Queer students threatened with arrest over Abbott shirts

Queer students threatened with arrest over Abbott shirts

FuckTonyAbbottShirtStudent and queer activists were threatened with arrest this afternoon after security at Macquarie University claimed that the t-shirts they were wearing and selling, emblazoned with the words ‘Fuck Tony Abbott’, were creating an “unsafe” environment on university grounds.

Activists campaigning for marriage equality laws had set up a stall earlier in the day to sell the shirts, which some student and socialist groups quickly produced soon after last weekend’s election saw Abbott claim the Prime Ministership for the Coalition.

According to the university’s Campus Engagement Development Officer, Lauren Hargreaves, security demanded the stall be closed and students wearing the t-shirts disperse as they were “offensive” and other students had complained that it “made them feel unsafe”. Students were then reportedly threatened that police would arrest them if they did not leave.

Jordan Humphreys, a student activist at Macquarie University involved in the incident, said the actions of security were a complete disregard for civil rights.

“This is clearly a case of freedom of speech. Your rights cannot be violated simply because other people find your point of view offensive,” Humphreys said.

“I think Tony Abbott’s racist, sexist and homophobic views are what is really offensive in our society. It was Tony Abbott who said that in regards to homosexuality ‘I feel a bit threatened’. Already the Liberal government has announced cuts to funding for Aboriginal legal aid.”

Another student who was present, Josh Lee, said the actions of security and university officials will only further encourage their activism and continuing fight for equality.

“MQ Uni security guards physically shut down our stall today because we were wearing ‘Fuck Tony Abbott t-shirts. Brought to you by the same ‘democracy’ which gave us Abbott and Palmer in the first place,” Lee wrote on Facebook.

“You know what that means: wear more Fuck Abbott t-shirts all the time!”

National Union of Students Queer Officer Cat Rose said universities should be places where people are free to be critical of the government and express dissent with injustice and inequality.

“This also isn’t the first time activists have had problems at the campus,” Rose said. “In the lead up to the National Day of Action against the cuts to higher education funding, Security at Macquarie University threatened to call the police on students handing out leaflets about the issue.”

Over 1,500 people have already ‘liked’ a corresponding Facebook page containing the same phrase which security at the university found offensive.

Macquarie University refused to provide comment.

INFO: The t-shirts can be viewed and purchased from here.

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36 responses to “Queer students threatened with arrest over Abbott shirts”

  1. I support marriage equality, it’s crazy such primitive anti-gay laws exist in the wealthy and enlightened country… But… Wearing Fuck Tony Abbott, or Fuck anybody t-shirts classifies you in the eyes of the masses as unintelligent bogan fanatics. Why the LGBT community wants to associate with bogans is a mystery to me… Most bogans are anti- gay rights. Maybe they identify with everyone else instead, by protesting in more sophisticated ways

  2. Oh how the the working class love those of different gender persuasion.
    The left/working class will never support you.
    Keep praying for marxist bogan’s (the Labor party) to obtain power.

  3. Yeah let’s bring back Carmen,Gillard,Rudd.
    I love my country being destroyed through massive debt.
    Aborigines stealing my kids school fee’s.
    It will end>

  4. Any person that sells tshirts that say fuck you Tony Abbott should be arrested and put in jail .
    I wonder if you would make tshirts says fuck you Juila Gilard or K Dudd you
    People are a disgrace you may not like Mr Abbott or his views but you must have respect for the office he holds he is the PM of this country.

    • LOL what a hypocrite! So by that standard, those that held up placards saying ditch the witch about Gillard should also be locked up and put in jail? Im guessing you only believe this should be the case when its conservatives that are targeted.

  5. fuck niggers, fuck fat dykes,fuck commies ,fuck carmen lawrence,fuck gillard,fuck homos,fuck single mothers,fuck philip adams,fuck unions,fuck nelson mandella,fuck obama.

  6. fuck niggers, fuck fat dykes,fuck commies ,fuck carmen lawrence,fuck gillard,fuck homos,fuck single mothers,fuck philip adams,fuck unions,fuck nelson mandella,fuck obama.

