Australian Political Parties Show Increased Support For Gay Rights In New Election Pledges

All three of the main political parties in Australia have acted to show support for the LGBT community in their election pledges. Marking a big step forward for a country that has seen it’s government do little to combat homophobia, the three parties have all put forward very unique policies.

For the Labor party the focus is on the issue of gay adoption and promising to reopen the debate via a Parliamentary inquiry, whilst the Liberals have said that they will look to improve the treatment of transgender inmates in prison. It is however the Green’s policy that is likely to grab the attention of most with their promise of spending $300,000 on anti-homophobia campaigns in state schools.

Speaking about the announcement of these policies, Rodney Croome who is the spokeman for the Gay and Lesbian Rights Group in Tasmania said the group would never act to endorse one party, but that the announcement has shown

“…is that all three parties have moved forward in their policies and their objectives and their programs from where they were in 2006.”

Whilst these announcements are positive, it is important to recognise that many election pledges make it to reality, something that really need to happen in Australia, particularly concerning homophobia with Croome indicating that recent surveys showed Tasmania is still the most homophobic Australian state.