Violence in the Name of Equality: The Postal Survey on Same-Sex Marriage, LGBTQIA+ Activism and Legal Redemption

ABSTRACT

Violence has underpinned many of the laws relating to LGBTQIA+ people in Australia since colonisation, demarcating them as deviant and criminal and denying them access to the same rights as others. Since the 1970s, legal reforms have, as Robert Cover might describe it, demonstrated the redemptive quality of law in its response to LGBTQIA+ peoples’ commitment and activism over time. More recently, the legal definition of marriage was amended to include two people regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity, or sex characteristics. Whilst this legal achievement was widely celebrated, the postal survey on same-sex marriage that was conducted as a pre-requisite for legislative change, brought to the fore the continuing violence that LGBTQIA+ people suffer as a result of law even in moments of redemption. In this empirical paper, I draw on Robert Cover’s jurisprudential practices and bring these into relationship with the lived experiences of LGBTQIA+ people to both expose the nature of the violence experienced by LGBTQIA+ people during the postal survey and in the name of legal equality, and to frame LGBTQIA+ peoples’ legal activism as queer jurisprudence — to show how LGBTQIA+ people do create law and legal meaning through community action.

KEYWORDS:

• Queer
• Jurisprudence
• Legal Reform
• LGBTQIA, Postal Survey
• Marriage Equality
• Violence

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank all those I interviewed for their generosity, knowledge and expertise. I acknowledge my supervisors Ann Genovese and Beth Gaze for their support and guidance and thank Jane Covernton for her dedicated reading of my work. This paper has benefitted enormously from the comments and suggestions of the peer reviewers, and I thank them for their considered reading and constructive feedback. This research is supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Robert M Cover, ‘Foreword: Nomos and Narrative’ (1983) 97(1) Harvard Law Review 4, 60.

2 Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Act 2017 (Cth).

3 Cover, ‘Foreword: Nomos and Narrative’ (n 1) 34.

4 I define my use of the LGBTQIA+ acronym in the next section.

5 Cover, ‘Foreword: Nomos and Narrative’ (n 1) 60.

6 See for example texts that detail some of these legal achievements: Graham Willett, Living out Loud: A History of Gay and Lesbian Activism in Australia (Allen and Unwin 2000); Jenni Millbank, ‘Recognition of Lesbian and Gay Families in Australian Law - Part One: Couples’ (2006) 34(1) Federal Law Review 1; Jenni Millbank, ‘De Facto Relationships, Same-Sex and Surrogate Parents: Exploring the Scope and Effects of the 2008 Federal Relationship Reforms’ (2009) 23(3) Australian Journal of Family Law 1; Paula Gerber and Adiva Sifris, ‘The Wind of Change Is Blowing’ in Paula Gerber and Adiva Sifris (eds), Current Trends in the Regulation of Same-Sex Relationships (Fedeation Press 2010) 1; Adiva Sifris and Paula Gerber, ‘Same-Sex Marriage in Australia: A Battleground for Equality’ (2011) 25(2) Australian Journal of Family Law 96; Michael Kirby, ‘Homosexual Law Reform in the Commonwealth of Nations: An Impossible Dream?’ (2012) 36(2) Criminal Law Journal 76; Graham Willett and Yorick Smaal (eds), Intimacy, Violence and Activism: Gay and Lesbian Perspectives on Australasian History and Society (Monash University Publishing 2013); Mary Bernstein and Nancy A Naples, ‘Altared States: Legal Structuring and Relationship Recognition in the United States, Canada, and Australia’ (2015) 80(6) American Sociological Review 1226.

7 Wilkie v Commonwealth (2017) 263 CLR 487, 547 (Wilkie v Commonwealth).

8 I have previously written about my personal experience of the postal survey: Odette Mazel, ‘The Politics of Difference: Posting My “Vote” on Marriage Equality’ (2018) 43(1) Alternative Law Journal 4.

