Hume council will set up an LGBTIQA+ working group.
A petition was endorsed at a council meeting in February, where a group of residents requested an advisory committee that advocates and considers ideas directly from lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer and asexual (LGBTIQA+) communities in Hume.
Hume council at a meeting on June 11, voted in favour of a motion to establish a working group.
Councillor Jarrod Bell spoke in favour of the motion, where he said that “advisories… are an indication of an organisation that gets it.”
“The heart-breaking truth was that the federal seat [Calwell] that covers the significant portion of Hume… was one of only two electorates in Victoria to vote a majority ‘no’,” he said in reference to the 2016 plebiscite.
Cr Bell talked about his lived experience and the “reality of growing up and living gay in Hume”.
“I am lucky to have done that with a loving family and a strong network of friends, something that too many in our community have not been able to rely on,” he said.
“It is my firm belief that we have not done enough to earn the trust or support of the LGBTIQA+ community, especially in the face of often overwhelming challenges. We have not done the work.”
Speaking at the council meeting, Sunbury and Surrounds LGBTIQ Social Club founder and administrator Susan Lodge said that an important element of the working group is that it will voice the needs of local youth.
“Our rainbow kids are dying at an alarming rate,” she said. “Our kids are five times more likely to commit suicide or to attempt suicide than the general population.
“Our transgender community kids – 15 times more likely than the general population …that’s why … an advisory group, such as this, is so vital.
“It’s going to save lives. It’s going to give my community visibility in Hume.”
Sunbury and Cobaw Community Health chief executive David Wild and Sunbury Aboriginal Corporation executive director Raquel Stewart also made public comments supporting the establishment of the working group.
