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The recent statistics in favour of marriage equality — 66 percent according to NewsPoll, Galaxy Poll and Essential Media — reflect a positive social change for greater acceptance of same-sex attracted couples.

While this is a wonderful step in the right direction, it’s important not to get complacent and behave in a manner which sets the cause back.

Recent political discourse suggests that progressive politics — which the debate for marriage equality comes under — are indeed susceptible to public backlash. The resurgence of the religious right and the emergence of the Tea Party in the United States and the racism seen in Europe with rising immigration numbers has shown this to be the case.

The naming and shaming of ‘homophobic’ people with terms like ‘bigot’ or in some cases deeming them to be ‘as bad as Hitler’ alienates many people — across class, race, age, or political persuasion.

This is harmful for the cause as it involves purely an attack mode, creating an unnecessary cultural and social divide. It has a way of making one’s sexual attraction — which is but a small part of who we are as human beings — a bigger issue than it really should be.

This isn’t about whether one is same-sex attracted or heterosexual — it is about equality. We are more than just the sum of our sexuality. Crying ‘bigot’ at any sign of unease by — mostly older — people does not help pave the way to acceptance.

It is time to accept that some people are quite simply resistant to change — and, unfortunately for some, that includes marriage equality. In saying that, this does not mean one should excuse harassment, violence, or the fight for equality, for that matter.

However, it does mean a shift in the way we pursue legislative equality is required.

It is my view that this would be best achieved by appealing to values everyone in society, irrespective of race, religion, age, sexual persuasion, etc agrees on — the importance of one’s human rights and freedom. Violence towards LGBTQI people should be condemned in such a way, for example, to parents — how would you feel if it was your child who was being bullied, who feels worthless and like there is no way out but to take his/her own life. Marriage equality can be framed in a similar way.

We need to move the debate away from its current ‘identity’-inclined form which focuses on the things that divide us rather than what we as humans and as Australians have in common.

Only through such discourse which accepts everyone whether they be LGBTQI, straight, religious, non-religious, conservative or progressive can we achieve a positive outlook for LGBTQI persons in all aspects of their lives — not just marriage equality.

By CHRISTOPHER CHANCE

INFO: Christopher Chance is studying for a combined degree in Law and Psychology (Honours) at Sydney University.

The Sydney Rangers A team played their sixth game of the season on May 5, battling Marrickville at Easton Park, Rozelle.

Both teams had moments of control in the first half, but often the Rangers play was too rushed, with the ball given away too easily.

The second half saw a much-improved Rangers performance. Nick Nurlan was unlucky to see a couple of chances go agonisingly close.

Ben Bagshaw made an amazing save to deny a clear goal-scoring chance for the Marrickville centre forward, and the Rangers defence led by Daniel O’Raw and Rob Lumb performed admirably. Bruce
Nagle continued his fine form, looking more composed with each passing game.

The final score was a 0-0 draw.

“The boys put in a solid team effort and I was pleased we played our own game and dominated for long spells. This was a more disciplined performance from a side which is still finding its feet in a higher and more competitive league,” coach Joseph Roppolo said.

“I know what the boys are capable of and as we build a stronger belief in our own abilities and have more confidence in each other, I know a win is just around the corner.”

Rangers A’s next game is against top of the table Strathfield B on Saturday, 12 May 12, 1.15pm at Strathfield Park #3.

This week we get laid, we hang with the bold and the beautiful, and look into the lives of a group of girls from New York City — and Sex and the City this isn’t. We also look at the frivolties of E! Entertainment’s favourite comedian, Chelsea Handler.

Laid is back with its sexual themes and unorthodox characters. Laid is a show about sex and death, now in its second season.

Roo McVie (Alison Bell) works in market research. Her best friend EJ Griggs (Celia Pacquola) is getting married to Zach (Toby Truslove).

In season one, Roo discovered that all the men she has had sex with have died — all 22 of them. She gets some esoteric help. Thinking she is healed, she has sex with Charlie (Abe Forsythe), a good friend/boyfriend. It was the final scene when we saw Roo post-coital looking worried as Charlie wasn’t waking up.

