Felicity Marlowe

Activist & Spokesperson, Rainbow Families Council

Upon meeting Felicity Marlowe you can’t help but admire her. Simply knowing there are people like her out there in the community gives you a sense of comfort, pride and gratitude. She’s a mother of three, has a partner of eight years and most importantly she places a strong emphasis on the family. It’s with this sense of family that inspired her to change the way same-sex couples and families are treated and recognised within Victoria and Australia.

Felicity has been a driving influence behind three of the biggest and most important changes to legislation in Australian gay history, including recent amendments to 105 discriminatory Commonwealth Laws, the new Relationships Registry in Victoria, though her role on the Attorney General’s GLBT advisory committee; and most recently the law reform in Victoria removing discrimination against same-sex couples wanting access to Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART).

While her work has had a huge impact on the lives of many people around the country, she remains humble, saying “it’s an acknowledgement of my role in years of community activism.”

Indeed it has been years, since her days at university she has been a campaigner on a wide variety of issues and her active role with the volunteer community organisation Rainbow Families Council.

Back in December 2003 Felicity and her partner Sarah founded the Love Makes A Family campaign which focused on the legal and social recognition of same-sex parented children and their families. It involved continually lobbying Members of Parliament and government bodies though meetings, letter writing and sending in photos of diverse families. Despite the challenges and set backs along the way, the campaign remained focused. The development of resources, such as sample letters and fact sheets, helped the campaign gain momentum.

Her campaigning didn’t just stop with letter writing. During Parliamentary debate of the ART Bill over a four month period, Felicity attended all parliamentary sessions with her children. This iconic symbolism each day in Parliament put a human face and a real family into the discussion, and contributed to the landmark law being passed.

“It’s been a long time since the lobby group was founded and change was made… it’s now five years later and three children,” she laughs when reflecting on the journey.

Prior to motherhood Felicity worked with young same-sex attracted and transgender people in Melbourne's Northern Suburbs, with primary and secondary schools and with the Department of Education to address homophobia and gender stereotyping. She also co-ordinated the Rainbow Network - a support for those who work with same-sex attracted, queer and transgender young people across Victoria.

While there have been some positive change this year, Felicity isn’t one to rest on her laurels. She says there’s still more to do.

“I am now focusing on the implementation of the new Act, I want to make making sure the language used truly represents our children and our families. At a Victorian level I want to make sure there is sufficient communication about the changes and that people understand how it impacts on them and their social recognition.”

Felicity says her greatest achievement is “having three kids - despite the laws being as they were. Motherhood is a challenging job, but rewarding… and fun.”

By Simon Mallia