Anti-gay message hits the road
A truck with mounted signage warning of the dangers of same-sex marriage to children and displaying a grown man embracing a young male child is making its way to Queensland to target ALP electorates with its anti-gay message.
Embarking on a ‘Queensland Election Prayer Rally Tour’, the billboard claims young children will be subjected to ‘homosexual sex-ed’ that it says is already happening in Europe and the US.
The truck will travel through Taree, Kempsey, Casino, Lismore, Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast, on its way to a major prayer rally at King George Square in the Brisbane CBD on March 22, two nights before the state election.
Spotted in Gosford yesterday on its way north, amateur images of the truck went viral on social media platforms with users overwhelmingly expressing disgust and outrage.
The truck’s signage directs readers to the Stand4Marriage.org.au website which is registered to Australian Heart Ministries and Warwick Marsh – the founder of the The Fatherhood Foundation.
Marsh was dumped as one of the Federal Government’s men’s health ambassadors in 2008 by then Health Minister Nicola Roxon over his anti-gay views.
Failed NSW Christian Democratic Party candidate Peter Madden is also involved in the truck’s tour. His website has been calling for donations to assist its journey and explains the inspiration behind its message.
“The billboard signage (9 metres x 3 metres) on the ‘Heal Our Land’ Truck, will send a very strong message as it travels to Brisbane and parks outside shopping centres in marginal ALP electorates to distribute the ‘Your Children at Risk’ document,” Madden’s website states.
“It is vital that we pray that God will have His way in Queensland in this election against the wickedness proposed by Anna Bligh and others (who have pushed hard for the evil agenda of homosexual marriage in Queensland, clearly aimed at Australian children and families).”
Queensland equal rights advocate Phil Browne slammed the Prayer Rally Tour as “vilification” and “derogatory and offensive to most Queenslanders.”
“[It] denigrates gays by promoting a skewed and inaccurate message,” he said.
“Brisbane is a peaceful tolerant city and Peter Madden is not welcome to promote misinformation, hate and division within the community.”
Browne called on Brisbane Lord Mayor Quirk to immediately cancel the planned prayer rally to show that Brisbane was a fair and tolerant progressive city.
Following the Queensland election, the billboard truck will return to Sydney the following Sunday for a Stand4Marriage rally in Hyde Park North on Sunday April 1.
No, everyone does not haave a right to free speech. Yes, you arere entitled to an opinion, but if the public expression of said opinion leads to hatred or bigotry, is misinformed, or downright defamatory, then it has no place being broadcast in any way. This bus isn’t an expression of free speech and personal opinion. It is an expression of misinformation, willful ignorance, has no basis is fact, and is discriminatory in its view. therefore it has no place on the roads.
@Ben: Disengenuous… No. I promise you I meant everything that I said. You (inadvertently) illustrate my point. Free speech is what we have to preserve. You are more thann welcome to your opinions – in fact, I welcome them. You are more than welcome to your opinion that catholics are heretics and that they should not marry protestants, be fired from their job and that you don’t agree with red heads. I agree with you on that last one, red heads have no idea.
Let’s get some things straight.
Everyone has a right to an opinion no matter how stupid it may seem.
Human rights do not include the right to not be offended.
Having a view and making an argument that goes against the PC grain does not constitute hate speech.
Now, in response to your pseudo-argument/non-point/written diarrhea – here goes:
“The reality is, the anti gay marriage are overwhelmingly represented by people who openly believe gay and lesbians should have less rights than others.”
I don’t think many people think that at all. Even me, a heretic believes that gay people deserve equality. Guess what, they have it! A gay couple can live completely openly in Australia and enjoy all the benefits that us less enlightened hetero couples enjoy. Civil unions / defacto relationships are recognised and supported. It is against the law to be fired fom work if you are gay. We live in a country where the overwhelming general consensus is that if you are gay – great! Good on you. You are not denied any rights to life choices, sorry lifestyle choices or whatever point it was you were trying to make about semantics.