Opening of season two, Charlie is in a coma, so Roo still has a cursed vagina. But she is trying anything to deal with it. Laid is funny. It’s been a long wait for the new season, but well worth it. A must-watch on a Wednesday night.

Another show that has been a long wait, but that’s because I haven’t thought to watch it, is The Bold and The Beautiful. It’s a show that you don’t really have to watch daily to know what’s happening. The reason is the actors have that ‘looking into space’ or ‘talking to themselves while exacting revenge’ technique to get viewers hooked.

I’ve seen a month’s worth of episodes, and there is a love triangle. Liam Spencer (Scott Clifton), who is married to Stephanie Forrester (Susan Flannery), wants an annulment to be marry Hope Logan (Kim Matula). Stephanie has a blood clot on the brain, which apparently can practically melt away, according to the script. The blood clot, however, was false. It was a plot to keep Liam and Stephanie together.

The Bold and The Beautiful has been a staple of daytime TV for decades. There have been some interesting plots to keep us enthralled and some moments of emotion that have kept us glued, even with their slightly Botoxed foreheads.

I can be a sucker for daytime television serials. They kept me entertained while I studied for my Higher School Certificate and one even kept me home from school as there would be a particular juicy storyline I had to watch until the end. That show was The Young and the Restless and the year was 1995.

The particular riveting storyline only lasted five days, which meant I didn’t miss too much school, and my fake illness wouldn’t have been too suspicious. Only a few people know about that, so moving on.

Coming to Foxtel (Showcase) this month is the show that breaks boundaries and has more realism than Sex and the City, which it’s often compared to. The show is called Girls and it deals with
the trials and tribulations of four girls in their 20s from Brooklyn, NY dealing with sex, dating and finding their own way in the world.

At just 25 years of age, when most women start to embark on phases of career, babies and perhaps marriage, Lena Dunham has written and directed a series based on her friends’ unique and awkward moments of being 20-something.

Dunham plays Hannah, a down-and-out heroine. She’s insecure about her weight and trapped in a dead-end ‘toxic’ relationship with her ex. Her friends deal with other intricate matters.

This is the real deal. No saccharine-sweetened scenes or glossed-over subjects or themes. This is as real as it gets.

Someone else who is the real deal is Chelsea Handler. If you have never heard of her, you may have heard of Chelsea Lately, a nightly talk show that combines comedy with news with a celebrity-bashing twist. She often ends the show with a ‘chat’ with someone in entertainment.

But the main angle is Handler with a panel of comedians discussing news and other items that often involve celebrities doing stupid things. Handler tells it as it is. She is feisty and you wouldn’t want to get in her bad books.

Handler is not only a comedian with her own show but she has authored four books. Her first book, My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands, describes the variety of sexual encounters she’s had.

Handler also wrote other books with themes of sex, her penchant for vodka, and her life from the point of view of her family and friends.

As Handler is heading towards her 40s and with Chelsea Lately extended for another three seasons on E!, she will have many more stories to tell.

By TIMOTHY CONNELL

INFO:
Laid – Wednesday 9PM ABC1
The Bold and the Beautiful – Monday – Friday, 4.30pm, Channel 10
Girls – Monday, May 28, 8.30PM, Showcase (Foxtel)
Chelsea Lately – Wednesday – Friday (New) 10.30PM E!, Monday – Tuesday (Repeats), 10.30PM E!

Before I start, I should make one thing clear. I would rather be run over by a bus — a bus that was on fire — than marry my boyfriend.

Don’t get me wrong: Scott and I been together for a decade (longer than any heterosexual couple our age, not that we’re counting or anything) and I clearly adore the bastard. Hell, when he doesn’t shave for a week and serves me breakfast in bed half-naked, I’d even go so far as to say that I love him.

Still, the prospect of a wedding — the stress, the cost, being photographed a million times and making out in front of relatives — really doesn’t appeal to either of us.

The average Australian wedding costs $50,000 and if I had that kind of money, I’d rather buy, say, a round-the-world plane ticket. In fact, doing the maths, I could buy more than 20 tickets.
We’d bring our friends! And maybe buy drugs!

