The Sunday Times - "Gay dads' agony: Adoption battle still in limbo, three years on" by Trevor Paddenburg

A GAY couple, the first to be given approval to adopt a child in WA, are still waiting to become parents.
The male couple were given approval by the Department for Community Development in 2003. Three years later, their dream of becoming parents is in limbo.

The two gay men are among 112 couples on a waiting list to adopt a child in WA. Most wait an average of two years for a child, according to the department.

The couple were the first to be approved in WA under controversial laws passed in 2002, which allow same-sex couples to adopt children if they can convince authorities they would make suitable parents. It is the same criteria used for heterosexual couples.

But WA's laws also give relinquishing parents a say in who the new parents will be – meaning the gay couple may never be accepted.

The couple cannot adopt an overseas child because no other country accepts applications from same-sex couples.

The issue has polarised politicians and the community since The Sunday Times last year revealed the couple had been given approval to adopt.

Australian Family Association WA president John Barich said allowing the couple to adopt was an "obscene" social experiment. He was glad the couple were still on a waiting list.

"We don't know how these kids are going to grow up and we're not entitled to impose that on a child – it's a social experiment," Mr Barich said. "Kids need a mum and a dad. That's the natural way.

"There are so many heterosexual couples who are desperate for a child to adopt, and instead, we're going to give a child to two gays or two lesbians. It's just weird. It doesn't make any sense."

Former Opposition leader Matt Birney also disapproves, saying it was disappointing, disturbing and against a child's best interests.

Greens MP Giz Watson, a lesbian whose partner of 17 years has three children, said critics of gay adoption were out of touch.

She was disappointed the couple had not yet been given a child because sexuality had no bearing on being a good parent.

[Link: Original Article]

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Sydney Star Observer -"Listening With His Heart" By Ian Gould

COMING OUT AS A MARRIED FATHER OF TWO IN NEW ZEALAND GUIDED CHRIS WILSON TO THE ROLE OF TRAINING AND VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR AT THE GAY AND LESBIAN COUNSELLING SERVICE OF NSW.

I knew I was gay when I was 13 but decided to ignore it and hoped it would go away. I was married for about nine years and we ended the marriage because I was going to come out.

I don’t regret a moment of my time in the marriage – it was often very happy – but what I began to realise when I was 35 or 36 was that I just wasn’t happy inside. It was something that wasn’t going to go away.

I had to choose between going on anti-depressants and staying in the marriage, or changing. I came out about 11 years ago. I was 36 at the time. I don’t regret the decision: I regret the hurt that it has caused, but not the decision.

Obviously it was a big shock for my family. They have all been very supportive, but it took a while for everyone to adjust, especially my ex-wife. We have built a really positive relationship since then.

As for breaking it to my kids, the realisation that something had to happen helped me. You don’t stop loving the kids, and you have to make clear to them that the separation isn’t due to them.

Honesty got me through coming out and afterwards. I never hid anything from my children. I didn’t pretend that the partners I was with were anything but who they were.

Another thing that helped me out was that my father is gay too. That encouraged me, because he went through a pretty hard time. He was 55 when he came out and had been married to my mother for about 25 years.

When he came out homosexuality was still illegal in New Zealand, and that affects the way you presume you are. You have still got to hide behind excuses and white lies. It was never mentioned. It was just that he moved away and started flatting with guys.

It was difficult for him, but he is happy now. He is in his 80s and his present partner gets on well with my family. Thirty years have gone by, and there’s a lot more acceptance.

When I came out, Mum was okay: she didn’t want to lose her son. But she didn’t ask me about my partners. She would ask about my ex-wife or about my brother’s life, but she wouldn’t ask about mine.

As time went on, she did ask, and she met a few of my partners. She seemed to have a growing understanding and acceptance. Dad of course accepted me, although he was totally surprised.

After I came out in Christchurch I started a gay fathers’ group. It ran for about two years and it was quite successful. I then moved to Sydney in 1998 because I wanted to change my lifestyle.

I decided to come and work over here with the view of getting a counselling qualification and seeing where that took me. Also, Dad lives in NSW, so I had that support.

I wasn’t a counsellor before I arrived. I had worked all my career with Air New Zealand. I got a job with Air New Zealand in Australia. Then I worked part-time for the Australian College of Applied Psychology while I was studying there.

