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Tonight on the Rainbow Report 20/11

November 20th 2008 00:20

Fiona Patten, leader of the Australian Sex Party

We continue our roundup of candidates for the post of Mayor with Will Fowles, the non-Labour Labour-ish candidate, offering what he calls a “Fresh Vision” for the city.

Rodney Croome muses on Barack Obama and the wave of protest sweeping the US after gay marriage was stopped in California and started in Connecticut.

Closer to home John Wain, general manager of the Market, helps us understand the impact of the Brumby governments latest attempts to control violence and drunkenness in the city – will it be better or worse than the failed 2am lockout?

Plus we celebrate the launch of a new political party dedicated to countering the influence of the religious right and all other wowsers, fighting the proposed internet filter and supporting gay marriage. The Australian Sex Party is being launched at Sexpo, and we’ve an interview with it’s leader, Fiona Patten, who’s also CEO of Eros, the adult entertainment industry business association.

Meanwhile Kaye Sera looks Beneath the Bonnet at World AIDS Day and some of the AIDS movies from years gone by.

The Rainbow Report, Joy 94.9 Melbourne, streaming live www.joy.org.au, 7-8pm Thursday Australian Eastern Daylight Savings Time, podcasts available from Joy or iTunes.

To join in call (03) 9699 2949 during the show, SMS 0427 JOY 949 or email onair@joy.org.au.

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Posted By: Doug Pollard - Category: religion, gay rights, gay marriage, equality, Melbourne, gay politics, Australian politics

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Sex Party launched

November 16th 2008 07:56

Avenue Q was RIGHT!

A new political party to “combat creeping censorship and counter the influence of religious minority groups” sprang into being this week. Really Long Link They’re hoping to grab a Senate seat – preferably Steve Fieldings.

The Australian Sex Party – motto: “We’re serious about sex” – is the offspring of the Eros Association, the ‘adult entertainment industry’ chamber of commerce. Members are worried by the potential damage to their businesses from the proposed internet filter. But they claim their move into politics isn’t just about protecting their bottom line.

“Sex is deeply rooted in the lives of all Australians,” said Party spokeswoman Fiona Patten, explaining that the party also has policies on censorship, health benefits for sex workers, gay marriage and paid maternity leave.

I can see some of our community advocates quaking in their boots at the linking of gay marriage and the ‘adult industry’. It’s been a cliché of rainbow campaigning for some time now to say, “It’s not about sex, it’s about equal rights / a fair go / discrimination / privacy / [anything to stop them thinking about the sex!].”

Now along comes a party of professional pornographers, sex-workers, lap dancers, dildo manufacturers and the like, with an upfront pro-sex message, firmly thrusting the sex back into ‘gay’, and inviting us to join their crusade.

We’ve been beavering away at relationship recognition, de facto status, artificial insemination, parenting, pensions & benefits, superannuation and taxation (all good stuff, of course), but we haven’t been especially vocal about protecting sex on the internet. Especially gay sex.

But we should, because the web is literally a life-saver for isolated same-sex attracted people – especially young people, and especially in the bush. It provides information, help, support, friendship and, yes, sexual contact to people who might otherwise never find these things. Without freely available sex information – including porn – some might, for example, end up unhappily married.

Which is probably what Steve Fielding and his backers would prefer, of course.

It’s time we came out of John Howards closet and put the sex back into the argument, stopped pretending that same-sex equality doesn’t involve the Commonwealth endorsing, supporting and celebrating gay sex. Of course it does. And so it should.

We should say thank you to the Australian Sex Party for their pro-sex message and welcome their support for gay marriage.

Put aside any qualms about hitching our wagon to ‘a party of smut-peddlers’, as they’ve been called. Many gay businesses are in the sex trade, and gay men are big consumers of online porn. It would be hypocritical to turn our noses up at the offer of help. Why not take their money? After all, a lot of it came from us in the first place. Let’s put the sex AND the money back.

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Posted By: Doug Pollard - Category: gay marriage, equality, same-sex, gay politics, Australian politics

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How to make straight friends and influence people

November 9th 2008 01:31

Same-sex equality seems to be going backwards even in friendly locations.

Bans on gay marriage, fostering and adoption have passed in several US states, including California. Barack Obama needed to mobilise black and hispanic voters, but most of them are religious and anti-gay. He downplayed his support for gay rights, so they voted against us while voting for him.

