Tag: Youth suicide

A letter to Andrew Laming, MP for Bowman

Andrew Laming, MP for Bowman cares about youth mental health but if he votes against marriage equality he will exacerbate that problem.

From: Michael Barnett
Date: 8 August 2015 at 13:00
Subject: An urgent message about the mental health of youth in Bowman
To: Andrew Laming – MP for Bowman <andrew.laming.mp@aph.gov.au>

Dear Mr Laming

I’m writing to you regarding the issue of mental health in young people in your electorate of Bowman.

In your first speech to Parliament in November 2004 you spoke of wanting to help young Australians make a difference about the issues important to them:

Lastly, I want to engage young Australians. Our young Australians out there still do not have the faith in this parliament that I would love to see. How do I convince those young Australians that this political process is one in which they can have faith? How can I convince them that the issues that they want to talk about are ones where we can really make a difference?

You also spoke about knowing your limitations, about drawing from but not being a slave to your lived experience, and realising that celebrating diversity is something you value more than enforcing your ideology on others:

I am grounded by the humility of my limited knowledge. I hope I am guided, but never coloured, by my life experiences. I tell my story not to hammer some ideological stake in the ground but to celebrate the diversity of experiences that are here. Different backgrounds add to the breadth of this parliament…

I refer you to a statement on mental health on your web site claiming:

75% of all mental illness presents in people aged under 25, that’s why I’m so pleased to announce Capalaba is one of 15 locations across Australia that will get a new Headspace centre.

A further such statement on your web site claims:

Mental health is a topic I take very seriously, and for those interested we’ve just announced a new Headspace facility for Capalaba where youth can get early intervention and treatment for drug, alcohol and mental health issues. This kind of facility is the key to prevention and supporting our young people long before they’re rolling into emergency. It’s a passionate topic for many, and the majority of us have been touched by mental health in some way. Let’s work together to come up solutions and constructive feedback so we can support our young people.

It is evident that you not only care about giving young people opportunities, but that you care deeply about their mental health and well-being.  I am confident most people would align with you on these concerns.

What strikes me as a little odd is that whilst you are passionate about these issues, you appear to be lacking the necessary degree of commitment to stand by them.

There is ample evidence that young people who are marginalised and discriminated against due to their sexual orientation or gender identity have poorer mental health outcomes than their peers:

Same-sex attracted Australians are more likely to experience below-average health outcomes including higher levels of depression, due to this prejudice and discrimination. The statistics are particularly alarming for younger and newly-identifying LGBTI people who have consistently higher rates of drug and alcohol abuse, homelessness, early school leaving, conflict with peers and parents and suicide ideation, all directly related to the discrimination and prejudice they experience.[v]

http://www.glhv.org.au/files/writing_themselves_in_again.pdf

Young people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or intersex who are denied hope, opportunity and the rewards of society are those who are most likely to be in need of the mental health services you have campaigned so passionately for.

You voted strongly against marriage equality in 2010 and 2012, and declared in 2011 that you are personally “opposed to SSM [same-sex marriage]” but “support legally-equivalent civil unions as an alternative“.

The masthead on your web site states:

andrew laming mp hope reward opportunity
andrew laming mp   member for bowman   hope|reward|opportunity

I understand you are presently surveying your electorate on the issue of marriage equality and of this you state “I pledge to vote according to your verdict.”

You are registered as a medical practitioner Mr Laming and have worked as a GP.  You will no doubt be aware of how risk factors play out in the well-being of people’s lives.  I ask you to think hard about the implications of choosing to vote against marriage equality, knowing that maintaining the status quo is linked to poorer health outcomes.  I also ask you to consider that a vote against marriage equality will obliterate the hopes, opportunities and rewards for the same young people whose welfare you so passionately and genuinely care about.

Polling by Crosby-Textor, the go-to pollsters for the Liberal Party (the party that you are a member of) showed that in 2014 there was very strong support nationally for people aged 18-34 (female: 90%; male 81%).  In 2010 the News Ltd Same-Sex Marriage poll indicated 43% support in Bowman, 40% opposed and 17% indifferent.  That means 60% of Bowman are not opposed to marriage equality.

In 2004 you claimed that you wanted to empower young Australians to actively engage in politics and to speak out about the issues that are important to them.  In 2015 you are asking your electorate to tell you about marriage equality yet you are bypassing the credible polling that exists.  The young people of Australia and in Bowman want marriage equality very much.

You talk of hope, reward and opportunity.  You talk of wanting to reduce the plight of mental health issues in young people in Bowman.  You talk of wanting to give young Australians faith in their parliament.  You talk about wanting to see young people achieve what is important to them.  You talk of knowing your limitations and not hammering your ideology.  You talk of celebrating diversity.  Yet despite all this talk you are prepared to turn your back on it if the unscientific and clumsy polling that you are engaging in suggest you should not support marriage equality.

What exactly are your priorities Mr Laming?  Are they centred around the welfare of your electorate, or are they centred around your further reelection to office?  Because it strikes me that the people of Bowman are not getting the best representation you could give them if you continue to turn your back on what all the evidence is showing.

I leave you with the quote that you borrowed from Robert F Kennedy in your first speech and your closing paragraph.  Perhaps now would be a prudent time to contemplate them.

“It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a person stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope. That ripple builds others. Those ripples – crossing each other from a million different centers of energy – build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and injustice.”
– Senator Robert F. Kennedy

While there are no mighty walls to sweep down in Bowman, there are plenty of opportunities for ripples of hope—opportunities to enrich a beloved community, to preserve our Redland character and to provide choice and opportunity for those whose faith has put me here.

In the best interests of the young people of Bowman, their families, friends and communities, I urge you to vote for marriage equality.

Sincerely,
Michael Barnett.
Ashwood VIC

A letter to Dr Peter Hendy, MP for Eden-Monaro

Mr Peter Hendy, MP for Eden-Monaro is aware of the high rates of suicide in the bush, yet his opposition to marriage equality further contributes to the poorer mental health of same-sex attracted and gender diverse youth.