Still, none of this makes me anti-wedding though. Because hot damn, I love me a good hitchin’. And it isn’t just about the free alcohol. (It’s mainly about the free alcohol.)

I genuinely love the pageantry of the whole thing — dressing up in suits and gowns, adjusting my boyfriend’s tie before we arrive and seeing my friends at their most beautiful. Weddings makes me feel grown up.

I am humbled by my friends’ public declaration of love, weep openly during their vows, and when I see the bride and groom’s families do the same thing, it triggers even more snot-nosed heaving. It is a glamorous thing. You should see me in action.

Still, when the celebrant has to do the whole “man and woman, to the exclusion of all others” spiel, I start gagging a little. Marriage celebrants are good people, who’ve sought out a vocation where they officiate and write into law the binding love between people. And maybe it’s my imagination, but I can tell they’re pretty grossed out by the current state of the Marriage Act too.

God knows, if there’s any one segment of society who knows how to throw a shit-hot party, it’s the homos. And yet, we’re excluded from all this for reasons that — in Australia, especially — are entirely baffling.

It’s a tired argument, but LGBT Australians pay our taxes like everyone else. Since Rudd’s reforms in 2009, same-sex partners have been considered the same as opposite-sex partners with taxes and finances, and our partners’ incomes have been taken into account to calculate Centrelink benefits, sometimes to our financial detriment.

Equality, of course, always comes at a price. But it seems unfair to pay that price without actually achieving total equality.

Things are changing though. In Australia, same-sex marriage is inevitable: 80 percent of young Australians between 18 and 24 want to see it happen.

And it shouldn’t be a religious issue when 53 percent of Australian Christians support the move too. (Note to the mainstream media: the ACL doesn’t represent the majority of Australian Christians. Here’s another idea: speak to some LGBT Christians once in a while.)

With those figures, what shits me most about the “gay marriage debate” is that a debate even exists. To the naysayers, I say hold off on your faux concern for the children. If it’s kids you really care about, you’ll have read the American studies published in Time that suggest kids raised by lesbians are actually more well-adjusted than their peers.

Worried that same-sex marriage will affect straight marriage? Unless your marriage daughters are secretly hungry for tang, you don’t have anything to worry about! (Yes, I’m talking to you, Barnaby and Tony.)

Let’s make this happen, because — at the very least — LGBT Australians are kind of exhausted. A lot of us are tired of marching. We’re tired of writing stories like this. We don’t want to protest any more, because no protest should exist when we’ve got the majority of Australians backing us on this. We don’t want to sign any more petitions, because they’ve been signed already.

We’d rather spend our weekends at the markets, or at the movies, or having robust sessions of homosexual intercourse. This debate is getting in the way of us pursuing those far more interesting activities. Let’s pass this motherfucker and move on.

For me, marriage is less about a celebration of love than a celebration of monogamy, and that is absolutely fine. It’s not for me, but when my friends — straight or queer — want to get married, I want them to get married too. If the children of gay and lesbian parents want their parents to get married, I want those parents to have the option.

It’s not the only fight LGBT Australians should be fighting, but it’s an important one.

One day, I might want to live overseas. Perhaps it’ll be easier for my boyfriend to get a visa, or the other way around.

If marriage would allow us the same immigration rights as any other married couple, we might consider getting married too. Right now, it isn’t an option.

None of this debate is purely symbolic. A lot of it is practical. And apart from being fabulous, our community has always been a practical bunch.

By BENJAMIN LAW

INFO: Memoirist Benjamin Law, author of the 2010 book The Family Law, will appear at the Why Get Married When You Could Be Happy? forum on same-sex marriage, Saturday, May 19, 6pm at Sydney Town Hall for the Sydney Writers’ Festival. A shorter version of this story originally appeared in Frankie magazine.

Photo: Tammy Law

Forty-one years ago a small group of demonstrators gathered in Sydney to protest the pre-selection of a conservative Liberal candidate, the first gay demonstration in Australia.

