ࡱ> 132` 5bjbjss . 54444444 h,dffffff$hy*444 44dd44 >7  d0F404Lh6, hhh, hhh, H$l444444 Dear HREOC, It is with great enthusiasm that I forward my submission for the National Inquiry into Discrimination against People in Same Sex Relationships: Financial and Work-Related Entitlements and Benefits. I am a 21 year old student studying public relations at [name removed] [an Australian university]. I am a gay male in a same-sex relationship and not living with my partner. I believe that to achieve full legal equality, all Federal legislation should have terms such as; 'spouse'; 'partner'; 'dependent'; 'family' and 'couple', re-defined to include same sex partners and where relevant, their children. It is in my view that any proactive (and quite frankly, long overdue) changes to the Commonwealth legal recognition of same-sex relationships, would significantly improve my standard of living through positive impacts on my relationship with the greater community. I am still young and in no rush to formalise my relationship, however, I strongly believe that it is a human right I should be entitled to uptake. Living in a developed nation such as Australia, I find it hard to fathom that blatant discrimination still occurs within our borders (and not just in the recognition of relationships, but additionally in financial windfalls for couples.) I was raised on the foundations that we all had access to basic human rights, that the laws would treat us equally and well if we abide them, and that we lived within a diverse democratic society. What I found out when I came out was shocking. Same-sex couples could not marry, register their relationship status or receive the basic rights that other couples had! Some of our leaders like to resist change, making statements such as Australia is not ready to accept same-sex couples and gay people do not want to commit to each other. All heterosexual people are entitled to recognise any relationship they have and receive financial benefits and respect. This should have always been made available to same-sex couples. If the government will not recognise same-sex couples, then the benefits that heterosexual couples receive should be made available to everyone. While I support the earlier changes to equalise superannuation benefits for same sex couples, this did not recognise them as genuine partners, instead likening them to close friends. Furthermore I find it offensive that one of the only places in which same-sex couples are recognised in federal law is in the area of terrorism. Should a gay man or woman find themselves accused of a terrorist act, then they have the right to phone their same-sex partner. What kind of message is this portraying to our impressionable youth that same-sex couples are only recognised in negative circumstances? As a young person I have experienced the loss of a close gay friend through suicide. He had suffered excruciating difficulties with an unsupportive family and lived in a community where sexuality is still treated as taboo. Discrimination against same-sex couples in our laws, cultivates the negative attitudes towards gay and lesbian people that we too often see within society. It is not permissible for this discrimination to continue. To allow our laws to remain unchanged is in effect condoning discrimination and hate crimes towards the gay community. While I currently am not planning to be dealing with buying properties, living with my partner or retiring, I have enough foresight to know that these issues will directly affect me in the near future, and that my rights as an honest member of society, are not being reflected in the law. Yours sincerely Grant Goodwin  5 45h. h5rCJOJQJ^JaJh. CJOJQJ^JaJ   k l w x ijhi %dhgd. dhgd. 5%&45dhgd. ,1h. A!"#$% @@@ NormalCJ_HaJmH sH tH DAD Default Paragraph FontRiR  Table Normal4 l4a (k(No ListDZ@D . Plain TextCJOJQJ^JaJHH u Balloon TextCJOJQJ^JaJ5  "& "&h5 klwx ijhi %&47r Br Br  r Br  r Br  r Br r Br Zr  r  r Zr Br Jbr Zr Br  r Jbr Br μr Br r Br Br Br Br Br  klwx ijhi %&47000000000000000000000000000000 klwx ijhi %&47h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h00Q5 %5 5X TY ,Z Ԇ[ \ d22&7;;37B*urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttagscountry-region9*urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttagsState9*urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttagsplace 77 54477b^,}u5rCS. F}C@95`@UnknownGz Times New Roman5Symbol3& z Arial?5 z Courier New5& zaTahoma"hҦ&Ҧ&L @L @!r4d!!2X)?. 2Oh+'0d   , 8DLT\ Normal.dot4Microsoft Office Word@F#@w@wL ՜.+,0 px  @!  Title  !"#%&'()*+.Root Entry F>701TableWordDocument. SummaryInformation(DocumentSummaryInformation8$CompObjq  FMicrosoft Office Word Document MSWordDocWord.Document.89qRoot Entry F <ɘ51TableWordDocument. SummaryInformation(  !"#4DocumentSummaryInformation8pCompObjq  FMicrosoft Office Word Document MSWordDocWord.Document.89q՜.+,D՜.+,< px  @!  Title4 $,