9 Cover, ‘Foreword: Nomos and Narrative’ (n 1) 4.

10 I articulate elsewhere the importance of reframing LGBTQIA+ legal activism that has been labelled as complicit rather than disruptive of the dominant legal discourse for its queer, complicating and transformative qualities and recognising it as queer jurisprudence: Odette Mazel, ‘Queer Jurisprudence: Reparative Practice in International Law’ (2022) 116 AJIL Unbound 10.

11 Whilst I outline these differing experiences in part, this is not the primary focus of this paper. For an examination of some of these issues see for example: Benjamin Hegarty and others, ‘Heterosexuality and Race in the Australian Same-Sex Marriage Postal Survey’ (2018) 33(97) Australian Feminist Studies 400.

12 Marriage Amendment Act 2004 (Cth) sch 1 item 1.

13 Couples Jac Tomlins and Sarah Nichols, and Jason and Adrian Tuazon McCheyne lodged an application in the Family Court seeking a declaration that their marriages were legally recognised: Jac Tomlins, ‘Why Exactly Did Howard Change the Marriage Act When He Did?’ (Jac Tomlins, 27 September 2016) <https://jacquitomlins.com/2016/09/27/why-exactly-did-howard-change-the-marriage-act-when-he-did/> accessed 27 October 2021.

14 Marriage Amendment Act 2004 (Cth) sch 1 item 3.

15 Shirleene Robinson and Alex Greenwich, Yes Yes Yes: Australia’s Journey to Marriage Equality (NewSouth Publishing 2018) 18.

16 Katherine M Franke, ‘The Politics of Same-Sex Marriage Politics’ (2006) 15 Columbia Journal of Gender and Law 236.

17 Some States and Territories had by that time legally recognised same-sex de facto partnerships, but there was no federal legislation.

18 Deirdre McKeown, ‘Chronology of Same-Sex Marriage Bills Introduced into the Federal Parliament: A Quick Guide’ (2018) 2017–18 Parliamentary Library Research Paper Series <http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/library/prspub/3921906/upload_binary/3921906.pdf> accessed 3 November 2021.

19 Malcolm Farr, ‘Labor Backs Same-Sex Marriage’ The Courier Mail (Brisbane, 3 December 2011) <www.couriermail.com.au/news/labor-backs-samesex-marriage/news-story/d0da9f94154a82ea724f204404f01219> accessed 3 November 2021.

20 Sally Rugg, How Powerful We Are: Behind the Scenes with One of Australia’s Leading Activists (Hachette Australia 2019) 23–32.

21 Andrea Carson, Shaun Ratcliff and Yannick Dufresne, ‘Public Opinion and Policy Responsiveness: The Case of Same-Sex Marriage in Australia’ (2018) 53(1) Australian Journal of Political Science 3, 3; Louise Richardson-Self, ‘Same-Sex Marriage and the “No” Campaign’ (2018) 9 Humanities Australia 32, 32.

22 See Millbank, ‘Recognition of Lesbian and Gay Families in Australian Law - Part One: Couples’ (n 6).

23 Sifris and Gerber (n 6).

24 Commonwealth v Australian Capital Territory (2013) 250 CLR 441.

25 The Court held that marriage was defined as ‘a consensual union formed between natural persons in accordance with legally prescribed requirements which is not only a union the law recognises as intended to endure and be terminable only in accordance with law but also a union to which the law accords a status affecting and defining mutual rights and obligations’: ibid [33].

26 Public polls showed a shift in support for same-sex marriage from 38% in 2004 to 62% in 2016: Richardson-Self (n 21) 32.

27 Daniel Hurst, ‘Same-Sex Marriage: Disappointment and Anger as Coalition Party Room Rejects Free Vote’ The Guardian (11 August 2015) <www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/aug/11/same-sex-marriage-coalition-party-room-rejects-free-vote-for-mps> accessed 3 November 2021.

