今日吃瓜

ATTORNEY-General George Brandis has labelled those who abuse young LGBTI people as 鈥渨icked鈥� and said that urgent action needs to be taken to stamp out legally-permitted discrimination.

Speaking yesterday at , Brandis noted the current debate on marriage equality – leading some to speculate he may yet come out in favour of a conscience vote on the issue.

The Human Rights Commission鈥檚 (HRC) Resilient Individuals report found 72 per cent of LGBTI Australians had experienced violence, harassment or bullying due to their sexuality, gender identity or intersex status, 62 per cent had felt unable to come out in the workplace and one-in-four had been refused a service because they were LGBTI.

The report鈥檚 recommendations include harmonising state and territory anti-discrimination laws and abolishing the requirement for married couples to divorce when one partner transitions gender.

鈥淭he report reminds us how wicked it is to taunt, to embarrass, to abuse, to humiliate young people because of their sexuality and that is one of many of the areas which still need to be urgently addressed by our governments at the state and federal level,鈥� Brandis said.

Human Rights Commissioner Tim Wilson said one of the most common findings was that gay people wanted to feel safe enough to be able to hold hands in public.

鈥淭hat says a lot about people wanting to be visibly proud of who they are and just get on with their lives and build stable and enduring relationships,” he said.

Despite being personally in favour of marriage equality, and the alteration of the Marriage Act being a primary call of the report, Wilson said it too often dominated the conversation.

鈥淢arriage suffocates many other issues that affect LGBTI people and the point of this consultation is to give air and oxygen to these other issues鈥� that can have just as much of an impact on people鈥檚 day to day lives,” he said.

Brandis also acknowledged the report鈥檚 conclusion on marriage.

鈥淩ecommendation one is in relation the definition of marriage which as you know is not the policy of the government,” he said.

鈥淭he recommendations of the report also remind us that although there has been much discussion about the definition of marriage the question of discrimination is much wider than that.鈥�

Despite Brandis playing a key role in , Victorian Greens Senator Janet Rice said the fact he did not discount the issue in his comments suggested some possible movement.

鈥淢aybe it鈥檚 a sign that there is some shifting in the Liberal camp from people like George Brandis 鈥斅爓e can only hope,” she said.

Rice said she was 鈥渞eally pleased鈥� the report 鈥渇ramed marriage equality as a human rights issue” and having a Human Rights Commissioner say it was significant.

鈥淚nstitutional based discrimination gives licence to all other discrimination, that鈥檚 why it鈥檚 so important to get rid of it,” she said.

Sydney state independent MP and former Australian Marriage Equality national convenor聽 Alex Greenwich said the Liberal party continued to struggle internally with same-sex marriage.

鈥淚t would be great to see the Attorney-General come out in support of marriage equality but hopefully that time will come,” he said.

Queensland Labor Senator Claire Moore said the report was a 鈥済ood start鈥� and put 鈥済overnments on notice that people are talking about these things and they want change”.

Queensland was highlighted as the most laggard state in terms of LGBTI law reform.

It is the only state to have an unequal age of consent which, the reportsnoted, could lead young gay men to avoid sexual health services in fear they might be accused of breaking the law.

Moore said she would be writing to her聽state鈥檚 Attorney-General about the report.

鈥淲e鈥檝e got the proof now that people in Queensland are talking openly about these issues and want change,” she said.

Coogee聽state Liberal聽MP聽Bruce Notley-Smith said parliamentarians in other states shouldn鈥檛 delay in bringing in legislation.

鈥淵ou鈥檙e not going to scare the horses by addressing these issues and they can play a part in making the lives of many of their fellow Australians a whole lot easier,” he said.

Brandis was effusive with praise for Wilson, who he appointed, saying the report 鈥渄emonstrated how good a choice he was鈥� for commissioner.

However, he failed to specifically acknowledge the commission鈥檚 President Gillian Triggs despite her attending the launch.

Today, he had 鈥渓ost confidence鈥� in Triggs due to her comments on government policy.