Date: Mon, 12 Feb 1996 22:12:16 +1100 (EST) From: leto@werple.net.au (Brendon Wickham) Subject: (Australia) Brother Sister News - 8/2/96 BROTHER SISTER - QUEER NEWS FROM DOWNUNDER Issue 99 - 8/2/96 Including: 1. Lesbian says ex-lover is "greedy" 2. Culture of care faces the axe 3. Election row over gay commitment 4. Mothers gather to talk This and previous postings are archived for the QRD. Point your URL to http://werple.net.au/~leto/news/index - or go through the Pacific Region of the QRD at http://www.qrd.org/qrd/world/pacific/ =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ GREEDY WOMAN CLAIM *A lesbian ordered by the NSW Supreme Court on Friday to pay more than $150,000 in child-support for her ex-lover's biological children claimed this week she had been "used" for her money.* Speaking from her mountain home in Canada, 'Linda' (not her real name) said she was "devastated" by the ruling, the first of its kind in Australia. She said she feels "no attachment at all" to the two children mothered by 'Christine' (also not her real name) during their eight year relationship, which ended in 1994. "I don't consider that woman to be a lesbian," said Linda, who characterised the relationship as "basically one of convenience. [Christine] had a roof over her head, she didn't have to pay any rent .. she was never stuck for money if she needed it." Christine is described in court documents as "bisexual", but Linda said: "It was a one-sided sexual relationship. [From] when she fell pregnant with the first child [in 1988], there was no sexual contact and the relationship disintegrated .. she wouldn't touch me." Yet the Supreme Court agreed with Christine's argument that she would not have had the children without the assumption of Linda's emotional and financial support. Christine said she based that assumption on her then-partner's promises. Justice David Hodgson ruled that although their years together had been characterised by violent arguments and bouts of separation, the two women had been in a "close" and "loving" relationship. He said: "In my opinion the plaintiff [Christine] did rely on this assumption [of support] in deciding to have each of the children, and the defendant [Linda] knew or intended that she would do so." Counsel for Christine, Sydney barrister Michael Evans, said: "The ... principles that were applied have been around for a while and have been applied in a variety of situations. As far as I could see the situation fitted the bill pretty perfectly, once you accept that having a child involves detriment. There's a bit of joy, of course, but at the end of the month you've got to pay the bills." He said the principle applied to married heterosexual couples in cases involving artificial insemination was that the mother's husband, and not the sperm donor, was considered the legal father. Sylvia Winters, the barrister who last year successfully argued that a same-sex couple should be considered as a family for the purposes of health insurance, said the decision also had important implications for gay men considering donating sperm. She said it was the first ruling she knew which explicitly upheld the biological father's non-liability for child support. None-the-less, Evans admitted it was fortunate to have had a relatively liberal judge assigned to the case. "The judge we got in this, Hodgson, was a good one to draw ... he had no trouble in applying the principles, he was more concerned about whether the facts were in place." Linda, however, disputes the facts as decided by Hodgson and is considering whether she can afford an appeal. "The cost has just about wiped everything out. I've had to pay $65,000 to my lawyers, and I'm still paying on top of that," she said. Still claiming their relationship was substantially platonic, she said she has "no reason to be in Australia" and has applied for Canadian citizenship. "I said to [Christine] from the time I knew her: I believe you're heterosexual, you're not really a gay woman. She wasn't interested in performing lesbian sex, so it was a one- sided sexual relationship. She never touched my body. At all." "I've just been ripped off blind by somebody who I was living with. It's not a case about two lesbians, it's not. It's just a greedy woman." Ben Widdicombe, SSO CULTURE OF CARE FACES THE AXE *Fairfield Hospital's renowned 'culture of care' faces dismantling as staff are likely to be retrenched en masse when the infectious diseases hospital closes later this year.* Representatives for staff at Fairfield Hospital are seeking guarantees of continued employment when the doors shut on June 30. With the tendering of such Fairfield services as the HIV/AIDS unit now underway the State Government has made no promises that the current unit staff will move with the facilities. Michelle Crosby of the Australian Nurses Federation has described the situation to Brother Sister as deplorable. "Round table meetings have been held where current staff have been present and the moving of equipment has been discussed while the future of the staff has remained up in the air," Crosby said. The Federation is seeking guarantees that whichever hospitals are successful in tendering the services will also employ the current units' staff. But this is difficult says Crosby, "We don't know who the tendering hospitals are and won't know until March." Crosby revealed that staff have been offered voluntary redundancy packages if they agree not to re-enter the public sector of the workforce for at least three years. Crosby says the Federation has been angered by this offer and is threatening industrial action throughout the northern area if the Government will not give staff more concrete guarantees of further employment. A fact sheet released by the Department of Health and Community Services last month indicates that patients of Fairfield services want the units to remain as they are when moved. Crosby says these are the types of decisions that should have already been made and publicised. "Not everything has been taken into consideration. Patients need to know that we are able to maintain quality care." Staff have been attempting to negotiate their future since September and Crosby says they are "not optimistic" about the situation but will battle on. Staff have also been angered by the fact that they have no representation on the recently formed Evaluation Group, a taskforce that has been formed to oversee the relocation of services from Fairfield. Victorian AIDS Council president Joseph O'Reilly and PLWA representative Joe McCluskey have been appointed to the 13 person Evaluation Group. Andrew Mast ELECTION ROW OVER GAY COMMITMENT *A gay Democrat candidate has triggered a row over the Labor Government's level of commitment to gay and lesbian issues.