Black + White + Pink
Wed, 10 Nov 1999 08:53:46 -0800
- please forgive any cross-posting - The Black+White+Pink consultation forum on the draft document of Reconciliation last week was a successful evening. Aden Ridgeway gave an interesting talk, and spent the whole of the evening at the event, relaxed and chatting to everyone there. This was the evening before he and John Howard spent the day together pushing the preamble, so we felt quite honoured that he felt able to spent some quiet time with us, sitting at the back, while the draft document discussions took place. He told a couple of funny stories.The one which helped me understand what was going on in Aden's head was a story about John Howard, and explains why Aden feels that he should be working with him. At a fund raiser for Bangara Dance Company, Howard managed to stun everyone present. He began his address by actually acknowledging the Traditional Owners, leaving the audience totally dumbfounded! Aden continued by reminding us that for someone as small minded and hard hearted as John Howard this is actually an enormous step forward, as compared to people who are more generous of spirit and warm hearted who may feel that the small steps that Howard takes are insignificant. Anyway...here is a report of the forum from the Sydney Star Observer (4th November). I have added the Black+White+Pink statement for Reconciliation as well as the URL's for some pix of the evening. Garry -------------------------------------------------------- Another 'seven generations' to achieve Reconciliation Brendan Bolger Former Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras president Bev Lange has been appointed to act as the lesbian and gay community representative on the State Reconciliation Committee. Lange's appointment comes at the same time members of the lesbian and gay community directly contributed to the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation's Draft Declaration for Reconciliation. The workshops were held on Tuesday evening at The Settlement in Chippendale attracting about 40 people, where Democrats Senator Aden Ridgeway addressed the gathering. Ridgeway said although the Council's terms of reference in achieving reconciliation expire next year he would net expect the desired results of Reconciliation to take hold for at least another "seven generations". The Reconciliation process has already been under way in Australia for almost a decade, he said. Black+White+Pink spokesperson Patrick McGee said the workshops arrived at a consensus that the draft document was not strong enough and there were inconsistencies with the facts. For example the statement: "We acknowledge this land was colonised without the consent of the original inhabitants" should reflect the truth that it was actually a war, he said. "The general consensus was to support the existence of a declaration but we felt it was net specific or strong enough," McGee said. State Reconciliation Committee manager Shelley Raes said the Black+White+Pink statement for Reconciliation was something she used in her work "all the time". "Part of my role is to encourage groups and organisations ... to adopt and commit themselves to the ethos of Reconciliation and make it a reality," she said. "And I often use the Black+White+Pink statement as a practice example to anyone, to say, if you're going to [get] somewhere, have a read of this, it's fantastic." B+P+W comprises more than a dozen lesbian and gay community organisations committed to achieving reconciliation with the nations indigenous people http://www.ipacific.net.au/~helczem/aav.jpg http://www.ipacific.net.au/~helczem/dd1.jpg http://www.ipacific.net.au/~helczem/dd2.jpg ---------------------------------------------- A statement of support from Sydney Gay & Lesbian community organisations Preamble The Australian Reconciliation Convention was held in Melbourne in May 1997. Extraordinary attacks have been directed at the Reconciliation process from all sectors of the Australian community. Representatives from several of Sydney's lesbian and gay community organisations met to discuss the Aboriginal Reconciliation process. We agreed that it was time for us to issue a statement in support of the Reconciliation process to present to the Reconciliation Convention. This statement is intended to be the beginning of a wider debate about the Reconciliation process in the lesbian and gay community. Statement of Support We affirm the essential nature of the Reconciliation process to the development of a truly civil society in Australia, which values diversity and the contribution of all its citizens, both now and into the future. We are proud to live in a nation with the oldest indigenous peoples in the world. We believe that non-indigenous Australians have a great deal to gain from Reconciliation by coming to terms with our collective past and valuing Aboriginal culture and history. We acknowledge the graciousness and patience shown by Aboriginal people and we seek to further Reconciliation by playing an active role in the process both within our own and the wider communities. We believe that Reconciliation is everyone's responsibility. True Reconciliation will not be achieved through a one-sided process in which indigenous people are expected to give way to others' interests and give up their rights in the interests of national 'harmony'. Non-indigenous Australians must acknowledge that Aboriginal people's human rights have been systematically eroded over the last 200 years. We believe that genuine Reconciliation will only be achieved when we acknowledge the truth about the often brutal nature of European settlement, acknowledge that it was an invasion resulting in the dispossession of Aboriginal people. This dispossession continues today through discrimination, disinheritance and the devastation resulting from past assimilation policies. We must be prepared to listen to Aboriginal people's points of view. We must recognise the special relationship that indigenous Australians have to the land; their grief occasioned by theft of their land and forced removals from their families. We must acknowledge the central nature of land rights to Aboriginal people's self-esteem. We oppose any explicit or implicit extinguishment of native title and the removal of the right to negotiate on land use. This is a form of discrimination against Aboriginal people: it removes rights from them which will continue to be held by all other title-holders. We believe that human rights are inalienable and indivisible and that the human rights of all Australians must be protected from extinguishment for reasons of convenience or certainty. We oppose any watering down of the Racial Discrimination Act. The Australia Day national holiday falls on 26 January, commemorating the arrival of the First Fleet and the beginnings of colonisation and dispossession. It is an impediment to the realisation of Reconciliation because Aboriginal people are excluded from celebrating national unity with other Australians. We believe that the holiday should be moved to another day of the year. What has all this got to do with the lesbian and gay community? Lesbians and gay men have been, and continue to be, on the receiving end of hatred and discrimination. We oppose all forms of bigotry and injustice and recognise the connections between them. Racism and the Reconciliation process are very much our business as there are gays and lesbians in all sectors of the community and all population groups, including the indigenous community. We acknowledge that racism exists within the lesbian and gay community and that indigenous gays and lesbians often feel alienated and unsupported by our community. We intend to work actively to change this by addressing Aboriginal issues and promoting indigenous visibility and leadership, by fostering debate and by developing Reconciliation strategies and responses within the lesbian and gay community. Bruce Grant Coordinator, Lesbian and Gay Anti-Violence Project Stevie Clayton, Simon Lloyd Co-Convenors, Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby Lynne O'Brien, Stephen Auburn Co-Presidents, PRIDE - Sydney Lesbian and Gay Community Centre Ross Bennett Coordinator, 2010 Lesbian and Gay Youth Services NEW SIGNATOREES JANUARY 1998 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Lesbians on the Loose Gaywaves Sydney Star Observer Town and Country MIA Gay and Lesbian Support Group Sydney Gay and Lesbian Choir The Feminist Bookshop Sydney Gay Games 2002 ------------------------------------------------------- RecOzNet2 has a page @ http://www.green.net.au/recoznet2 and is archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/ To unsubscribe from this list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED], and in the body of the message, include the words: unsubscribe announce or click here mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20announce This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." 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