From: Michael Barnett
Date: 20 July 2015 at 12:45
Subject: An urgent message about the mental health of youth in Eden-Monaro
To: “Dr Peter Hendy (MP for Eden-Monaro)” <peter.hendy.mp@aph.gov.au>

Dear Dr Hendy,

I’m writing to you regarding the issue of mental health in young people in Eden-Monaro.

Please allow me to take you back to your first speech in Parliament in November 2013, to reflect on the values that are important to you and the issues that you care about.

In opening, you gave thanks to the people of Eden-Monaro for electing you to office and gave a committment to do your best for all of them:

As I said at the declaration of the poll, the first thing I need to say today is thank you to the people of Eden-Monaro. I am greatly honoured to represent this region. I pledge that I will work to the best of my ability for the people whether they voted for me or not.

You reiterated a core value of the Liberal Party:

I joined the Liberal Party because I believed it genuinely encourages people to be the best they can be, not telling them what to be.

I’d like you to pause for a moment and reflect on this sentence.

You spoke of economics, and doing the right thing for your electorate:

I am an economist by profession but let me emphasise I am not an ivory tower ideologue who simply cares between Right and Left. What is important is between right and wrong. We need to do the right thing by the people of Eden-Monaro and all people who live in regional areas. I hope to be a strong advocate in this parliament who can support both good economic policy and the regions.

Making the ultimate point on why I am writing to you, you told of the tragic realities of living in regional and rural Australia:

In health terms, life expectancy is lower by up to seven years, depending on remoteness. People are up to four times more likely to die from accidents. It is up to 2.6 times more likely for men to die from suicides in the bush.

You said that facts are important to you, along with developing an intellectual case for building the nation:

Part of my new job here in parliament is to use the facts about disadvantage to revive the country-city compact. Priorities can be set better; however, we cannot just cry poor. We have been doing that for the last 30 years as our services and infrastructure have been increasingly run down. The intellectual case needs to be built so that we can get that fair share. An intellectual case needs to be built around nation building. I believe that we can further build that intellectual case, and I can help do that.

As a husband and father you promised to do the best to make your family proud of the work you did in public office:

Lastly, I want to thank my wife, Bronwyn, and children, Caroline and Patrick. They are my rock, and what I do is also for them. I hope they can be proud of what I will do in public life.

In closing, you again thanked the people of Eden-Monaro and reiterated your promise to do the best possible for them:

But what I can say in conclusion is to repeat the sentiments of my remarks at the beginning of my speech: for as long as I am the member for Eden-Monaro I will cherish the honour bestowed on me and I will humbly seek to do the best for the people that I represent.

What you delivered on that day in 2013 was a noble commitment to your electorate, one both heart-felt and genuine.

Yet despite your fine words, you are not delivering on them.  Why do I say that?  Simply, you are forgetting what you have committed to the people of Eden-Monaro.

You told them you wanted them to be the best they can be, without telling them what they can be.  How do you tell a young child to go out and do great things in their life, find that special person to share their life and love with, and perhaps raise a family with, if you put limitations on whom they can marry?  Is your campaign promise on marriage more important than your campaign promise to do the best for your electorate?

Eden-Monaro MP Peter Hendy recently said he remained opposed to changing the Marriage Act as that was the stance he took to the last election.

Dr Hendy said it was not an issue people often raised with him.

Many parents raise their children with the expectation in life that they will one day meet that special someone and get married to them, in front of their community, with celebrations, food and drink, gifts and unending love.  Tell me how can a young person aspire to that if they know deep within them they can’t have any of this, under the law, and in their community, because they simply aren’t allowed to marry the type of person they’d genuinely want to?

How is your claim of being opposed to changing the Marriage Act in line with giving that child the best start in life and not telling they what they can be?  Because in being opposed to this reform you are denying them hope, you are denying them participation, you are denying them equality, and you are telling them they can only get married to the sort of person that they would not want to get married to.

When you spoke about the reduced life expectancy of people living in the bush, of their increased chance of dying from an accident or having a higher-than-average rate of suicide, how do you justify promoting attitudes that contribute to these serious problems?

I don’t think you understand the disconnect in your message, because on the one hand you are saying people in Eden-Monaro are victim to factors that reduce their life-span, and on the other hand your desire to deny equal rights to same-sex attracted and gender-diverse people feeds directly into their poorer mental health outcomes, rates of self-harm and suicidality.

Should it be a surprise to you that the underlying reason for the accident of the car wrapping itself around a tree-trunk on a lonely stretch of highway was not due to the state of alcoholic intoxication by the driver, but rather, that as a star player of the local football team he was too ashamed to tell his team-mates that he loved men, and that after years of struggling with this secret of his, the burden became so great that the only way he could deal with his reality was to get himself sufficiently plastered to numb the pain and then slam his car into that tree.  Think of this next time you see a roadside memorial Dr Hendy.

You cannot tell people they are valued and equal members of society when you promote one section of society above another.  When you tell some people their relationships are not equal in merit to those of other people, do not be surprised when you read about the tragic death of yet another young man or woman in a community, the person everyone loved and whose death was totally unexpected.  You should not be surprised when a community is fractured into a million pieces when these deaths occur, because Dr Hendy, you are able to help prevent this, if you really want to.

There is sufficient evidence on what the relevant risk factors are for same-sex attracted and gender-diverse youth:

Same-sex attracted Australians are more likely to experience below-average health outcomes including higher levels of depression, due to this prejudice and discrimination. The statistics are particularly alarming for younger and newly-identifying LGBTI people who have consistently higher rates of drug and alcohol abuse, homelessness, early school leaving, conflict with peers and parents and suicide ideation, all directly related to the discrimination and prejudice they experience.[v]

http://www.glhv.org.au/files/writing_themselves_in_again.pdf

Please read this research and understand the harms young people can face due to prejudice and discrimination.  All children, yours included, need to know they will be loved and cherished, unconditionally.  If parents create conditions or expectations around who their children can love, don’t be surprised when their quality of life suffers.

You spoke of using facts and intellectual cases for nation building.  These are the facts and this is the intellectual case.  A nation is built of people, and if you can’t empower people to be their best, the dreams of building a great nation will fall far short of expectations.