* John Davey, the Australian Democrat's candidate for the seat of Melbourne Ports has attacked the Attorney General Michael Lavarch for "procrastinating for more than a year on appointing a gay or lesbian representative to a national committee". The National Advisory Committee On Discrimination In Employment and Occupation investigates issues of discrimination in the workplace and has specific provision for a gay or lesbian representative. That position was left vacant for more than a year after Bill Bowtell resigned to take on an advisory position with the Prime Minister. A spokesperson for Clyde Holding, the Federal Labor Member for Melbourne Ports, refuted Davey's allegations, claiming that Susan Harben had been appointed to fill the position some time ago. Harben, who unsuccessfully stood for election in the last New South Wales poll as a Labor representative against Independent Clover Moore, confirmed that she had received a letter officially appointing her to the committee as a gay and lesbian representative on January 24, the week the Federal election was announced. Davey claimed the Attorney General had ignored the need to fill the position quickly, "and as a result our voice has been silenced for months". The appointment of Harben does allay fears within the community that the position may no longer have existed had it remained unfilled in the event the Coalition wins the election. Andrew Mast MOTHERS GATHER TO TALK *More than 130 lesbian mothers and dykes considering parenthood attended the Lesbian Parenting conference held recently at Princes Hill Primary School.* Workshops included co-parenting, homophobia in schools and choosing to have a child. Others dealt with the sense of being isolated, invisible and lacking support. Workshop facilitator Susan Paxton said: "Despite the restraints being a single parent imposes, the overwhelming feeling from women here is that there's a heap of positive spin-offs too. "We all expressed developing very close, loving bonds with our children, a sense of learning and growing together," she said. "I've always appreciated the autonomy and freedom I've had in bringing up my child alone as a lesbian, having total control in decision making. I was surprised to hear other women echoing the same sentiments. "Being alone with your child allows for more flexibility. You don't have to compromise; communication is easier. Sometimes lovers and children compete for a woman's affection and this causes conflict," Paxton said. =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ BOTTOM LINE *Marching with frivolity, politics and fashion* What a hoot, Melbourne's first Pride March and yet another outdoor festival to be added to the increasingly busy Midsumma calendar. The March was quite a marvellous mixture of frivolity, political statements and outlandish fashion. The Brother Sister contingent, resplendent with finely crafted banners and a mighty fine attitude, tootled along, valiantly bringing up the rear. When we reached the roundabout at the top of Fitzroy Street we were able to look along the length of the March, flowing strongly all the way down the hill and around the corner into the Esplanade. Rather a magnificent moment, that; so much colour, noise and movement, and about one hundred different dance tunes belting out at once. A queer smorgasbord of groups were represented in the March: we were sandwiched cosily between the Performing Older Women's Circus and the International Socialists (I can't count the number of times I was offered a Green Left Weekly by some earnest, long-haired young thing). There were bootscooters, parents of gay offspring, and a vigorous little bunch of queer internet users who trotted along with a slab of Sub Zeros. My favourite were the multicultural dykes who carried subversive slogans like 'We're here, we're queer and they forgot to invite us', an in-your-face and entirely justifiable comment on the way in which the gay community excludes and marginalises some of the groups within it. The marshals were divine and kept us entertained with offers of sex and stories of the glorious marches of yesteryear. Hoping to convert a straight spectator I yelled after a gorgeous little blonde surfer near the Espy - butchly decked out in a suntan, thongs, brilliant calf muscles and an attitude - inviting him to march with me. I think he hesitated for a moment, sorely tempted to do the Soddom and Gomorrah thing, but a TV camera scared him off. The prospect of getting on the news (HI MUM!) seemed to put the willies up quite a few potential participants. In the days leading up to the March I heard several queens dithering about whether to expose themselves to a national television audience by taking part in the March. With 11,0000 others the prospect of a fifteen second TV spot for every single one of us was somewhat limited, but some people like to be cautious. It was so very jolly to trot along carrying a banner that I started to get carried away, imagining myself to be part of some huge 1960s civil rights march. I was desperate to start calling out a few confusing little slogans. 'Stop the slaughter of innocents in the Middle East', I ejaculated. 'Privatise Telstra now!', 'Ban Nestles from our supermarket shelves!', 'Reagan is the running dog of the Sandanistas!'. I was completely out of hand by the time we surged past the Prince of Wales. Luckily the exceptionally divine Louise, typiste and receptionist extraordinaire from this paper, and her superbly glamorous girl d'amour Mimi were on hand to hose me down. Thank heavens they were there; it wouldn't do to have an hysterical columniste suffering a seizure in the rear of Queer Melbourne's proudest moment. Jeffrey Smart =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Brother Sister is a fortnightly newspaper published in Melbourne, VIC and Brisbane, QLD, Australia. I have selected the main news stories as well as items of interest. Overseas media who utilise any or all of the above material please credit Brother Sister as your source (and by-line if it is listed). Thank you. Brendon Wickham