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Drought breakers UNI’S ANNUAL REPORT
Photograph Julie Sim
PAGE 9
After 21 long years, Moe finally won on Sale Oval last Saturday.The Lion’s victory maintained their unbeaten start to the 2023 season. FULL STORY - PAGE 27
Yes to inclusivity
By ZAIDA GLIBANOVIC
LOUD applause rang around the gallery at the Gippsland Performing Arts Centre as Latrobe City Council endorsed its support for the LGBTIQA+ community in the latest council meeting on Monday, May 1. Councillor Tracie Lund championed the motion for council to release a public statement regarding the council’s commitment to including trans and gender-diverse people in the region and opposing transphobia and trans-misogyny. The motion also notes existing local initiatives that support people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender diverse, intersex, queer and/or questioning. Council stated they would support the Gippsland Pride Festival, which provides a safe and welcoming place for trans and gender people in the community. This comes after Latrobe City
Councillor Melissa Ferguson received extensive criticism for her Twitter posts earlier this month, with some Twitter users labelling some of her comments as hate speech and transphobic. Gippsland Pride Initiative took to Facebook to condemn recent comments made by a Latrobe City Council official, stating they were “reprehensible, harmful, hatefully ignorant and worse still, factually incorrect”. The motion also noted strategic objective 3.8 of the ‘Living Well Latrobe’ plan to ensure that council recognises and values the rights and social needs of the LGBTIQA+ community, which aims to address discrimination and access to council services and events. The motion also allows council officers to make and present a report to council based on the recommendations of both local and state reports, including the state government LGBTQ+ strategy and the Rainbow Brick Road Report. The Rainbow Brick Road report was an
academic study done by those in the local community led by the Gippsland Pride initiative. The report will be released on International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT) day on Wednesday, May, 17. Cr Lund raised this motion to support the Latrobe Valley’s diverse community with cheers from supporters of the Gippsland Pride Initiative attending the meeting. She described how her daughter felt “powerless” and “overwhelmed” by the discrimination she witnessed. “We know our friends and family in that community who are already facing considerable challenges throughout their life and suffer significantly higher rates of self-harm, depression and suicide than the rest of our community,” she said. “I note the disgusting and cowardly behaviour that we saw on the steps of the Victorian Parliament on the 18th of March this year. I note it has caused a great deal of distress and sadness to
our community, and frankly, it has no place in our community. “Data from the Victorian Agency of Health information shows that five per cent of Latrobe residents identify as LGBTIQA+, close to 4000 residents.” In her speech, Cr Lund commended on the work the Gippsland Pride initiative does in supporting the LGBTIQA+ community. “As councillors and leaders in our community, we have a responsibility to support everyone, and we should never be neutral when situations of injustice arise,” she said. Cr Bradley Law, Cr Graeme Middlemiss and the Deputy Mayor, Cr Dan Clancey, all spoke in favour of Cr Lund’s motion, despite opposition arguments from Cr Dale Harriman based on the motion’s wording which he argued would result in unintended consequences.
NEGOTIATIONS CONTINUE PAGE 20
FEVOLUTION IN ROSEDALE
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