As part of a fieldwork placement I joined the Gay and Lesbian Counselling Service and after that I continued there as a volunteer. Before GLCS, the only counselling-type work I had done was the gay fathers’ group and a short course in Christchurch.

From there I just became involved in one of the coming-out groups and, as part of the student placement, I gave a couple of presentations in training.

I ended up on the GLCS board and then took up a training and volunteer role, which I have been doing for about the last three years.

I have been working with the GLCS since 2001 and I have been the training and volunteer coordinator since July 2004.

I was drawn to the service because I wanted to give back to the community. Also, having been married and had kids, I can see the situation from both sides.

We have about 45 active volunteers, who we try to get to do a shift a fortnight. The calls we get here range from coming out to relationship and drug and alcohol problems.

The nicest call for me to take is one where you feel as though the caller feels one way and, at the end of the call, they feel relieved and have a pathway to go on.

The most challenging is when we get suicidal callers, and we just have to sit with the caller when they are feeling black and low.

But again, it is rewarding when you have some sense at the end of the call that you have helped them gain some stability.

Callers can help you reassess your values. One of the things we like to do is suspend our values judgment when we are taking a call.

But often callers discuss values that may trigger something for us, and you do learn from callers. You get a broader experience of life from their experience.

Interview by Ian Gould

[Link: Original Article]

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The Age - "Rainbow Connection" by Jennifer Cook

Jennifer Cook visits a place where gay mums can share stories and hopes.

THEY'VE trundled down Fitzroy Street in St Kilda before - mums, dads and their children - their numbers growing amid the placards and feather boas. And at this year's gay Pride march, behind a "Rainbow Playgroup" banner, they received some of the loudest cheers.

It has been almost a decade since Fairplay playgroup in Fairfield was set up, but it has almost iconic status in Melbourne's gay and lesbian community.

Fairplay secretary Tracey Cocks says it is a place same-sex families come to share their stories and allow their children to see other families like theirs.

"We have become an umbrella organisation for the majority of kids attending gay or lesbian playgroups," she says. "We now represent playgroups in East Bentleigh, Williamstown, Thornbury, two in Fairfield, a group for gay dads and for single mums."

Ms Cocks joined the Fairplay group shortly after the birth of her daughter five years ago. "When we first had our daughter we were living in Coburg and I joined a local mothers' group as well as the Fairplay group," she said.

"The women in my local mothers' group were all in their mid-20s, married, with first babies. Although we were very different in terms of our life experiences, they were fantastic.

"When we left that playgroup one of the mums said to me 'before I met you I really didn't think lesbians should have children but I realise how wrong I was, so thank you' - it was very moving."

Ms Cocks and her partner joined Fairplay to share and discuss their experiences with other same-sex families.

"Some women have conceived using a non-identified donor, some through the Victorian IVF system, others have used donors who have been happy to have their identity released and to have contact with the children," she says.

"Still others have conceived through a heterosexual or a gay friend. I also know of three cases where a lesbian mum and a gay father are living together raising a child.

"Our family includes two gay dads who have regular contact so our daughter has two mums and two dads, which makes birthdays crazy affairs."

Ms Cocks recalled her reaction when Prime Minister John Howard said every child was entitled to have a mother and a father. "I thought at the time that he must love us because our daughter has two of each," she laughed.

"I do remember a child of a single mother at my daughter's kinder saying it wasn't fair because my daughter had two dads and she didn't."

Ms Cocks says she was concerned about her child facing bullying at school, citing a 2004 Melbourne study by Dr Ruth McNair. It found that just under half of children in years 3 to 6 who had gay parents had been bullied because of their family difference.

"This concerned and saddened me. I think in the inner-city suburbs people are coping quite well with different family types," she says. "But the reality is that not everyone is financially able to live in the inner city or, like us, send their child to a private school."

Sam Walsh and her partner Jenny Clark have two daughters, 22-month-old Greta and nine-month-old Hester. They live in Regent, a suburb bordering Preston and Reservoir.

Like Ms Cocks, Ms Walsh went along to the Fairfield playgroup to show her daughters there are other types of families like theirs.

From that playgroup she and some other mums started their own "Rainbow Connection" playgroup at Thornbury, which has 15 families with children ranging from five weeks to four years of age.

"It was really nice to have other children running around calling out 'mummy' and 'mama'," Ms Walsh says.

She says that she isn't concerned about her children being bullied because of their parents' sexuality.