Speaking of choices. Two people are entitled to their choice to want to be together. No one can ever take that away from them (not in this country)
If two people decide they want to bring a child into the world, it may be their choice but it certainly isn’t the child’s. In my opinion (stay with me now, I’m entitled to an opinion) a child IDEALLY needs a mother and a father. Not two of each or a committee of people including ex’s, surrogates and partners. I know – not very PC but there you have it, an opinion nonetheless.
Hopefully I’m not censored for “hate speech”
As for a debate about Christians being allowed to marry or being fired from their jobs – I would rather engage in more intelligent debates, but sure – bring it on.
I have yet to come accross a reasonable argument as to why being gay is a bad thing. Homosexuality happens often in nature and having two same sex parents doesn’t ‘turn’ a child gay. Science has shown that it is essentially hormones that influence genetics that render a person gay, transexual or whatever and either happens at puberty or in utero (that means in the womb before birth), the times when hormonal changes are high. Social influences can cause people to live a gay lifestyle but often these people are discouraged with some part of the opposite sex or themselves (ie men that can’t approach girls or were molested might find it easier to be with other men, or older women who have had the 20 year marriage, kids etc and are now disheartened with the opposite sex). It seems to me the majority of people are opposed to anti gay campaigns, from reading the comments, so why even bother? Opinions, however, are like a&^%holes, everyone has one. Wake up and smell the coffee, Queensland, and get with the times! My country (New Zealand) ok’d same sex manage at least 10 years ago, and gay bashing? I can’t believe this s&*t still goes on!!! what century is this country living in?
As a Mum of 2 YES TWO gay children I am appalled and sickened by this! Because my kids are gay are they to be outcasts for the rest of their lives because they love a person of the same sex? LOVE is NOT about Gender! UGH.. To even have the nerve to say My son would be a pedophile sickens me and shows that these *Humans* know NOTHING! And does their *reasoning* say that my lesbian daughter will molest little girls? YOU people sicken me! And it is your own sick, warped brains that is the problem! I am 51yrs of age and I have found that my gay community friends are the most honest, reliable and trustworthy people. Oh Im seething – I have seen 1st hand what my kids have gone through – hurt, abuse, bashings by *Straights* etc. Im will finish now by saying – I will fight for the Gay Community to be allowed to show their love & devotion & commitment to eachother.
Totally appalled, saddened and saying a prayer to stop this hate campaign. Isn’t it bad enough having high suicide rates of young teenage gay and lesbians without more public hate being paraded through out Queensland.? Wake up politians and stop allowing peoples homophobic discrimination impact on the uneducated misguided and fearful.
http://www.gaychristian101.com/
Pwned.
This is disgusting – It’s almost like Australia has become an Evangelical country like America – pretty soon it’ll be filled with homeschooled weirdos who’s parents don’t want to “subject” them to the teachings of “evolution” or science….
Pretty sure for every homosexual out there there is a priest with his hands down a little boys pants…..
F**k off, mind your own business, and let people do what they like. It’s none of your business and has nothing to do with you. If people are gay, then theyre gay. You aren’t going to change that with a few billboards and “Godly” prayers….What happened to “Love Thy Neighbour?” Apparantly that doesn’t apply to gays?
Come to think of it, Christians talk about Gays ALOT… Someone protesting too much??
When will people realise that we live in 2012 – not 1912 – it is about time as a country we grew up and allowed people to be people – the message on the truck is disgusting – however as free thinking individuals and adults we have the right to express our opinion – mine is don’t look at it as I am an educated mother of 3 who fully supports people to be people and for unions to be recognised regardless of gender or sexual preference. I am not going to waste my energy on getting angry, I am going to put my energy into educating my children that it doesn’t matter what preference you have as long as people are treated equally the world will eventually balance out.