Six months later, George Duncan was drowned while cruising by Adelaide’s Torrens River, possibly by police, opening up a debate which would lead to South Australia becoming the first state to decriminalise homosexuality in 1975.

The lesbian and gay movement grew out of larger social changes of the time that saw radical shifts on how Australians imagined ourselves. The dramatic shifts in policies towards women, non-European migrants and Aborigines, to some extent a product of the Whitlam Government, opened up space for a new approach to homosexuality.

Political commentator George Megalogenis has spoken of the ways in which Australia was transformed in the past few decades by “wogs and women”.  Homosexuals both benefitted from, and contributed to, the changes of which he writes.

This is not to argue that we have won total acceptance. Rather there is a strange balance between well-meaning acceptance and hostility that means we constantly need to negotiate our place in the larger society. Certainly the attitudes of 40 years ago, when homosexuality was defined as sick, deviant and criminal, have largely disappeared.

But rather than total acceptance of sexual diversity, this means an uneven pattern which is not always predictable.

We know from research carried out by the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health & Society that there remains a high rate of depression and psychological distress amongst queers (ARCHS speaks of “GLBT’ but I use the word to cover those who are either homosexual or transgendered).

We also know there is a high rate of harassment and experience of discrimination, with trans people particularly subject to abuse. But 6 percent of women surveyed and more than 10 percent of men reported violence or threats of violence, and such abuse continues despite changes in general attitudes.

These figures match experiences Toby Lea’s research has recorded amongst young queers. There are special issues for people in certain religious and ethnic communities, as the recent ACON report on gay Arab-Australians revealed.

As we argued in those lost days of gay liberation, legal reforms by themselves are inadequate to deal with the real roots of homophobic violence and prejudice, nor will reason itself be sufficient to eliminate hostility.

What has changed, and changed dramatically, is that most of us are open about our sexuality most of the time. “Coming out” was the most dramatic expression for the early gay movement of the personal as political, and over the years there has been a steady increase in public figures who are openly gay, including a number in high positions.

Yet ‘coming out’ remains a rite of passage that all those who differ from conventional sexual and gender norms have to negotiate. Unlike other forms of identity, being queer is almost always to break with one’s biological family: one rarely thinks of oneself as queer as part of one’s family heritage.

This explains why same-sex marriage is such a charged issue: it represents competing visions of what constitutes “family”. For many lesbians and gay men, acceptance of marriage is a symbolic way of re-entering their biological family as equal members.

The early gay movement came out of the left, and desperately wanted to be radical. This started to change in Australia as HIV required gay men to work with the state, but it is really with the marriage movement that homosexual activism has become professionalised and respectable.

These changes have taken place not only within Australia. Over the past several decades there has been an explosion of activity in many parts of the world as new groups, asserting various forms of ‘queer’ identity and community, emerge in countries where the space to be gay is remarkably restricted.

These groups would have emerged differently, and with less support, without the AIDS epidemic. The epidemic opened up discussion of sexuality, and funding for emerging groups across the world, and some of my best memories of 25 years of involvement in HIV come from working with emerging queer groups in other parts of the world.

I have met many brave women and men who literally risk their lives in fighting for basic freedoms across most of the world. The challenge is to find ways of supporting them that avoid charges of neo-colonialism, as were thrown at British prime minister David Cameron when he announced British development assistance would be cut where homosexuals were persecuted.

I would love to see some of the political savvy that has gone into the campaign for same-sex marriage directed at thinking through how we might develop support for a global lesbian and gay movement. We have a lot to learn from the people who are now reinventing ideas of liberation and sexual rights in countries like Kenya, Brazil and Indonesia.

By DENNIS ALTMAN

INFO: Dennis Altman is a gay rights activist and author of the 1971 book Homosexual: Oppression and Liberation. He will appear at two Sydney Writers’ Festival events: ‘A look at Homosexual 40 years on’, at Sydney Theatre, 1pm, May 19, and ‘Why Get Married When You Could Be Happy?’ at Sydney Town Hall, 6pm, May 19. www.swf.org.au

PICTURED: Dennis Altman (far left) at a demonstration outside Liberal Party HQ in 1971. Photo: Phil Potter.

