Ben Cooper went on a hunger strike to highlight gay refugee rights. He spoke with Kate Gordon.
There aren’t many causes a young man would consider worth giving up food for four days. Some might do it for a bet; others might forgo sustenance in the first throes of young love.
But for Ben Cooper, a 20-year-old Lismore man, the decision to live on a diet of barley sugar and water for four days had nothing to do with a bet, or a crush. It had nothing, in actual fact, to do with his own life, but more to do with saving the lives of others.
“I embarked on the hunger strike to raise awareness of the plight of gays and lesbian in countries where homosexuality is illegal and to gather support for their rights, but also to pressure governments to reform laws,” Cooper says.
In a time when much of the news regarding gay and lesbian rights in Australia has focused on the right to legally recognise partnerships between gay couples, Ben Cooper believes that other, more pressing, human rights for gay people are being overlooked. It is this belief that provoked him to embark on a four-day hunger strike, beginning last Friday, and ending at 9pm on May 19.
Ben’s strike was a protest against the treatment of gay and lesbian asylum seekers in this country and overseas. It is a cause which he believes is far more pressing than the right of gay and lesbian couples to marry.
“While I’m an advocate and supporter of marriage and civil unions for homosexual and heterosexual couples,” Cooper says, “I don't believe this should be our number one priority.
“Our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters are being imprisoned and executed, this is a lot more disturbing than any legislative inequality that we face in Australia.”
Cooper felt compelled to undertake this extreme action after feeling other, more conventional avenues had been exhausted.
“I have written several letters and given several speeches, but a hunger strike was more effective in getting the media attention that this issue desperately needs.”
Several international events played a part in provoking Cooper's actions, including the recent declaration of Gambian President, Yahya Jammeh, that all homosexual people in his country should leave, or face “serious consequences”.
“I think that it's disgusting. It only highlights the need for laws to be reformed to protect and automatically accept gay and lesbian asylum seekers. It also demonstrates why the Australian government needs to take a leadership role in the international community and at the UN.”
Cooper believes other gay rights campaigners are not doing enough to rectify the current situation. He criticises American gay rights campaigner and politician Malcolm Lazin, who recently urged prospective (US) presidential candidates to write letters to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to protest against gay human rights abuses in that country.
“It's a very tokenistic response. We can all write letters and press our case, but there really needs to be more of a direct response to really bring this issue into the forefront. But in saying that, I'm not against what Malcolm Lazin is doing – it all helps.”
Ben has also been heartened by news that British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has granted asylum to Mehdi Kazemi, an Iranian who claimed he would be killed if returned to his homeland because of his sexual orientation.
When asked if he thinks this is an indication that things are improving, Ben says he hopes so.
“Things are slowly getting better but in the mean time there a still plenty of people being turned away and not everyone has been so lucky. The Australian public has yet to become fully aware of this issue and I don't believe real change will come until this problem in acknowledge and debated publicly.”
He believes there are still many countries – in particular “countries with strict adherence to traditional Islam, such as Iran, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia” – that still have a long way to go in improving their attitudes and practices with regard to gay and lesbian human rights. Because of this, he is urging everyone to take a stand in bringing attention to this urgent cause.
He says people can do this by standing up and giving these people a voice in the gay and mainstream communities and media: “Some of the worst forms of discrimination these people face is invisibility and silence.”
After completing his four-day strike, Cooper says he felt “tired and emotionally drained” and that his thought process was “a bit out of order”.
“I grew up in Lismore my whole life, and to come out publicly as a young gay local man was an amazing personal achievement for me and something that really surprised and inspired at a lot of people.”
Cooper hopes his stand continues to inspire Australians to make positive change, both overseas and closer to home.
"The vast majority of actions locally are organised by individuals. While I'm not a member of CAAH Sydney (Community Action Against Homophobia), I do have their support. If anyone is wishing to get involved in future campaigns for gay asylum seekers, they should give CAAH a call.
“A part of getting our own country sorted is about lobbying for the rights of gays and lesbians in other countries. Gays and lesbians are visitors and holiday-makers and these people are put at the same risk of discrimination and imprisonment as the gay and lesbian citizens of these nations are. Equality is a universal right.”
Four days might not seem like much in the scheme of the months and years it may take for this equality to be truly achieved. But Ben Cooper's protest proves that from little things big things may grow, both personally and universally. His strike was a peaceful one, a quiet one, but it has served to make visible the invisible abuses, and give voices to the silent victims. Perhaps, in time, it will save lives.
Ben Cooper went on a hunger strike to highlight gay refugee rights. He spoke with Kate Gordon.
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