Editing Michael Kirby (judge) (section)

==Personal life==
Kirby has been openly gay since around 1984.  He has lived since 1969 with Johan van Vloten, who migrated to Australia from the [[Netherlands]] in 1963, and in 1999 Kirby listed him as his long-term partner in ''[[Who's Who in Australia]]''.  Van Vloten helped people living with HIV and Kirby became involved in the issue both within Australia and internationally.<ref>{{cite magazine |date=26 May 2017 |title=The Pettifogger Issue 3 2017|magazine=The Pettifogger |location=Hobart, Tasmania, Australia |publisher=The University of Tasmania Law Society }}</ref> Kirby has often spoken publicly in support of gay rights.<ref>{{cite news
 |publisher      = ABC News|location=Australia
 |title       = Kirby calls for united effort on gay rights
 |url         = http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200608/s1718903.htm
 |date        = 19 August 2006
 |access-date  = 14 October 2006
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20060823023622/http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200608/s1718903.htm
 |archive-date = 23 August 2006
}}
</ref> While President of the [[International Commission of Jurists]] he encouraged that organisation to give more consideration to human sexuality as an aspect of human rights,<ref>{{cite interview
 |subject     = Michael Kirby
 |interviewer = Michele Boyle
 |title       = Leadership
 |url         = http://www.hcourt.gov.au/speeches/kirbyj/kirbyj_29mar04.html
 |location    = Canberra
 |date        = 4 March 2004
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20060820045705/http://www.hcourt.gov.au/speeches/kirbyj/kirbyj_29mar04.html
 |archive-date = 20 August 2006
}}</ref> and as an [[Anglicanism|Anglican]] he has expressed disappointment at his church's stance on gay rights.<ref>{{cite interview
 |subject     = Michael Kirby
 |interviewer = Monica Attard
 |title       = Michael Kirby
 |url         = http://www.hcourt.gov.au/speeches/kirbyj/kirbyj_16nov.html
 |work        = [[Sunday Profile]]
 |location    = Canberra
 |date        = 16 November 2003
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20060820064258/http://www.hcourt.gov.au/speeches/kirbyj/kirbyj_16nov.html
 |archive-date = 20 August 2006
}}</ref> In 2002, at the Sydney [[2002 Gay Games|Gay Games VI]], Kirby was the keynote speaker at the opening ceremony. "The movement for equality is unstoppable. Its message will eventually reach the four corners of the world," he told a crowd of 35,000.<ref>{{cite news
 | author = Margo Kingston
 | title = Kirby Courage
 | url = http://www.ssonet.com.au/archives/display.asp?ArticleID=1969
 | date = 5 November 2002
 | access-date = 17 February 2009
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071218100105/http://www.ssonet.com.au/archives/display.asp?ArticleID=1969 |archive-date = 18 December 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news
 | author=Andrew West
 | title=Thanks for having us Sydney, say gays
 | work=The Sydney Morning Herald
| date= 10 November 2002
 | access-date= 17 February 2009
 | url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/11/09/1036308532773.html
}}</ref> In 2006, he attended the [[2006 World Outgames#International Conference on LGBT Human Rights|International Conference on LGBT Human Rights]] in Montreal, presiding over the Asia-Pacific Plenary.

Kirby is religious, describing himself as a "Protestant Anglican Christian" and criticising clerical opposition to homosexuality:  "I don't want any old gent in frocks to take my religion from me and to me it is still an important aspect of my life".<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/high-court-judge-michael-kirby-talks-about-religion-and-sexuality150612/|title=High Court judge Michael Kirby talks about religion and sexuality|first=Anna|last=Leach|date=15 June 2012|publisher=Gay Star News}}</ref> In November 2007, he accused the Anglican and Catholic archbishops of Sydney, [[Peter Jensen (bishop)|Peter Jensen]] and [[George Pell]] respectively, of hindering the acceptance of gay people in Australian society, stating that homophobia was "reinforced even to this day by religious instruction, and it has to be said, religious instruction from the two archbishops of Sydney".<ref name="Gemma Pritchard">{{cite news| url=http://archive.globalgayz.com/oceania/australia/gay-australia-news-and-reports-4/|title=Archbishops fuel homophobia says gay judge|first=Gemma|last=Pritchard|date=27 November 2007|newspaper=Pink News}}</ref> Kirby also expressed disappointment in his "minority of one" status among his [[High Court of Australia]] colleagues, and conceded that "some of the justices perhaps have less liberal views than I have".<ref name="Gemma Pritchard"/>

Kirby was selected by readers of samesame.com.au as one of the 25 most influential gay or lesbian Australians in every year that this list was published, from 2007 to 2010.<ref>{{cite web|title=Samesame 25|url=http://www.samesame.com.au/25/2007/|publisher=samesame|access-date=22 November 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129114250/http://www.samesame.com.au/25/2007/|archive-date=29 November 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Samesame 25 |url=http://www.samesame.com.au/25/2010/ |publisher=samesame |access-date=31 March 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110402172118/http://www.samesame.com.au/25/2010/ |archive-date=2 April 2011 }}</ref>