28 The Marriage Equality Plebiscite Bill 2015 (Cth) was introduced in the Senate on 19 August 2015 but lapsed at the prorogation of the 44th Parliament, and the Plebiscite (Same-Sex Marriage) Bill 2016 (Cth) was introduced in the House of Representatives on 14 September 2016. This Bill passed the Lower House on 20 October 2016 but was defeated at the second reading stage in the Senate on 7 November 2016: see McKeown (n 18) 2.

29 Tom McIlroy, ‘Irish Gay Marriage Referendum Campaigner Warns Malcolm Turnbull and MPs against Plebiscite’ The Sydney Morning Herald (23 August 2016) <www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/irish-gay-marriage-referendum-campaigner-warns-malcolm-turnbull-and-mps-against-plebiscite-20160823-gqz0o8.html> accessed 14 October 2017; Ivan Hinton-Teoh, ‘Global Call to Parliament: Stop the Plebiscite’ (just.equal, 13 October 2016) <www.equal.org.au/92_068_citizens_called_on_parliament_to_stop_the_plebiscite> accessed 3 November 2021.

30 The Act allows money to be spent from the Consolidated Revenue Fund on ‘urgent’ or ‘unforeseen’ matters in the ordinary services of government: Appropriation Act (No 1) 2017-18 (Cth) s 10(1).

31 Wilkie v Commonwealth (n 7).

32 Of all eligible Australians, 79.5% expressed their view. All States and Territories recorded a majority Yes response and 133 of 150 Federal Electoral Divisions recorded a majority Yes response: Australian Bureau of Statistics, ‘Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey’ (15 November 2017) <www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/mf/1800.0> accessed 20 November 2021.

33 Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Act 2017 (Cth).

34 Robert M Cover, ‘Violence and the Word’ (1986) 95(8) Yale Law Journal 1601, 1601.

35 Queer research methods informed my approach. See for example: Kath Browne and Catherine J Nash (eds), Queer Methods and Methodologies: Intersecting Queer Theories and Social Science Research (Ashgate Publishing 2010); Travis SK Kong, Dan Mahoney and Ken Plummer, ‘Queering the Interview’ in James A Holstein and Jaber E Gubrium (eds), Handbook of Interview Research (SAGE Publications 2011); Hannah McCann, ‘Epistemology of the Subject: Queer Theory’s Challenge to Feminist Sociology’ (2016) 44(3/4) Women’s Studies Quarterly 224.

36 My thesis draws on the interviews I conducted, and the work of Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Michel Foucault and Robert Cover to frame the relationship between queer theory and the law as productive and generative, highlighting the queer sensibilities operating in the ways LGBTQIA+ people engage with law for transformative change. My work also owes a debt to, and builds on, the queer legal scholarship of those who have come before me, for example: Wayne Morgan, ‘Queer Law: Identity, Culture, Diversity, Law’ (1995) 5 Australasian Gay and Lesbian Law Journal 1; Carl F Stychin, Law’s Desire: Sexuality and the Limits of Justice (Routledge 1995); Francisco Valdes, ‘Afterword & Prologue: Queer Legal Theory’ (1995) 83 California Law Review 344; Brenda Cossman, ‘Sexuality, Queer Theory, and “Feminism After”: Reading and Rereading the Sexual Subject’ (2004) 49(4) McGill Law Journal 847; Aleardo Zanghellini, ‘Queer, Antinormativity, Counter-Normativity and Abjection’ (2009) 18(1) Griffith Law Review 1; Janet Halley, ‘A Tribute from Legal Studies to Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick: Introduction’ (2010) 33(1) Harvard Journal of Law and Gender 309; Robert Leckey and Kim Brooks (eds), Queer Theory: Law, Culture, Empire (Routledge 2010); Janet Halley and Andrew Parker (eds), After Sex? On Writing since Queer Theory (Duke University Press 2011); Chris Ashford, ‘Bareback Sex, Queer Legal Theory, and Evolving Socio-Legal Contexts’ (2015) 18(1/2) Sexualities 195; Ratna Kapur, Gender, Alterity and Human Rights: Freedom in a Fishbowl (Edward Elgar Publishing 2018); Dianne Otto (ed), Queering International Law: Possibilities, Alliances, Complicities, Risks (Routledge 2018); Brenda Cossman, ‘Queering Queer Legal Studies: An Unreconstructed Ode to Eve Sedgwick (and Others)’ (2019) 6(1) Critical Analysis of Law 23; Senthorun Sunil Raj, Feeling Queer Jurisprudence: Injury, Intimacy, Identity (Routledge 2020).

