Community Action Against Homophobia



Community Action Against Homophobia (CAAH) is a community activist organisation based in Sydney, Australia. Since its establishment in 1999, CAAH has aimed to eliminate homophobia and achieve full equality for queer people -- defined as "lesbian, gay, bisexual, same sex attracted, transgender, intersex or non-heterosexually identifying" in the CAAH constitution.

History
CAAH began in 1999 with a group of students already active within the Sydney queer student movement. At a time when student dissent against aggressive government policies was reaching a fruition across the country, the queer movement was no exception, and groups like the Cross Campus Sexuality Network (CCSN) were already active in New South Wales. However it was felt that these groups were not properly engaging with the broader community and so an offshoot was created which combined a more radical political message with an intent to galvanise the broader community around issues of liberation and representation. CAAH's first action was against a Catholic anti-gay organisation known as Courage, which preached a message that homosexuality was a disease that needed to be cured. Activists managed to have that meeting shut down and the organisation removed from university campus.

Politics
CAAH's politics are mostly left-wing. While it is not aligned to any particular political party it has very close connections with the national socialist youth organisation Resistance. CAAH's origins in the student movement in Sydney are reflected in an underlying commitment to social justice issues and solidarity with other struggles. In its early days CAAH was active in generating queer blocks for anti-globalisation protests, union rallies, student protests, anti-war demonstrations and other diverse left-wing causes. CAAH members' political views range across the spectrum of politics in Australia. Some members are also members of political parties, including the Liberal Party, Labor Party, Greens, and Socialist Alliance. As the organisation changes various means are employed to effect change and these have altered the focus of the organising from a predominantly student based body to a community organisation that uses lobbying and persuasion as well as protest and civil disobedience to achieve its objectives.

Equal relationship recognition
CAAH's campaign for equal relationship recognition is an all-inclusive campaign for equality. While some organisations concentrate on a single model of relationship recognition, CAAH demands that all choices be available to all people regardless of their sexuality or gender. This includes de-facto relationships, civil unions, and marriage. Together with Australian Marriage Equality, CAAH organises the annual Same Sex Marriage National Day of Action on the weekend closest to the anniversary of the same sex ban passed on Black Friday, August 13th, 2005. In 2007 the National Day of Action will be on Sunday 12 August.

Queer refugees
CAAH supports people who faced homophobia and persecution in their home countries because of their sexuality and/or gender, and as a result seek asylum in Australia. These asylum seekers are imprisoned by the Australian government in detention centres such as Villawood Immigration Detention Centre.

Greens anti-discrimination amendment
CAAH also supports Lee Rhiannon's private members' bill that would amend New South Wales anti-discrimination legislation. Currently, private schools and businesses with less than 6 employees are permitted to discriminate on sexuality, disability, gender or age. Lee Rhiannon's bill would remove the special exemptions for private schools and businesses employing fewer than 6 people.