"We don't really have those concerns because Jen, being a teacher, knows how those issues can be handled," she says. "Jen is a prep teacher at Moonee Ponds Central primary school and we have friends who have kids at Mill Park primary and both communities have been very accepting.

"Because Jen knows how great the state system can be, we are both keen to send our children to public schools. We like the idea of our kids growing up living near their friends.

"We are just like any other parents, we want to raise well-adjusted kids who, with whatever they have to face in life, they can cope with it."

Paras Christou and Annie Stephens are parents of 22-month-old Marlow and also members of the Rainbow Connection playgroup.

"I heard about the Rainbow Connection playgroup through friends and called Sam - after talking to her I couldn't wait to come along. As soon as I walked in the door, it was instantly welcoming and I was really happy I made the effort."

Ms Christou says she is usually the one answering questions about her family, adding it was great to hear the stories of other women.

"Annie and I agree that we are so comfortable with who we are that we don't need to make a big fuss - we don't need to fly a banner," Ms Christou says.

"We are comfortable to exist in a gay community and also live in a wider community. We know we can provide a home with an abundance of love and security - hopefully for Marlow being a same-sex family won't be an issue.

"We want him to know that it is OK to be different."

Inquiries for Fairplay playgroups contact Tracey Cocks on 0427 811 186


[Link: Original Article]

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Sydney Star Observer - "Gay Dads Put Family First" by Ian Gould

A COMMUNITY INFORMATION NIGHT WILL LOOK AT HOW GAY MEN CAN BECOME FATHERS AND WHAT BEING A GAY DAD IS REALLY LIKE.

When Dominic Gili set up the Gay Dads NSW group last year, his main aim was to provide a social outlet for other gay fathers.

But as the group grew to include about 60 gay fathers and intending dads, its scope moved beyond dinners and picnics.

“I’m getting a lot of emails from men who are looking to be fathers but they don’t know how to go about it,” Gili told Sydney Star Observer.

“They’ve just been asking a lot of questions that I can’t personally answer.”

In response, Gili, himself a father of two children whom he co-parents with two mothers, is organising Gay Dads NSW’s first information night on 3 April.

The evening will include two expert speakers and two gay fathers, who will share their parenting experiences.

“I included two of the men in the group who have children, one via surrogacy and one via co-parenting, so it’s listening to personal accounts,” Gili said.

Providing expert advice will be Paul Boers, a family law solicitor, and volunteer at the Inner City Legal Centre in Darlinghurst.

Boers will discuss the options for gay men wanting to start a family and provide information on who can be a legal parent and how to acquire legal parental responsibility.

Dr Kim Bergman, co-owner of US surrogacy agency Growing Generations and co-chair of US LGBT parenting advocacy group Family Pride Coalition, will also talk about how gay men can become fathers through surrogacy.

Gili is hoping for a strong turnout next month after an impressive response to the Gay Dads NSW stall at Fair Day last month.

“At Fair Day we had a stall near Kidzone and we must have got a list of about 30 guys interested in joining us,” he said.

Gay Dads NSW plans to hold similar information nights every three months.

“The interest seems to be growing, I think, as the word is going out,” Gili said.

The Gay Dads NSW information night is on Monday 3 April from 6:45pm to 9pm at the Twenty10 office, 43 Bedford St, Newtown. All are welcome and admission is free. RSVP by 27 March to info@gaydadsnsw.com.au.

[Link: Original Article]

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Watts McCray - "Is surrogacy an option for gay men wanting to be fathers in Australia?" by Jenni Millbank

A couple of years ago there was a documentary on SBS about two gay men from Melbourne who had a baby through a surrogacy arrangement in the US. It caused a big splash, but there hasn’t been that much information on surrogacy within Australia since then, even though the ACT has recently changed its laws to make surrogacy simpler (and specifically identified gay couples as eligible) and Victoria is currently considering surrogacy reforms. This article outlines some of the general issues for gay men considering parenthood through surrogacy, but anyone considering a surrogacy arrangement should get detailed legal advice on their plans before they begin.

The first thing to note is that surrogacy arrangements are just that -arrangements, not contracts. It is not possible to enter into a binding surrogacy agreement anywhere in Australia, or to enforce an agreement that has broken down. Any dispute about the child will be determined by the child’s best interests, not by the terms of an agreement.

