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No We Can't

November 6th 2008 02:37
Obama

Yes, he can, but no, we can't, as anti-gay measures pass in several states.

Barack Obama’s win, which symbolises a great victory over race prejudice, has inadvertently strengthened prejudice and discrimination against gays and lesbians.

Obama brought unprecedented numbers of black voters to the polls, many of them from the black churches, which are notably conservative on gay issues. He brought out the Hispanic vote, with its strong Catholic bias, too.


But he failed to support gay marriage, and his support for gay rights during the campaign can best be described as lukewarm.

As a result, the California same-sex marriage ban won 52 percent of the vote. A ban also passed in Florida and Arizona.

Arkansas passed a ban on unmarried couples from adopting or fostering, which was targeted at gay men and lesbians.

There was one ray of light, as voters in Connecticut, the third state, after Massachusetts and California, to allow marriage between people of the same sex, rejected a plan to hold a constitutional convention.

Opponents of same-sex marriage had expressed hope that a convention could lead to a ballot initiative to ban the practice, which the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled legal last month.

Obama did at least mention the word gay in his victory speech, as he claimed the Presidency on behalf of all Americans, not just those who voted for him.

But a gesture is not enough. H will have his work cut out to remove this discrimination and prejudice that three more states have now enshrined in their constitutions. We will be watching closely.

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Hostage
How Stuff Works - A Liberal/National 'Conscience' Vote


Q: When is a conscience vote not a conscience vote?

A: When you are told that you are of course free to exercise your conscience – just don’t be surprised if you’re out of a job come pre-selection time

That’s the situation facing Liberal and National members of the Victorian upper house, as the vote on Assisted Reproduction Treatment draws near – perhaps as soon as next week.

Both major parties have allowed their members a conscience vote – but the Liberals and Nationals are determined they won’t lose this one.

They lost on the same-sex relationship register, stem cell research and abortion, but now the party hierarchy has drawn a line in the sand.

‘They’ve had their three strikes,’ I was told, ‘one more and they’re out.’

The party is of course at liberty to impose discipline and insist all members toe the line – provided they do so publicly. Everyone would then know the party policy on the issue.

But if the LibNats do that, it’s an invitation to Labor to do likewise – and then the bill would almost certainly pass.

As it stands, by maintaining the illusion of a free vote by all members, some Labor members feel free to vote against the bill. Combine that with a 100% LibNat ‘No’ vote, and the bill goes down.

Of course, on the record it’s all above board, no pressure, totally free. But off the record it’s a different story. Members being told that if they vote for the bill – as their conscience dictates – then they can expect ‘very close scrutiny of your preselection’, according to one upper house member.

It’s not hard to work out who must be under this kind of pressure, whatever they may feel obliged to say in public. Genuine Liberals in the traditional Menzies mould, such as Matthew Guy, Andrea Coote, Wendy Lovell and Donna Petrovich, who have a record of supporting gay and lesbian issues, are obvious targets for this sort of bullying.

‘I wouldn’t use words like “threatened”, or “bullied”,’ said one source.

Being told you have to vote against your conscience while pretending to do the opposite, under threat of losing your job, sure looks a lot like bullying and threatening to me.

And it seems to work. There was a free vote in the lower house on the ART Bill – and not a single LibNat voted in favour. That’s rather too large a coincidence for me, even without the leaks now coming from the upper house.

The Victorian Liberal Party, that famously ‘broad church’, suddenly seems terribly narrow, doesn’t it?

UPDATE SUNDAY

I have been in touch with a Liberal or two and have been told that this story is, according to them, 'crap'. I have been told by a gay Liberal:

The Liberal Party simply doesn't work that way.

Opponents have thousands of letter writers. We have about three people. If you had three letters vs one thousand, which way would you go?


Well in my book a conscience vote means you vote according to your own personal conscience in the matter. Not the policy of your party, and not the conscisnce of your constituents, you PERSONAL conscience.

This 'reassurance' seems to me to affirm what I have been told - that pressure is being applied to get people to toe the line.

There are legitimate concerns about the Bill. I have told Corey they need to consult and find a way to split off sections of the Bill that will be palatable and get through.
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ALWAYS ON

October 18th 2008 04:56
Hunks
I'm Randy - Fly Me!

Coming to a plane near you – internet surfing from the discomfort of your seat. Soon you won’t be getting away from it all at all. Instead you’ll be able to Facebook and Twitter, even in what used to be those blissfull mid-air hours when you could turn the ‘always-on’ society off.

Now you’ll get all those essential updates in real time!

George is waiting for his groomer to come and trim his puppy - (you can take this Masters & Dogs things too far, you know)

Anthony is no longer listed as “in a relationship” – (so he’ll be off his head tonight and absolutely anybody’s)

(By the way, I love those inverted commas, don’t you, as if he was not REALLY in a relationship, just “in a relationship”, know what I mean?)

You won’t have to wait till you reach your destination to find out you’ve been dumped, Millie’s hamster needs a cruciate ligament reconstruction, and the results of your CAT scan are in – call your doctor IMMEDIATELY.

