LAST UPDATED // TUESDAY, 21 OCTOBER 2014 12:48WRITTEN BY // Robert French
Robert French reflects on the life and legacy of former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, a champion for equality and homosexual law reform.
Sometime in the early 1950’s, not long after his election to the Federal Parliament, Gough Whitlam was approached by a young man worried about having been called-up for, the then post-war compulsory scheme of, National Service. The young man was homosexual, and he was worried about the oppression he might suffer.
Whitlam, who at the time shared an office in old Parliament House with an old conservative ALP member, sensitively arranged for the man to come and meet with him when his parliamentary colleague was absent. After the meeting, Whitlam quietly arranged with authorities that the young man receive an exemption from Service.
The story, told to me by Mr Whitlam in his Sydney office when I was a Director of the National Archives, illustrates several aspects of the man – his sensitivity to personal issues of a constituent, his awareness of the consequences of discrimination and his determination to do something about it.
Therefore, it comes as no surprise to learn that Gough Whitlam, when he finally became leader of the Labor Party, championed, among other issues, the decriminalisation of homosexuality (even though it was a State issue) and an end to discrimination against lesbians and gay men, particularly in employment.
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