Our vision is a world that values and affirms all LGBTIQA+ people as full citizens.
Equality is a big word, and we think it means more than just the elimination of discrimination.
What comes next after marriage equality?
That’s the question we started asking about a couple of years ago, leading to the establishment of The Equality Project. The fight for marriage rights has been so central to our movement for so long, it’s the only fight some of us know. But as we got closer to that goal, we thought it was important to start thinking about how to achieve the other objectives of our LGBTIQA+ movement.
Equality is a big word, and we think it means more than just elimination of discrimination. Real equality, we thought, means living in a society where everyone has the capacity for full participation – regardless of gender, sexuality, race, disability or creed. A society that values and affirms LGBTIQA+ people as full citizens.
Marriage equality is a momentous achievement for our community, but it leads us to three big questions:
First, what comes next after marriage equality?
How do we determine priorities for further action – on hugely important issues like justice for trans and intersex people, safe schools, parenting and families, LGBTIQA+ refugees, disability and so much more?
Next, how do we unite our communities to achieve these goals?
We are a dazzlingly diverse community with incredible depth of experience and wisdom – how can we collaborate strategically and effectively?
Finally, how do we work with other marginalised groups to achieve real social change that benefits the whole community?
How do we apply our experience and wisdom to achieving not just LGBTIQA+ justice, but justice for Indigenous Australians, women and girls, people with disabilities, young people, refugees and our whole community?
Our mission
We will create a space for lesbian, gay, bi+, trans, gender diverse, non-binary, intersex, queer and asexual people and organisations to work together, build bridges, and speak with a common voice, through national and regional conferences we call Better Together.
Our conferences will be Indigenous and feminist in its approach, welcoming the voices of multicultural and faith groups, people with disabilities, the Deaf community, and people of all ages, genders, sexualities, geographical locations and family formations.
We will cultivate social and cultural change by creating training programs, the Better Together Training Academy, that will foster the training of a new generation of LGBTIQA+ advocates, change-makers and leaders.
Finally, we will develop training programs that will support organisations and businesses in becoming safer and more inclusive for LGBTIQA+ people.
Our Values
CARE
We will operate within a culture of care, recognising that our diversity is our strength by ensuring we nurture one another and promote healing through our processes.
INTEGRITY
We will act always with honour to earn the respect of our communities, to whom we will be fully accountable.
COLLABORATION
We will actively work to bring together the many communities within the LGBTIQA+ space, share knowledge and resources and build productive relationships.
DETERMINATION
We will bring to our activities the passion and courage that has been a hallmark of our LGBTIQA+ history, acting with resolve to achieve meaningful social change.
RESPECT
We will treat every person with respect and acknowledge their story and their voice.
PRIDE
We will celebrate the magnificent cultural and political contribution of our movement, the achievements of those who have gone before, and the energy, spirit and enthusiasm of LGBTIQA+ pride.
Our mission and values in Auslan.
We are a young organisation with big goals. We are striving to build a movement for social justice that is grounded in, but reaches beyond, LGBTIQA+ communities.
We want to facilitate a conversation about LGBTIQA+ rights that becomes a critical part of a modern Australian discourse about what kind of society we want to be.
We don’t have all the answers but we are creating a space to ask the questions.
We acknowledge the Wurundjeri people, the traditional owners of the Kulin Nation, this land that we meet and work on. We wish to pay respect to their Elders — past, present and emerging — and acknowledge the important role all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to play within Australia. We acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded.
LGBTIQA+
LGBTIQA+ is respectfully being used as an umbrella term to refer collectively to a wider range of people than just those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender diverse, intersex, queer, asexual or aromantic. The use of the acronym is not intended to exclude people who may not be specifically represented by this term.