  7. Tony Abbott come down from your tree, YOU were elected , We, THE ELECTRA are your BOSS ! So I am female , FUCK YOU TOO!

  8. So these angry little idiots think using hate speech to counter what they perceive as hate speech is ok? I’m so sick of them and their stupid hysteria. I’m all for activism but it needs to be done maturely and with the desired outcomes always in mind. If anyone needs to fuck off it’s the Socialist ‘Alternative’ ( sounds like a knitting group ), They will hijack any cause so they can yell and scream and just be angry because that’s all they do because, clearly, they hate their lives.

  9. Didn’t anyone tell Jordan that we don’t have any rights in this country. America has the Bill of Rights that we assume we have also. No, we only have laws. We signed the Geneva convention on human rights but we don’t abide by it. Australia isn’t the democracy it’s cracked up to be.

  10. How can a tee shirt with the words ‘fuck Tony Abbott’ make another person feel unsafe? That was the reason given, nothing about the behaviour of the sellers. If those 3 words make one feel unsafe we are raising a generation of Uni wimps.
    Its what Abbott does as PM should make them feel unsafe. Oh the sheltered life of some.

  11. These people are campaigning against Tony Abbott because of what he says and what he does. Targeting LGBT individuals or groups is discriminating against people because of who they are. Same goes for racial and gender discrimination. If Tony Abbott can say ‘fuck LGBT’, ‘fuck refugees’, ‘fuck indigenous Australians’ and ‘fuck women’, and act on those views, then I think it’s perfectly acceptable for people to say ‘fuck Tony Abbott’.

    • “If Tony Abbott can say ‘fuck LGBT’, ‘fuck refugees’, ‘fuck indigenous Australians’ and ‘fuck women’, and act on those views, then I think it’s perfectly acceptable for people to say ‘fuck Tony Abbott’.”

      But Tony Abbott says none of those things. He just does things which you don’t like.

      I bet that if the slogan was “Abbott is a bad choice for PM” or even “Abbott is a homophobe”, there wouldn’t have been an issue.

      • stop being such a pandering little bitch. the only reason he isn’t outright saying it is because he can’t given his position. i guarantee his words are much less gentle behind closed doors. FUCK him.

        • Wear that t-shirt and I pass you in the street-I WILL PUNCH YOU OUT!
          Little Pussies,mollycoddled privileged little pricks.

          • Who made you the grand poobah you moron ? & who the hell do you think you are to think you have the right to attack someone just because You don’t like the shirt they’re wearing ? Give yourself an uppercut you idiot.

      • Of course he doesn’t say “Fuck the LGBT community”, he’s a politician. But we all know what he thinks of them… and it’s no different to saying “Fuck you” outright.

  12. So much for the first few days of freedom of speech under Abbott

    As expected total freedom extends to those who agree with Abbott
    Everyone else will be censored

  13. The headline is misleading. While there may have been queer students involved, the accused members were campaigning as members of Socialist Alternative. The activists in question campaigned upon the broad aims of socialism, rather than maintaining a specific focus on marriage equality,
    The shirts themselves are clearly slanderous and provocative (use of the F-word uncensored alone evinces that), and their assertive methods of spruiking them would have come across as affronting to most students on campus. If promoting marriage equality was ancillary in handing out these shirts, then the activists have failed.
    Aligning the mishaps of a small group of extremist thugs with the aims of the queer movement is grossly mistaken, and this article should have been written on the back of better informed analysis.

    • Slander is the speaking of defamatory untruths. Saying “Fuck this guy” is not a statement of untruth- it’s just saying “I don’t like this guy.”

      • Ehh, what this dude is trying to say that their methods are ineffective, they just spread their opinion they ain’t changing no minds. Maybe drew awareness but that’s probably the most of it. They should of played it smarter.

