In recent years, homosexuality has been one of the highly discussed issues in the world and in nations such as America. The public acceptance and the chance of laws in an effort to accommodate the minority sexual identity in the world can be attributed to the historical gay/homosexual liberation movements. Not only did the movement change how the gays and lesbians were viewed but also the way law, religion etc. referred to the minority. According to (Lewis 2016, P. 90), gay liberation is the term that was devised to refer to radical lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) in the late 60’s and 70’s in regions such as North America, western Europe, new eland and Australia. This essay addresses the issue of gay liberation, how it attempted changing the world, its success and also the case of Australian with reference to the gay issue.
More than half a century ago being identified as a gay was a social pale, as one could be beaten, kicked out of public places, arrested, expelled from school or even fired from work. Fast forward today, the minority, sexually identified groups such gays, lesbians, etc. are all equal with recognized marriage rights. In an effort to bring change that led to the acceptance of the few minority, the gay liberation movements focused on the change of the laws in an effort to recognize and respect the gay and lesbians. For example, in 1994, the Australian government passed the human rights, sexual conduct, act which legalized sexual activity between consenting adults (in private) throughout Australia. This was a milestone with reference to the case of this country as a lesbian was and had been recognized as legal but not the case with homosexuality. According to (D’Cruz 2014, P.298), the gay liberation movement began to win victories through legal reform such as in Western Europe.
The liberation was regarded as a success as notable and massive change despite resistance from different institutions was experienced. Today, the lawful, recognized by the minority sexual identified groups by the law, as well as other institutions can be regarded as success of the liberation movement fighting for the rights and recognition of the minority groups. In addition to advocating for legal changes in the nations constitutions and recognition of the minority in the employment field, the political arena also provided a platform for pushing for the recognition of gays and lesbians in the larger community (Lewis 2016, P. 102). For decades, now the issue of same sex marriage remained a key topic, within the world political field. For example, “Gay advocacy groups responded to the decision by lobbying for passage of state and city civil rights acts that would ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in employment and housing. As a result of the gay rights movement, two states--New York and Vermont--and several municipalities, extended health and dental insurance to the gay and lesbian domestic partners of public employees” (Hillman 2011,P.168). The Democratic Party accommodated the movement by adding into their constitution the non-discriminatory clause, including sexual orientation.
In an effort to advocate for change, the gay liberation varied from one nation/region to another and also in time and place with different movement's organizations promoting policies which were tailored by each nation’s milieu. The protests were a common occurrence with reference to the gay liberation. Instead of bringing their marginal protect groups into conformity with the already reigning and mainstream norms, they on their side challenged the already set and accepted versions of sin and crime as well as loyalty which in turn propelled the change in social structuring and reference (Abelove 2015, P.B15). Violent and peaceful protect all focused on the legal and human rights recognition and respect of the simple minority in terms of sexual identity. The gay liberation focused on universal respect and recognition of the LGBT community as part of the larger community as also as their way of life not a wayward from the norm. Today, the respect and recognition of sexual identity minority have been absorbed into the religion setting such as the church. Despite the experienced and division on the issue of same sex marriage by different religious settings, the gay liberation can be said to have been a success in terms of advocating and fighting for equality, equal treatment and non-violence reference to the LGBT community.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights in Australia have greatly advanced since the better part of the 2oth century. This has seen Australian laws protecting the LGBT persons against discrimination and instead making them enjoy similar rights and responsibilities as others. As a federation, Australian laws that affect LGBT and intersex rights have been formulated by its territories and states, hence the 1970 Australia Activism can be considered to have been a success. Between 1975 and 1997, the states and territories of Australia progressively cancelled laws touching on anti-homosexuality laws while maintaining that they were an inherent from the British Empire. However, this has changed since 2016, whereby each jurisdiction enjoys an equal consenting age with regard to sexual acts. Clearing of criminal records has been practiced in many jurisdictions since they are now offering an Expungement scheme that free those individuals that had been charged and consequently convicted for sexual acts that are now legal. On December 9 2017, Australia legalized same-sex marriages. The Marriage Act of 1961 that defined marriage as the union of two people was amended in 2004 by the Government of Howard recognizing only marriages involving a man and a woman. There had been a total failure in the Australian Parliament of the attempts that had been made to recognize same-sex marriages. The current Turnbull Government had put a legislation to attempt the establishment of a plebiscite on marriages involving same sex, but this was declined by the Australian High Coat, ruling against the law in 3013.They said that the decision to legislate on the subject solely lied to the Federal Parliament. However, the Senate would pass the Marriage Amendment Bill in 2017, receiving a royal accent in end 2017 and subsequently becoming a law. While several couples made applications to be exempted from the waiting period of one month, the first same-sex wedding that was legal under the Australian law took place 15th
December 2017 and more weddings formally took place the following day.