Most Australian states prohibit payment for surrogacy (“commercial” surrogacy), advertising for a surrogate or facilitating a surrogacy agreement (eg through an agency). Even the ACT, which allows non-commercial surrogacy and has groundbreaking new laws allowing for parental status to be transferred from the birth mother to the commissioning parents, bans any form of advertising for a surrogacy arrangement. So in most of Australia, surrogacy arrangements have to be privately arranged and involve no fee or payment (although in some places the cost of medical expenses is allowed).

NSW is unusual because it does not currently have legislation on surrogacy. At the moment it is not illegal to advertise for or enter into either a commercial or non-commercial surrogacy agreement that takes place in NSW- but note that advertising in other states, or conceiving elsewhere, or even having an agreement with a surrogate who usually lives in another state, may still be an offence in those places.

Since 2003 the NSW government has had a law in draft form (the Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill 2003) but it is not clear if it will be introduced. Even if this Bill did become law,it would only prohibit commercial surrogacy and advertising for commercial surrogacy in NSW.Non-commercial agreements would remain legal in NSW, as would advertising for them. This means that NSW is the most permissive of all Australian jurisdictions, and is likely to remain so even if the law changes.

Surrogacy may take place with the birth mother’s own egg (sometimes called “partial surrogacy”) or with a donor egg so that the birth mother is not the genetic mother (“full surrogacy”). Either way, the birth mother is still a legal mother.

If the conception is going to take place with a donor egg, then IVF is needed.This means two hurdles: finding an accessible fertility service, and a woman who will donate an egg in addition to finding a woman who will be a surrogate.

It is prohibited in all Australian states to pay an egg donor, although it is acceptable to cover medical expenses. It is legal to advertise for an egg donor in NSW (although note again it is an offence is some other states).

In most states, it is not possible to use fertility services to undertake a surrogacy arrangement, either because surrogacy is banned or because of laws limiting access to fertility services on the basis of clinical infertility (meaning the birth mother would need to have a fertility problem, defeating the purpose). The exceptions once again are the ACT and NSW, where it may be possible to access privately run fertility services even if not clinically infertile. But if classified as fertile, the parties would be ineligible for Medicare benefits – meaning that the cost per IVF cycle would be around $10,000. (If the birth mother were to be the genetic mother and a fertility service was only used for donor insemination rather than IVF the cost would be around $1800 per cycle.)

All states still require a sperm donor to sign a “lifestyle declaration”. Declaring that you have had male-male sex in the past 5 years may mean that the service refuses to use your sperm, or that they require additional storage time and repeat testing. This is up to the clinical judgement of each service, so is unpredictable.

Once a child is born, there is the further issue of parental status. Legally, the parents of any child born through assisted conception, whether surrogacy or otherwise, are the birth mother and her partner (in the ACT this includes a female partner). A commissioning parent, even if a biological father, is not a legal parent.

In the ACT the new surrogacy provisions allow for birth parent and commissioning parents to apply to the ACTSupreme Court for a change of parental status from the birth parents to the commissioning parents. These can be used by gay men, but only if: the commissioning parents live in the ACT, the child was conceived through IVF carried out in the ACT, the birth mother is not the genetic mother (ie full surrogacy and not partial surrogacy), at least one of the commissioning parents is a genetic parent, the birth mother and her partner both consent, and the baby is between 6 weeks and 6 months at the time of the application. So far the ACT is the only jurisdiction in Australia to introduce such provisions, but Victoria is considering something similar.

It is not possible to use adoption orders in NSW to gain parental status, because privately arranged adoptions are not permitted, and in any case same-sex couples are not eligible to jointly adopt.

But a lack of automatic parental status does not mean that commissioning parents have no rights or no way of gaining parental rights. Any person concerned with the care, welfare and development of a child can apply to the Family Court for orders; they do not need to be a legal or biological parent. It is possible for commissioning parents to apply to the Family Court for parental responsibility orders (these grant the right to make major decisions about the child, such as medical care, applying for a passport and so on) and for residence or contact orders. It is not exactly the same as parental status, for example it doesn’t flow through to areas such as inheritance, but it does say who is the person or people responsible for the care of the child and in charge of what happens to them until they turn 18. Such orders can also remove parental responsibility from the birth mother and her partner. Such orders can be applied for with the consent of all parties in a relatively simple process. The Family Court has made these orders in favour of gay men in recent years, including men who had a child from surrogacy arrangements made overseas. Importantly, these orders granted equal rights to the biological and non-biological father in a gay couple.

