The text of the Views is appended to the present document. Having concluded its consideration of communication No. Having taken into account all written information made available to it by the author of the communication and the State party,. The author of the communication is Nicholas Toonen, an Australian citizen born in , currently residing in Hobart in the state of Tasmania, Australia.
He challenges two provisions of the Tasmanian Criminal Code, namely Sections a and c and , which criminalize various forms of sexual contacts between men, including all forms of sexual contacts between consenting adult homosexual men in private. He adds that the Director of Public Prosecutions announced, in August , that proceedings pursuant to Sections a , c and would be initiated if there was sufficient evidence of the commission of a crime. Toonen further argues that the criminalization of homosexuality in private has not permitted him to expose openly his sexuality and to publicize his views on reform of the relevant laws on sexual matters, as he felt that this would have been extremely prejudicial to his employment.
In this context, he contends that Sections a , c and have created the conditions for discrimination in employment, constant stigmatization, vilification, threats of physical violence and the violation of basic democratic rights.
These include statements made by members of the Lower House of Parliament, municipal councillors such as "representatives of the gay community are no better than Saddam Hussein"; "the act of homosexuality is unacceptable in any society, let alone a civilized society" , of the church and of members of the general public, whose statements have been directed against the integrity and welfare of homosexual men and women in Tasmania such as "[g]ays want to lower society to their level"; "You are 15 times more likely to be murdered by a homosexual than a heterosexual In some public meetings, it has been suggested that all Tasmanian homosexuals should be rounded up and "dumped" on an uninhabited island, or be subjected to compulsory sterilization.
Remarks such as these, the author affirms, have had the effect of creating constant stress and suspicion in what ought to be routine contacts with the authorities in Tasmania. This campaign has made it difficult for the Tasmanian Gay Law Reform Group to disseminate information about its activities and advocate the decriminalization of homosexuality.