Why do we bother volunteering for support, social or other groups in our community?

Indeed, there are myriad reasons why people offer their time and energy to a worthy cause.

Given the vast number of community groups out there, it is not surprising that you could almost feel overwhelmed with where to start. I know, because I was like that, not knowing what to do or where to begin, before I decided to get involved with ‘our community’.

The term ‘community’ can be very difficult to explain. Sometimes, when I open the gay rags, glance at Facebook or listen to JOY 94.9 FM, I find myself wondering, “Is this what the word ‘community’ means?”

Then I take a reasonably hard look at myself, shrug my shoulders and think, “Why am I concerned so much with what the ‘community’ means?”

I got involved with the Victorian AIDS Council/ Gay Men’s Health Centre (VAC/GMHC) as a volunteer at the suggestion of a counsellor. I had a crush on him, and he correctly suggested I should channel my energy into something positive other than seeing him for further counselling.

Back in 1989, HIV was a hot topic in the gay community. My (now ex) counsellor thought it would be a great place for me to get involved as a volunteer and steering my thoughts from focusing on him to do something for ‘the community’.

Indeed, “giving something back to the community” is a common answer given by potential outreach volunteers. Nine times out of 10, this is their prime motivation.

When pressed, they often elaborate along these lines: “When I first came out and went to gay pub/club/SOPVs, there was someone who took me under their wing and told me the whys and wherefores — basically, someone who helped me along the way”.

So, while there are guys out there who are only out for a quick wham bam thank you ma’am at SOPVs or other places where sex happens, there are many more folk who actually care about others.

They welcome those experiencing ‘coming out on the scene for the first time’ and are supportive of them.

While they are not actively engaged as a ‘volunteer’ for any particular organisation, in my eyes they are already volunteering their time and energy. This is because of the helping hands and support they offer, especially to those who are relatively new to the ‘gay community’.

Remember how you felt when you first ‘came out to the scene’. Perhaps this is a good incentive for you to support others and volunteer your time to ‘the community’ for a worthy cause.

If you are interested in volunteering at the VAC/GMHC, call 03 9865 6700 and ask for the Volunteer Coordinator.

By TEX MCKENZIE

I have clients say to me, “This is just the way I am and I can’t change my natural nature”.

Usually this statement follows a story about a troubled relationship with a close friend, family member or lover.

The reality is we all can change our habits and resulting behaviour because they have all been created from past experiences and resulting decisions.

Our working brains work in two stages of thinking. Stage one is a rather lazy consciousness, more intuitive than logical and prone to error decisions. Stage one consciousness likes to keep things simple, make hasty decisions and in some cases repeat bad habits and behaviour.

Stage two consciousness demands more rational thinking and greater brain effort — more like the effort of reading a book versus watching television.

How can we make it easier to engage in stage two thinking to stop engaging in lazy stage one thinking, leading to repeating bad habits and bad behaviour?

The first step is to write down the whole puzzle or scenario. By writing down the whole story, you externalise the situation and you can now look at what is really happening and how you can rethink the situation.

Next, write down what you want to change and how you can do it. By doing this you are already engaging in stage two thinking which is a higher level of rational thinking. If you practise this process, you will reframe unhelpful habits and your emotional intelligence will soar.

It is important to bear in mind that the only person you can change is yourself. Others will carry on doing what they do. In the end you can only change the way you react to others and in doing so, like a stone thrown into a pond, a ripple of new experience will occur.

For instance, when you get stressed or upset by others’ behaviour think it through in stage two and say to yourself, “I am going to stay calm and friendly”. Use this the next time you get annoyed with your lover, at a rude waiter, waiting forever in the post office queue or getting annoyed because the person in front is paying for a $7 item with a credit card and holding you up.

If you are having calm and friendly thoughts, your responses are more likely to be rational and processed in stage two consciousness. I am not saying you are not entitled to be angry at situations — you just need to check if your response is going to be an automatic stage one bad habit reaction.