Am I the only one reading the truck and seeing that what it is saying is that same sex marriage leads to same sex education for young children….ie children see it as being OK and that’s what leads them to “become” gay. I didn’t read it as there being specific sex ed in schools “encouraging” homosexuality.
And the picture of the cute guy with the little boy could be any father and son.
It’s quite disgusting. For those that put forth the argument that anyone opposed to gay marriage is a bigot you might want to look up the meaning first.. there is a huge difference between having an opinion on something and exhibiting intolerance and animosity or being hostile. You can have an opinion but spreading a hate campaign is another story.. and yes that may mean that some pro gay people could be classified as a bigot.. I guess it just proves that we are first and foremost HUMAN… we are all the same but all individuals with different preferences. as long as those preferences don’t hurt anyone they should be ok. Again we are all human and same sex relationships don’t make anyone more likely to be a paedophile, murderer or rapist. There are millions of people both straight and gay who do horrible things. deal with it.
In addition… comments referring to the campaign being backed by evidence from psychiatrists etc… yes… they might have a report or two… but there are also reports from doctors advising that black people are not as smart as white…
I too would like to go kick the shit out of that van.. it’s called anger, you can’t say you don’t feel that way when something close to your heart angers you… doesn’t mean I would act on it.
also… leave a name and don’t be a coward.
@ChieftheLion…what disingenuous rubbish… would you be so quick to cite “free speech and the right to an opinion” if someone said “Catholics are heretics and (in my opinion) the law should bar them from marrying Protestants”
What if, “in my opinion” I don’t agree with people who are red-haired?
The reality is, the anti gay marriage are overwhelmingly represented by people who openly believe gay and lesbians should have less rights than others.
Your use of the word “life choices” is akin to lifestyle choices.
Shoes and haircuts are a lifestyle choice.
Your belief in Christianity is your choice.
Sexuality is something a person is born with.
The reality is, your arguments and Katters, are very close to the arguments used against decriminalising homsexuality.
And the rebuttal is the same.
If you disagree with homosexual sex, don’t do it.
If you disagree with same-sex marriage, then dont come to the wedding.
Finally, if you are so keen about a debate, how would you feel about a debate on whether or not Christians should be fired from their job for being Christian? Or barring Christians from marrying?
Doesnt feel like a debate does it…more like BIGOTRY.
John B
this bus is not about gay marriage just look at it
its bascially discriminating against people being with the same sex in relationships. I hope that if u have children that you would be prepared to except them for who they are and who they love. Love is natural, and yes there has been a big response over this truck, but i surely can understand why and if they think they have the right to drive around towns with that on their truck well then i think we have the right to have our say here and defend our community and protect our future children. Lets make a change. I dont like hate and anger and i just wish there would be more peace in this world and less closed minded judgemental people around.
This makes me really sad, as one does not just wake up and say “hey i think today i will be gay” it just doesnt work this way. Yes these people think they have the right to voice their opinion as have the opposite sides too, BUT, would one prefer to see people live happy lives the way they deserve or to see more suicides from people who cant cope with the abuse, the name calling, the judging and the list goes on. I know personally i would rather see people live happily no matter who they fall in love with. I am a woman and i am married to a man, i have 3 children and as they grow up into themselves and find their ways, i will be there for them every step of the way no matter who they fall in love with, exception being.. as long as they are treated right. I Cant say much more on this except, someone please paint that truck, it is cruel, it sends the wrong message to many people trying to just live, stay alive and to be accepted.
In the words of Thomas Jefferson ‘it neither breaks my leg nor picks my pocket’. He was referring to religious tolerance but in reality discrimination against homosexuals is always rooted in religious intolerence so really, I think it applies by extension.
Despite whatever propaganda is offered there’s no demonstrable evidence that homosexuals being allowed to marry, adopt or serve in the military is harmful to any individuals or to society as a whole. So to demand that they be kept from having equal status as non-homosexuals to such privileges and rights is in reality simply intolerable to the notion of fairness and justice.
