Re-Branded Yes Campaign Turns Up Heat on Anti-Discrimination Fight

The passing of marriage equality in Australia marked a turning point for LGBTIQ+ people, but one year on, a new legal advocacy group are committing to end discrimination of students in religious schools.  

The successful Equality Campaign has rebranded to Equality Australia, and has vowed to stop LGBTQI+ discrimination in schools and workplaces, and to fight the government’s awaited response to Philip Ruddock’s review of religious freedom.  

The legal advocacy organisation will be led by former director of the Human Rights Centre, Anna Brown, who was also an active part of the same-sex marriage campaign.

Brown said discrimination had not ended with the legalisation of same-sex marriage, and that the group would now be taking decisive action to ensure no child was excluded or held back for who they were.

“One year from achieving marriage equality, our politicians seem to have forgotten that Australians voted for fairness and equality, not discrimination,” Brown said.

“Our voices are still missing on issues that affect our everyday lives.”

She said the failure of the Coalition government and Labor opposition to agree on a change to laws that allow religious schools to expel gay students was hurtful and dangerous to the community.  

The laws came to public attention in October, when details of the Ruddock review were leaked to media.

“Discrimination has no place in Australian politics. Just like we did with the ‘Yes’ campaign, we will take this fight directly to the highest levels of government,” Brown said.  

“It’s just another example of the ongoing, hurtful and dangerous discrimination faced by Australia’s LGBTQI+ community.”

The group will be funded by capital raised from the ‘Yes’ Campaign, and run by members of the LGBTQI+ community, which Brown said understood best the discrimination the community felt on a daily basis.

“Many in our communities suffer through day to day experiences of discrimination and disadvantage. These issues don’t get the attention they deserve,” she said.

“We’re here to show politicians that our community is a force to be reckoned with.”