The upshot: surrogacy in Australia is very difficult and widely prohibited. The ACT and NSW are the most conducive to surrogacy arrangements, but prospective commissioning parents need considerable resources, would need to be very careful not to break the laws of their own and other states, and should consider obtaining parenting orders shortly after birth to formalise their legal status.

[Link: Original Article]

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Sydney Star Observer - "My Life With Christopher" by Barry McKay

BEING A SINGLE PARENT CAN HAVE MANY DRAWBACKS BUT FOR DAVID JONES IT HAS BEEN A SINGULAR BLESSING.

I have always been comfortable with being gay, but felt there was always something missing. I’d always had a very strong paternal instinct that confused me. I didn’t know whether it was a goal that would ever be achieved. It was a part of me that I felt I couldn’t express in a gay relationship – something was missing. I devoted myself to working with children with disabilities for about 15 years, but my work didn’t fulfil that need either.

I did have a few relationships that lasted a few years, and after travelling overseas, I returned to live in the Blue Mountains. I met my son Christopher’s mother in the workplace. She knew that I was gay, we talked a lot and became good friends. I told her that I would like to have a child. She was divorced and wanted to have another child, and being the modern woman she was, she thought that it was a perfect opportunity to have a “family” that was non-stereotypical. She agreed to help me. As we were both in our mid-30s, we took fertility vitamins to increase the chances of conception. She fell pregnant almost instantaneously. We were quite shocked.

We discussed arrangements before Christopher was born: we agreed it was in the best interests of the child that he’d always be share-cared, he’d have a home with dad and he’d have a home with mum. Initially I was able to take more time off work to look after the baby. Nurses from the hospital and Christopher’s mother gave me crash courses in what to do and she’d ring me quite often.

I would want Christopher in the best clothes and I would be taking photos of him all the time. I’d be changing his entire outfit several times a day, so during the times Christopher was with his mum, I’d be kept busy washing all of his things. It felt like that was never going to end.

Christopher is just such a happy balanced boy now. He’s got two worlds: he’s got a mum that loves him and a dad that loves him, his home with mum, and his world with me, and all of his things at my house. Both his mum and I have our own lives – his mum is more career-driven than I am. We respect each other and she has a very positive perception of gay men in general. We both give Christopher as much time as we can. We don’t have to live in each other’s pockets either.

Christopher is quite a gentle little spirit. He loves his dad, he wants to be with me constantly, which I find very rewarding. You can’t think of yourself all of the time, and you know whatever you’re doing is out of love. You have to remember that having a child is for life. You have to sacrifice your time. Being constantly available for Christopher makes it hard for me to date guys. Ideally I would like to be in a relationship. A potential partner would have to accept the responsibilities that I have.

As a gay father, you tend to be under more scrutiny with some people. A common attitude people hold is whatever mistakes your child makes, it’s your fault. A few people have said, “Your child will turn out gay because of you,” which is very narrow-minded, considering most gay people are brought up by heterosexuals. Probably the majority of negativity comes from some gay men, attitudes like “leave it to the breeders”. It’s just not the way the world is any more. I was quite surprised to hear things like that. Although I know that some people do hold the opinion that gay dads might want to molest their kids, I’ve never had anyone express that to me personally. Drawing such a conclusion about gay people and pedophilia makes me rather sick. It’s quite a harsh judgment. I don’t worry about Christopher being teased at school because he has a gay father. He’s already pretty big for his boots at this age.

I’ve read about situations where gay men have wanted to have children and paid a woman to be a surrogate mother and, after she had the child, instinct kicked in, she wanted to keep the child, and the father didn’t have much of a leg to stand on. So, I’ve been lucky. It depends on the motivation of the couple and of the mother. If the motivation is money, then straight away I would say “no”. I think lesbians “shopping for sperm” among their close gay friends is good, because they want the child to know its father. A gay couple needs to know someone who would mother the child for the right reasons and to keep in mind that having a child is for life. It’s bigger than marriage – it’s forever. You can’t just walk away from it.

Interview by Barry McKay

[Link: Original Article]

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The Age - "Call to teach same-sex issues" by Cathy Anderson

Educators want a national schools program tackling gay issues. By Cathy Anderson.

