Where next after marriage equality?

You are invited to attend a special event hosted by the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society (ARCSHS) at La Trobe University.

Featuring a keynote address by the Hon. Michael Kirby AC CMG, as he explores the challenges still facing the LGBTI community.

While the Marriage Law Postal Survey outcome was successful, the battle was hard fought and only begins to tackle the varied inequalities faced by this population.

This event will be followed by a VIP cocktail reception from 6.00pm, held in the same location.

Speakers

Distinguished Ambassador for ARCSHS, renowned jurist and former Australian High Court Judge, the Hon. Michael Kirby AC CMG, has been at the cutting edge of legal reform and intellectual inquiry for decades and has forged an international reputation as a powerful and articulate orator.

Justice Kirby will be joined by a panel of experts in law, public health and policy who will present their ideas on the impact of marriage equality on LGBTIQ populations and outline what they see as the challenges that still lie ahead.

Panellists

Bobuq Sayed is a writer, multidisciplinary artist, public speaker and community organiser of the Afghan diaspora. They co-edit Archer Magazine, Australia’s leading queer journal on sex, gender and identity, and they are the founder of activist collective Colour Tongues, which fosters community for people living at the intersections of marginality.

Brenda Appleton retired in 2009 after 35 years working in the corporate sector and is now heavily involved volunteering with a wide range of community groups, including the LGBTI communities in Melbourne (for nearly 20 years). She is the Chair of TGV and is co-chair of LGBTI Taskforce set up by the Victorian Government. Brenda is also a member of the Victorian Elder Abuse Roundtable and a member of the last Victorian Mental Health Expert Taskforce. Brenda is passionate about using her lived experience in an effort to improve the health and wellbeing of trans and gender diverse people across Victoria. She was inducted onto the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in 2017.

Lee Carnie is a lawyer in the LGBTI Rights Unit at the Human Rights Law Centre and advocates to remove all laws which discriminate against LGBTI people. They have worked on strategic litigation, campaigns and advocacy for a range of equality law reforms across Australia, including the M106 High Court challenge to the marriage equality postal plebiscite, federal anti-discrimination protections, birth certificate reforms and the recent Re Kelvin test case on access to hormone treatment for transgender young people.

Adam Bourne is newly appointed Associate Professor of Public Health at the Australian Research Centre of Sex, Health & Society at La Trobe University. Adam takes a leading role in the development of research that examines the health and well-being of LGBTI populations, at both a domestic level and in an international context. He also maintains active involvement in HIV research among key populations and works on a number of projects in South East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa that examine how new HIV prevention and treatment technologies can work best for those who need them the most.

Master of Ceremonies

Liam Leonard is the Director of GLHV at the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health & Society. Liam is an academic, policy analyst and community advocate with over 20 years’ experience in the area of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex (GLBTI) health and wellbeing. He has developed and taught courses on sexuality and gender at RMIT and Monash Universities and has developed Commonwealth and State HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C and related diseases health education policy and programs. Liam has published widely in the area of GLBTI health and wellbeing policy and queer theory

The Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society (ARCSHS) is a world-leading centre of expertise in sexuality, health and the social dimensions of sex and human relationships. It conducts numerous large-scale studies of LGBTI health and wellbeing, HIV, sex education and sexual health.