Melbourne City Council has dipped its toe into the legal minefield of gay civil unions. As Kenneth Nguyen discovered, it may prove a catalyst for change across the state.
Brendan Parker didn't expect to find love at work. As he quips drily, "You don't come across a gay accountant very often."
He got lucky. Three years ago, while doing contract work, Parker met Timothy Dart. Today, the two accountants, 27 and 26 respectively, are still in love, sharing their relationship, their home in South Yarra and their place of employment.
Indeed, the two are so in love that, while in Canada recently, they considered getting married. Ultimately, they decided against taking the big step there: not because of their relationship, but because, as Parker says, the wedding process "is not just about the pen and paper. It's really about sharing it with your family and friends - so unless they could all go to Montreal, it just doesn't really work."
But of course, the state and federal laws governing Victoria, where the couple's family and friends live, offer no official recognition of gay unions.
The Melbourne City Council, however, is on the verge of striking out on its own, giving small recognition to same-sex couples. In November, deputy mayor Gary Singer and councillor Fraser Brindley successfully obtained in-principle support - albeit via a narrow 5-4 vote - for the council to set up a Relationships Declaration Register. A discussion model for the register was released last week. If it goes ahead, the register would be a Victorian first.
Brindley, who entered council in November 2004, was motivated to set up the register because of government inaction.
"It is entirely out of frustration with the state and federal governments that we are doing this," he says. "I was hoping that in the ensuing two years we would get some action... It's essentially an issue of equality: some members of the community are not being afforded the same rights and status as others, and that's an injustice in my mind."
The register is perhaps minor in terms of its practical import. Signing it will not give same-sex couples the legal rights enjoyed by married couples: city councils simply do not have that sort of power. But registration will give same-sex partners, and indeed heterosexual partners, independently documented evidence of their relationship: this could be used in legal proceedings where "domestic partners" have rights, such as for inheritances and, if the relationship fails, in the division of property.
More significant would be the symbolism of the register. Victorian Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby co-convener Gerard Brody says the register would "enable couples to have their relationships recognised in a formal way".
Last Tuesday night, councillors heard why that was important. Its community service committee had tabled the register for discussion. Among those who made a submission were Rodney Cruise and his partner Jeff Chiang, who were there with their son Ethan.
"When Ethan grows up we want him to see that his family is real," Cruise told the meeting. "How do you explain to your son that, 'Yes, your grandpa and grandma are married, but your fathers are not'? "This relationship register is a start. It is a way of telling Ethan that, 'Yes, we are a family '."
That recognition would be of a scale unknown to gay people in Australia outside Sydney, which has a similar registration scheme, and Tasmania, which has a more comprehensive scheme that confers spousal rights on same-sex registrants. Given homosexuality's tough history in this country, it is not hard to see why many gay people are seeking such recognition. As Parker says, "It just feels good to have something behind you."
Naturally, though, the scheme has drawn opposition from those who regard homosexuality as immoral. Christian group Salt Shakers has led the most high-profi le campaign against the proposal, and also attended last week's meeting.
"We oppose the normalisation of homosexuality," Salt Shakers chief executive Peter Stokes explains, before drawing an analogy between prostitution laws and homosexuality laws.
"Before they legalised prostitution, there were 50 brothels throughout Victoria. But now we have something like 500... When you legalise something, you automatically give it a stamp of approval. Therefore, any recognition of same-sex relationships, whether it be by councils or governments, is going to give that relationship type a stamp of approval."
Stokes also argues that few gay people are seeking recognition of their relationships, citing relatively low numbers of registrations in Sydney and Tasmania.
Many prominent gay figures, including High Court judge Michael Kirby and author Robert Dessaix, have said they have little interest in obtaining official recognition of their relationships. But Kirby says that the lack of interest is not a reason to prohibit gay marriage as an institution.
"The issue is not whether marriage is wanted by everyone," Kirby said in a speech last year, "but whether... it should be available to all citizens who feel the need for that form of public affirmation of their relationship, or only to some who exhibit certain features of their sexual life that are deemed acceptable."
Clearly, gay rights opponents and advocates disagree on much. What they would agree on, however, is that the Melbourne City Council's registration scheme is just a first step for gay rights on the path to comprehensive recognition of same-sex relationships. First come the changes at a local government level; then at the state level, through the recognition of civil partnerships or unions; and finally, in the federal arena, through the recognition of civil unions or same-sex marriages. So goes the plan.