Even if I were religious, though I am not, I would, if I was an honest and rational person, also have to realise that it is not the job of the government to legislate my religion’s moral views. That it is the role of government to address the welfare of the people, not the welfare of a religion or the peace of mind of it’s adherents or it’s god.
In ten, twenty or thirty years time equality for homosexuals will become more and more prevelent first as part of the individual and collective social conscious, as it has been growingly so for some time now, and in turn in more and more places we will see progressive action to change laws and standards to reflect this attitude.
In a few decades politicians and people who adamantly railed against same-sex marriage rights will be seen in the same light as racial segregationalists are seen today and for the same reason, because people will retrospectively view their attitudes as based in fearfulness, bigotry and arrogance.
I’d rather hope Australia will be a nation to take a proactive lead into that future rather than to be dragged into that future through embaressed compliance.
Reading through many of the above posts is a scary thing indeed:
Alex Perry: “I’ll be sure to throw a rock or two at it”
Dave B-Freshwater: “Who is with me to storm this truck and ruin it?”
Neil: “If i saw that I’d be seriously tempted to destroy such a disgusting piece of hate propaganda” And my personal favourite:
Scott Mac: “Cant the police act to have this crap removed from the streets.” No Scott, thank God they can’t… Last time I checked speech was free in this country. The thing that is far scarier than anything this truck is accused of spreading is the overwhelming, politically correct closed minded view that anyone who opposes gay marriage is a bigot, homophobe and a hate-filled inciter of violence. I am fiends with many gay people, who I love and couldn’t give a rats about their life choices, good on them. I’m also a Christian who believes that loving your neighbour as much as you love yourself is something we should all strive to do. Checking out this guy’s website (and sources)however, there is not one modicum of hate speech. His only point is this: He has a problem with gay people bringing children into this world. He also eloquently backs up his hypothesis that gay parents are not ideal with well documented and researched studies by independant psychologists and experts. He further backs his case up with facts and statistics.
Now let’s look at the collective arguments of all you politically correct homophobe-phobes.
1. Let’s shut this guy up. Let’s start a facebook campaign to not let him exercise his free speech.
2. Heterosexual couples sometimes abuse their kids, therefore gay couples should bring up kids. (Dumb as this one sounds, it is the resounding number one argument!)
3. Edward Fitzgerald: “It’s encitement to hatred and or violence towards a minority group”
4. David: “This is similar to the Nazi propoganda used against the Jews.
Quite the contrary guys… The Nazi Party pre WW2 got to their lofty heights through fascism and group think. I.e. Anyone that didn’t think or disagreed with mainstream was silenced (and usually killed also)
Who do you think is closer to being a fascist here: The guy that wants to make an argument and backs his view up with examples. Or the mob that wants to silence him for thinking against the grain?
Just wondering if I will be fined if I throw rotten eggs and fruit at this truck? Probably!! Oh well, time to start saving eggs and fruit (and money for my fine)!!
Sunshine Coast? If I see it, I’ll be sure to throw a rock or two at it :)
We need to fill Hyde Park with Gay Men & Women and all other that belong to our community on April 1 (ironic that it’s April Fools Day).
I think this is a positive thing. From reading the comments it’s plain to see that there is a lot of people who think same sex marriage is a good thing. It gives me faith in mankind when reading all the objections against this ‘vilification’.
Yes it’s a shame that there are people out there trying to stop same sex marriage but after reading the comments here, I have come away with a big smile on my face knowing that it is at least a minority of people who are still homophobic and not the masses.
Speaking as a straight male, I couldn’t give a F*** about same sex marriage. Go right ahead if it makes you happy. Don’t let the haters get you down and keep spreading the love.
Um… I currently live in California (moving back in less than a month) and my friends children are aged 11 and 13. And they DO NOT learn about homosexuality sexual education. Fact/Lies. Same/Difference?
