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The Rainbow Report broadcasts live every Thursday 7-8pm AEST in Melbourne Australia on 94.9 FM, streaming via the web at joy.org.au. PODCASTS are available via the Joy website and now also on iTunes.

gay rights Melbourne Victoria discrimination - Rainbow Reporter

Rainbow Report tonight 11/12

December 10th 2008 22:57
Another hour of news and current affairs for the Rainbow Crew.

Jayne Crawley - team leader for Arts & Culture with the City of Melbourne – talking about OutCities, a program of Melbourne queer arts and events being staged at Copenhagen OutGames next summer.

After some initial confusion, it seems Australia became a co-sponsor of the French motion for a declaration by the UN General Assembly on same-sex rights. Simon Margan of Community Action Against Homophobia has that story for us.

Our new Lord Mayor Robert Doyle has already started making waves as he settles in at Town Hall – the Age joked that his first move had been to ditch the word Mayor from his title – so we’ve asked him back for a chat.


Corey Irlam has been, as always, busy leaning on the politicians on our behalf, and specifically on behalf of those members of our community who are being forced to pay the price of equality.

Cathy Anderson makes a welcome return tonight after a sojourn in the Western Desert of suburban Sydney.

And finally, Miss Kaye Sera looks beneath a festive bonnet tonight as she morphs into Madame Santa contemplating what the government should have done to get the economy moving this festive season.

That's The Rainbow Report, Joy 94.9FM Melbourne, streaming ,live at www.joy.org.au: podcasts at the same address and also via iTunes store.

Join me 7-8pm AEDST: call 61 (0)3 9699 2949 / onair@joy.org.au / Txt: 0427 JOY 949
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Sham 'conscience vote' on Assisted Reproduction Bill

October 24th 2008 09:43
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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New gay papers, Taxpayer fund Mardi Gras

October 2nd 2008 04:05
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.

And the NSW state government will funnel ‘hundreds of thousands of dollars’ to Mardi Gras to secure its future. Joining us in the studio to talk about both these events is the editor of Sydney Star Observer, Scott Abrahams.

The Red Cross ban on gay men donating blood resumed public hearings this week – we talk to the man bringing the action against the Red Cross, Michael Cain.

Last week the Matrix Guild, the support group for older lesbians produced a disturbing report on the problems facing rainbow seniors. The aged care system, it seems, doesn’t easily accommodate out gays and lesbians. Jane Kent from the Matrix Guild explains.

Insightful comment, wit and perspicacious questions are supplied by this week’s studio guests, Cathy Anderson – something of a gay media figure herself – and veteran gay advocate Ron Thiele, fresh from his travels through offshore islands and Melbourne emergency rooms.

Join us on Joy 94.9, onair at www.joy.org.au, 7pm AEST Thursday, and join in, text to 0427JOY949, email onair@joy.org.au, or call 9699 2949.

Doug Pollard
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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.

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Footy IS homophobic - but could soon change (LINK)

September 3rd 2008 10:22
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.

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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


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Pigs worth more than Queers

August 4th 2008 03:22
Piglet
Neil Mitchell's priority
On 3AW talkback shock-jock Neil Mitchell heavily downplayed the seriousness of Jeff Kennetts remarks comparing bisexuals to paedophiles, making it sound as though the gay community had overreacted.

And took no calls on the issue, preferring nice safe chats with piglovers and pigfarmers about animal welfare and cruelty


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Education Minister Backs Gay Marriage

August 4th 2008 00:25
Bronwyn Pike
Bronwyn didn't pike it


The numbers may have been down – only about 300 turned out for this year’s Melbourne Equal Love Rally, well down on previous years – but two facts made it a memorable occasion


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Kennett now equates bisexual footy trainers with pedophile priests (LINK)

August 2nd 2008 21:00
Dark Knight priest
Dark Night Priest


Well, I was going to lay off Jeff Kennett, but the man just keeps chewing on that foot in his mouth. In the Herald Sun today he continues to make a link between bisexuality and pedophilia. Such a link does not exist, and such a slur is incredibly damaging


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Rainbow Report Tonight 7-8PM AEST

July 31st 2008 05:37
Jeff Kennett
Jeff Kennett slips into the back rooms to encourage the lads to 'spread 'em for your President.'


STREAMING LIVE WWW.JOY.ORG.AU 7-8PM AEST TONIGHT JULY 31


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Alcohol, Gambling, Depression & Hypocrisy

July 30th 2008 06:30
Poker Machine
Well that took care of the rent money, better get to the teller machine....

Sorry to go on about Jeff Kennett, but . . . . . . . . . . .

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Should Jeff Kennett Apologise? (LINK)

July 27th 2008 22:37
I wrote about this yesterday.

The story also made Channel 7 news last night


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Footy trainer slandered by mayoral candidate (LINK)

July 27th 2008 00:14
Jeff Kennett
Jeff Kennett, Hawthorn chairman
Jeff Kennett, the former Liberal premier of the state of Victoria and current would-be mayoral candidate for the city of Melbourne, has weighed into the Ken Campagnolo story, equating Ken's bisexuality with paedophilia.

Ch 7 NEWS INTERVIEW WITH KEN CAMPAGNOLO TONIGHT


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Tonight on the Rainbow Report

July 24th 2008 06:51
Joy 94.9 FM
I have a cold/bug thingy, so the show will be hosted tonight by Tim Newton 7-8pm AEST Joy 94.9FM if you're in Melbourne Australia, streaming live at www.joy.org.au. Podcast available in a day or so from the Joy website.

Joining Tim in the studio tonight we have Demetra Giannkopoulos, co-convenor of the Victorian Gay & Lesbian Rights Lobby, which is planning another Equal Love Rally on August 3


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