37 Ken Plummer, Telling Sexual Stories: Power, Change and Social Worlds (Routledge 1995); Ann Genovese, Shaun McVeigh and Peter D Rush, ‘Lives Lived with Law: An Introduction’ (2016) 20 Law Text Culture 1.

38 Cover, ‘Foreword: Nomos and Narrative’ (n 1).

39 It is outside of the scope of this paper to analyse in depth the differing or intersectional experiences, but it remains important that this range of views are represented.

40 Ethics approval was provided by the Human Research Ethics, Research Ethics and Integrity, University of Melbourne (Project number: 1853033.1).

41 In order to ensure that I properly reflected their experiences, a draft of this paper was circulated to participants with the opportunity for input and change before it was published.

42 Martha Minow, Michael Ryan and Austin Sarat (eds), Narrative, Violence, and the Law: The Essays of Robert Cover (University of Michigan Press 1992).

43 Martha Minow, ‘Introduction: Robert Cover and Law, Judging, and Violence’ in Martha Minow, Michael Ryan and Austin Sarat (eds), The Essays of Robert Cover (University of Michigan Press 1992) 1.

44 Stephen Wizner, ‘Repairing the World through Law: A Reflection on Robert Cover’s Social Activism’ (1996) 8(1) Cardozo Studies in Law and Literature 1, 2–5.

45 Cover, ‘Foreword: Nomos and Narrative’ (n 1) 4.

46 ibid 14.

47 ibid.

48 ibid 5.

49 Robert M Cover, Justice Accused: Antislavery and the Judicial Process (Yale University Press 1975) 28.

50 Minow (n 43) 9.

51 Cover, ‘Foreword: Nomos and Narrative’ (n 1) 7.

52 Cover, ‘Violence and the Word’ (n 34) 1629.

53 Robert M Cover, ‘The Folktales of Justice: Tales of Jurisdiction’ (1985) 14 Capital University Law Review 179, 182.

54 Robert M Cover, ‘The Bonds of Constitutional Interpretation: Of the Word, the Deed, and the Role’ (1986) 20(4) Georgia Law Review 815, 833.

55 Cover, ‘Violence and the Word’ (n 34) 1601.

56 Minow (n 43) 10; Shaun McVeigh, Peter Rush and Alison Young, ‘A Judgment Dwelling in Law: Violence and the Relations of Legal Thought’ in Austin Sarat (ed), Law, Violence, and the Possibility of Justice (Princeton University Press 2001) 105.

57 McVeigh, Rush and Young (n 56) 106.

58 Cover, ‘Foreword: Nomos and Narrative’ (n 1) 40.

59 Austin Sarat, ‘Robert Cover on Law and Violence’ in Martha Minow, Michael Ryan and Austin Sarat (eds), Narrative, Violence, and the Law: The Essays of Robert Cover (University of Michigan Press 1992) 257.

60 Cover, ‘Foreword: Nomos and Narrative’ (n 1) 68.

61 Minow (n 43) 10.

62 Cover, ‘Foreword: Nomos and Narrative’ (n 1) 33.

63 Cover, ‘The Folktales of Justice: Tales of Jurisdiction’ (n 53) 181.

64 ibid 182.

65 Cover, ‘Foreword: Nomos and Narrative’ (n 1) 40.

66 Judith Resnik, ‘Living Their Legal Commitments: Paideic Communities, Courts, and Robert Cover’ (2005) 17(1) Yale Journal of Law & the Humanities 17, 17.

