When I start to discuss Federal politics and the injustices experienced by the LGBTQIA+ community and my lobbying, I could not go any further without mentioning Rodney Croome, an activist from Tasmania.
I first met Rodney when he was a guest speaker at the National Conference we organised in 2007. He suggested I go with him to Canberra one day, which I did. And from then he and I became a team. We worked together for many years. We travelled together, shared accommodation and we always covered for each other if someone dared to criticise the other person.
We were a great team. I always say Rodney did the statistics and I did the emotive side, by talking about the injustice of two sons not being equal, plus the many other reasons inequality was not the preferred model for Australian society.
Often times, we disagreed about how to promote an issue, but we always worked together to come to a conclusion we both believed would work.
We were often asked by the politicians if Rodney was the good guy and I was the bad, because I could say things that Rodney couldn’t or wouldn’t. Rodney was always concerned about being polite and not treading on toes, but towards the end, I was getting very tired of this. I don’t believe I was rude, but I certainly made things clear about what I thought needed to be changed, and soon.
Sometimes Rodney would say to me “You shouldn’t have said that, but you were right”. Over the years there were times I cried on his shoulder and times he cried on mine. Basically, we were like a platonic husband and wife.
One night we were in Adelaide, and we were walking along looking for a restaurant we both liked. Suddenly, a waiter emerged and asked me if we would like a romantic table. I laughed to myself when I asked Rodney if we would like a romantic table. He just looked horrified, and we sat under the brightest light he could find with a table, and that’s where we ate. Basically, poor Rodney got the fright of his life, and I got a good laugh at his expense.