In terms of economic outcomes for the region, you claimed your professional experience as an economist would be of benefit.  There are significant economic benefits for supporting marriage equality.  The wedding industry is huge and the economic potential for the region cannot be understated.  As an economist, how can you hand-on-heart tell the people of Eden-Monaro your refusal to endorse a platform that has known economic benefits could be in their best interests, especially when you hand-on-heart told these same people you would do whatever reasonable measures it took to stimulate their regional economy?

You genuinely care about the people of Eden-Monaro Dr Hendy, but your talk and your walk are going in different directions.  Draw on your Liberal Party values of individual freedoms and of not telling people how to live their lives, get up to speed on mitigating risk factors for same-sex attracted and gender-diverse young people, understand the economic benefits of marriage equality, and do your family and electorate proud by being that strong advocate, not another disappointing yes-man.

If your priority is what is best for the people of Eden-Monaro, you will realise supporting marriage equality is the right thing to do.

Sincerely,

Michael Barnett.
Ashwood, VIC.

A letter to Angus Taylor, MP for Hume

Angus Taylor, MP for Hume, believes in reducing risk factors for youth suicide and a strong economy, yet has campaigned against marriage equality.

From: Michael Barnett
Date: 17 July 2015 at 13:33
Subject: An urgent message about the mental health of youth in Hume
To: “Angus Taylor (MP for Hume)” <angus.taylor@nsw.liberal.org.au>

Dear Mr Taylor,

I wish to convey to you an important concern of mine regarding the mental health of young people in Hume.

First though, I would first like to reflect on your maiden speech to Parliament in December 2013.

In opening, you reminded us that you were representing your electorate:

Mr TAYLOR (Hume) (16:40): I rise with great pride on behalf of the people of the electorate of Hume.

You then described the diversity of Hume and that for the most part the people wanted the government not to dictate how they lived their lives:

My constituents range from ultra-progressives, particularly close to Canberra, right through to hardcore conservatives. But in the middle is a great swathe of people who are fairly moderate and mostly tolerant and who want government to get off their backs so that they can get on with their lives.

Of your grandfather, you spoke of him in the highest regard, how he judged people on their actions, not on who they were.

My grandfather treated every single person with whom he came into contact, from humble truck drivers to senior engineers, with equal dignity and respect. He abhorred snobbery and judged people on character and conduct, not rank.

You told us economics was your passion at university and how you saw the discipline was vital to a functioning society:

At the University of Sydney I found law interesting and rigorous, but it never pushed my buttons like economics. Economics is about making smarter use of limited resources to make people better off. It shapes history and society at every level. Good economics is the key to good government, job creation and funding for world-class schools, health services, roads, railways and broadband networks.

You also told us you learnt how to get to the nub of the issue:

I learnt to think strategically, to focus on the two or three things that really matter.

You spoke of taking on new ideas, putting a stop to harmful ideology and embracing authentic education:

Meanwhile, we must embrace innovation from all over the globe,… We need to get smart, stop the ideological warfare and focus on great teaching.

You told us there are those who need our help the most:

I want to know that we will look after our most vulnerable…

Again, you reminded us whose best interests you are here to represent, namely the people of Hume:

And in this place I will back the parliament over the executive and the judiciary, because it is through this parliament that each of us here is accountable to our constituents.

In closing, you told us purpose of you being in public office was to make society a better place:

Some people say politics is about power. I do not agree. It should be about leadership, service and making an enduring difference to the lives of others. I hope the work I do in this place makes a real difference and will one day make my children proud. Thank you.

In October 2014 you addressed Parliament on the important topic of suicide.  You spoke of how it greatly impacted young people in particular and how the community was working hard to reduce risk factors:

In the Goulburn area, in my electorate of Hume, suicide rates are disturbingly high, particularly amongst young people. Preventing further suicides is a goal motivating many local families, a number who have already lost loved ones to suicide. In 2003 a Goulburn suicide working group was formed to look at positive ways to address the issues and to target risk-taking behaviours.

You reiterated it’s our youth it affects the most and that we must embrace innovation (a value you spoke of in your first speech) to address it:

Three-quarters of all mental illness manifests itself in people under 25. The links between mental illness, depression and suicide are well known and well documented so, as a caring community, we have a duty to continue finding new and better ways to raise awareness about the risks of suicide.

Mr Taylor, I come to the purpose of my letter to you.  I am equally concerned about the welfare of young Australians and how we can do our best to mitigate risk factors contributing to poor mental health.  The inescapable reality is that a percentage of youth in Hume will be same-sex attracted and/or gender-diverse.  There is an understood link between poor mental health outcomes for these people and any discrimination they face:

Same-sex attracted Australians are more likely to experience below-average health outcomes including higher levels of depression, due to this prejudice and discrimination. The statistics are particularly alarming for younger and newly-identifying LGBTI people who have consistently higher rates of drug and alcohol abuse, homelessness, early school leaving, conflict with peers and parents and suicide ideation, all directly related to the discrimination and prejudice they experience.[v]

http://www.glhv.org.au/files/writing_themselves_in_again.pdf

In September 2012 you campaigned against reform to marriage:

When the Post contacted his preferred successor, Liberal candidate for Hume Angus Taylor, he said he would also strive to keep the status-quo.

He didn’t believe the Hume community was “ready” for it and wouldn’t be “any time soon”.

“Social change is slow, and although the proponents of gay marriage are many and their voices are strong, our community is crying out for many things ahead of this,” Mr Taylor said.

“I know some will say that I should show leadership on these sorts of issues, but I will focus my leadership on issues that are less symbolic, and more practical.

“I have sympathy for both sides of this debate, and I understand the indignation that some gay couples feel about this.

“I equally understand the indignation of people who are seriously opposed to gay marriage.

However, I will not be a crusader in driving this kind of change.”

You told us in your first speech in 2013 of your electorate: “in the middle is a great swathe of people who are fairly moderate and mostly tolerant and who want government to get off their backs …”  Are these not the majority of the people in Hume, the ones who want the government not to dictate who can marry whom, “… so that they can get on with their lives.”?

You may want to uphold the status quo on marriage, but you’ve told us to don’t want to uphold the status quo on youth suicide.  You told us you don’t want to be a crusader on marriage equality, but you told us in your 2014 speech you were a crusader for getting a Headspace centre in Goulburn.