67 Cover, ‘Foreword: Nomos and Narrative’ (n 1) 35.

68 Cover, ‘The Folktales of Justice: Tales of Jurisdiction’ (n 53) 182.

69 ibid.

70 Cover, ‘Foreword: Nomos and Narrative’ (n 1) 9.

71 ibid 7.

72 Cover, ‘Foreword: Nomos and Narrative’ (n 53) 5 n 7.

73 ibid 34.

74 Sarat (n 59) 256.

75 I also take inspiration from the jurisprudential work of Ann Genovese, Shaun McVeigh and Peter Rush, their articulation of ‘lives lived with law’, and their consideration of what methods are adequate ‘to the task of taking responsibility for legal thought and lawful relations as lived in Australia today’ including what ‘sources and forms of jurisprudence … condition and contour the conduct of’ lawful relations: Genovese, McVeigh and Rush (n 37) 1–2.

76 Cover, ‘Violence and the Word’ (n 34) 1601.

77 Cover, ‘Foreword: Nomos and Narrative’ (n 1) 50.

78 Interview with Péta Phelan (Carlton, Victoria, 17 April 2019).

79 McVeigh and others, reflecting on Cover, consider the obligations of law and humanities scholars to acknowledge the ‘relation of law to violence’ in their work: McVeigh, Rush and Young (n 56) 106.

80 Megan Palin, ‘Anti Same-Sex Marriage Campaign Airs: “School Told My Son He Could Wear a Dress”’ news.com.au (30 August 2017) <https://news.com.au/lifestyle/relationships/marriage/anti-same-sex-marriage-campaign-airs-school-told-my-son-he-could-wear-a-dress/news-story/535dcae290582136cb2445f3869ff820> accessed 22 November 2021.

81 Mo Abbas, ‘Australia Same-Sex Marriage Vote Spawns Toxic Debate’ NBC News (12 November 2017) <www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/australia-same-sex-marriage-vote-spawns-toxic-debate-n819666> accessed 14 April 2022.

82 Early in the campaign it was estimated that the No Campaign spent five times more on television advertising that the Yes Campaign: Paul Karp, ‘Marriage Equality Opponents Have Spent Five Times More on TV Ads, Analyst Says’ The Guardian (14 September 2017) <www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/sep/14/marriage-equality-opponents-have-spent-five-times-more-on-tv-ads-analyst-says> accessed 23 November 2021.

83 Essays on different experiences of the postal survey can be found in Quinn Eades and Son Vivienne (eds), Going Postal: More than ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ (The Lifted Brow 2018).

84 Adam Gartrell, ‘Mental Health Groups Sound Alarm over Dramatic Same-Sex Marriage Survey Spike’ The Age (17 September 2017) <http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/mental-health-groups-sound-alarm-over-dramatic-samesex-marriage-survey-spike-20170916-gyizra.html> accessed 26 November 2021; Saan Ecker and others, ‘Impact of the Australian Marriage Equality Postal Survey and Debate on Psychological Distress among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Queer/Questioning People and Allies’ (2019) 71(3) Australian Journal of Psychology 285.

85 Interview with Jax Jacki Brown (Carlton, Victoria, 29 July 2019).

86 Interview with Peter de Waal (Balmain, New South Wales, 5 June 2019).

87 Interview with Alison Wurm (Adelaide, South Australia, 25 June 2019).

88 Interview with Ro Allen (Melbourne, Victoria, 7 August 2019).

89 Interview with Dianne Otto (West Brunswick, Victoria, 28 May 2019).

90 Interview with Péta Phelan (n 78).

91 Interview with Judy Tang (Preston, Victoria, 12 June 2019).

92 Interview with Jax Jacki Brown (n 85).

93 Interview with Peter Waples-Crowe (Melbourne, Victoria, 18 April 2019).

94 Interview with Bonnie Hart (Wynnum, Queensland, 27 February 2020).

95 ibid.