But forget about arranging hookups on the fly. You won’t be able to cruise your favourite internet “dating” site (there’s those ironic inverted commas again). The flying roo has decreed they won’t allow you to access “inappropriate” web content. Yup, they’re going to censor it.

It means you can now have a taste of what the internet’s like in China without even leaving Australia. It’s all part of a “let’s be super-nice to the Chinese, because in this recession we’re all up shit creek without them” effort by local businesses.

No, not really. Just kidding. About the China thing, I mean. But Qantas – along with a host of other airlines – WILL restrict what you can surf while you’re on one of their planes.

This will of course mean that all the usual suspects will soon be out there crying “freedom of speech”, “censorship”, and very right and proper, too. Already we’ve noticed that Qantas has taken to snipping all those items about unscheduled acrobatics over WA and the like out of the onboard news bulletins, and we wouldn’t want to encourage that kind of censorship. But when it comes to sex, maybe the airlines have a point.

While it could be a very handy time-saving guide to the sexual orientation of your flying companions, do you really want to spend several hours trying not to get an eyeful of “Asian sluts doing it with donkeys” on your neighbours seatback?

Or trying to ignore the fat old bearded pouf giving you meaningful winks while he surfs “College jocks get it on for you” and “Hung and horny”, who always seems to need the facilities at the same time you do? You might at least say “Hi!” – ‘cos that’ll be me.
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Rainbow Report

It’s been a dramatic week in gay and lesbian publishing, with the collapse of bnews and the sudden emergence of two new gay media – Canvas, an arts and entertainment magazine from Evolution Publishing, and Southern Star, from Sydney Star Observer.

[ Click here to read more ]
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Grey and Gay

September 29th 2008 06:34
Rainbow Seniors
Pic by mellowmonk.com


Apologies for not posting much lately. I endured a colonoscopy, a gastroscopy and the death of my laptop in the course of a single week, and I'm only just getting myself organised again


[ Click here to read more ]
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Allegro Non Troppo Sunday 11-1

September 27th 2008 08:49
This weekend I’ll be taking the Addam Stobbs seat on Allegro Non Troppo, Sunday 11.00am – 1.00pm. Although I’m not exactly ‘musical’, Addams longtime co-presenter Peter Fortey and producer Robert Brierley assure me they’ll get me through the first hour.

In the second hour, produced by Bianca Johnston, I’ll be looking at the issue of aged care for gay and lesbian seniors. A recent report by the Matrix Guild and Vintage men painted a disturbing picture of the situation for the retired members of our community and those approaching retirement


[ Click here to read more ]
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General hospital
The arrogance of the Catholic Church is quite breathtaking. Once again the Vatican is using blackmail to try to get its own way.

In the US, Catholic politicians who won’t vote as they are told have been threatened with excommunication


[ Click here to read more ]
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Back to the Future in country Australia

September 7th 2008 23:35
.
Disco Stampede
Disco Stampede

I'm really excited: it's that time of year again and we're starting the runup to the annual ChillOut Festival in March.

[ Click here to read more ]
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Eddie McGuire
Eddie McGuire congratulates Paul Medhurst - pic: Collingwood FC

Despite the head-in-the-sand attitude of the AFL, football insiders acknowledge there is a problem with attitudes towards sexual diversity in football.

[ Click here to read more ]
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Rainbow Report Tonight

August 28th 2008 05:31
Finally back from holidays and the usual mad scramble to put a show together - and so much to talk about with . . .
Rainbow Lorikeet

Senator Louise Pratt


[ Click here to read more ]
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Akermanis on gays in the AFL (LINK)

August 20th 2008 08:22
Jason Akermanis
Jason Akermanis


'Aka' is always outspoken, and often in trouble for it, and he's the one who has broken the AFL players silence on the issue of gays in Australian Rules Football


[ Click here to read more ]
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Brian McFadden’s pink stink

August 19th 2008 01:57
Bernarr McFadden
Bernarr McFadden - no (known) relation

Former Westlife boy-band singer Brian McFadden says straight men should not wear pink.

[ Click here to read more ]
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Fork
Let's fork!


Remember all those old wives tales you heard when you were a kid? Like the one about how a girl could get pregnant just by kissing a boy? Silly, wasn’t it


[ Click here to read more ]
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Wong Way – Go Back

August 7th 2008 06:33
Penny Wong
Penny Wong
Penny Wong has come in for some flack over her remarks about gay marriage on the ABC last week. As the second most senior female, and most senior gay person in the government, she looked uncomfortable at being publicly reminded she was, in fact, gay, and ended up parroting the government line about gay marriage being opposed by the vast majority of the Australian public.

In fact, all available stats indicate that the issue is, at worst, finely balanced, with roughly equal numbers for and against, with some polls flagging a majority in favour. As a cabinet minister she is obliged to toe the party line, but with a bit of finessing she could have indicated that, although forced to do just that, her true sentiments were otherwise


[ Click here to read more ]
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