If you want to reduce the rate of youth suicide in Hume, if you want to mitigate the risk factors, you need to employ your strategic thinking and focus on the issues that really matter.  You need to be innovative, look to those other places around the globe and see what other enlightened countries are doing and have done.  Maintaining the status quo on marriage is far from innovative, is driven by that ideological warfare you want to put a halt to, and is just not smart.

You say you have sympathy for those denied the right to get married, but in upholding the status quo, unlike your grandfather, you are not treating them with equal dignity and respect.  You say you also have sympathy for those who do have the right to get married, but they will not lose any civil rights if you support marriage equality.  As a politician representing the best interests of your electorate, giving people more rights is not something you should ever back away from.

You claimed the focus of getting into office would be on less symbolic, more practical leadership issues.  Supporting an initiative such as marriage equality, known to reduce risk factors leading to poor mental health, is one such practical issue you can show leadership on.  It doesn’t require funding and it will actually reduce burdens on society.

Marriage equality also has significant economic benefits.  You said economics is about making smarter use of limited resources to make people better off.  It’s a no-brainer, Mr Taylor.  You would have to be a hypocrite to go against marriage equality, simply knowing it brings economic advantage.  You said good economics is the key to good government.  I put it to you that bad economics is the key to bad government.  You cannot say with hand on heart you are undertaking good government while you are willingly limiting economic potential.

Are you looking after the most vulnerable, those innocent same-sex attracted and gender diverse youth, when you tell them the status quo is satisfactory?  These young people, maybe your children, cannot have maximum hope for their future, hope to celebrate life the same as their peers, if you do not support their right to be equal under the law in society.

You told us politics is about making an enduring difference to the lives of others.  You also told us you hope the work you do makes a real difference.  You also want to one day make your children proud.  If you support marriage equality you will make that enduring difference to the lives of others.  It will make a real difference.  It will also make your children especially proud, given research shows the vast number of young people support marriage equality.  Do not be an embarrassing father to them when they see their father shamefully vote against equality.

You have the power to make a difference.  Cross the floor if necessary.  Stand up for your values.  Honour your grandfather’s memory.  Make your children proud.  Tell the parents of those suicide victims that you will do whatever it takes to make sure all children of Hume have fewer reasons to want to take their lives, even if the decisions are unpopular with some.

Thank you.

Michael Barnett.
Ashwood, VIC.

A letter to Ross Vasta, MP for Bonner

Ross Vasta, MP for Bonner, must declare his support for marriage equality if he wants to reduce the rate of mental health issues in his electorate and remain consistent with his values.

From: Michael Barnett
Date: 15 July 2015 at 03:37
Subject: An urgent message about the mental health of youth in Bonner
To: “Ross Vasta (MP for Bonner)” <ross.vasta.mp@aph.gov.au>

Dear Mr Vasta,

I’ve been reflecting on the first speech you gave in Parliament, some 11 years ago on November 18, 2004.  You made some excellent points.  Please allow me to journey through them with you.

Opening, you paid significant tribute to the namesake of your electorate, the late Liberal Senator, Neville Bonner:

It is with humility that I stand here before you today as the first member for the newly created seat of Bonner. This seat was named after a great Queenslander who also happened to be a great Liberal, Senator Neville Bonner. Senator Bonner was the first Aboriginal Australian elected to the federal parliament. During his 12 years in the Senate he was a conscientious parliamentarian, respected by both sides of politics. In his 16 years after leaving the Senate he was a much esteemed elder statesman of Australian public life. It is only fitting that his life and contribution to this country has now been so formally recognised and his name given to Queensland’s newest federal seat.

Interestingly, Neville Bonner was far from the conformist, as is noted:

“He crossed the floor 23 times,” says Libby Stewart, a senior historian at the Museum of Australian Democracy. “He always said that he was a bit of rebel,” she adds, “that he didn’t toe the party line, that he was a proud member of the party, but not a blind member.”

You recalled the efforts and achievements of your family:

Always in that time they have worked hard, they have prayed hard and they have dreamed hard.

and how they were instrumental in making Australia the great country it is, one that so many aspire to live in:

… they also helped to build this country and make it the prosperous, decent, open and tolerant society it is today… a beacon of hope and an example showing that people of all races, creeds and colours can live and work together and create a peaceful and successful future for their children.

You spoke of opportunities:

My grandfathers and their families believed passionately in Australia, in the opportunities that Australia offered and the rewards she bestowed on those prepared to work hard, play fair and live right.

and dreams:

They believed in the dream shared by all Australians—a better life and a better future for their children—and they lived that dream.

Understanding that society is about and for people, you said:

… people matter and that with goodwill and people’s support things can be achieved for the greater good.

With wisdom, you declared:

I do believe that governments must govern for all Australians …

Poignantly you said:

I will work to ensure that my constituents do not become forgotten people, and my actions as the member for Bonner will be guided by my beliefs as a Liberal. I believe that the role of government is to remove obstacles so that people can be free to pursue their dreams and realise their potential.

You spoke of supporting families, the foundation of community:

I believe that strong families make for strong communities and we must do everything possible to support them.

As you drew to the end of your speech you reflected on a person of significance, someone you deeply admired:

I would also like to pay special tribute to the late Arthur Scurr MBE, a much respected local community leader in Brisbane’s south side. He was a true gentleman, and his open-mindedness to new ideas, his commitment to the community and his tireless work will be missed by us all.

You gave thanks to your electorate and promised to not disappoint them:

Most importantly, I thank the people of Bonner for placing their trust in me and electing me as the first member for this new seat. My commitment to you is strong and simple: I will work with diligence, commitment and enthusiasm to justify your trust in me.

In closing, you spoke of putting in the effort to improve society:

As I embark on this new journey I hope that—just as my ancestors have, through their hard work, contributed to building this great nation—I too will be able to help to make the electorate of Bonner and Australia an even better place to live.

I admire these values you stand for Mr Vasta, but please allow me to take you further on this journey.

Just over three years ago, in March 2012, you addressed Parliament and spoke of how mental health is a significant issue facing the people, and in particular the youth, of Bonner and Australia:

Mr Deputy Speaker, I rise this evening to bring to houses attention a very important issue in the electorate of Bonner and indeed the wider Australian community – that is the issue of mental health.