The Australian states and territories continue to grant benefits and recognition of relationships as domestic partnership to couples of the same sex with effect from year 2003.Federal law also started recognizing couples of the same sex in 2009 as the facto relationships. Just like marriage does, relationships of same-sex can be recognized by states in various ways. This can be through civil unions, registered relationships, and domestic partnerships or as de facto relationships that are unregistered (Murphy 2015, P.258). Currently, all jurisdictions permit same-sex adoption of both stepchild and joint with the last jurisdiction being Northern Territory that passed an adoption equality law this year in March. Further, all the territories prohibit discrimination based on gender expression and sexual orientation. Since August of the year 2013, the Federal protections for intersex status and gender identity been concurrent.
The rights accorded to transgender people in Australia include amendment of the legal sex of a person on the official records. These records include birth certificates, although many jurisdictions demand that one undertakes a sex reassignment surgery first. In some other states and territories, registration of “non-specific” sex it is allowed both in the legal documents and records. However, protection of the intersex rights in Australia is not fully given. This is despite the country’s expansion of LGBT to LGBTI to in an effort to include intersex people. This is because they are poorly understood in the experience since the area lacks a substantial research. At one point, the status of “intersex” had been considered as a gender identity subset for a long period as it is reflected in the definitions of laws regarding anti-discrimination of many states and territories. It was placed there to encompass persons with sexual characteristics that were intermediate (Fela, G, " McCann, H 2017, P.339). Later on, this would be considered inaccurate by the Organization Intersex International Australia and instead defining the intersex by the biological sex traits they possess as opposed to their gender identities. Many Australians who are intersex face coercive medical interventions during their childhood.
Since the 1970’s activism onwards, Australia has earned recognition as one of the most gay-friendly countries around the world. This is evident with the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey as well as the opinion polls indicating support that is widespread in support of the same-sex marriage. Further, a Pew Research poll reported that 79% of Australians concur with the idea that society should accept homosexuality. This placed Australia as the fifth supportive country that was surveyed globally (Fela, G, " McCann, H 2017, P.329). Due to its long historical battle with reference to LGBT rights, as well as the three week long Mardi Gras festival, among the most gay tolerant cities in the world is Sydney.
In conclusion, the social movements which coalesced in the year 1970’s on the basis of women's rights, gay liberation and indigenous rights transformed in a great extent the world and Australia’s social landscape. Before the movement and the accompanied change in law and social recognition and rights, gays, lesbians, and homosexuals were viewed with revulsion. However, the result led to recognition by the minority people into the social setting. However, this hasn’t been without challenges from the church/religion's teachings. Not only has the gay liberation movement shaped the future of the sexual identified minority but also has greatly contributed to the way people of different aspects were and are regarded in the society today.
References
Abelove, H 2015, 'How Stonewall Obscures the Real History of Gay Liberation', Chronicle of Higher Education, vol. 61, no. 40, pp. B14-B16.
D’Cruz, C 2014, 'Commemorating Homosexual: Rethinking experience and the disaffected through the legacies of the Gay Liberation Movement', Sexualities, vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 291-309.
Fela, G, " McCann, H 2017, 'Solidarity Is Possible: Rethinking Gay and Lesbian Activism in 1970s Australia', Australian Feminist Studies, vol. 32, no. 93, pp. 325-334.
Hillman, BL 2011, '"The most profoundly revolutionary act a homosexual can engage in": Drag and the Politics of Gender Presentation in the San Francisco Gay Liberation Movement, 1964-1972', Journal of the History of Sexuality, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 153-181.
Lewis, AJ 2016, '"We Are Certain of Our Own Insanity": Antipsychiatry and the Gay Liberation Movement, 1968-1980', Journal of the History of Sexuality, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 83-113.
Murphy, K 2015, '‘In the Backblocks of Capitalism’: Australian Student Activism in the Global 1960s', Australian Historical Studies, vol. 46, no. 2, pp. 252-268.