  14. I am a student at Macquarie, I saw these guys yesterday and let me tell you, these guys were not sitting quietly at a stall selling t-shirts.
    They stood right in the entrance of the food court right around lunch time (busiest area on campus), YELLING at the top of their lungs, waving petitions and flyers under peoples noses, and hassling everyone who walked past.
    But of course they didnt tell you that… This had nothing to do with opressing their freedom of speech, it wasnt about protecting Tony Abbott, or anything against LGBTI rights, I doubt that even the offensive language would have been much of an issue on its own (we are all adults…we can handle the word ‘FUCK’). It was because they were carrying on like a bunch of complete DICKHEADS!!

    • They made me feel quite uncomfortable, and I can understand how a person who was a lot more shy/introverted than I am could have felt intimidated.

    • Have we got to the point in this country that people are no longer allowed to yell, scream or express views in rigorous ways because some introverts find it confronting? Universities are all about ideas, not banal delivery of government sanctioned dogma.

      Political groups have long been a part of the university landscape and are an essential part of keeping our university culture alive and well.

  15. Yeah no

    There are a million ways to protest against Abbott, walking around wearing a t-shirt with “FUCK” on it is looking for trouble.

    It would have been the same outcome if the t-shirt said “FUCK JULIA GILLARD” or “FUCK THE GOVERNMENT”.

    It’s not about freedom of political expression, it’s about censoring offensive language. You wouldn’t want a drunk person walking around you or your family swearing at the top of his voice, this is no different.

    Come up with a t-shirt like “Tony Abbott is a Terrible PM” and I’d support you. Has the same message (possibly more of an impact with the mainstream population) and doesn’t expose the wearing to fines.

    • Because drunk people walking around swearing is exactly the same as students protesting government? Nice strawman bro

      Statists like you make me sick.

  16. Lets take this from a legal point of view. In Australia, the is no such thing as an ‘insult law’. Slander and libel involve making false statements. Criminal assault is causing someone to fear for their immediate safety. Neither is applicable here.

    The right to freedom of political speech is only a right in the sense that the government cannot make laws/policies which hamper freedom of speech.

    Legally speaking, these students have done nothing wrong, hence the attempt to have them arrested for making others feel unsafe. Morally, of course, we could argue forever and get nowhere, because supporters of each political party are firmly entrenched on their views.

    However, if supporters of Mr Abbott can brandish signs which say ‘Ditch the Witch’ I’m sure we can all live with a sign with a similar sentiment directed at Mr Abbott. Anti discrimination IS a law.

  17. Freedom of speech, like any civil right, is perfectly fine as long as it doesn’t encroach upon the rights of another.

    In this situation, if you changed “Tony abbot” to “John smith” than John smith would have very right in the world for this derogatory and offensive material to stop being issued as is offensive to him.

    Forget ANYONES name is on it, and it just said FUCK, and I think you will find police still have the right to ask them to stop selling or wearing them on public grounds, due to the possibly over oppressive (non liberal) laws regarding use of foul language in public places.

    Furthermore, the stupidity of these people thinking Tony Abbott even knows of what they are doing and somehow instructed police to shut them down… University students have a habit of being overzealous idiots… this is one more example of that

    • Isn’t there some kind of exception for public figures? It’s not like Barack Obama can do anything legally about the people who accuse him of being a terrorist sympathizer.

  18. I find this very interesting. Some points: yes, those students should have the right to express themselves even with their offensive words.

    2) of course Mr Abbott if he wants and think so, has the right to sue them in court. It is right as human being

    3) yet these students are speaking of freedom of speech, but the same group and students are against freedom of speech when the perceived offensive speech is against them or anything they like.

    I am sure these same campaigners will be, for instance, against scrapping section C18 discrimination act 1975 in the name of freedom of speech.

    Actually I am sure that they are all in favour, as I know they are, to introduce new “anti-discimination” (i.e. anti-freedom of speech) legislation that “protect” also for instance LGTB.
    Hence, I am sorry, but they are rather hypocritical.

    • So Tony Abbot and the Liberal Party are victims of entrenched societal discrimination and therefore in need of special protection?

      That’s the justification for the law that you have now equated to Tony.