…

The time to tackle mental illness is when it first occurs. The prevalence of mental health problems declines with age. It is our younger Australians – those between 16 and 24 – who bear the brunt of mental illness. Evidence shows that with early and targeted treatment many young people can overcome their problems and lead socially and economically productive lives with lower incidence of progression or relapse.

I can relate to this as I experienced significant mental health issues through my teens and early twenties.  I was still forming my identity in life and was struggling to accept my sexual orientation, for I was entirely without support in this regard for the best part of 16 years.

The inescapable reality is that a percentage of youth in Bonner will be same-sex attracted and/or gender-diverse.  There is an understood link between poor mental health outcomes for these people and any discrimination they face:

Same-sex attracted Australians are more likely to experience below-average health outcomes including higher levels of depression, due to this prejudice and discrimination. The statistics are particularly alarming for younger and newly-identifying LGBTI people who have consistently higher rates of drug and alcohol abuse, homelessness, early school leaving, conflict with peers and parents and suicide ideation, all directly related to the discrimination and prejudice they experience.[v]

http://www.glhv.org.au/files/writing_themselves_in_again.pdf

Only a few weeks ago you indicated you weren’t prepared to state how you would vote if you were offered a conscience vote on marriage equality:

LNP Federal Member for Bonner Ross Vasta said did not want to comment on how he would vote on marriage equality if a conscious vote was called.

“What I’m really focused on is getting on with telling the electorate the good news about the (Federal) budget,” he said.

I urge you to think deeply about your position on marriage equality, on what it actually means, how it aligns with your stated values and how it can make Bonner a better place for its citizens.

You told us of the dreams of your forebears.  Please think about the dreams of the young people of Bonner and also those of their families and friends.  I speak of the dreams that a young kid has to marry the person of their choice, irrespective of their gender, and if they choose, and in whatever way they can, raise a family with their spouse.

Would you want to deny that child that dream, to have their special day amongst their family and friends?  Would you want to deny a child the opportunity to see their same-sex parents get married, whilst their peers can attend the weddings of their opposite-sex parents, should such circumstances arise?

How sad the day when we deny someone the opportunity to celebrate their love in a time-honoured tradition such as marriage.  I trust that you understand marriage is not a prerequisite for child-birth, but that marriage does afford families stability.

You said Australia is a tolerant society, yet your actions disagree with your words, given your strong resistance to tolerating the right for two people to marry, irrespective of gender.  Unlike Neville Bonner, you have yet to cross the floor even once to stand up for your values, your party’s values.  Did you forget that the role of government is to remove obstacles so that people can be free to pursue their dreams and realise their potential?

You spoke of not letting your constituents become forgotten people, yet in not calling for reform in marriage you are forgetting those people who you have said do not deserve marriage.  You are leaving them without, like the one kid that misses out on getting a lolly at a party or the child who gets a broken toy for Christmas.  Would you want your children to be the one who is forgotten or who gets second best?

Reflect on your praise for Arthur Scurr’s open-mindedness to new ideas, a quality you valued in him.  Walk in his footsteps a little.  His shoes sounded big.  Yes, marriage equality is a fairly new idea.  But it brings happiness to families.  It reduces those risk factors that contribute to mental health issues.  It makes families stronger and in doing so, helps build community.  That is your dream.

The people of Bonner placed their trust in you.  They didn’t vote for you to allow their 16-24-year-olds to have poor mental health outcomes or fill the graves in the cemetery.  They voted for you because they knew you could achieve better for them, that you could improve Bonner and make it that better place.

You owe it to them to support whatever it takes to improve the community, and if that is an unpopular decision, if it means crossing the floor at least once, if it means supporting your party’s forgotten values, then that’s what you must do.  For if you don’t, you will have failed the people of Bonner, you will have failed your community, you will have failed Australia, and most sadly, you will have failed yourself and your family.

You have the power to make Bonner a better place.  You have the power to help people achieve dreams.  If you govern for all the people of Bonner, as is your desire, you can make this happen.

Sincerely,

Michael Barnett.
Ashwood, VIC.

Message to Federal MP for Murray Sharman Stone on Marriage Equality & Youth Suicide

Sharman Stone, Federal MP for Murray, is failing the people of her electorate by not supporting marriage equality.

Sharman Stone - Federal MP For Murray“Our rural youth, descendants of the pioneers who overcame the harshest conditions, now take their own lives at rates which are amongst the highest in the Western world.”

“I want to assure the electorate of Murray that I … willingly take up the challenge of helping to deliver to them … the standards of human services that are essential if our region is ever to reach its full potential.”

Sharman Stone – First Speech – May 6 1996.

Same-sex attracted Australians are more likely to experience below-average health outcomes including higher levels of depression, due to this prejudice and discrimination. The statistics are particularly alarming for younger and newly-identifying LGBTI people who have consistently higher rates of drug and alcohol abuse, homelessness, early school leaving, conflict with peers and parents and suicide ideation, all directly related to the discrimination and prejudice they experience.[v]

http://www.glhv.org.au/files/writing_themselves_in_again.pdf

Sharman Stone voted very strongly against same-sex marriage equality

Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, Patron of the Australian Family Association, dead at 103 | The Stirrer

No one doubts Elisabeth Murdoch did a great deal of good: but she also lent her name to bigotry.

This article was first published on The Stirrer.

Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, Patron of the Australian Family Association, dead at 103

by: Michael Barnett

December 6, 2012 – Family, featured – Tagged: AFA, Australian Family Association, bigotry, Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, homophobia, homosexuality, marriage equality, MCRI, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, philanthropy, youth suicide – no comments

Martin Cathrae http://www.flickr.com/photos/suckamc/

Last night Dame Elisabeth Murdoch died, aged 103. She was a much loved philanthropist. She was also a patron of the Australian Family Association.

Whilst on the surface a supporter of a cause that supports families might sound warm and fuzzy, the reality is that a supporter of the AFA supports a cause that is intolerant of same-sex attracted people, and intolerant of same-sex relationships. It upholds a definition of marriage that excludes same-sex attracted couples.

The good dame was also the patron of the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. Today their web page announces:

Her vision and commitment have saved thousands of children’s lives and improved the health of many more living with rare and common childhood conditions.

