Homophobia: has anything changed?
By Pip Hinman
At the first organised street protest in defence of gay and lesbian rights 20 years ago, the police arrested 53 people. At this year's mardi gras in Sydney on February 28, the NSW police force is an official contingent (although, following arch-conservative Fred Nile's protests, those marching will not be paid). Times have changed, or have they?
Despite amendments to the NSW anti-discrimination law to outlaw vilification against gays, lesbians and transgendered people, homophobia is still actively promoted by our "leaders". For example, deputy PM Tim Fischer says gays and lesbians should be "tolerated", but that doesn't mean they should be allowed to "promote" their "lifestyle".
What Fischer and others of his ilk are really worried about is the threat to the straight-jacketed sex roles in the father-knows-best style family. As a result of this officially sanctioned prejudice, gays and lesbians still face widespread social and legal discrimination. There is widespread concern among gay and lesbian rights activists that many youth suicides are related to the enormous difficulties of coming out and living in a homophobic world.
It is little wonder that many gays and lesbians live in fear of homophobic violence, whether physical or verbal. According to the Lesbian and Gay Anti-Violence Project (AVP), which since 1990 has been running education and consciousness-raising campaigns to reduce such crimes, hate-related violence is "endemic" to this society.
The summer edition of Lifesafer states that in 1997 the AVP received more than 250 reports of violence or requests for information about victims' services. This is similar to previous years' figures. Statistics show that most of the reports of violence come from gay men (60%), with 35% reported by lesbians. Some 40% reported physical violence, and 60% verbal abuse or attempted assault. Most of the reports came from inner-city Sydney, with only 38% from outer metropolitan or regional areas.
By far the majority of perpetrators were men (94%), and of these, 65% were aged between 16 and 25 and 20% were 26 to 30.
These figures paint a disturbing picture. The fact that hundreds and thousands of people attend and participate in the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade is testimony to the widespread belief in, and reaffirmation of, sexual tolerance. Yet, the AVP's figures show that young people are likely to be the least tolerant.
This is backed up another AVP survey. According to the Count & Counter Report: A Study into Hate Related Violence Against Lesbians and Gays (1994) by Gary Fox, which covered two periods (eight months in 1991-1992 and 12 months in 1992-1993), the majority of assailants were males aged between 19 and 25 and in most cases the crime was committed by groups of between two and five people.
In both periods, the majority of survivors were physically attacked, most often with weapons which were close at hand (stones, bottles etc.). Between 50-56% of survivors were aged between 25 and 39, and the majority lived in inner city Sydney.
Backing up previous AVP data, the larger the number of assailants, the younger they were likely to be. All the incidents involving assailants under 19 were group attacks. Some 81% of survivors believed that the reason for the attack was because they were gay or lesbian. Only about half of the survivors reported the incident to the police.
Activists believe that at least some of the hate-related violent crime perpetrated by youth can be attributed to young people's alienation, and to despair at coming to terms with their own sexuality — heterosexual or homosexual. Unemployment, family break down and a fear of contracting sexually transmissible diseases together make up an explosive and complex cocktail, and is a problem that will never be solved by putting more police on the streets.
The AVP is about to launch another campaign to tackle homophobia among youth, this time with a special focus on indigenous youth.
The "1998 Homophobia: What Are You Scared Of" campaign, to be launched a month before the official week which runs from May 11-17 in Sydney, Newcastle, Wollongong, Dubbo and Lismore, will include shopping centre displays, concerts, theatre performances, poster competitions, workshops and training sessions. According to Grant, the campaign has set a target of involving 40% of the state's high schools. If you'd like more information or want to become involved, ring AVP on (02) 9369 6687 or 1800 637 360.