Kirby's [[memoir]] "A Private Life", subtitled "fragments, memories, friends" was published by [[Allen & Unwin]] in 2011.<ref name="The Western Australian Jurist - 2012, vol 3 - Book Review: Michael Kirby – A Private Life – Fragments, Memories, Friends">{{cite journal |last1=Moens |first1=Gabriel |title=Book Review: Michael Kirby – A Private Life – Fragments, Memories, Friends |journal=[[The Western Australian Jurist]] |date=2012 |volume=3 |page=271 |url=https://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/WAJurist/2012/11.pdf |access-date=1 May 2025}}</ref> About the memoir in [[The Sydney Morning Herald]], Michael Kirby's brother [[David Kirby (judge)|David Kirby]], in the context of the 2017 [[Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey]], noted that "the message he received from his early teens was that his secret should be the source of deep shame"... "He abandoned any thought of politics".<ref name="The Sydney Morning Herald - 19 September 2017 - The ambition my brother abandoned because he was gay: why a 'yes' vote matters">{{cite news |last1=[[David Kirby (judge)|David Kirby]] |title=The ambition my brother abandoned because he was gay: why a 'yes' vote matters |url=https://www.smh.com.au/opinion/the-life-my-brother-never-had-because-he-was-gay-why-a-yes-vote-matters-20170919-gyk7e9.html |access-date=1 May 2025 |work=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |date=19 September 2017}}</ref>

Kirby and van Vloten married on 11 February 2019, the 50th anniversary of their first meeting.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-11/michael-kirby-marries-partner-50-years-after-first-meeting/10800442|title=Michael Kirby marries partner Johan van Vloten on 50th anniversary of first meeting|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|author=Bellinda Kontominas|date=11 February 2019|access-date=11 February 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/justice-michael-kirby-weds-50-years-after-that-summer-of-69-20190211-p50x2q.html|last=Pitt|first=Helen|title=Justice Michael Kirby weds 50 years after that summer of '69|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=11 February 2019|access-date=12 February 2019}}</ref>

===Family===
Kirby's father, Donald, was the only child of Alma Caroline (Norma) Grey, a single working mother of English—Irish descent. Norma became pregnant at 15 with Donald Kirby<ref name="Paradoxes"/> while in a relationship with a then-17-year-old Victor Kirby, a Catholic who had arrived after the Great Famine.  Norma's parents were John Emmanuel Gray, an English brick- and boiler- maker and Annie Lyons.  Annie's father, Harry Lyons, had emigrated from Dublin to Sydney in the 1850s, following the [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Great Famine]] and her mother's name was Mary.

His mother, Jean Langmore Knowles, was born in [[Berwick, Victoria]] to William Knowles, an [[Ulster Scots people|Ulster Scot]] from [[Ballymena]], and Margaret, as one of four daughters.<ref name="Paradoxes"/> Jean was a graduate of [[Sydney Girls High School]], obtaining a Leaving Certificate, a rarity for a woman at that time, and worked in numerous paid jobs by virtue of her own successes and ability.<ref name="Paradoxes"/> Donald Kirby, aged 16, and Jean Knowles first met at Saint Martin's Anglican Church, [[Kensington, New South Wales|Kensington]]. Donald attended [[Sydney Technical College|Sydney Technical School]] in [[Ultimo, New South Wales|Ultimo]], and afterwards worked as a general assistant, then tool and machinery salesman, at a hardware firm.<ref name="Paradoxes"/> The two became engaged on Jean's 21st birthday and were married in March 1937, a month after Donald turned 21; their first home was in Bloomfield Street, [[South Coogee]].<ref name="Paradoxes"/>

Michael Kirby's brothers have also been lawyers: [[David Kirby (judge)|David]] was a judge of the [[Supreme Court of New South Wales]], retiring in 2011; Donald was a solicitor until retiring in 2006.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/national/obituaries/extraordinary-impacts-of-a-family-mans-ordinary-life-20111117-1nl0f.html|title=Extraordinary impacts of a family man's 'ordinary' life|author=A. J. Brown|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=18 November 2011|access-date=12 February 2013}}</ref> Sister Diana was a nurse in the Colorectal Unit of the [[Royal Prince Alfred Hospital]] in Sydney, retiring in 2011.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hcourt.gov.au/assets/publications/speeches/former-justices/kirbyj/kirbyj_2feb09.pdf|title=Judicial Farewell: The Hon. Justice Michael Kirby AC CMG, Justice of the High Court of Australia|author=Michael Kirby|publisher=Michael Kirby|date=2 February 2009|access-date=12 February 2013}}</ref>