The irony of this is that her having been a patron of the AFA, an organisation deeply intolerant of homosexual people, is that her good reputation gave credence to bigoted values that have proven links to contributing to the alarming rate of youth suicide, mental health issues and other forms of self-harm.

While she may have been a wonderful person, she linked herself with a disreputable organisation, in stark contrast to many of the values she espoused in her public life.  She sided with bigots and homophobes and we shouldn’t forget that.

Whilst many remember the great good that Dame Elisabeth Murdoch did for society, we must also remember her as a person who upheld bigotry.

A letter to George Christensen

Not yet a friend of our community, I’m hoping this letter will help convince Liberal MP George Christensen that he needs to vote in favour of marriage equality.

From: Michael Barnett <mikeybear69@gmail.com>
Date: 5 September 2012 02:32
Subject: A matter of importance, for your consideration
To: George Christensen MP <george.christensen.mp@aph.gov.au>

Dear Minister Christensen,

Please find attached a letter for your consideration.

I hope you have the time to afford a frank, personal and most importantly considered response.

Sincerely,
Michael Barnett.

September 5 2012

Dear Minister Christensen,

Almost two years ago, on a Wednesday afternoon late in October 2010, you gave your first speech to the Parliament and people of Australia.  I can imagine it was a humbling experience.

Kindly allow me to take you back to that day and reflect on a few moments from your speech.

In introduction you spoke proudly of your duty to electorate and country:

“I stand here in this chamber today in the knowledge that I am but one man among many who have been elected by their peers to serve their community and their nation.

…

I stand here as but one man who feels the enormous responsibility of representing the 94,533 electors in the seat of Dawson.”

Then you spoke in desperation of a tragedy affecting all too many youth and uttered an impassioned cry for help:

“There is a gaping whole in Mackay’s health network which must be mentioned.  I refer to the desperate need for a Headspace youth mental health facility in Mackay.  Two years ago, we had a spate of youth suicides in Mackay.  In one six-week period, five children committed suicide and several others attempted suicide.  That problem has not gone away.  I am told by front-line social workers and GPs in Mackay that every week there is a suicide attempt that someone has to be talked out of.  It was a commitment of this Liberal-National coalition to deliver a Headspace centre for Mackay.  But I say to the government that they need to put politics aside on this issue.  We need a Headspace centre urgently.”

We heard you talk of the values that your parents instilled in you – a sense of duty to serve the best interests of the nation and a sense of social justice:

“I am well aware that it is also my duty to serve in the national interest.  That duty will be aided by the values that I bring to this House, values that were formed by the 32 years of my life thus far.  My mother was an immigrant to this country.  Her family came to this country with nothing but hope.  Both my parents were disability pensioners during my childhood life and we lived very humbly compared to many others.  All of that gave me a social justice conscience …”

You spoke of individual freedoms, individual rights and individual choice:

“It is the conservative principles of those in the Liberal-National coalition that are needed to rectify this situation.  It is the conservatism of those who sit on this side of the House—for now—that is the true philosophy in defence of individual rights.  Conservatism, like libertarianism, seeks to defend individual choice and freedoms but it also points to the consequences of that choice and freedom, be it success or failure.  One of my political heroes, former US President Ronald Reagan, declared as much when he said:

If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism … The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom …”

On a slight tangent from the intent of this letter, I note you invoked the memory of John Lennon and his iconic Imagine:

“To paraphrase Lennon—John Lennon, John Lennon that is—I know I may be a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.”

Lennon paralleled socialist and communist ideals in his Imagine.  He also meant it to convey his desire for a world not without religion but without religious denomination.  I suspect Lennon might have a wry smirk for you knowing a Conservative was broad-minded enough to borrow from his repertoire.

Then you spoke of freedoms:

“… liberty of choice and liberty from regulation are important …”

and of relationships:

“… when we allow and encourage the removal of compassion from relationships that by their nature should be the most compassionate, then we are all the poorer for it.”

You may have been referring here, in a broader sense, to matters of life and death, but these principles do stand up on their own.

Then as you approached the end of your speech you reiterated the need for the rights of the individual:

“I stand here as but one man, a conservative who is prepared to fight for the rights of the individual.  I stand here as but one man ready to do his duty for his electorate.”

And lastly you thanked those who entrusted you to look after their collective interests:

“In closing, I would like to dedicate my speech to … most of all the people of Dawson who have put their faith in me.”

Minister Christensen, you impress me with your vision, your ideals, your hopes and your concern.  And yet simultaneously you perplex me.  In all the good you aspire to, there exists a vast disconnect between this and your attitudes to one section of your electorate and of Australian society.

I refer to your stance on marriage and “traditional family values”.  I refer to your opposition to “marriage equality” or “same-sex marriage”, whichever term you feel most at home with.

I understand your position, one not held in isolation, is based on your personal religious beliefs.  I ask you to momentarily look beyond those beliefs and with impartiality, consider what I have distilled here from your maiden speech.

The spate of suicides and chilling rate of attempted suicide you refer to have obviously rung alarm bells in your head.  Yet what you may not appreciate is the proven connection between attitudes that are intolerant of homosexuality, particularly in religious communities, and rates of self-harm and suicide.

Current Australian research (*) has identified the harrowing fact that gay, lesbian and bisexual individuals attempt suicide at rates between 3.5 and 14 times those of their heterosexual peers.

Quoting researcher Lynne Hillier:

“… those belonging to religious faiths that promulgate negative discourses about homosexuality are particularly vulnerable to suicide and self-harm.  Conflicts between spiritual or religious beliefs and sexuality can result in significant psychological dissonance as well as division and exclusion from family, friends and community.

For many, these experiences manifest in deep feelings of self-loathing and hatred that, in turn, severely elevate the risk of suicide and self-harm.”

When politicians and communities demonise same-sex attracted people and compel them to a second-class existence, when religious leaders tell their flock that homosexuality is sinful, when parents and peers reinforce those values, it should come as no surprise that the plague of suicide that you articulate here exists.  All the while you are vehemently outspoken against abortion and voluntary euthanasia because you belief in every attempt to preserve life, but it seems you are not as nearly as concerned when those lives belong to young people who are gay, lesbian or bisexual.  I say that because your opposition to marriage equality is premised by your beliefs that homosexuality is wrong.

