今日吃瓜

ONLY a couple of months shy of his 29th birthday, Chansey Paech has managed to achieve a pretty incredible feat – he is the first openly gay and Aboriginal person elected to parliament at a state, territory or federal level.

Paech was part of the winning Labor team in the Northern Territory that wrestled back power from the Country Liberal Party in a landslide victory.

He won the seat of Namatjira – a massive electorate which includes the surrounds of Alice Springs and the southern parts of the territory from the border of Queensland to Western Australia – with a 29.5 per cent swing in his favour.

Growing up in a remote part of Australia did not mean Paech lived in the closet, keeping his sexuality a secret. The Eastern Arrernte and Gurindji man always knew he was gay, never kept it a secret, but didn鈥檛 really talk about his sexuality until he was ready to enter the dating world.

鈥淚 always had my mainly straight friends, say 鈥榳hen you are you going to hurry up and come out鈥� and I would never deny it, I would say 鈥業鈥檒l come out when I鈥檓 ready to,鈥� he remembers.

鈥淭his is going to sound really weird, I鈥檇 always known (I was gay), I didn鈥檛 really think about disclosing it, until I had become ready to consider dating and relationships. But I was always too busy with student politics and friends and all of that, I never thought about how I was going to tell people.鈥�

When Paech did realise he would have to officially come out to people in his life, he did it by talking individually with people including his parents who were accepting, as were most people.

鈥淭here were always friends in my network that needed to take some time to process me coming out,鈥� he explains.

鈥淚 think I was fortunate to understand the processes of going through those things. Some people had the religious faith to process.

鈥淪ome people came around and were accepting but some didn鈥檛 and it was awkward for a while.鈥�

The process of coming can be rewarding or quite terrible, according to Paech.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to say it鈥檚 really soul destroying, it can by an anxious and unpleasant time for some and the advice I鈥檇 give to people is that you don鈥檛 have to do it on your own,鈥� he says.

鈥淏ut don鈥檛 let people define you by your sexuality, don鈥檛 let people hold you back.鈥�

Paech believes he has been accepted so warmly by his family and friends because times have changed and there are now many people in his extended family who identify as LGBTI. He says the greater visibility of LGBTI people helps to 鈥渄ilute homophobia鈥�, even though it is something he has experienced on the campaign trail where some members of his opposing candidates鈥� teams allegedly told locals not to vote for him because he was gay.

鈥淲e had people telling us that they were coming out to the communities saying 鈥榙on鈥檛 vote for him, he鈥檚 a gay,鈥� he explains.

鈥淏ut these people were saying, 鈥榳e don鈥檛 care if he鈥檚 a gay, we just want new homes鈥�.

鈥淧eople in the political campaign were trying to discredit me because of my sexuality and it worked against them.鈥�

The people of Namatjira don鈥檛 define Paech by his sexuality, nor does he, because the MP-elect wants to focus on issues important to his electorate. But he does admit his election is a landmark moment in Australia鈥檚 history.

鈥淏ecoming a member of parliament as a gay Aboriginal man is a good representation and reflects well on the Northern Territory and it sends a really good message to our young people.鈥�

Paech says LGBTI Territorians want the same things as other Australians, but would like to see the same level of health services as in other parts of the country.

鈥淚 think there are some support mechanisms in the Northern Territory for our community to access, but we should have the same services as you do on the eastern seaboard,鈥� he says.

鈥淧arts are regional and remote but that鈥檚 no reason that we shouldn鈥檛 have the same level of services as other places. I want it to be that an LGBTI person doesn鈥檛 have to move interstate to access services.鈥�

He believes the Federal Government should ditch the plebiscite and pass marriage equality in parliament, because so many Australians were in favour of it, including his mum who is pressuring him into settling down.

鈥淲e want the same things as heterosexual people, I want a stable life, a home and family. Gay people want the same things as 鈥榥ormal鈥� people,鈥� he explains.

鈥淢y mum said to me 鈥榶ou’re 28, about to turn 29, you should really start thinking about having a kid and starting family.鈥欌��