Stage one thinking does have positive attributes as it allows you to be intuitive and it provides a strong sense of creativity. Analytical thinking and creativity do not necessarily go hand in hand.

Our habits have been developed from wanting to do the same things over and over again to provide a sense of safety with the known. But they can also keep us imprisoned by behaving badly with bad habits and allowing us to hang on to negative thoughts.

Maybe it is time to review attitudes to work situations, our careers, our dreams, relationships with our lovers, the gay scene, our family or whatever. To do this well, we need to engage in stage two thinking.

Our bad habits do not have to be our destiny.

INFO: Gerry North is a gay counsellor and can be contacted at gerrynorthcounsellor@gmail.com or www.gaycounselling.vpweb.com.au

This week we talk about the ladies who lunch and who are still desperate — we head to Wisteria Lane. Then we see what Ashley Judd is up to. We then talk about the latest in all things television.

“Once upon a time in a town called Fairview, there were five ladies who lived in a pretty and colourful cul-de-sac called Wisteria Lane.”

It was 12 years ago (in TV time) we first laid eyes on Susan Mayer (Teri Hatcher), Lynette Scavo (Felicity Huffman), Bree Van De Kamp (Marcia Cross), Gabrielle Solis (Eva Longoria) and Mary Alice Young (Brenda Strong). They were Desperate Housewives.

Twelve years later, which includes a five-year time jump in Season 5, and things have changed for nearly everyone on Wisteria Lane.

Susan is still — well, Susan, Lynette is now separated from Tom (Doug Savant) and has begun to date again. She has a decorating business with newish housewife Renee Perry (Vanessa Williams).

Bree who was once a straightlaced Christian woman, even with drinking issues, is sliding back into alcoholism and finding her sexual self. Instead of having faith in Jesus, she has faith in every man who visits her door.

Gabrielle is dealing with her own dramas with her children, her husband’s visit to rehab, and the cover-up of her stepfather’s murder. Mary Alice is still dead, having killed herself in the first episode, but still overlooks the drama on Wisteria Lane.

Renee Perry, who moved to the Lane to stir things up, is still getting over her divorce. She’s now focusing on the interior design business and her new Aussie love interest, Ben Faulkner, played by the handsome Charles Mesure. The relationship unfortunately ended last week, but he still stays very much in the picture.

Now that Desperate Housewives is in its final season, there will be more twists and turns before the sun sets on Wisteria Lane forever. But before it does, there will be a death and someone will be on trial for something they did not do. More secrets will be revealed.

Desperate Housewives started with a bang. Will it end the same way?

Another show that starts with a bang is Missing, a series about a son who is missing in Europe and a mother who searches for him. You’d think it wouldn’t have enough stories to be a series, but the twist is that Missing is about secrets and lies in the world of the CIA and international conspiracy. It’s full of action and drama which keeps you on the edge of your seat.

What makes this show tick is Ashley Judd. She’s a great actress and is compelling. She plays Rebecca (Becca) Winstone. There is so much at stake with Rebecca. You do feel sorry for her. She doesn’t want to lose the one thing in her life that means something. However, she does have a past, which comes back to bite her.

Missing will have you hooked in the first 10 minutes.

Last week on Glee, it was all about Whitney Houston. It was a tribute episode that also acknowledged that some of the ‘older’ characters will soon leave William McKinley High School.

Glee has been on air for only three seasons, but it feels longer. We have seen the characters go through themes of homophobia, lesbianism, racism, sexism, adoption, religion, body image, obsessive compulsive disorder, and love.

The ‘Whitney’ episode was fun and you can tell there is an ending in sight for Rachel (Lea Michele), Kurt (Chris Colfer), Finn (Cory Monteith) and Santana (Naya Rivera), as they go to college or try to find a career on Broadway.

However, Glee’s producers have said the foursome will return for season four. It will be a “groundbreaking” season apparently. There are five more episodes until season three ends. After that, there will be re-runs until spring.

As many US shows are ending their seasonal runs in May, some US shows screening in Australia still have many more episodes to go.

