*Age Of
Consent & Legal Sexual Activity for the State of
18th November
2011 Email to Hon Premier Anna Bligh, Hon
Attorney-General Paul Lucas, Neil Roberts MP and to Courier Mail
"Letters" regarding
the statement
by psychologist Paul Martin in support of equal age of consent reform for
the sake of our state’s youth.
“On 18th November 2011 highly
respected Brisbane psychologist Paul Martin, of the Centre For
Human Potential, issued a very strong public statement in support of urgent
action by your Government to enact equal age of consent reform. The text of his
complete statement is included below, and is also stored for public access as a
pdf file on my site at:
http://www.queerradio.org/Paul_Martin_CFHP_support_for_equal_age_of_consent_reform.pdf
. Paul
Martin's contact details are included in his statement.
The sad truth is that our state's
youth are suffering, and lives may be lost, on every day that the Government
delays this long overdue reform. Since 2003 Queensland has been the only region
in Australia which does not have a truly equal age of consent.”
From: John Frame [mailto:jvframe@ozemail.com.au]
Sent: Saturday, 19 November 2011 3:10 AM
To: Attorney - SMTP; The Premier; Neil Roberts Nudgee
Electorate Office
Subject: Brisbane psychologist Paul Martin's statement in support of
urgent action on equal age of consent reform
To the
Hon Premier Anna Bligh, Attorney-General Paul Lucas and my local MP Neil
Roberts.
Dear
Premier, Attorney-General and Neil,
On 18th November
2011 highly respected Brisbane psychologist Paul Martin, of the Centre For Human Potential, issued a very strong public statement
in support of urgent action by your Government to enact equal age of consent
reform. The text of his complete statement is included below, and is also
stored for public access as a pdf file on my site at:
http://www.queerradio.org/Paul_Martin_CFHP_support_for_equal_age_of_consent_reform.pdf
Paul
Martin's contact details are included in his statement.
The sad
truth is that our state's youth are suffering, and lives may be lost, on every
day that the Government delays this long overdue reform. Since 2003 Queensland
has been the only region in Australia which does not have a truly equal age of
consent.
yours sincerely
John
Frame
82 Main
Ave., Wavell Hts 4012 Australia
Ph: (07)
3350 1562 / 0409 501 561
---"There
is no substitute for equality"---
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A statement of support for equal age of consent
reform in Queensland
by Paul Martin, Principal Psychologist,
Centre for Human Potential, Brisbane
18th
November 2011
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Paul Martin Principal Psychologist Centre for Human Potential Level 9/243 Edward Street BRISBANE QLD 4000 GPO Box 1492 BRISBANE QLD 4001 P: 07 3211 1117 F: 07 3211 9689 M: 0419 0055 55 |
I am a psychologist
with over 25 years experience specializing in mental health in LGBTI
populations. I run a practice which sees many young same sex attracted people
and am actively involved in PFLAG where I spend much time with parents of same
sex attracted young people. I have worked with parents who have lost their
child to suicide as a result of their conflicts around being same sex attracted
and young people who were close to dying as a result of suicide attempts. These
are extremely vulnerable segments of Australia’s young population. Clinical and
research evidence strongly suggests that the Queensland Sodomy Law which sets a
higher minimum age of 18 for anal intercourse not only exposes many of them
(any person who engages in anal intercourse) and any of their sexual partners
to criminal prosecution, but also causes psychological harm and increases risks
of negative outcomes including suicide.
The
mental health statistics for same sex attracted youth are alarming and they are
at much higher risk of negative mental and physical health outcomes. This
includes that 64% of young men and 23% of young women who are same sex
attracted had harmed themselves or had mentioned thinking about or attempting
suicide (Hillier, Turner, & Mitchell, 2005).
The
mental health issues of young same sex attracted people are primarily a result
of negative beliefs that are absorbed from a young age regarding what it means
to be gay or lesbian. This is reinforced in the school yard including the worst
thing to be called is a ‘faggot’. The negative psychological impact of
bullying, and/or the adverse mental health outcomes of pretending to be
heterosexual to prevent bullying and social exclusion has been widely
documented. The negative outcomes of these beliefs can include substance abuse,
suicidality, depression, anxiety, self harm and other
self destructive behaviours.
When
young same sex attracted people hear homophobic remarks from community leaders
or are aware of inequities in the law that favours heterosexuals, this confirms
and reinforces these negative beliefs. I had a young person in my practice
recently who was very close to dying after a suicide
attempt. He stated that when he heard the Prime Minister of our country say
that marriage should only be between a man and a woman, he “realized that all
of his negative beliefs about gay relationships were true”, and that his future
was bleak and he then concluded: “what’s the point.”
The
evidence is therefore clear, that a law which specifically targets and discriminates
against same sex attracted youth, such as the Sodomy law, sends a very clear
message that they are not equal, are not valued, are at risk of a criminal
offense, and are therefore defective. This confirms their internalized
homophobia and this causes psychological damage.
Whilst
the Premier’s ‘It Gets Better’ video would have had a positive impact on the
mental health of some same sex attracted youth, the impact may be largely
negated by her refusal to change discrimination in the Sodomy Law. This law
quite clearly causes psychological harm and it is imperative that our Premier
acts urgently to change this for the sake of the most vulnerable youth in
Queensland.