Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) movements are social movements that advocate for LGBTQ people in society. Although there is not a primary or an overarching central organization that represents all LGBTQ people and their interests, numerous LGBT rights organizations are active worldwide. The first organization to promote LGBT rights was the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee, founded in 1897 in Berlin.
Socialist Alliance is a socialist political party and activist organisation in Australia. It was founded in 2001 as an alliance of various socialist organisations and activists, initiated by the Democratic Socialist Perspective and the International Socialist Organisation.
Socialist Action, known until October 2019 as the Socialist Party, was a Trotskyist political party in Australia. It published a monthly magazine called The Socialist which contained a socialist perspective on news and current issues.
Rodney Peter Croome AM is an Australian LGBT rights activist and academic. He worked on the campaign to decriminalise homosexuality in Tasmania, was a founder of Australian Marriage Equality, and currently serves as the spokesperson for the Tasmanian Gay and Lesbian Rights Group and a spokesperson for LGBT advocacy group Just.Equal.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) rights in Australia rank among the highest in the world; having significantly advanced over the latter half of the 20th century and early 21st century. Opinion polls and the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey indicate widespread popular support for same-sex marriage within the nation. Australia in 2018, in fact was the last of the Five Eyes set of countries - that consisted of namely Canada (2005), New Zealand (2013), United Kingdom (2014) and the United States (2015) to legalize same-sex marriage. A 2013 Pew Research poll found that 79% of Australians agreed that homosexuality should be accepted by society, making it the fifth-most supportive country surveyed in the world. With its long history of LGBTQ activism and annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras festival, Sydney has been named one of the most gay-friendly cities in the world.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Australia since 9 December 2017. Legislation to allow it, the Marriage Amendment Act 2017, passed the Parliament of Australia on 7 December 2017 and received royal assent from Governor-General Peter Cosgrove the following day. The law came into effect on 9 December, immediately recognising overseas same-sex marriages. The first same-sex wedding under Australian law was held on 15 December 2017. The passage of the law followed a voluntary postal survey of all Australians, in which 61.6% of respondents supported legalisation of same-sex marriage.
Liz Ross is a long-term socialist activist and author based in Melbourne, Australia. She has campaigned for Women's Rights and Gay Liberation since 1972 and was a union delegate in the Department of Social Security for ten years during the Hawke era. Notably, she has contributed detailed accounts of industrial struggle in Australia, with militant workers in both defunct the Builders Labourers Federation and the Royal Australian Nurses' Federation. She is also a member of the Trotskyist organisation Socialist Alternative, as well as its electoral alliance party Victorian Socialists and a founding and life member of the Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives.
The Australian state of Victoria is regarded as one of the country's most progressive jurisdictions with respect to the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) people. Victoria is the only state in Australia, that has implemented a LGBTIQA+ Commissioner.
Equal Love is an Australian-wide campaign initiated by the Victorian Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby in an attempt to win gay and lesbian couples marriage rights in the country. The campaign involves a range of community, union, student and activist organisations whose aim is to influence public and government attitudes towards LGBTQ couples through education and direct action.
Australian Marriage Equality (AME) was an advocacy group driven by volunteers who came together to pursue the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Australia. AME partnered with a diverse range of organisations and supporters across the country to end the exclusion of same-sex LGBTIQ couples from marriage in Australia. It was the pre-eminent group campaigning for same-sex marriage in Australia.
Australia is one of the most LGBTQ-friendly countries in the world. In a 2013 Pew Research poll, 79% of Australians agreed that homosexuality should be accepted by society, making it the fifth most supportive country in the survey behind Spain (88%), Germany (87%), and Canada and the Czech Republic. With a long history of LGBTQ rights activism and an annual three-week-long Mardi Gras festival, Sydney is considered one of the most gay-friendly cities in the world.
Carl Robert Katter is an Australian political activist who was the Labor Party's candidate for the seat of Higgins in the 2016 federal election. Katter is also known for having been involved in the push for LGBT rights during his political career.
Jason Ball is an Australian LGBTI and mental health advocate. He is a former Australian rules footballer at local level, and former political candidate for the Australian Greens in the seat of Higgins at the 2016 Federal election and 2019 Federal election.
Intersex Human Rights Australia (IHRA) is a voluntary organisation for intersex people that promotes the human rights and bodily autonomy of intersex people in Australia, and provides education and information services. Established in 2009 and incorporated as a charitable company in 2010, it was formerly known as Organisation Intersex International Australia, or OII Australia. It is recognised as a Public Benevolent Institution.
The Australian Equality Party (Marriage) (also AEP; formerly Australian Equality Party) was an Australian political party founded by Jason Tuazon-McCheyne. The AEP had a platform that promoted equality and human rights, particularly in relation to the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (GLBTIQ) community. The party's goal was to get AEP Leader, Jason Tuazon-McCheyne, elected to the Senate at the 2016 Australian federal election. The party was deregistered voluntarily on 26 March 2018.
The suicide of Tyrone Unsworth occurred on 22 November 2016, in Brisbane, Australia. Unsworth, a 13-year-old boy, died by suicide after years of bullying motivated by his homosexuality. His death garnered considerable national attention in Australia, as well as international attention.
The Victorian Socialists (VS) is an Australian political party based in the state of Victoria.
Stephen Jolly is an Australian politician, socialist activist, author and construction worker. He is a councillor in the City of Yarra and previously was the President and lead candidate for the Victorian Socialists during the 2018 state election.
Ro Allen is an Australian LGBTIQ advocate and, since 2021, the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commissioner. In 2015, Allen was the first person appointed to the position of Commissioner for LGBTIQ+ Communities in the state of Victoria.
Anna Shelley Brown is a lawyer and advocate, particularly in the area of LGBTIQ rights. After working for the Human Rights Law Centre for around seven years, in December 2018 she was appointed chief executive of new LGBTI advocacy organisation Equality Australia