A CONFERENCE at Deakin University has called for a compulsory national schools education program on same-sex issues to help prevent homophobic abuse and curb discrimination.

The Schooling and Sexualities Ten Years On conference heard that many gay students continued to suffer isolation, abuse and suicidal tendencies, owing in part to the fractured policies on same-sex education in schools.

Research presented also revealed many gay teachers were forced to live dual lives for fear of discrimination from colleagues, parents and students.

About 100 academics, policymakers and teachers from Australia, New Zealand and the US attended the three-day event earlier this month. It was organised to assess the progress made since a pioneering conference was held 10 years ago at Deakin to address the need for same-sex issues to be taught in Australian schools.

The "reunion" conference heard many government and independent schools were largely conservative.

A panel from Melbourne and regional Victoria of gay students, and one student who has a gay parent, told the conference inadequate programs had left some of them feeling depressed and suicidal.

Yvonne, a year 12 student from Sale, spoke of how she was ostracised by her classmates through most of high school, bullied in front of teachers who turned a blind eye, and denied access to sexual health information specific to lesbians.

She said that by 16 she was suicidal. She also received very little familial support, with her mother telling her "not to come home" after Yvonne revealed she was gay.

Several other students who spoke at the conference experienced similar emotional torment, depression and loneliness. All the students said there was little or no educational policy regarding sexuality at their schools, and information about gay support groups was non-existent.

All agreed they would have benefited from such programs, and said increased education about same-sex attracted youth would probably have diminished the levels of homophobia they encountered.

Many presenters believed the problem was an absence of a national, compulsory program and the unwillingness of principals, politicians and parents to allow same-sex issues to be formally raised in schools.

While the conference presenters discussed resources, such as the national Talking Sexual Health program developed by La Trobe University and various state programs such as Shine in South Australia, schools were not obligated to adopt them.

"Many schools are still very homophobic," said conference joint co-ordinator Dr Lisa Hunter, a lecturer in the school of education and professional studies at Queensland's Griffith University.

"Parents can be a main influence as to whether diverse sexualities are liveable and whether exploration is demonised or ignored."

Dr Hunter said supportive and informed teachers and parents were vital if young people were to have a positive schooling experience.

"Politicians and organisations from the Christian right often block programs. The moment you put the word 'sex' in a school program, you are shooting yourself in the foot. Even states with mandatory curriculums, it's not necessarily carried out and it's still on a school-by-school basis."

Conference attendees also heard how gay teachers were often unable to help gay students because they feared being outed and discriminated against. The recent case, revealed in Education, of a Melbourne University student teacher removed from her position after she told her students she was gay was cited as an example.

Tania Ferfolja, school of education lecturer at the University of Western Sydney, shared her research on lesbian secondary teachers in government schools in NSW. She told the conference most of the women were fearful of coming out and often led double lives.

Ms Ferfolja said the rise of neo-conservative politics had a huge effect on attitudes in schools. Policies such as the ban on gay marriage, IVF access for lesbians and the adverse reaction to ABC TV's Play School episode featuring two lesbian parents, contributed to a reluctance of gay teachers to be out at school.

Conference joint co-ordinator Dr Maria Pallotta-Chiarolli said the event had some very positive outcomes. She said sex education had made improvements over the past 10 years but there was still a lot of work left to do.

"Programs are slowly getting into schools, but we need to find a way to mandate their inclusion," Dr Pallotta-Chiarolli, a senior lecturer at Deakin, said. "Schools have an inherent heterosexuality, which is supported by a lack of equity in law and the use of language such as 'phase' and 'choosing a lifestyle'. That's the sort of attitude we need to change."

Following the conference, researchers, academics, family planning groups and teachers pledged to build stronger networks to decrease the level of homophobia in schools and provide more support for gay and lesbian students and teachers.

One initiative is to create an international centre on sexuality and health classes. It will be set up and headed by US-based gay and lesbian education policy pioneer Professor James T. Sears (who was the keynote speaker and conference facilitator), with committee representatives from Australia, New Zealand, Asia and the South Pacific. The centre will collect and disseminate information about same-sex programs in the US and Australasian region and co-ordinate research grants.

Other conference initiatives were:

· An Australian website and national publication to be launched.

· Two forums will be held in Queensland with the education department to address homophobia in schools, policy changes needed and implementation across the state.

[Link: Original Article]

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