Date: Mon, 13 Mar 1995 12:31:26 -0500 From: David B. O'Donnell [ Send all responses to leto@WERPLE.MIRA.NET.AU only. Any responses to the list or list-owners will be returned to you. ] ~~~~~~~~~~BROTHER SISTER - QUEER NEWS FROM DOWNUNDER~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brother Sister is a fortnightly newspaper published in Melbourne, Australia. I have selected the main news stories as well as items of interest. If you have any contributions, comments or questions, please e-me on (leto@werple.mira.net.au). Subscription information follows news items. NB: If you are representing overseas media and wish to utilise any or all of the following material, please credit Brother Sister as your source (and by-line if it is listed). Thank You. Brendon Wickham ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ KEATING FAILS ON HATE *The Federal Government is under fire due to its lack of a strategy over 'hate crimes' committed against gay men and lesbians* Responding to a question in Parliament recently from Green Senator Christabel Chamarette, the Attorney-General Michael Lavarch admitted his department had no specific strategies for tackling violence against gays and lesbians and had "not undertaken research into hate crime rates". Outlining the extent of the problem in a letter sent this week to Prime Minister Paul Keating, The Australian Council of Lesbian and Gay Rights, said violence was "one of the most serious problems facing the lesbian and gay community today". Among its recommendations, the Council called for the Federal Minister for Justice to conduct a national inquiry into violence against lesbians and gays, to determine the extent, pattern and likely causes of this violence. Lavarch said in Parliament that hate crimes were very difficult to specifically identify so the main concern was to focus on reducing all forms of violence, particularly that against women. "The issue (of collecting data) has been considered by the Australian Institute of Criminology (but) no collection has been undertaken due to the degree of subjectivity involved in identifying 'hate crimes' and the inherent sensitivity problems", he said. However Lavarch admitted that in 1993, the Race Discrimination Commissioner undertook a pilot study with the NSW Police Service testing an approach to data collection in order to establish uniform procedures for the collection of statistics on incidents and allegations of racist and other violence, intimidations and harassment which is motivated by prejudice. The outcome of the pilot project suggested that collecting information on the incidence of crimes motivated by prejudice is a relatively simple procedural matter which would readily be introduced to existing systems with appropriate training and supervision. Andrew Donovan, the lesbian and gay policy adviser to Senator Chamarette, said he was "surprised and disappointed" with the Attorney-General's answer. "This is an issue which community groups have been bringing to their attention for many years and it is a clearly identifiable problem. "I would have hoped by now they would have done something about it," he said. Other recommendations put to the Prime Minister from the Australian Council of Lesbian and Gay Rights include: - That the Federal Government conduct and audit of young people's attitudes towards gender, race and sexual orientation, and develop appropriate strategies to counteract negative views, - That the Federal Government develop a proactive strategy to counter discrimination and vilification of lesbians, gays and other marginalised groups, and allocate adequate resources to such bodies as the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission to ensure its success, and - That the Federal Government provide funding to establish a national lesbian and gay anti-violence project to counter anti-lesbian and anti-gay violence. "Over the past three years, surveys conducted in the lesbian and gay community show that 10-20 per cent of lesbians and gay men report that they are survivors of physical violence and that 60-70 per cent of lesbians and gay men report incidents of verbal harassment and abuse", the Council said in its letter. "What the surveys fail to show is that physical violence at times leads to murder. At least 16 murders have taken place in the past four years in NSW alone, where the clear motive has been homophobia-related hate." *It's been a VERY slow fortnight for news in our little corner of queerdom so I'll hold it there and end this bulletin with a tribute to a federal senator who died last week after an accident when leaving Melbourne's Gay and Lesbian festival, Midsumma. Brendon* FAREWELL TO A FRIEND *Victorian Labor Senator Olive Zakharov was a great and tireless campaigner for social justice* She died late on Monday night, aged 65, due to injuries sustained when she was hit by a car as she crossed St Kilda Road after attending last month's Midsumma Carnival. The fact that she was at the Midsumma Carnival is indicative of her style as a politician - she was genuinely involved and concerned for a wide range of people in Australian society who were not getting a fair deal. Her door was always open to listen to the needs of the community. The Prime Minister, Paul Keating released the following statement: "With her tragic death, the Australian community and the Labor Party have lost one of their most tireless workers for social justice." Senator Zakharov was always a staunch supporter for the rights of lesbians and gay men. A spokesperson for Gay Men and Lesbian Against Discrimination, David Studham said she was always there when the gay community needed assistance and advice. "She was always very genuine in her support and interest," he said. "There were a number of issues she was particularly instrumental in, such as HIV funding in Queensland and lobbying for the Defence Force ban to be overturned." The former Victorian Premier, Mrs Joan Kirner described Senator Zakharov as an atypical politician who went about her business without a fuss. "She was a hard and solid worker, she was a supporter and absolutely committed on human services issues", Mrs Kirner said. "She was a woman who'd experienced the struggles of women." Senator Zakharov worked as a student welfare coordinator at the Montmorency Secondary College between 1969 and 1983 before joining federal Parliament. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BOTTOM LINE *The 1995 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade once again glitzed its way spectacularly through the streets of Sydney on Saturday night.* An annual event since 1978 the Parade is now the biggest night-time parade in the world and draws the largest crowd for any event in Australia. A record was broken this year for the party that follows the parade with all 19,000 tickets to the event selling out in 6 days. The Parade featured more than 190 entries. Melbourne based floats included the Victorian Presence and the Lesbiz floats. The Party transformed six venues at the Sydney showgrounds into a magical land for the night. The opening show in the RHI pavilion took the crowd to an oriental peak as star guest and international gay figure, Boy George treated the crowd to a very Krishna version of 'Bow Down Mister'. Choreographed by William Forsythe, the 22 dancers were a vision of blue and gold set on a spectacular stage recreating the look of the video. *** Subscription to Brother Sister is available for A$100 per annum. Send money order and address information to: Brother Sister 67 Bevan Street Albert Park VIC 3206 AUSTRALIA