96 Interview with Louise Pratt (Carlton, Victoria, 21 July 2019).

97 Interview with Janet Rice (Brunswick, Victoria, 9 July 2019).

98 ibid.

99 This title is a reference to Otto (n 36).

100 Cover, ‘Violence and the Word’ (n 34) 1629.

101 Interview with Sally Goldner (Carlton, Victoria, 16 August 2019). See also Hegarty and others (n 11); Amy Thomas, Hannah McCann and Geraldine Fela, ‘“In This House We Believe in Fairness and Kindness”: Post-Liberation Politics in Australia’s Same-Sex Marriage Postal Survey’ (2020) 23(4) Sexualities 475.

102 Interview with Nevo Zisin (Northcote, Victoria, 16 July 2019).

103 ibid.

104 Interview with Felicity Marlowe (Carlton, Victoria, 12 August 2019).

105 Interview with Ro Allen (n 88).

106 Cover, ‘Violence and the Word’ (n 34) 1605.

107 Cover, ‘Foreword: Nomos and Narrative’ (n 1) 34.

108 Interview with Alyena Mohumadally (Written Submission, Victoria, 14 June 2019).

109 Interview with Ro Allen (n 88).

110 Interview with Todd Fernando (Carlton, Victoria, 3 April 2019).

111 Interview with Dianne Otto (n 89).

112 Interview with Lee Carnie (Melbourne, Victoria, 10 July 2019).

113 Interview with Louise Pratt (n 96).

114 The Act came into effect on 9 December 2017: Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Act 2017 (Cth).

115 Anna Henderson, ‘Same-Sex Marriage: This Is Everyone Who Didn't Vote to Support the Bill’ ABC News (8 December 2017) <www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-08/same-sex-marriage-who-didnt-vote/9240584> accessed 2 May 2022.

116 Interview with Margherita Coppolino (Seddon, Victoria, 8 August 2019).

117 Interview with Judy Tang (n 91).

118 Interview with Péta Phelan (n 78).

119 ibid.

120 Interview with Todd Fernando (n 110).

121 Interview with Ro Allen (n 88).

122 Interview with Sally Goldner (n 101).

123 Interview with Lee Carnie (n 112).

124 See for example Lisa Duggan, The Twilight of Equality?: Neoliberalism, Cultural Politics, and the Attack on Democracy (Beacon Press 2003); Jasbir K Puar, Terrorist Assemblages: Homonationalism in Queer Times (Duke University Press 2007); Katherine Franke, Wedlocked: The Perils of Marriage Equality (New York University Press 2015).

125 Interview with Peter Waples-Crowe (n 93).

126 Cover, ‘The Folktales of Justice: Tales of Jurisdiction’ (n 53) 182.

127 Cover, ‘Foreword: Nomos and Narrative’ (n 1).

128 Minow (n 43) 8.

129 Interview with Todd Fernando (n 110).

130 Interview with Jax Jacki Brown (n 85).

131 Interview with Tiffany Jones (Macquarie Park, New South Wales, 30 April 2019).

132 Interview with Rodney Croome (Conducted by telephone, Croome in Tasmania, 16 April 2019).

133 ibid.

134 ibid.

135 ibid.

136 Interview with Sally Goldner (n 101).

137 Interview with Nur Warsame (South Yarra, Victoria, 5 July 2019).

138 Cover, ‘Foreword: Nomos and Narrative’ (n 1) 33.

139 Interview with Louise Pratt (n 96).

140 Interview with Janet Rice (n 97).

141 ibid.

142 Interview with Lee Carnie (n 112).

143 Interview with Jax Jacki Brown (n 85).

144 ibid.

145 Interview with Nevo Zisin (n 102).

146 ibid.

