Sexual citizenship in ‘the New Tasmania’

Beyond ‘safety’: teachers and school staff approaches to LGBTI-inclusion in Tasmanian schools

“…Despite growing awareness of LGBTI-inclusive education policy and teaching practices in Australia, to our knowledge no studies have investigated how Tasmanian school staff are supporting LGBTI students in schools or what teachers' needs are in creating and sustaining inclusive school environments. Tasmania was the final Australian state to decriminalise homosexuality in 1997 and prior to this, was known for having Australia's harshest penalties for cross-dressing and consensual sex acts between adult men (see Baird 2006). Subsequently, in the broader Australian cultural imaginary, Tasmania has long been positioned as an "unsafe" place to be LGBTI, especially for young people (see Croome 2013).…”

Queer, visible, present: the visibility of older LGB adults in long-term care environments

“…Within discussions of sexual citizenship and the clamour for equal rights and recognition, other authors have argued that too often lesbians and gay men are singularly represented as 'good citizens' in the pursuit of equal and civil rights (Richardson, 2000;Baird, 2006). This limited representation of what it means to be a socially responsible citizen relies heavily on heteronormative markers in which good gays and lesbians seek relationship equality (monogamous, long-term, two-people only), marital stability and potentially make good parents and caregivers.…”

Conjugality

“…The legal recognition and regulation of same-sex relationships is (outside the United States, at least) widespread and largely unremarkable. Thus while the Australian federal government might have moved to prevent the extension of certified marriage to gay and lesbian couples, every Australian state recognizes and regulates same-sex partnerships by one means or another (Morgan 2011;Baird 2006), and 85 federal laws and statutes have been amended so that same-sex couples are no longer disadvantaged (but cf. Johnson 2003).…”