

Conclusion
• The LGBT movement has been
happening throughout the
world and in most of the
developed nations rights of
the community are asserted.
• There are many more
countries around the world
were LGBT rights are still not
recognised.
• Media can play an important
role in helping the community
to ensure their rights.

Reference:
• Bernstein, M. (2015). Same-sex marriage and the future of the LGBT movement: SWS presidential
address. Gender & Society, 29(3), 321-337. Doi: 10.1177/0891243215575287
• Evershed, N. (2017). Full results of Australia's vote for same-sex marriage, electorate by
electorate – interactive. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/datablog/ng-
interactive/2017/nov/15/same-sex-marriage-survey-how-australia-voted-electorate-by-electorate
• Karp, P. (2017). Marriage equality law passes Australia's parliament in landslide vote. Retrieved
from https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/dec/07/marriage-equality-law-passes-
australias-parliament-in-landslide-vote
• Nash, C. J., & Gorman‐Murray, A. (2014). LGBT neighbourhoods and ‘new mobilities’: Towards
understanding transformations in sexual and gendered urban landscapes. International Journal of
Urban and Regional Research, 38(3), 756-772. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2427.12104
• Theaustralian. (2017). NATION SAYS YES. The Australian. Retrieved from
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/
• Thedailytelegraph. (2017). NOW WE CAN ALL SHARE THE JOY. The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved from
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au