If you are genuinely concerned about this spate of suicide in Mackay, you must understand that it is necessary to turn your attitude toward homosexuality on its head and revise your beliefs.

You call for individual freedoms, individual choice and rights of the individual.  You tell us of your sense of duty to your electorate and nation and of your sense of social justice.  You cry out for help to stop the suicides and how important preserving life is to you.  You tell us how poorer society is when we remove compassion from our most deserving relationships.  You call for less government interference.  And in the same breath you tell us how the government should restrict marriage to relationships between men and women and how it should actively deny this right to loving and committed couples who are not “a man and a woman”.

Same-sex couples currently raise happy and healthy children, who may be biologically related to either partner.  Allowing these couples to get married is not going to change whether they raise children.  What it will do is provide a more stable environment for raising their children.  It will also increase the self-esteem of the parents and that of their children.  It will also increase the self-esteem and self-worth of many of those young kids who are contemplating suicide or self-harm, and instead of taking their lives, there’s every chance they’ll be writing you letters of thanks for saving their lives.

If you need further evidence about what I’m saying, please review the research at the drs4equality.com web site that over a thousand Australian medical professionals have staked their reputations on.

I ask you to value and embrace all couples in loving relationships and show this by voting in support of marriage equality.  You will then be truly doing the right thing for the people of Dawson and for all Australians.

Yours Sincerely,

Michael Barnett.

Note: I incorrectly addressed George Christensen as ‘Minister’. In a subsequent email to him I apologised for and corrected this error.

Australian Jewish Community Security and the invisible terrorist

The greatest harm towards members of the Australian Jewish community comes not from outside it’s high security walls, but rather, from within.

Two stories published on January 31 2012 came to my attention this week: “Safety at all costs” (The Age) and “The Jewish Press won’t be silenced” (The Jewish Press).  After reading these stories it’s clear to me that the greater harm toward members of the Australian Jewish community comes not from outside it’s high security walls, but rather, from within.

The Age story talks about the tens of millions of dollars the Australian Jewish community spends on security each year and questions the merit of such a large investment:

… the inconvenient truth was that the Jewish community had not faced a terror attack in Australia for 30 years, since the Hakoah Club and Israeli consulate in Sydney were bombed on the same day.

The Jewish Press story, coming from a US-based perspective but nevertheless one that is transplantable to the local context, advises:

A significant number of suicide attempts are committed by boys from not just religious but rabbinic homes — because they thought they were homosexual and had no place in the Orthodox world they grew up in, even if they had never acted on those impulses.

If the Jewish community is serious about preventing harm to those within its ranks, which I believe it is, it should, as a matter of priority and urgency, rethink its approach to community security and how best it invests its millions of dollars.  It should be addressing the real and alarming problem of youth suicide, ubiquitous amongst religious communities that are intolerant of homosexuality.  Only then, when all traces of the harm have been eradicated, should the focus be placed on the less evident issues affecting the safety of the community.

It’s time to talk about suicide

World Suicide Prevention Day is on Saturday September 10, 2011. Now’s a good time to start a conversation.

World Suicide Prevention Day is on September 10, 2011.  The official Australian web-site for this event is www.wspd.org.au.

Suicide is a difficult topic for many people to talk about at the best of times.  Perhaps you’ve thought about attempting suicide, or have actually attempted it yourself.  Or you may know someone who has, either to completion or not.  Many issues drive people to suicide, and often it’s related to a state of depression or a mental health issue.

Some people don’t know who to turn to for help, or how to ask for help, or they don’t realise they can ask for help.  Sometimes in the depth of a depressive state of mind people don’t want to ask for help because they believe their burden is too difficult or that they believe there is no way to escape from it.  All this and more.

In some dark moments I experienced a little while back, when life seemed all too hard, I thought about suicide on a couple of occasions.  I knew my thought processes weren’t rational at the time but it seemed the easiest way to escape the torment of my feelings.  Fortunately for me, and those around me, I cleared those momentary hurdles in my life, sought professional help and soon found myself in a much better state of mind.  What scared me most was that these suicidal occasions sneaked up on me, with no warning, when I was alone, driving in my car, in a particularly vulnerable and dangerous state.  They went as quickly as they came.

Many years ago I overcame a significant challenge in my life.  At the age of 26, on September 13 1995, I came to the realisation that my feelings of physical attraction to men were something I could not escape, and that no matter how hard I had tried over the years to repress these homosexual feelings, they wouldn’t go away.  It dawned on me that in fact this was something I should embrace, and enjoy, rather than fight and hide.  And so I found that I was no longer scared of the word ‘gay’, and realised that it was something I could identify with being.

I had previously been scared that if people had found out my attraction to men that I would be kicked out of home and that my friends wouldn’t want to know me.  In fact these were completely irrational thoughts, and aside from having moved out of home a few months prior, my parents told me that they would have never kicked me out of home because of my sexuality and my friends all told me that it was ok with me being gay.  Some said they had thought so, others said it came as a complete surprise.  Only one friend told me he disagreed with what being gay was about but he has since grown up and has overcome that obstacle in his psyche.

What I had needed most was an understanding that whatever my sexuality was I would be accepted unconditionally by my parents.  They never gave me that message and so I never knew where I stood with them on the issue.  I didn’t have the courage to ask them and they didn’t have the language to broach the topic with me.  It wasn’t something they were educated in.  Now, it’s a different story.  They are great advocates for equality and acceptance of people from varying sexual orientations.  Being gay, lesbian, bisexual or anything else doesn’t phase them, and they are comfortable to talk about it.

It’s this conversation that I wish they had had with me when I was very young.  I wish they had told me about boys loving boys and girls loving girls, as well as boys and girls loving each other, from when I was aged 4 and up.  If I had known that when I was ten and found myself feeling attractions to boys in my school that it was a normal thing to happen, I wouldn’t have started repressing these feelings.  Maybe I could have told them that there was one boy at school I had a crush on, or that whilst I didn’t have certain feelings for girls, I did have them for boys.