There is one show that may be halfway through its first season, but it’s at the starting point of its climax — Revenge. It has only 11 episodes to go, but everything will now start to unravel even faster. With all this excitement, Channel Seven will air two episodes this week, instead of one. I wonder if it’s because Emily VanCamp (Emily) and Joshua Bowman (Daniel) are in Australia.

Celebrity Apprentice, the show that gives ‘celebrities’ the chance to give to their favourite charities, is in full swing. This show is enjoyable, even if it does have the word ‘celebrity’ in the title. Last week Tania Zaetta was shown the door, but before that, ‘The Hoff’ made his exit because of “family duties in LA”. It looked suspicious, as he went straight after his bombshell announcement. Couldn’t he just have waited another 10 minutes or so until he was going to be fired anyway?

It’s a pity Tania was ‘fired’. She was entertaining, especially the conflict between her and both Lauryn Eagle and Charlotte Dawson. Tania did have that evil look at times. But to be fair, she did well for her charity.

I hope Channel Nine knows that once Charlotte Dawson is shown the door, I may stop watching.

INFO:
Missing, Tuesday, 9.30pm, Channel Seven
Desperate Housewives, Thursday, 10pm, Channel Seven
Glee, Thursday, 7.30pm, Channel Ten
Revenge, Monday and Wednesday, 8.30pm, Channel Seven
Celebrity Apprentice, Wednesday and Thursday, 8pm, Channel Nine

By TIMOTHY CONNELL

Although gay Australians are generally aware of local queer cinema, few Aussies, not to mention inbound travellers, realise just how often Sydney has appeared as a backdrop on the little and big screens.

From Number 96, The Sum of Us and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert to Muriel’s Wedding and Strictly Ballroom, the city is teeming with locations featured in gay or camp movies and television shows.

Australian gay cinema truly began with director Frank Brittain’s drama The Set. Shot in Sydney in 1970, the cult classic was the first movie to tackle homosexuality as a main theme.

Another trailblazer was television’s Number 96, the first soap opera to feature a regular gay character. Launched in the early 1970s, the series’ opening credits were filmed at Moncur Flats, 83 Moncur St, Paddington.

The 2012 comedy, A Few Best Men, takes a lighter, more tongue-in-cheek approach to homosexuality. The script describes Daphne (Rebel Wilson) as being 13 percent lesbian.

Director Stephan Elliott’s movie tells the story of a young English lad’s unusual wedding in Australia that goes from bad to worse thanks to his unruly mates. Much of the action takes place at the Yester Grange estate in the Blue Mountains.

In the 1990s, Elliott directed worldwide hit The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Two drag queens and a transsexual cross the Outback in a bus on their way to a cabaret gig.

Elliott’s ‘road movie in a frock’ kicks off with a tragedy when Bernadette (Terence Stamp) loses her partner, Trumpet, to peroxide fumes — he asphyxiates while dyeing his hair!

Trumpet’s funeral scene was filmed in Camperdown Cemetery on Church St, Newtown.

A stone’s throw from Camperdown, at 35 Erskineville Rd, Erskineville, is the Imperial Hotel, the setting for the send-off scene in Priscilla. This is where Adam (Guy Pearce) christens the bus ‘Priscilla’ by smashing a bottle of champagne over the roo bar, before he, Bernadette and Tick (Hugo Weaving) set off for Alice Springs.

The blow-up doll tied to a kite you see crashing in China at the end of the movie was filmed at the Chinese Garden of Friendship in Darling Harbour.

The date scene in The Sum of Us where Harry (Jack Thompson) proposes to Joyce (Deborah Kennedy) was shot near Darling Harbour’s Harbourside Shopping Centre.

The Sum of Us depicts a father and son’s close bond and their individual struggles to find love. The movie filmed in Rushcutters Bay Park, the setting of the footy game, and in the Royal Botanic Gardens. Jeff and his father, Harry, live on Campbell St, Balmain.

Although much of P J Hogan’s colourful ABBA campfest, Muriel’s Wedding, is set in Queensland, principal photography was done in New South Wales. After leaving Porpoise Spit, Muriel (Toni Collette) gets a job at Videodrama, a video store that originally operated at 135 Oxford St, Darlinghurst. Her roommate, Rhonda (Rachel Griffiths), works at Euro Star Dry Cleaning & Laundry opposite, at 100 Oxford St.