A large-scale survey in UK newspaper The Observer found 56% think we shouldn’t be allowed to adopt, 40% want a higher age of consent for us, and 25% think we should be recriminalized. The British Labor government has enacted a lot of pro-gay and anti-discrimination laws in recent years but that hasn’t made people like us.

And at the time of writing, the Victorian Assisted Reproductive Treatment Bill is on the brink of defeat. Upper house members say their constituents don’t want gays and lesbians to have parenting rights.

These failures are our own fault. Our small number of committed activists do a great job on politicians and big city elites, but we’ve yet to win over Joe The Plumber and his missus out in Cranbourne or Wodonga.

Californian gay rights campaigners didn’t involve themselves in black and hispanic communities, and we don’t engage with our neighbours in the outer suburbs and the bush. Yet doing so brings multiple benefits.

We need a majority of all voters on our side, and strange as it may seem, that starts with making friends with them. Especially outside major cities, where levels of violence and self-harm are high, and support services for our community are virtually non-existent.

But you don’t turn neighbours to friends by painting yourself as a victim. You do it by helping to solve their problems. As a boss of mine once told me, “If you want promotion, don’t bring me problems. Bring me solutions.”

Country towns, already struggling with drought, now face the strong possibility of a recession. People fear for their jobs, their businesses, their homes. What solutions can we offer?

One proven way is through local rainbow festivals, bringing in publicity and business - and local authorities know it. ChillOut’s economic importance has been acknowledged with a two-year grant of $45k from Rural Development Victoria, in addition to money from Tourism Victoria and Hepburn Shire Council to secure its future. The possibility that Yackandandah Spring Migration might fold has local authorities actually competing to secure the Migration for their town.

Now the gay community becomes a solution, not a problem. Working and socialising alongside gays and lesbians, people learn that we’re ordinary people just like them, trying to keep our heads above water and caring for the ones we love. Prejudice against local gay and lesbian residents is lessened. Young same-sex attracted people learn they are not alone, and can find role models to look up to. And we earn the right to ask people to support us when we seek to be treated equally.

We won’t win them all. But we will win enough to turn mainstream politics in our favour, erode the dam that blocks gay marriage and adoption, and head off any backlash like the one threatening in the UK. On top of which, we get to have a lot of fun.

Who said politics had to be boring?

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Posted By: Doug Pollard - Category: gay rights, gay marriage, equality, gay politics, Australian politics, US politics, elections

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Sham 'conscience vote' on Assisted Reproduction Bill

October 24th 2008 09:43

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

Q: When is a conscience vote not a conscience vote

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Posted By: Doug Pollard - Category: gay rights, equality, Melbourne, Victoria, gay politics, Australian politics, discrimination, parenting

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Good enough to foster but not to parent

October 19th 2008 21:49

Pic by Precious 1

Gay families. Gay mums, gay dads. It’s taken me a while to get my head around those concepts, so it’s hardly surprising the more hidebound sectors of society have slammed their ears shut on the topic and are refusing to hear the facts.

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Posted By: Doug Pollard - Category: gay rights, same-sex, gay politics

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New gay papers, Taxpayer fund Mardi Gras

October 2nd 2008 04:05

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.

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Posted By: Doug Pollard - Category: gay rights, Melbourne, Victoria, gay politics, Australian politics, discrimination

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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

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Posted By: Doug Pollard - Category: gay rights, equality, same-sex, Melbourne, gay politics, discrimination

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Turnbull the Pink Liberal

September 16th 2008 04:56

Pink In - Blue Out

Nelsons gone, Turnbulls in, and knives are already out for the new leader. But is this good or bad for the gay community?

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Posted By: Doug Pollard - Category: religion, gay rights, gay marriage, equality, same-sex, gay politics, Australian politics

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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 . . .

Senator Louise Pratt

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Posted By: Doug Pollard - Category: gay rights, gay marriage, equality, Melbourne, gay politics, Australian politics, discrimination, sport

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Call for Libs to condemn Kennett

August 21st 2008 05:49

Martin Foley - Labor Member for Albert Park

Victorian State Labor member for Albert Park, Martin Foley, today introduced three motions into parliament condemning Jeff Kennetts remarks made in relation to the Ken Campagnolo case

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Posted By: Doug Pollard - Category: gay rights, Melbourne, Victoria, gay politics, sport

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Akermanis on gays in the AFL (LINK)

August 20th 2008 08:22

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

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Posted By: Doug Pollard - Category: gay rights, equality, Melbourne, Victoria, gay politics, discrimination, sport, popular culture

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