NSWGLRL CALLS ON YOU TO ENROL FOR EQUALITY
The NSW Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby (NSWGLRL) today welcomed the decision of the Australian Senate to reject – again – the Federal Government’s plebiscite proposal.
NSW GLRL Archive & Advocacy
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The NSW Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby (GLRL) has stood at the forefront of advocacy, legal reform, and social justice across New South Wales since 1988. Our active campaigns and historical archive document vital struggles and milestone achievements in anti-discrimination protections, relationship recognition, adoption equality, hate crime reporting, and the expungement of historical homosexual convictions.
Through evidence-based policy submissions, direct parliamentary lobbying, public awareness initiatives, and grassroots community organizing, GLRL champions systemic equality for lesbians, gay men, and diverse rainbow families throughout the state. We continue to monitor state and federal legislation, publish timely press statements, and empower community members to participate directly in democratic decision-making.
Key Advocacy Milestones & Policy Tracker
A comparative overview of ongoing legislative reform campaigns and achieved benchmarks led by the NSW GLRL.
| Focus Area | Legislative Objective | Key Status | Impact & Reach |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anti-Discrimination Reform | Closing religious exemptions in the NSW Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 | Active Lobbying | Statewide workplace and institutional protection |
| Historical Convictions | Expungement scheme for historical consensual gay offences | Passed into Law | Restoring justice and erasing historical criminal records |
| Adoption & Parenting | Equal adoption rights and birth certificate recognition for same-sex parents | Passed into Law | Legal certainty and equality for rainbow families |
| Safe Schools & Education | Targeted anti-bullying programs and LGBTI student protection policies | Ongoing Advocacy | Safe, inclusive educational environments statewide |
Frequently Asked Questions & Archive Insights
What is the primary role and mission of the NSW GLRL?
The NSW Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby (GLRL) is a volunteer-driven advocacy organization established in 1988 to advance legislative reform, social equity, and full human rights for gay men, lesbians, and rainbow families throughout New South Wales.
How are press releases and statements preserved in this archive?
Every published submission, press release, and official community bulletin produced by the GLRL has been digitized and cataloged to ensure public transparency, civic education, and permanent historical access.
How can community members engage with current law reform campaigns?
You can participate by writing to your local NSW Member of Parliament, contributing personal testimonies to inquiry submissions, and joining GLRL working groups focused on discrimination and family equality.
Archive Articles & Dispatches
But Convenor of the NSWGLRL, Lauren Foy, warned that the path ahead for marriage equality supporters will require even greater energy, passion and persistence than their efforts up to now.
“We unequivocally condemn the idea of using a non-compulsory postal survey vote – a postal ‘plebiscite’ – especially when it has no power to compel MPs to vote according to the result.
“But we acknowledge a postal vote could still become reality, depending on the success of the High Court challenge announced yesterday,” Ms Foy said.
She continued, “we strongly urge members of the community to make sure your enrolment and residential address is up to date with the Australian Electoral Commission by visiting their website – and to do this NOW before the enrolment period closes.”
“You won’t receive your voting form in the mail unless you update your enrolment.”
“We hope that a postal vote doesn’t go ahead but if it does we want to make sure the community is ready. A postal vote campaign will need all of our energy and passion to bring the nation with us on the journey to equality.”
Ms Foy then criticised the remarkable precedent being set by the proposed postal survey, and the failure of politicians to protect the law-making traditions and institutions of Australia.
“The current Government says the 1977 national anthem poll is a precedent for a postal plebiscite – but it’s abundantly clear this proposal is a new low in more than one hundred years of law-making in Australia.
“Subjecting the legal and civil rights of a minority group to a national opinion poll is in no way comparable to changing our national anthem,” she said.
Ms Foy said the careless destruction of the law-making traditions and institutions of Australia represents a clear and present danger to social cohesion in a diverse modern Australia.
“If a government, without blinking, can propose a multimillion dollar plebiscite on the civil rights of the LGBTI community, then what’s to stop us from holding a plebiscite or postal survey on freedom of religious expression? Or on which migrants can enter Australia? Or on the salaries of politicians?
“If this wasn’t about gay rights then have no doubt – there would be more politicians and loud- mouthed commentators speaking out against this idea, especially those who claim they defend our institutions and traditions,” Ms Foy stated.
“A multimillion dollar straw poll on the legal and civil rights of a minority is unprecedented and stomach-turning – and this situation is so twisted that marriage equality advocates are fighting harder to keep our law-making traditions than some outspoken conservatives.
“The High Court ruled the only way this can be resolved is in the Parliament, and that’s where this debate should rightfully be held,” Ms Foy concluded.
NSWGLRL welcomes the release of the Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Bill 2017
The NSW Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby (NSWGLRL) welcomes this Bill and its attempt to find a compromise proposal the current Parliament can support. This reform to the Marriage Act is long overdue and much too important to be delayed any longer.
NSW Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby takes your heart to Canberra
The NSW Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby will create a giant sea of hearts outside Parliament House on Tuesday 8 August 2017, with each heart containing a message of support of same-sex marriage collected over a decade of campaigning.
Germany shows Australia a way forward
Germany’s parliament has shown Australians how to break the deadlock of our current same sex marriage debate – by holding a swift parliamentary conscience vote.
We farewell a veteran volunteer
The New South Wales Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby today thanked Chris Pycroft for six years of volunteer service including 18 months as Male Co-Convenor.
Like our new look? The GLRL website is changing – big time
It’s been a long time coming but finally we’ve done something about the look and feel of the NSW Gay and Lesbian Rights Group website. What do you think?
We’re closer than ever to making marriage equality a reality
There’s mood for change, political consensus on both sides of the aisle, dozens of community groups are in agreement about the framework of legislation.
We’ve won the plebiscite battle… but the fight isn’t over
Today’s decision by the federal Labor party room to not support legislation allowing a divisive, costly and unnecessary plebiscite on marriage equality is a win for common sense and community welfare, the New South Wales Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby says.