Midsumma Festival is just over a month away and we are gearing up for UnionPride to be out there and involved.

If you want to get involved in UnionPride Midsumma related activities, just email Sarah at sarah.rogan@alliance.org.au You may have noticed that UnionPride is part of the 1st Asia-Pacific Outgames Human Rights Conference, scheduled for Wednesday 30th January and Thursday 31st January. Our part will be on the Thursday but you will need to register for both days. For more information about this, go the http://www.melbourneoutgames.org/ or contact Sarah (see above for contact details).


Join us at Midsumma 2008!!
‘Midsumma’ is Melbourne’s annual G.L.B.T.I festival.
In 2007, a number of Victorian trade unions came together to participate in the festival under a combined banner – ‘UNION PRIDE’. We wanted to show that trade unions support the workplace rights of all Victorian workers and that our unions actively support our G.L.B.T.I members. Plus, participation gave G.L.B.T.I workers the chance to show that they are also proud unionists and to celebrate their solidarity!

Following on from the huge success of our participation in 2007, UNION PRIDE will be involved in a number of activities in the 2008 festival. This year, the Festival kicks off at the Midsumma Carnival on Saturday 19th January. Carnival will be at the Alexandra Gardens and like last year, UNION PRIDE will have a stall with theYoung Unionists Network. So come along to the biggest party in Melbourne!
For more information, contact Sarah Rogan on sarah.rogan@alliance.org.au

Pride March draws a huge crowd who come along to show their support for the G.L.B.T.I community. Last year over 50 unionists from a variety of trade unions marched under the combined UNION PRIDE banner in support of GLBTI workers.
If you want to be part of this, come along to the corner of Lakeside Drive and Fitzroy Streets, St Kilda on Sunday 3rd February 2008. We will assemble at 4.30pm, with the march starting at 5.00pm sharp.

We have also been asked to forward on a report conducted by Gay and Lesbian Health Victoria called 'The coming Forward Survey'. The genesis of the survey is an attempt by Victoria Police to downgrade the status of the Gay and Lesbian Liaison Officer Program because their data bases do not show a big demand for the service. GLHV is trying to use the survey to document the unmet need, which is evident from the levels of violence and abuse that we know our community members experience. If you have any enquiries, conctact Ann Mitchell at A.Mitchell@latrobe.edu.au or 9285 6124 or if you would like a copy of the final report.

The report can be found at:http://www.comingforwardsurvey.org.au/

Labels: Midsumma 2008

Dear Union Pride members,

The inuagural Asia Pacific Outgames will be held in Melbourne from 30 January to 3 February 2008. Outgames is a multi-sport, cultural and human rights event that is timed to coincide with the Midsumma Festival - Melbourne's premier GLBTI cultural and arts festival. As part of Outgames, a two-day human rights conference will be held on Wednesday 30 and Thursday 31 January 2008. Union Pride will be presenting a workshop on workers' rights on Thursday. The conference will be held at the Melbourne Town Hall.

Register ASAP and be a part of this important human rights conference.
Go to www.melbourneoutgames.org to register.

The conference document can be found here:
www.vichealth.vic.gov.au

If you have any questions about the conference, please contact Sarah Rogan on 0403 440 257 or sarah.rogan@alliance.org.au

Have yourself a safe, happy and festive season and see you in the New Year.

The Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives is saddened to pass on news of the death in an accident in WA on 18 November 2006 of Jeff Hayler - news that has only recently come to our attention.

Jeff was a contributor to the Australian gay movement in its earliest years. As an openly gay man he was elected to office in a student association in 1973 and became Vice-President of the Australian Union of Students in 1974.

He is remembered especially for his part in enlisting the support of the NSW Builders Labourers' Federation who initiated a building black ban at Menzies College, Macquarie University, on behalf of a fellow student who was expelled from a residential college at Macquarie University in 1973 when the student's homosexuality became known to the college dean. At the time it was thought to be a world first for active union support of a gay cause.

Jeff was a leading light in the homosexual caucus of AUS which successfully lobbied for resolutions that resulted in funding the first National Homosexual Conference in 1975 - a conference which shaped a good deal of gay and lesbian activism in the following decade, and in which Jeff took part.

After his move to Perth, Jeff became president of CAMP WA, and played important roles in gay advocacy there, including moves for decriminalisation of male homosexuality and the response to HIV/AIDS in WA, at a time when the syndrome didn't even have an agreed name.

In comments to ALGA, colleagues from the 70s and 80s remember Jeff as a man of integrity, who applied his impressive intellect to furthering the rights of gay people.

Jeff later moved into the horticultural industry in WA and his death has been recorded by colleagues there in terms that will ring true to those who knew him in other places - a brave and thoughtful leader and an energetic contributor - see tribute

ALGA would welcome mementos from people who would like Jeff's work in the gay movement to be remembered. These will be displayed at ALGA's next open day on Sunday afternoon 25 November at the Victorian AIDS Council training room - further details to follow closer to the event.

more info: www.alga.org.au | algarchives@hotmail.com

Sign the petition today to ensure equality for all of us!

www.getup.org.au/campaign/EqualBeforetheLaw

We've done the research and it's a landslide. A GetUp-commissioned Galaxy poll last weekend reveals a whopping 71 per cent of Australians, including 63 per cent of Coalition voters, believe same sex couples should have the same rights as heterosexual couples in de facto relationships.

These results should make all Australians proud. Yet on Friday, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission released its year-long inquiry into same sex discrimination which reveals that discrimination remains ingrained in 58 pieces of federal legislation. From superannuation and workers' compensation to Medicare, tax and pensions, Australians are treated like second-class citizens purely on the basis of their sexual orientation.

Right now our politicians are deciding how to respond to these damning findings. This is our urgent opportunity to tell them it's time to wipe this discrimination off the books forever by giving legal equality to same sex couples.

www.getup.org.au/campaign/EqualBeforetheLaw

more info: www.getup.org.au

Attention: L.G.B.T.I unionists in Victoria are you thinking about going to Mardi Gras on Saturday 3rd of March?

If so, can you think of a better way to see the Sydney Mardi Gras Parade than by being part of it, marching alongside other unionists? After all, when else in your life can you make a political statement and be part of the biggest party in the Southern hemisphere at the same time?

Be part of the ‘WorkersOut!’ float in the Mardi Gras Parade on Saturday 3rd of March.

more info: unionpride@gmail.com | unionpride@unionsolidarity.org

STAND UP FOR YOUR LOVE RIGHTS!

Sunday August 13
12:30pm
Parliament House front steps
Spring Street
Melbourne
followed by reception at CBD venue

Download rally leaflet

WEAR: Something red, festive and wet-weather ready!

• Same-sex relationships are equal in commitment, quality and love to mixed-sex relationships.
• But they are not treated equally by the law - yet.

Formal relationship recognition is essential to achieve social equality and legal security for loving same-sex couples and their families. It's time for legal discrimination to end, and for same-sex couples to be treated with full equality.

If you want to see a Civil Union scheme in Victoria, and national recognition for same-sex couples, come to the Victorian Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby's National Day of Action for relationship recognition!

more info: Victorian Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby | www.equallove.org.au