ࡱ> 132` bjbjss .> & uh>>>>>>>>$hE*>>>>>>>/> >>>r4T>2 )HRE0uo"oo<>>>>>>> >>>u>>>>$$$& As a gay man I have encountered discrimination on a number of fronts over the years, but would like to focus on just four key (but related) areas which I think are important: Stamp Duty Exemption in NSW I was in a relationship with a man for 3 years and during our time together we purchased a property jointly. When we separated, one option was for me to buy out my ex partner's share of the property. However to my dismay I learnt that I would have pay stamp duty on the transfer of the 50% share, after we had paid stamp duty initially of many thousands of dollars. If we where heterosexual, we would have been able to have claimed an exemption from this on the grounds that it was due to a relationship break up. This is in the NSW Stamps Duty Act. Adoption I have over the years enquired about adopting a child, as I think this would be option I would like to entertain if I was ever in a long term, serious relationship again. However I have found that it is impossible for gay men to even be considered for adoption, regardless of income, character or seriousness of their relationships. Most of the organisations in Australia that actually are licensed to deal with adoptions, especially for children from overseas, are run by religious organisations which take a dim view of same sex relationships. Furthermore there are no legal avenues to challenge them. Marriage Not all gay men want to get married or feel that it is an appropriate institution for them. However I think most gay men would feel that we should at least be given the option. I myself would like to get married one day. I believe that marriage would provide a number of benefits including: * The option for gay men to state publicly in front of their friends, family and loved ones their commitment. I believe that this will over time lead to a stronger emphasis on solid, longer term relationships in the gay community which will also flow on to better overall satisfaction, mental health and less drug and alcohol problems. Many personal and inter-personal problems in gay men arise from years living as children and teenagers in families, schools and general culture where we feel second best, or feel we have to pretend to be something we are not to avoid being rejected. By the time many gay men as adults have come to accept their sexuality and have the personal strength to face the world honestly, much damage has been done psychologically. The formative years in which heterosexuals are learning to have relationships are lost for gay men who instead deal with family acceptance, and self-acceptance. As a result gay men often reach adult hood missing such emotional development and spend many years catching up. * Reduce the amount of violence and discrimination that gay men suffer by showing that we have the same rights as everyone else. * Access to tax benefits such as claiming dependant spouse rebates where one partner may be of a low income. * Gay men would then be able to nominate their partners as spouses under superannuation law rather than relying on the more ambiguous definition of interdependency under current superannuation regulations. * Be used as a tool for allowing adoption by clearly showing the importance, commitment and stability of the relationship. Family Tax Benefit The Family Tax benefit system is a tax redistribution system designed to overtax taxpayers who do not have children, and subsidise those who do. Many heterosexual working families on average to above average incomes pay little or no tax as a result of this appalling form of sex based welfare. If they can't afford to have children in the first place then why should other tax payers support them? Gay men, barred from adoption, have no option but to continue paying high levels of tax for the rest of their working lives to support other workers on similar or higher incomes to not pay tax at all. Frank Gomez [Details removed]   f n " hRh}hRhRhV5\ hRhV   f o # & Fdd[$\$gdV & Fdd[$\$gdV & Fdd[$\$gdV & Fdd[$\$gdVgdV ,1h. 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