Giz Watson

Politician

Issues like social justice and the environment are pressing now more than ever, and it’s in this light that the efforts of Giz Watson are so significant. To Watson, these issues are not just trendy causes, but vital issues that she has been passionate about, and has fought for, for decades - ever since she was a teen in fact.

Watson arrived in Australia with her family back in 1967 from the UK and forged a deep love of, and connection to, the environment from the many trips she did with her parents, campervaning around the beautiful natural sights of Western Australia.

She joined the Western Australian Greens party back in 1990 and in the Federal election that year stood for the House of Representatives seat of Forrest. Shortly afterwards she became the co-convenor of the Greens WA party. Justice and fairness have also always been at the forefront of Watson’s mind, which fits in well with the ethic of the Greens party.

“I’m fairly ambiguous about ‘leadership’. I guess when there are things to be done and action to be taken, I’m not afraid to put my hand up or step up to the plate. In that way I do tend to take a leadership role. But it’s more about initiating action… getting the ball rolling,” explains Watson. “The way I see it, a leader is still a part of a whole team, each of whom plays an important role in making things come together. I’m a believer in shared leadership and collective responsibility.”

Not that long ago Western Australia was the worst place in Australia for gay rights. But with the help of Watson’s leadership, she helped direct the community and government into making it the best state in Australia for dealing with queer issues and protection. It’s only now that the rest of Australia has finally caught up.

According to Watson, marriage is the issue that we will be fighting for in the near future, and she sees it as the struggle for the younger and next generations. Even though recent changes such as same-sex entitlements and assisted reproductive technologies bills will slowly make things easier, she still believes the issues of marriage divide too many people and will be hotly contested at least for the near future. Although that won’t stop her being right up the front campaigning for it.

Another hot topic for Watson is fighting the exemptions that allow religious institutions to discriminate against gays, lesbians and transgender people, and perpetuate their discrimination through their institutions. For example, churches and religious schools are still allowed to preach discrimination against gays.

“They are allowed to preach hate and discrimination and that is simply not on. There’s no reason for it. It’s one thing to express a point of view, but another thing to actively foster a discriminatory attitude. Think of all the gay kids out there or the transsexual teachers living, learning and growing in that system where anti-gay propaganda flourishes. How are they going to feel hearing that stuff? The government says we are equal, and protections from such discrimination applies to the rest of society. So why not these institutions too?” says Watson.

“When it comes to gay and lesbian rights, the issues often get incorrectly divided along religious lines rather than being seen as human rights issues, which is what they really are. That confusion has been one of the greatest barriers to equality.”

By Travis de Jonk