Get Your Pap Girls – Although Victoria has one of the highest rates of pap screen testing in the country, recent research has revealed that a third of women there are still not having regular tests. The situation is worsened for lesbians due to the widespread misconception that lesbians do not need to be tested. PapScreen Victoria has reaffirmed its commitment to overturning this misconception and has urged all women, regardless of their sexual practices to have regular two-yearly tests in its new Don’t Just Sit There mass advertising campaign. Pap screens are the only test that can pick up early changes that may signal cervical cancer.
Extra Pride – There will be extra cause for celebration during WA’s Pride festival this month as the state celebrates the 5th anniversary of the proclamation of lesbian and gay law reforms. The reforms were passed after a protracted and often difficult debate in Parliament and subsequently led to WA having some of the most progressive laws in the country. Rainbow Labor in conjunction with the Diverse Sexuality and Gender Network will host a commemorative event at the Court Hotel on October 22nd.
GLAMA – A new media group, the Gay and Lesbian Australian Media Alliance (GLAMA) has been forged and comprises Australia’s major independent gay and lesbian publishing houses – OUTinPerth, Blaze (Adelaide), bnews (Melbourne), QNews (Brisbane), Sydney Star Observer (Sydney) and LOTL (national). Scott Abrahams, editor of the Sydney Star Observer, said in Qnews that the move comes out of a motivation to improve support and services for the community. The alliance also means that participating organisations will effectively have access to writers and photographers from across the country, thus increasing the scope and quality of news available and providing opportunity for career development for those working in the field.
IVF Lawsuit – A lesbian couple has made news headlines around the country after suing the doctor who performed their IVF treatment. The couple decided just minutes before their implantation procedure that they only wanted to receive one embryo in order to minimise their risk of multiple births. However, two embryos were implanted by mistake and the couple subsequently gave birth to twin girls. The couple are suing for the costs associated with raising one of the two girls. The case has sparked outraged responses from some sectors. The women involved, however, state that their case and the response has exposed a double standard by which gay and lesbian couples are expected to be grateful for having access to the same services as heterosexual couples, regardless of the outcome. The case will be decided later in October.
Lone Ranger – Minister for Environment and Water Resources Malcolm Turnbull, whose electorate comprises the particularly ‘pink’ inner city Sydney suburbs of Darlinghurst, Paddington and Potts Point, has assured his electorate that he will fight to see ‘justice done’ and discrimination against same sex couples removed. His commitment makes him a lone voice in Federal Cabinet publicly supporting gay rights.
Unethical Sanitation – The Federal Court has found a sanitation solutions company – Citrofresh International – guilty of misleading conduct over its claims to have found a way to stop the spread of HIV and other diseases. The company claimed to have a product that could control the spread of HIV in September 2005, causing a massive rise in its share price. Two of its Directors made hundreds of thousands of dollars in profits from the market before the company’s claims were proven unfounded and its share price plummeted.ÂÂ
A Marry Dilemma – A transsexual woman has been handed a blow in her challenge to the current legal requirements in the state of Victoria that a transsexual person must be unmarried (or else divorce) before they can have their legal sex corrected. Similar requirements exist in all states across Australia, based on the federal ban against same-sex marriage. The woman went to the court on the grounds that she was being discriminated against on the basis of her marital status and because she is a woman. Her case was dismissed by a Federal Court Judge and then again by a panel of appeal.