I didn’t know that it was ok to like boys when I was young and going through puberty it because increasingly harder to conform to the expectations that sexually I should be liking girls, yet finding boys most prominent in my sexual fantasies.  And through my teens and into my twenties this became more and more polarised, with no attraction to women and exclusive attraction to men.  I stifled these feelings outwardly, not knowing who I could turn to about them.  I wanted my psychologists to ask me about that aspect of my life but either because they were too respectful of my privacy or simply because I didn’t lead them in the right direction, they never raised the issue with me, over the many years I sought counselling.

This stifling of my feelings also stifled my existence and I was suffering anxiety attacks, feelings of worthlessness, inadequacy and generally not liking myself.  Yet once I had “come out” (I believe it was a stage of emotional maturity where many things in my life started coming together, one of them being acceptance of my sexuality), this all turned around.  I was able to open up my emotions, release that person who had been so desperately trying to escape for the best part of 16 years, and begin enjoying life.  I discovered, almost overnight, a new me.  A new Michael who could go through a day and realise that the world had so much to offer, that there was excitement and adventure around every corner, and that no matter what anyone thought of me or who I liked, things were just great.  I was abuzz, abounding with life, and joy, and happiness.  It was good to be gay and that I wished I had been able to come to terms with these feelings so many years earlier.  So many years had been wasted, not knowing what to say or do.  I had no role models to look up to, to tell me it was ok to be gay.  I had to wait until I had worked that out myself.

Actually my brother might have been this person to me.  He had asked me, numerous times over the years, if I was gay.  But I wasn’t gay.  I didn’t identify with that word that he used and so it was right of me to tell him that I wasn’t gay, even though I knew I had homosexual attractions.  If I had been able to talk to him about it maybe things might have been easier for me, but I simply couldn’t bring the two concepts together in my head.  One was physical, the other psychological, a state of mind perhaps.  It took me a long time before I was able to reconcile my homosexuality with being gay.  I haven’t looked back since.

For many people though, they face other challenges in their struggle for acceptance with having same-sex attractions.  There are religious and cultural pressures to conform to a heterosexual norm and these burdens can be extremely hard to overcome.  I grew up in a Jewish household, yet my family was not very religious.  However in many other Jewish households there is a very present understanding that homosexuality is unacceptable, because of religious teachings.  It’s actually more insidious than that.  It’s like an undercurrent of intolerance that is self-perpetuating.  The whole issue is completely taboo and any mention of it in a positive connotation is completely impossible.

The disturbing aspect of this is that for young people growing up in this ultra-conservative religious environment there is almost no way they can access the resources, help or role models to tell them that despite the attitudes of their community they are normal people with healthy feelings.  Because of this, there begins the down-hill spiral similar to what I experienced growing up, the repression, the denial, the avoidance, and so on.  It gets worse and becomes a festering cancer that just eats away every last drop of happiness in a person.

Some people get to the point in their life where they feel there is no easy way out of this conflict, perhaps after getting into a loveless marriage, maybe with having children, and begin to consider suicide as a possible way to deal with their situation.  I was fortunate I didn’t get to that point in my struggle to deal with my sexuality, but it could have happened.  Others are less fortunate and do succumb to the temptation to take their life.  More people fail than succeed in attempting suicide, perhaps leaving them in a harmed state physically, definitely emotionally, and perhaps leaving them further motivated to end their life.

Rabbi Mendel Kastel of the Jewish House in Sydney has told me, from his enquiries of the Sydney Chevrah Kadisha (Jewish Burial Society), that there is an average of about one suicide per month.  It’s not always possible to determine that the cause of a death was due to suicide, which makes it hard to get concrete statistics unfortunately.  I am not aware of any figures for the rate of suicide in the Melbourne Jewish community but I would take a guess that they’d be similar, due to the similar sizes of the two communities.

It alarmed me to hear that there was about one suicide a month in the Sydney Jewish community.  That’s twelve deaths per year that could potentially have been avoided.  Perhaps one of these twelve people was someone you knew, either a friend or close relative.  They were important to someone, and chances are they left a huge void in their community.

In addition to these rudimentary figures of Jewish suicides, there are alarming statistics published by Suicide Prevention Australia.  Their Positional Statement on Suicide and Self-harm among Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Communities claims:

Studies conducted over the last decade reveal that GLB individuals attempt suicide at rates between 3.5 and 14 times those of their heterosexual peers (Bagley & Tremblay, 1997; Garofalo et al., 1998; Herrell et al., 1999; National Institute for Mental Health in England, 2007; Nicholas & Howard, 2002; Remafedi et al., 1998).

and further goes on to state:

Similarly those belonging to religious faiths that promulgate negative discourses about homosexuality are particularly vulnerable to suicide and self-harm.  Conflicts between spiritual or religious beliefs and sexuality can result in significant psychological dissonance as well as division and exclusion from family, friends and community.

For many, these experiences manifest in deep feelings of self-loathing and hatred that, in turn, severely elevate the risk of suicide and self-harm (Hillier et al., 2008).

It’s time we all started taking an active interest in suicide prevention and started talking about it, because that one person could be someone you know and love.  It could be your child, or your brother or sister, or a cousin, your best friend, a parent or it could be you.

Once a person is gone, it’s too late to offer acceptance.  They won’t hear you once they’re dead.  Tell them you love them unconditionally, no matter what, and mean it.  There’s no acceptable price to pay for a belief in your religion, or because you are scared of rejection.

Someone will always love you and accept you, no matter what.

RESOURCES

  • If you are contemplating suicide or need someone to talk to, you can contact Lifeline.
  • In Victoria and Tasmania, the Gay and Lesbian Switchboard has trained operators to assist with issues relating to sexuality.
  • In NSW, The Jewish House offers a crisis counselling service.
  • If you don’t know who to talk to, or for general issues relating to sexuality and gender identity, I will gladly forward your confidential enquiry to the appropriate organisation.
  • On Saturday September 10, 2011 you can walk to raise awareness, remember those lost to suicide and unite in a commitment to prevent further deaths by suicide.  Details on the Out of the shadows web-site.
  • Thursday 15 September, 2011 is R U OK? Day.  It’s a national day of action which aims to prevent suicide by encouraging Australians to connect with someone they care about and help stop little problems turning into big ones.