1988 … and Rodney Croome is arrested.
1988 … and a Salamanca crowd protests the law.
The Permanent Salamanca tribute to 1988.
Thank you for this honour. While my name is on the citation, it is not only for me. It is for my ever loving mother, Bev, who is here tonight, and my late father, Peter, for my friend Richard who is also here, and all those friends who have helped me through the tough times, for all the passionate people I work with, and for all those Australians who aspire to a more inclusive nation.
Most of all it is for my partner, Raf, who can’t be here tonight, and whose immense love and generosity has enabled me to continue to do what I do.
26 years ago last week, on October 22nd 1988, my journey as an advocate for the LGBTI community began, after the Hobart City Council banned a Salamanca Market stall calling for the decriminalisation of homosexuality, and along with many others I was arrested in defence of that stall.
It was a frightening step for a middle class boy from Devonport, but I knew in my heart it was the right thing to do.
A quarter century later Tasmania and the nation have seen immense strides towards LGBTI equality.
Tasmania has gone from having the worst laws and attitudes towards sexual and gender minorities to having some of the best.
Across Australia, hatred and bigotry against LGBTI people have gone from being tolerated to having no legitimate place.
Few things speak more eloquently of this transformation than the fact that a man once arrested for defending LGBTI human rights is now honoured for it.
But there remains much to do.
Transgender and intersex people lack many of the basic rights other Australians take for granted. Men once arrested for being gay our burdened by criminal records that should be erased and apologised for.
Most of all, wherever I go around Australia I meet people who want the growing social acceptance of LGBTI folk to be reflected in marriage laws that celebrate love rather than entrench outdated attitudes.
I know that in this award these many Australians will find great encouragement.
To end, a word about and to my fellow finalists.
As Tasmanians we are close. I am familiar with the work of many of you and would have happily seen any one of you standing here instead of me.
I say this not out of false humility but because of what I think we have in common.
We are serious and passionate about the values we hold.
But because our community’s weave is tight we also do our best to understand, respect and work with those who do not always share these values.
This is hard and I know I often fail to show the patience I should. But in the quarter century I have advocated for LGBTI equality I have found the only way across the torrents of human conflict is to build a bridge.
We live in an age when dogmatism is mistaken for principle, shouting for persuasion and empathy for weakness.
I hope that, at its best, my work, and the work of the other Tasmanian finalists here tonight, shows there is a better way forward.
Thank you again for such a great honour.
• All the other winners … and Premier Will says. Comment there or below
