Aden Derek Ridgeway is an Australian former politician. He was a member of the Australian Senate for New South Wales from 1999 to 2005,representing the Australian Democrats. During his term he was the only Aboriginal member of the Australian Parliament. He is currently a spokesperson for Recognise,the movement to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait peoples in the Australian Constitution.
Human rights in Australia have largely been developed by the democratically elected Australian Parliament through laws in specific contexts and safeguarded by such institutions as the independent judiciary and the High Court,which implement common law,the Australian Constitution,and various other laws of Australia and its states and territories. Australia also has an independent statutory human rights body,the Australian Human Rights Commission,which investigates and conciliates complaints,and more generally promotes human rights through education,discussion and reporting.
Louise Clare Pratt is an Australian politician who has been a Senator for Western Australia since 2016,and previously from 2008 to 2014. She is a member of the Labor Party,and served as a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council from 2001 to 2007. She was the youngest woman ever elected to the Legislative Council at the time of her election and the second open lesbian to be elected to an Australian parliament.
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.
Lesbian,gay,bisexual,and transgender (LGBT) rights in Cyprus have evolved in recent years,but LGBTQ people still face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Both male and female expressions of same-sex sexual activity were decriminalised in 1998,and civil unions which grant several of the rights and benefits of marriage have been legal since December 2015. Conversion therapy was banned in Cyprus in May 2023. However,adoption rights in Cyprus are reserved for heterosexual couples only.
Ian Keith Hunter is an Australian politician,representing the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party in the South Australian Legislative Council since the 2006 state election. Hunter served in the Cabinet of South Australia from October 2011 to 2018.
Lesbian,gay,bisexual,and transgender (LGBT) people in Albania face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents,although LGBT people are protected under comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation. Both male and female same-gender sexual activities have been legal in Albania since 1995,but households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for the same legal protections available to opposite-gender couples,with same-sex unions not being recognized in the country in any form.
Lesbian,gay,bisexual,and transgender (LGBT) people in Rwanda face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. While neither homosexuality nor homosexual acts are illegal,homosexuality is considered a taboo topic,and there is no significant public discussion of this issue in any region of the country and LGBT people still face stigmatization among the broader population. No anti-discrimination laws are afforded to LGBT citizens,and same-sex marriages are not recognized by the state,as the Constitution of Rwanda provides that "[o]nly civil monogamous marriage between a man and a woman is recognized". LGBT Rwandans have reported being harassed,blackmailed,and even arrested by the police under various laws dealing with public order and morality.
Lesbian,gay,bisexual,transgender,and queer (LGBTQ) people in Eswatini have limited legal rights. According to Rock of Hope,a Swati LGBTQ advocacy group,"there is no legislation recognising LGBTIs or protecting the right to a non-heterosexual orientation and gender identity and as a result [LGBTQ people] cannot be open about their orientation or gender identity for fear of rejection and discrimination." Homosexuality is illegal in Eswatini,though this law is in practice unenforced. According to the 2021 Human Rights Practices Report from the US Department of State,"there has never been an arrest or prosecution for consensual same-sex conduct."
Discussions of LGBTQI+ rights at the United Nations have included resolutions and joint statements in the United Nations General Assembly and the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC),attention to the expert-led human rights mechanisms,as well as by the UN Agencies.
Lesbian,gay,bisexual,transgender,and queer (LGBTQ) rights in Queensland have advanced significantly from the late 20th century onwards,in line with progress on LGBTQ rights in Australia nationally. 2019 polling on gay rights consistently showed that even in regional areas,Queensland is no more conservative about the subject than any other states.
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.
Lesbian,gay,bisexual,and transgender (LGBT) people in North Macedonia face discrimination and some legal and social challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity have been legal in North Macedonia since 1996,but same-sex couples and households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for the same legal protections available to opposite-sex married couples.
The majority of the countries of the Commonwealth of Nations,formerly known as the British Commonwealth,still criminalise sexual acts between consenting adults of the same sex and other forms of sexual orientation,gender identity and expression. Homosexual activity remains a criminal offence in 29 of the 56 sovereign states of the Commonwealth;and legal in only 26.
Sexual orientation and gender identity in the Australian military are not considered disqualifying matters in the 21st century,with the Australian Defence Force (ADF) allowing LGBT people to serve openly and access the same entitlements as other personnel. The ban on gay and lesbian personnel was lifted by the Keating government in 1992,with a 2000 study finding no discernible negative impacts on troop morale. In 2009,the First Rudd government introduced equal entitlements to military retirement pensions and superannuation for the domestic partners of LGBTI personnel. Since 2010,transgender personnel may serve openly and may undergo gender transition with ADF support while continuing their military service. LGBTI personnel are also supported by the charity DEFGLIS,the Defence Force Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender and Intersex Information Service.
Peter Gilbert da Conceição Foss KC is a former Australian politician,who represented the Liberal Party.
Lesbian,gay,bisexual,transgender,and queer (LGBTQ) people in Australian state of Tasmania have the same legal rights as non-LGBTQ people. Tasmania has a transformative history with respect to the rights of LGBTQ people. Initially dubbed "Bigots' Island" by international media due to intense social and political hostility to LGBTQ rights up until the late 1990s,the state has subsequently been recognised for LGBTQ law reforms that have been described by activists such as Rodney Croome as among the most extensive and noteworthy in the world. Tasmania's criminal penalties for homosexual activity were the harshest in the Western world when they were repealed in 1997. It was the last Australian jurisdiction to decriminalise homosexuality after a United Nations Human Rights Committee ruling,the passage of federal sexual privacy legislation and a High Court challenge to the state's anti-homosexuality laws. Following decriminalisation,social and political attitudes in the state rapidly shifted in favour of LGBTQ rights ahead of national trends with strong anti-LGBTQ discrimination laws passed in 1999,and the first state relationship registration scheme to include same-sex couples introduced in 2003. In 2019,Tasmania passed and implemented the world's most progressive gender-optional birth certificate laws. In July 2023,the Tasmanian government officially included and also added "asexual or asexuality".
Lesbian,gay,bisexual and transgender (LGBTQ) rights in Western Australia have seen significant progress since the beginning of the 21st century,with male sex acts legal since 1990 and the state parliament passing comprehensive law reforms in 2002. The state decriminalised male homosexual acts in 1990 and was the first to grant full adoption rights to LGBT couples in 2002.
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.
Gina Wilson is an Australian intersex human rights activist. She was the founding president of Intersex Human Rights Australia.
