Meeting Grace Grace
Monday July 6, 2015

Meeting Grace Grace

Monday, July 06, 2015
Last week I had the privilege, alongside my fiance Mitch of catching up with Grace Grace MP. Grace is the Qld State Member for Brisbane Central (ALP).

Grace reminded me that she and I first started working together professionally way back in 2000. This was when I was assisting Shayne Wilde and the Queensland Association of Gay and Lesbian Rights to remove LGBTIQ discrimination in the law. The first tentative toe in the water was an industrial agreement to allow employees to take time off to be with their ailing same sex spouses. Grace was a senior union official at the time who pushed the agreement through.

With politicians now being afraid that the sky will fall in by removing discrimination in the Marriage Act, the coming together of the changes in one little industrial agreement  seemed to be a case of the more things change, the more they stay the same. At the time, it was seen as “courageous”, “adventurous”, “brave”, but looking back 15 years, it seems- so what! We did not know at the time whether the change would ever get through.

The change led to a multitude of laws being amended through the efforts of the Beattie government- to remove discrimination against LGBTIQ people.

However, more needs to be done, as I and others have continued to agitate, including recently Human Rights Commissioner Tim Wilson, who called for State sanctioned discrimination against LGBTI people to end, including, in Queensland:

  • the expungement of criminal convictions for sodomy
  • a non-discriminatory age of consent
  • removal of gay panic defence
  • removal of discrimination for adoption.

I raised all these issues with Grace Grace. It is ALP State policy to remove this discrimination.

Grace also congratulated me on being award LGBTIQ activist of the year at the recent Queen’s Birthday Ball Awards in Brisbane.

Request an Appointment
Fill in the form below to find out if you have a claim.
Request an Appointment - Stephen Page
Things to Read, Watch & Listen
MRKH syndrome: how surrogacy can help you become a parent

MRKH syndrome: how surrogacy can help you become a parent

MRKH syndrome means being born without a uterus. It does not mean that parenthood is impossible. For women with Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome, often shortened to MRKH, the journey to understanding their body can begin at a young age. Many discover in their early teenage years, commonly around 14 or 15, that they will not be able… Read More »MRKH syndrome: how surrogacy can help you become a parent

Australian Overseas Surrogacy Births Hit Record High Again in 2026 — Here’s Where Families Are Going

Another record year for overseas surrogacy births For every child born through surrogacy in Australia, five are born overseas. Despite laws allowing altruistic surrogacy, the shortage of available surrogates within Australia has meant that the norm is to undertake surrogacy overseas, and the exception is to do so at home. A record 416 Australian children… Read More »Australian Overseas Surrogacy Births Hit Record High Again in 2026 — Here’s Where Families Are Going

Surrogacy Statistics Australia: Why Families Go Overseas

Surrogacy statistics: why so many go overseas

Surrogacy is intensely personal, but the numbers tell an important story about how difficult it can be for intended parents in Australia. The central statistic is striking: for every child born in Australia through surrogacy, about four are born overseas. That is not a small difference. It points to a system in which many intended… Read More »Surrogacy statistics: why so many go overseas

Family Law Section Law Council of Australia Award
Member of Queensland law society
Family law Practitioners Association
International Academy of Family Lawyers - IAFL
Mediator Standards Board