 | |
| Formation | 2004 |
|---|---|
| Founder |
|
| Legal status | charity (former) [1] |
| Location | |
| Website | https://freedom2b.org/ |
Freedom2b is an Australian-based network that supports LGBT people from Christian backgrounds. It helps them resolve issues of faith, sexuality, and gender identity while working to promote understanding and acceptance both in the church and within the wider community. Freedom2b accepts both religious and non religious LGBTI people and does not promote a particular belief system.
The stated agenda of Freedom2b is to offer support, information and the opportunity to share with people who have similar experiences. Freedom2b offers support to LGBTI people through face to face meetings and offers information on same sex attraction from a scientific, psychological and biblical perspective. It also promotes dialogue with religious organizations to promote understanding and acceptance.
Freedom2b was co-founded in 2004 by Anthony Venn-Brown and Phillip Wall. The first meetings of the organization were held in Surry Hills in Sydney. Venn-Brown released his autobiography A Life of Unlearning, which he said caused a flood of emails and prompted him to establish the network to give gay Christians a voice. “Up until this point there was no point of contact for the many thousands of people who were isolated.” [2] [3]
In 2011 Venn-Brown stepped down, with Michelle Kolev of the Melbourne chapter taking on the role of President. The year also saw the organisation re-brand from "freedom 2 b[e]" to "freedom2b".[ citation needed ]
Freedom2b conducts monthly meetings in a number of capital cities including Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, and has an online forum where participants can share their stories and discuss issues relating to faith and sexuality. [4] Freedom2b has marched in the Sydney Mardi Gras since 2007 and participated in the 2011 Mardi Gras under the theme of “Find Freedom”. [5]
The organization supports a range of activities within the community that promote awareness and help people reconcile their faith and sexuality. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation interviewed a number of members of freedom2b members in 2009 on their experiences of being gay and Pentecostal, [6] and several freedom2b members were also the subject of a 2009 photography exhibition by Iain Wallace entitled “Walking between Worlds.” [7] Freedom2b has recently been involved in workshops on suicide prevention. Three members of freedom2b, Paul Martin, Anthony Venn-Brown, and Ben Gresham are featured in an upcoming documentary "The Bedroom Commandments" that looks at the relationship between religious faith and sexuality. [8]
Freedom2b also has a group for young people aged 18–30. Their aim is to offer a safe place for LGBTI youth and young adults from Christian backgrounds. [9] The youth coordinators of freedom2b in 2008 are Ben Gresham in Sydney and Duane McKibben in Melbourne. [10] The patrons of freedom2b in 2008 are the Hon. Michael Kirby AC, CMG (a former justice of the High Court of Australia) and Reverend Dorothy McRae-McMahon. [11]
Within Christianity, there are a variety of views on sexual orientation and homosexuality. The view that various Bible passages speak of homosexuality as immoral or sinful emerged through its interpretation and has since become entrenched in many Christian denominations through church doctrine and the wording of various translations of the Bible.
The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras or Sydney Mardi Gras is an event in Sydney, New South Wales attended by hundreds of thousands of people from around Australia and overseas. One of the largest LGBT festivals in the world, Mardi Gras is the largest Pride event in Oceania. It includes a variety of events such as the Sydney Mardi Gras Parade and Party, Bondi Beach Drag Races, Harbour Party, the academic discussion panel Queer Thinking, Mardi Gras Film Festival, as well as Fair Day, which attracts 70,000 people to Victoria Park, Sydney.
The Star Observer is a free monthly magazine and online newspaper that caters to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex communities in Australia.
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.
Ex-ex-gay people are those who formerly participated in the ex-gay movement in an attempt to change their sexual orientation to heterosexual, but who then later went on to publicly state they had a non-heterosexual sexual orientation.
The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) is a conservative right-wing Christian advocacy organisation based in Canberra.
Ralph Blair is an American psychotherapist and founder of The Homosexual Community Counseling Center in New York City. In 1975, he founded Evangelicals Concerned, Inc., a U.S.-wide network of gay and lesbian evangelical Christians and friends.
Anthony Venn-Brown OAM is a former Australian evangelist in the Assemblies of God now and an author whose book, A Life of Unlearning describes his experience in Australia's first ex-gay program. He is also the Co-founder and previous Convenor of Freedom 2b which is a network for GLBTIQ people from Evangelical backgrounds. He is also the founder and CEO of Ambassadors & Bridge Builders International (ABBI).
This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBT rights that took place in the 1970s.
Trevor Ashley is an Australian musical theatre actor, cabaret, and drag artist based in Sydney. He also has appeared on television in The Very Trevor Ashley Show.
The Australian Queer Archives (AQuA) is a community-based non-profit organisation committed to the collection, preservation and celebration of material reflecting the lives and experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex LGBTI Australians. It is located in Melbourne. The Archives was established as an initiative of the 4th National Homosexual Conference, Sydney, August 1978, drawing on the previous work of founding President Graham Carbery. Since its establishment the collection has grown to over 200,000 items, constituting the largest and most significant collection of material relating to LGBT Australians and the largest collection of LGBT material in Australia, and the most prominent research centre for gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans and intersex history 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.
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.
David McDiarmid (1952–1995) was an artist, designer and political activist, recognised for his prominent and sustained artistic engagement in issues relating to gay male identity and HIV/AIDS. He is also known for his involvement in the gay liberation movement of the early 1970s, when he was the first person arrested at a gay rights protest in Australia, as well as his artistic direction of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. From its inception, McDiarmid's art career encompassed, as both subject and inspiration, gay male sexuality, politics and urban subcultures. His creative techniques included: collage, painting, drawing, calligraphy, mosaic, installation, various forms of print-making, sculpture and artist's books. He was a graphic designer, designer and fabric painter for women's and men's fashion, and an artist and creative director for the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras street parades.
Mark Alsop is an Australian DJ and remixer. Alsop is one of the longest-continuous working DJs in Australia. He predominantly plays house music and tends to play at gay dance parties, bars and clubs. Specific genres played include electro house, progressive house, deep house, and vocal house as well as retro and soulful house tunes.
Wear it Purple Day is an annual LGBTIQA+ awareness day especially for young people, based in Australia. Supporters wear purple to celebrate diversity and young people from the LGBTIQA+ community.
Dayenu is an LGBTQ+ organisation based in Sydney, Australia. The word Dayenu means "enough" in Hebrew, and the group uses it to mean that they have had "enough" of homophobia.
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.
The 78ers are a group of LGBT activists who marched in the original Sydney Mardi Gras on 24 June 1978 and participated in the subsequent protests against police violence and the arrests of participants in the Mardi Gras. In 1997 a small group of people who were part of the 1978 events contributed to planning the commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Sydney Mardi Gras parade in 1998. This group became known as the 78ers and has led each year's Mardi Gras parade since 1998.
The Campaign Against Moral Persecution was an LGBT activism group. It was officially established on 6 February 1971, at the first public gathering of gay women and men in Australia, which took place in a church hall in Balmain, New South Wales.