{"id":50525,"date":"2017-02-22T18:00:47","date_gmt":"2017-02-22T23:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/global-voices-australia-kicks-off-with-diverse-lgbtiq-leaders-in-melbourne\/"},"modified":"2017-02-22T18:00:47","modified_gmt":"2017-02-22T23:00:47","slug":"global-voices-australia-kicks-off-with-diverse-lgbtiq-leaders-in-melbourne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/global-voices-australia-kicks-off-with-diverse-lgbtiq-leaders-in-melbourne\/","title":{"rendered":"Global Voices: Australia kicks off with diverse LGBTIQ leaders in Melbourne"},"content":{"rendered":"

Global Voices: Australia kicks off with diverse LGBTIQ leaders in Melbourne<\/b><\/p>\n

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Ross Murray<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The GLAAD Global Voices journey to Australia kicked off with a series of meetings and trainings to equip Melbourne\u2019s LGBTIQ leaders to advance acceptance and support for LGBTIQ people and laws that protect them. Ray Bradford, GLAAD\u2019s Director of Entertainment Media, and Ross Murray, Director of Programs, Global and US South, have\u00a0been listening to advocates talk about the issues facing LGBTIQ Australians, and in turn building an alliance between the various organizations in Australia and GLAAD.<\/p>\n

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One of the main pillars of GLAAD\u2019s activity in Australia was a training with 20 LGBTIQ leaders in Melbourne, representing\u00a0LGBTIQ advocacy in law, education, racial justice, business, labor, sports, immigration, refugees, transgender people, and politics. Attendees shared stories of successes and challenges, both in the state of Victoria and in the Australian Commonwealth\u00a0overall.<\/p>\n

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GLAAD discussed our programs and talked about how we work with the media to advance a worldview of LGBTIQ acceptance. Ray and Ross presented data from GLAAD\u2019s Accelerating Acceptance reports, outlined the import on LGBTIQ lives of fair, accurate and inclusive images and content in entertainment media, and provided\u00a0best practices for pitching stories to the media, training spokespeople, and collaborating with other organizations to accelerate acceptance and equality.<\/p>\n

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The training was organized by The Equality Project, an emerging organization to foster collaboration among the various LGBTIQ organizations in Australia. The Equality Project founder, Jason Tuazon-McCheyne has been a major host to GLAAD while in Melbourne, helping connect GLAAD\u2019s expertise in media advocacy with the on-the-ground leaders addressing various aspects related to Australia\u2019s LGBTIQ community.<\/p>\n

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Outside of the training, GLAAD met with Tim Wilson, a Member of Parliament and a former Human Rights Commissioner. GLAAD had consulted with Wilson last year, in anticipation of a possible public plebiscite, or referendum, on marriage equality. The plebiscite did not materialize, and Australia continues working toward marriage equality.<\/p>\n

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GLAAD also met with leaders\u00a0of Bisexual Alliance Victoria<\/a> and Transgender Victoria<\/a>, two organizations that work closely for visibility and protection of bisexual<\/a> and transgender people in the state. They discussed the need for medical care that treats bi<\/a> and trans<\/a> patients with respect, the adverse impact of\u00a0erasure within the overall community, as well as representation in the media. They were interested to adapt GLAAD\u2019s resources to help advance their work in Australia.<\/p>\n

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The Melbourne portion of the GLAAD Global Voices continues with an interview at JOY 94.9<\/a>, Australia\u2019s national LGBTIQ radio station, as well as a public panel alongside Australian LGBTIQ leaders. From there, GLAAD will head to Sydney to present at the Mardi Gras Gay and Lesbian Film Festival<\/a>, participating in public forums, on-stage panels, roundtable discussions,\u00a0and one-on-one meetings\u00a0with content creators and industry leaders to create more fair, accurate, and inclusive LGBTIQ representation.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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February 22, 2017<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Issues:\u00a0<\/div>\n