The scenes featuring Muriel trying on wedding dresses were shot at the House of Jean Fox at 48 Macquarie St, Parramatta. The store has since moved.

Grotta Capri, at 97-101 Anzac Pde, Kensington, is the restaurant where Muriel slurps her Orgasm cocktail while her bitchy friends reveal plans to holiday without her on Hibiscus Island. The

Sea World Resort on the Gold Coast stood in as Hibiscus Island though some scenes were filmed in Sydney at Le Beach Hut, 179 Russell Ave, Dolls Point.

One of the highlights of Muriel’s Wedding is, of course, the wedding. This took place in St Mark’s Anglican Church at the corner of Darling Point Rd and Greenoaks Ave, Darling Point.

Another ‘camp as Christmas’ hit of the 1990s is Baz Luhrmann’s glittery dance comedy and directorial debut, Strictly Ballroom. The movie looks at the backstage backstabbing that occurs in the world of competitive ballroom dancing.

The dance sequences were shot in venues including the Kogarah RSL Club, 254 Railway Pde, Kogarah, and Petersham Town Hall, 107 Crystal St, Petersham.

The dance school run by Les Kendall (Peter Whitford) was a set built on a soundstage in Mentmore Studios, Rosebery. The rooftop sequence featuring Scott (Paul Mercurio) and Fran (Tara Morice) dancing to Cyndi Lauper’s Time After Time was filmed above a business at the corner of Victoria and Marrickville Rds, Marrickville.

The scene where Fran’s family teaches Scott how to dance the paso doble was shot near the railway tracks in the Pyrmont Goods Yard. The tracks and sets were torn up shortly after filming was completed, making way for the Star Casino complex.

On the night the paso doble number was filmed, two government officials showed up for an inspection.

One of them pointed towards the milk licence vendor number painted on the milk bar set and said accusingly, “That vendor number doesn’t exist!”

“Neither does the milk bar,” a crew member replied glibly.

By LUKE BRIGHTY

INFO: www.sydneyonscreen.blogspot.com

Marriage equality activists threw glitter, waved placards and chanted at security outside the Rally for Preservation of Marriage held at Margaret Court’s Victory Life Church Centre in Perth last night.

About sixty protesters gathered to voice their opposition to the church’s stance on equal rights for same-sex couples to marry.

Protesters attempted to drown out Christian rock music blaring from speakers in front of the centre with pro-marriage equality chants.

At one stage the demonstration looked to be turning ugly when protesters engaged several conference marshals in a heated debate, however the situation was defused and the protest for the most part remained noisy but peaceful.

The protest was organised by Equal Love, with support from NUS, ECU and Curtin Student Guilds.

“We’re discriminating against Margaret Court’s right as a celebrity to come out and spew this homophobic filth and attack us with that and try and propagate this idea that there’s some sort of second class citizenship for gay and lesbian people,” Equal Love’s Sam Cavallaro said.

“We have nothing against the church, nothing against Christianity there’s plenty of church groups that support us and support equal marriage rights.

“It’s just these people feel that they should not just have their opinions but go as far as to have conversion therapy to try and convert people into being heterosexual. What we’re protesting about is some real acts of hatred against the queer community.”

Speaking outside the rally, Pastor Barbara from Victory Life said that the protest had been expected, observing that she found it ironic that the protesters were describing marriage as a civil right,

“They are saying that marriage is a civil right but Margaret Court has said that all along, that if they want to pursue a civil recognition in the law courts, the law courts of this land are civil and they will do that – but to enter into the foray of marriage which we believe is biblical based, it’s a divine sanction – God ordained it between a man and a woman – we just don’t feel that’s right,” she said.

“We’re not against them, we’re just saying that we do not feel that it is right at this time; we feel every child needs a mum and a dad and a family.

“We’re just standing up for family in our nation.”

Full coverage and photos of the protest from OutinPerth here.