147 Interview with Norrie (Waterloo, New South Wales, 22 August 2019).

148 Cover, ‘Foreword: Nomos and Narrative’ (n 1) 7.

149 Interview with Felicity Marlowe (n 104).

150 Human Rights Law Centre, ‘Australia Now Has Adoption Equality’ (20 April 2018) <www.hrlc.org.au/news/2018/4/20/australia-now-has-adoption-equality> accessed 1 June 2022.

151 April McLennan, ‘Unconverted’ ABC News (17 May 2022) <www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-17/conversion-therapy-in-australia-calls-for-ban/101041368> accessed 1 June 2022.

152 For example, Human Rights Law Centre, ‘NT Government formally apologises to those convicted under unjust gay sex laws’ (8 May 2018) <www.hrlc.org.au/news/2018/5/7/nt-govt-to-formally-apologise-for-unjust-gay-sex-laws?rq=expungement> accessed 1 June 2022.

153 Alexandra Humphries and Ellen Coulter, ‘Tasmania makes gender optional on birth certificates after Liberal crosses floor’ ABC News (10 April 2019) <www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-10/birth-certificate-gender-laws-pass-in-tasmania/10989170> accessed 1 June 2022.

154 Re Kelvin (2017) 327 FLR 15.

155 Heath Parkes-Upton, ‘New Australian Blood Donation Rules for Gay Men Don’t Go Far Enough, Advocates Say’ news.com.au (31 January 2021) <www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/health-problems/new-australian-blood-donation-rules-for-gay-men-dont-go-far-enough-advocates-say/news-story/c1d771e5f50ab22e2864d39e133d4b09> accessed 1 June 2022.

156 Shibu Thomas, ‘Religious Schools in Victoria will not be able to Sack or Refuse to Hire LGBT Staff from Today’ Star Observer (14 June 2022) <www.starobserver.com.au/news/religious-schools-in-victoria-will-not-be-able-to-sack-or-refuse-to-hire-lgbt-staff-from-today/213784> accessed 15 June 2022.

157 Interview with Tiffany Jones (n 131).

158 Francisco Valdes, ‘Sex and Race in Queer Legal Culture: Ruminations on Identities and Inter-Connectivities’ (1995) 5(1) Southern California Review of Law and Women’s Studies 25; Ian Barnard, ‘Queer Race’ (1999) 9(2) Social Semiotics 199; Aeyal Gross, ‘Post/Colonial Queer Globalisation and International Human Rights: Images of LGBT Rights’ (2013) 4(2) Jindal Global Law Review 98; Dino Hodge, Colouring the Rainbow: Blak Queer and Trans Perspectives (Wakefield Press 2015); Hegarty and others (n 11); Thomas, McCann and Fela (n 101); Madeleine Clark, ‘Indigenous Subjectivity in Australia: Are We Queer?’ (2015) 1(1) Journal of Global Indigeneity <https://ro.uow.edu.au/jgi/vol1/iss1/7/> accessed 11 June 2022; Ruth P McNair, ‘Multiple Identities and Their Intersections with Queer Health and Wellbeing’ (2017) 38(4) Journal of Intercultural Studies 443.

159 Interview with Nur Warsame (n 137).

160 Cover, ‘The Folktales of Justice: Tales of Jurisdiction’ (n 53) 182.

161 Cover, ‘Violence and the Word’ (n 34) 1604.

162 Cover, ‘Foreword: Nomos and Narrative’ (n 1) 9.

163 Cover, ‘The Folktales of Justice: Tales of Jurisdiction’ (n 53) 181.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Odette Mazel

Odette Mazel (she/her) is a PhD candidate at the Melbourne Law School and Senior Research Fellow for the Poche Centre for Indigenous Health, The University of Melbourne. Her research focuses on the lived experience of LGBTQIA+ people and Indigenous peoples and the ways in which to queer and decolonise social, cultural and legal encounters. Her work draws on decolonial, feminist and queer theories. For a recent publication see: O Mazel, ‘Queer Jurisprudence: Reparative Practice in International Law’ (2022) 116 American Journal of International Law Unbound 10. https://doi.org/10.1017/aju.2021.69.