E Law - Murdoch University Electronic Journal of Law, Vol 3, No 3 (September 1996)

Special Editor's Note

In 1994 the Western Australian Commissioner for Equal Opportunity, June Williams, presented the Government of Western Australia with a report outlining the pervasiveness and insidious nature of discrimination directed at those persons who identify or who are identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered. The Report concluded that the Government should move immediately to amend the State's Equal Opportunity Legislation so as to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexuality. Shortly after the release of the Williams Report, the Government announced that it did not accept the findings of the Report and would not extend human rights protections to sexual minorities.

At a time when anti-lesbian and anti-gay violence is on the increase, when workplace discrimination remains a harsh and as of yet unaddressed reality, and when lesbian and gay male families are both discouraged and penalized, this legislative inaction is both unacceptable and itself discriminatory. It also highlights the urgent need for lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgendered people and their supporters to unite and continue with their struggle for effective and long overdue legal and social change.

On 3 August, 1996, the School of Law at Murdoch University hosted Western Australia's first conference on "sexual orientation and the law". Designed to address but a few of the many pressing issues presently affecting the lesbian, gay male, bisexual and transgendered communities in Australia, the conference brought together some of this country's leading legal and political figures. With the intention of identifying and exploring issues of concern to all persons committed to systemic equality and justice, conference participants were asked to articulate and advance an inclusive, cohesive and politically effective agenda for reform in the areas of human rights protections and family law. The result could not have been more impressive.

The papers made available in this edition of E Law - Murdoch University Electronic Journal of Law were either presented at, or arose from, this event. I must confess to having mixed feelings about compiling a collection of academic articles on lesbian and gay legal issues. On the one hand, I am delighted that this Journal has brought together an outstanding collection of articles on an issue that so desperately needs articulation and I applaud those who have devoted their time and effort to ensuring the success of this project. On the other hand, however, I find myself frustrated that in 1996 we still find ourselves having to convince those who reject our calls for equality that justice is long overdue and that it is no longer acceptable to support the tyranny of those for whom hate is most definitely a family value. To quote Justice Alistair Nicholson, Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia, "to continue to ignore the rights of lesbians and gay men and their relationships is a pyrrhic achievement of which no government ought to be proud."

In many ways these papers represent a call for action. The messages they convey could not have been more clearly articulated. I hope you will join me in ensuring that the ideas and concerns expressed do not go unheard.

Christopher N Kendall,
Lecturer in Law,
Murdoch University School of Law

September 1996