It’s encitement to hatred and or violence towards a minority group, how this passed the advertising standards in any country is beyond me.
Edward Fitzgerald
Producer – The Pink Mafia
I have the appropriate answer to this add. Lets build a truck, on the side we’ll show a young boy going into a confessional, on the other side of the confessional it will show a priest entering, robe in the back open showing no underwear.
A caption that reads
Sex-educate you children about child molesters today!
Oh, Australia is getting almost as progressive as the states… We have our very own version of Westboro church in it’s infancy. Next they will start picketing funerals of dead soldiers.
It’s nice to see that we in the U.S. don’t have a corner on the homophobic market. I’m tired of politicians trying to out-Jesus each other and trying to impose their religious nonsense on our government. (See Rick Santorum) Abstinence only education doesn’t work, and Intelligent Design is just Creationism in drag. If that truck were in the States, I’d be tempted to turn it into a rolling NAMBLA advertisement. Really, they’re promoting their agenda with something that gay?
The funny thing is, it doesn’t really say anything that makes any sense. The first billboard looks like a Target jeans advert. Do they think the ALP is stealing children? It is so weird. And the second one looks like homosexual sexed for your children. What the hell does that mean? If I was paying the ad agency I would demand my money back for such crappy confused advertising that makes no real sense. Confused Christians, poor folks!!
I don’t see why grown ups are against teaching same sex education. Children who are at the age where they are learning about sex in class are not stupid, people only become stupid if you treat them that way. I the the main concern here shouldn’t be whether or not our kids are gay, we should be more concerned about the safety of our younger generation and give them a better chance at not making the bad mistakes our previous generations may have made.
I understand peoples’ beliefs are great and all, but is it worth sacrificing the safety of your children just so you suck up to your lord? That’s weak, I’m not religious, and I don’t have children, but I know I would much rather spend an eternity in hell than to out God before my children, I know I’m stronger than these mechanical idiots.
So called christians often accuse atheists of cherry-picking a single bible verse to make their argument. There are lots of verses in the bible that advocate slavery, the subjugation of women, stoning unruly children to death or sacrificing them to your god. Will you be advocating support for all of these biblical verses or do you reserve all your hate-filled, unchristian, divisive and deceitful propaganda for gays (who you must believe your god created) who wish to show their commitment to a single partner. How many among you and your congregation have not had two sexual partners? How many of you married virgins? I presume you’ll be demanding AS YOUR BIBLE DEMANDS, that those who didn’t be killed as punishment! You really are loathsome excuses for human beings. Signed : Kevin Armes – happily-married, straight father of two well-adjusted, un-indoctrinated, happy children.
Anybody got a few cans of paint and sometime?…..No reason normal ppl with some artistic sense can’t make something beautiful out of this trash. Let’s do a study shall we? One where they take into account how many children of same-sex marriages grow up to be rapists, murderers, pedophiles, etc. And let’s compare that with the children of hetero-marriages. I bet we’ll see some shocking stats….and NOT in favor of the straight folks.
“Vilification”? “Extreme rhetoric”? Jeez people, grow a skin. Just because somebody disagrees with your political or social stance doesn’t make them a fount of all things evil. That attitude is just as one eyed and silly as the people you’re complaining about.
Someone says they don’t sgree and they are some sort of neo-nazi? Get a grip people, the sorts of reactions I see upthread are “extreme” and dangerous, not the art on the side of the bus.
Don’t these people have anything better to do?? Seriously, get to a soup kitchen and do something productive.
How many young kids are you hurting by driving this claptrap through their small towns? As if they don’t already have a tough enough time dealing with their sexuality, you try and turn them into monsters in areas where there are not so many support services for LGBTQI. Thank god for the internet for these guys to reach out to other LGBTQI people, and also, no thanks to small minded twerps like this group, the public in general is becoming more understanding and aware of GLBTQI issues. We will have marriage equality, and sexuality will become the non issue it should be in my lifetime, I am sure of it.