Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands

The Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands (also known as the Gay Kingdom of the Coral Sea) was a putative micronation established as a symbolic political protest by a group of gay rights activists based in Australia. Declared in June 2004 in response to the introduction of a government bill to the Australian Parliament in May 2004 (which later passed in September that year) that codified the heterosexual definition of marriage, the Kingdom was founded on Australia's external overseas territory of the Coral Sea Islands, a group of uninhabited islets east of the Great Barrier Reef. The Kingdom was dissolved on 17 November 2017 following the "Yes" vote in the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey legalising same-sex marriage.

The Coral Sea Islands Territory is an external territory of Australia which comprises a group of small and mostly uninhabited tropical islands and reefs in the Coral Sea, northeast of Queensland, Australia. The territory covers , most of which is ocean, extending east and south from the outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef; it includes Heralds Beacon Island, Osprey Reef, the Willis Group as well as fifteen other reef and island groups. Cato Island is the highest point in the Territory and a camp site on the island called Heaven was the claimed capital of the Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands.

History of the Coral Sea Islands

The Coral Sea Islands were first charted in 1803. In the 1870s and 1880s the islands were mined for guano but the absence of a reliable supply of fresh water prevented long-term habitation. A memorial plaque on the north eastern tip of Cato Island commemorates this historic event and reads:

The leader of the protesters, Dale Parker Anderson, was elected Administrator of the territory and then "declared emperor" of the kingdom upon its independence.

In a scheme similar to Israel's Law of Return, a person was automatically granted permanent resident status and immediately eligible for citizenship in the Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands simply by being gay or lesbian.

International relations

Other than the protester inhabitants, the islands of the Coral Sea Islands Territory were uninhabited and the kingdom's independence was not recognised by Australia or any world government. The Coral Sea Islands continued to be recognised as an external overseas Territory of Australia by the United Nations. On 13 September 2004, the Gay Kingdom declared war on Australia.

In May 2010, Dale Anderson was invited to (but did not attend) a conference in Sydney for the leaders of all the micronations in the world, in order to determine ways to obtain recognition as sovereign countries. The Gay Government announced that the Emperor would not be attending the conference on the grounds that the Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands being a former overseas external Territory of Australia was not a micronation. on the grounds that government departments should take a neutral stand on political debates. He concluded his comments with an incidental observation by identifying:

Cormann agreed, affirming that "We will make sure that there are no flags of hostile nations anywhere in any government building".

Dissolution

In late 2016, the official website of the Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands added a link to point viewers to the website of The Equality Campaign, the organisation which called on Australian voters to participate in the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey, in which a "yes" vote likely would prompt the Parliament of Australia to enact same-sex marriage.

Following the decision made by the Australian Government to legalise same-sex marriage, the Kingdom was dissolved on 17 November 2017.

References

External links

"Gay & Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands official website"
https://queerarchives.org.au/