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Nationwide Equal Marriage Rallies

July 7th 2009 18:56

Demand Same Sex Marriage Equality August 1st

Perth:
WA Community Forum on Relationship recognition Saturday August 1st 2:00pm to 5:00PM, University of Western Australia UWA

Families for Freedom and Community Support Day
Sunday 16th of August, 11:00am to 2:00pm

Cottesloe Foreshore, WA

Really Long Link or Keegan Martens
martek01@student.uwa.edu.au 0424 594 417
Really Long Link

Sydney:
Rally at Town Hall from Saturday, 12pm and March to the Sydney Convention Centre at Darling Harbour for a mass illegal wedding ceremony and to protest outside the National Labor Conference, demanding the Rudd government repeal the ban on Same Sex Marriage.

For more information, to get involved or to get married please call Ben Cooper
0412325231, email at ben8721@hotmail.com or check out
www.caah.org.au/nda
Really Long Link

Lismore – Northern NSW:
Rally at 12pm, Saturday August 1st starts at Spinks Park aka Lismore Transit Centre, Molesworth St and March to the Winsome Hotel, Bridge St North Lismore where an after party will be held from 1:30pm

For more info or to get involved call Sean Rich 0266221555 between 9am & 5pm or alternatively email at scrawny_seany@hotmail.com or check out Really Long Link

Canberra:
Meet at Garema Place, 1pm on August 1st, where there will be a rally followed by a march to Bob McMullen's office.

For more information or to get involved please check out www.cuaction.org/ or contact

John Kloprogge act@equallove.info 0422 913 942

Brisbane:
The Brisbane rally will be held at 1pm on August 1st at Queens Park.

To get involved, please email jessicapayne86@hotmail.com or call 0430375326. You can also check out the website at www.arcg.com.au

Adelaide:
The Adelaide rally is hosted by the South Australian Queer Lobby
Meet at Parliament House, corner of North Terrace and King William St, Adelaide, at 11am.
We will hold a demonstration at Parliament House, and then march to Barr Smith Lawns, University of Adelaide, where we will hold a picnic/bbq and speeches.
There will also be an after-party at Mars Bar.

To get involved or for more information phone Jason Virgo 0432 694 680 or email: saqueerlobby@gmail.com

Melbourne:
This year’s rally is on August 1st from 1pm at Federation Square

For more information, to get involved or to get married, please visit www.equallove.info or contact Tim Wright directly contact@equallove.info
0400 967 233

Hobart:
The Tasmanian Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby (TGLRG) will rally and be launching a petition for Equal Same-Sex Marriage at their Salamanca stall at 11am on Saturday August 1st.

For further information and to get involved please visit www.tglrl.org.au or email rodney.croome@tglrg.org or call 0409 010 668

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

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Talking 'bout my generation

June 27th 2009 08:53

There is a yawning gay generation gap. On my side we can remember when we could be jailed or subjected to forced psychiatric treatment just for existing. Our parents threw us out of home. We watched dozens of friends and hundreds of acquaintances die from an unknown illness while most people shrugged and said, why worry? It only kills faggots and junkies. We were always in a fight, and we still are.

On the other side stand you who were legal from the day you were born, whose parents never withdrew their love and support, who didn’t have to watch your friends die while the world looked on with indifference. For you, the big fights are over, and it’s just about the details. Chill.

There isn’t much communication across this gap. Fifty-somethings have for the most part given up being snubbed by twenty-somethings, and twenty-somethings tend to flee from us like nervous virgins, for fear they will be unable to resist our charms and wake up in chains in our dungeons. They should be so lucky!

But thanks to this column, and my radio program, I get to hear first hand some of the thoughts and opinions of people of younger generations, through online feedback. For example,on my Facebook page I recently expressed my frustration with the governments stance on same sex marriage.

“Why are you in such a rush?” asked one young man. “Why all this fuss over a bit of paper most people don’t want anyway? We’ve made incredible strides in just one generation, from persecuted minority to near-equality. The rest will all fall in to place quite naturally in 15 or 20 years time.”

I have a couple of problems with that. Firstly, it’s already taken too long to get this far. Equality is almost within our grasp. It would be lazy and foolish to settle for second class status now. Some countries say a woman is worth 50 cows, others say 100 goats, some say half a man. We’re a little better off than that, but why should I tolerate being valued at 90% of a heterosexual for the next 20 years?

Secondly I may not even be alive in 2030, although with a bit of luck, and some major breakthroughs in medical science, I suppose I might be. With plastic surgery, a transgenic pig heart, and a new set of balls grown from my own stem cells, I might even find a third career as a Michael Jackson lookalike. And as I stand at the altar to finally marry my husband, part of me (one of the original bits) will probably enjoy the irony that at last I am considered 100% human.

And finally, marriage is only a happy ending in fairy tales. There’ll still be more to do. There are a lot of people – especially lesbians, it seems - who want something more than traditional marriage. Or something different altogether.

For myself, I’ll be happy to settle for equality. But not for anything less.

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

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Rainbow Report on Homophobia

April 30th 2009 00:40

Graphic: BBC

This week Thu Apl 30 7-8pm AEST Joy 94.9 Melbourne, streaming live at www.joy.org.au The Rainbow Report looks at Homophobia.

Mention IDAHO to most people, and they think you’re talking about a US State that’s famous for potatoes and not much else. And no, it’s not the one where same-sex couples started marrying this week – that’s IOWA.

But our IDAHO is the International Day Against Homophobia, which is getting to be quite a big deal overseas but to date, Australia’s contribution has been pretty feeble. Greg Adkins hopes that’ll change this year – he joins us in the studio to explain what’s happening in Melbourne and how you can join in and have some fun.

We’re often accused of seeing homophobia where it doesn’t really exist, but is it magnifying the effect of the recession for some of us? Some of the first things companies drop to save money are gay-supportive initiatives and gay and lesbian staff. Harley Dennett of the Sydney Star Observer has the story.

Despite the name, Queensland could fairly be described as a homophobic state. with no relationship recognition, or recognition for same sex parents. The age of consent seems equal at 16, but anal intercourse with anyone under 18 is a criminal offence under a 1990 "sodomy law”. GLBTI Queenslanders have been campaigning its repeal, but back in October the Queensland government made it tougher instead. Miles Heffernan from QNews tells us all about it.

Joining me in the studio tonight, the feisty snappy-dressing co-convenor of the Victorian Gay & Lesbian Rights Lobby, Hayley Conway; the man who lobbies the pollies on our behalf, Corey Irlam, with his response to the government’s response to the 2020 summit – anyone remember that? Seems a long long time ago. And Cathy Anderson, one of the Lesbians On The Loose at LOTL magazine.

And finally Kaye Sera pays tribute to Golden Girl Bea Arthur, who died last week. I was hoping she’d say something about swine flu, so I could do an intro about a pig in a poke bonnet, but you can’t have everything.

Don’t just sit there, we love to put your views to air too, so please agree, disagree, argue, praise, whatever by emailing onair@joy.org.au - text 0427 JOY 949, or call 9699 2949.

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Posted By: Doug Pollard - Category: Australian politics, Melbourne, discrimination, equality, gay lesbian politics, equal marriage, equal rights, popular culture, radio, same-sex, social commentary

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Rainbow Report on Community

April 9th 2009 01:55

Our topic on the Rainbow Report tonight is community – what exactly is this thing we call ‘the gay and lesbian community? Does it really exist? And if it does, then what does it want?

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