Already, it appears that the Melbourne City Council proposal is sparking change among other councils. The City of Yarra has backed a partnership registration scheme for its residents, while the Manningham, Stonnington and Port Phillip councils are also reported to be considering it.
Intriguingly, gay rights advocates are starting to see signs that the State Government - which has rejected their advances for more than seven years - might also be open to giving official recognition to same-sex relationships. Throughout most of last year, the State Government rebuffed attempts by Liberal-turned-independent MP Andrew Olexander to bring a private member's bill that would have given recognition to gay civil unions.
But later in the year, the Victorian Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby started to enjoy a degree of dialogue with state MPs. Two members of the lobby met with the members for Richmond and Prahran, Richard Wynne and Tony Lupton, to discuss the possibility of a Tasmanian-style partnership registration program that could confer legal rights on same-sex couples.
Last week, Brody - the lobby's co-convener - was scheduled to again meet with Lupton, as well as the parliamentary secretary for justice, Jenny Mikakos, and the parliamentary secretary for education, Fiona Richardson.
The official line from the Government now runs: "We have ongoing discussions with the gay and lesbian community about ways of further implementing equality and those discussions will continue." Brody sounds encouraged by the tone of discussions so far. "I'm optimistic about what will happen this year and that they will move forward on this issue," he says.
If the Bracks Government comes to the gay lobby's party, the resulting legislation would seem to stand a good chance of passing the 40-seat Upper House. There, the ALP has 19 seats and the traditionally gay-friendly Greens have three seats.
Meanwhile, Liberal leader Ted Baillieu has promised his MPs a conscience vote on the issue if it is raised in Parliament, and Democratic Labor Party MP Peter Kavanagh has expressed a willingness to discuss gay civil unions "providing there is a special status retained for marriage".
But many questions remain. If moves are made, then what legal rights would be conferred, and would the recognition of same-sex couples require a ceremony or simply registration via an application form?
The last of these questions has been controversial. In Tasmania, same-sex couples achieve legal recognition by lodging an application form with a government authority. But when the ACT Government asked its gay and lesbian constituents what they wanted from a civil union or civil partnership scheme, many insisted upon a ceremonial aspect, occasionally in what might be regarded as impolitic terms.
"Registration is for dogs," said one ACT activist on television. The territory ended up including a ceremonial aspect in its Civil Partnerships Bill. (Couples would have been required to make a declaration in front of a civil partnerships notary and a witness.) That, however, wound up being the death of the bill. On February 7, the Federal Government declared that it would disallow the bill if it was passed, citing an objection to the provision for a formal ceremony.
"What it's doing is equating (same-sex partnership) with marriage," federal Attorney- General Philip Ruddock said. "To put in place arrangements which give you what purports to be, to all intents and purposes, a marriage undermines that institution."
Despite this, in the broader community there is growing support for civil union laws, especially among younger citizens. In an ACNielsen poll published in The Age last year, 45 per cent of respondents supported an ACT predecessor to the Civil Partnerships Bill that would have allowed gay civil unions, while 34 per cent opposed it.
It is a figure that would encourage Parker and Dart. In the meantime - in the absence of a more comprehensive gay civil unions law - the couple are ready to sign a relationship register.
THE COUNCIL PROPOSAL
Same-sex couples will be able to register their relationship with the City of Melbourne. Registration will not confer rights but may constitute evidence of a relationship in legal proceedings.
WHO RECOGNISES SAME-SEX RELATIONSHIPS?
TASMANIA Same-sex couples can register their relationship with the Tasmanian Office of Births, Deaths and Marriages. Registration gives couples immediate access to relationship rights, regardless of such factors as the duration of the relationship, financial interdependence or cohabitation. Only registered partners may adopt, or be presumed to be the parents of, children born to their partners from fertility treatments.
SYDNEY Same-sex couples can register their relationship with the City of Sydney. Registration does not confer rights but may constitute evidence of a relationship in legal proceedings.
OVERSEAS
- Same-sex marriage is allowed in jurisdictions including Canada, the Netherlands, Belgium, South Africa, Spain and Massachusetts (US).
- Same-sex civil unions or partnerships are recognised in jurisdictions including Britain, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, New Zealand, France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Portugal, Vermont (US) and Connecticut (US).
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