Gay clash at marriage breakfast
The Rudd Government’s representative at last week’s anti-gay marriage breakfast, Senator Ursula Stephens, has been caught rewriting history after the event became embroiled in controversy and an alleged assault.
And Senator Bill Heffernan has been forced to clarify comments attributed to him, linking gay men with pedophilia and condemning gay sex.
Stephens, who is Parliamentary Secretary for Social Inclusion, was addressing the breakfast when two marriage equality protesters held up signs saying -˜inclusion = equality’.
Stephens’ office published an edited version of her speech online, without an off-the-cuff nod to anti-gay lobbying at the ALP National Conference. The online version instead added an extract from the Government’s official position on same-sex couples.
In front of the Christian audience, Stephens failed to say, The Australian Government believes that people are entitled to respect, dignity and the opportunity to participate in society and receive the protection of the law regardless of their sexuality or marital status.
Some gay websites were fooled into publishing the line as a record of the event’s tolerance.
The 500-strong breakfast in Parliament’s Great Hall was organised by a coalition of Christian values organisations to celebrate the gay ban and seek Government approval for August 13 to be officially named National Marriage Day. The audience had been cheering at the removal of the gay protesters, John Kloprogge and John Davey, just as Stephens was about to discuss the Government’s position on marriage and its positive influence on raising children.
An organiser grabbed the protesters and pushed them away. There was a short scuffle between Davey and the organiser, during which it appeared the man had his hands wrapped around Davey’s neck.
Senator Heffernan escorted Davey outside. Davey has filed an assault complaint but no charges have been laid.
Parliament security officers stood around Kloprogge, preventing him from re-entering the breakfast, which the protesters had tickets for.
Outside Parliament, Heffernan confronted Kloprogge, took his breakfast name badge and asked if he was underage.
How old are you? What age are you? Are you sure? he asked the 25-year-old. He started debating with Kloprogge before moving them away from the cameras and this reporter.
The senator has denied saying, The anus is for shitting, not for fucking and I don’t mind gay people, I just want you to stop fucking the kids. He maintained that despite his reputation for raising male pedophile cases, he was not trying to link gay people to pedophilia.
He said he didn’t want to provide further comment on that matter to the Star.
Heffernan’s sister, Mary-Louise Fowler from the Australian Family Association, was the chief organiser of the breakfast. She produced a petition with 13,000 signatures calling for August 13 to be dedicated as National Marriage Day.
Small Business Minister Dr Craig Emerson and Coalition senators Ron Boswell and Guy Barnett were on hand to accept the petition.
Barnett said the gay ban came about following a grassroots response during the Senate committee inquiry into same-sex marriage that received a record number of submissions in support of opposite-sex marriage.
It was a joyous occasion when the announcement was made by the Labor Party to support the Howard Government on that marriage amendment, he said.
Senator Stephens said many in the audience had lobbied her before the ALP conference to protect marriage as defined in the amendment.
Outside Parliament, a small group of gay protesters decried the breakfast as homophobic and a hate rally.
Fail. Marriage is about love, not children. Should infertile straight couples not be allowed to marry? Of course not, you small minded fool.
People who are gay need to understand that because they can’t marry in the same way as a male and female that doesn’t mean they don’t have equal rights. Same sex couples are not the same as opposite sex couples. So they can’t be married as if they are. The realm of marriage strictly belongs in the domain of males and females. Gay couples want to use marriage to have children but they lack the capacity to do so. I believe gay marriage isn’t about equal rights but intellectualism. The only way they can have children is through adoption or IVF (if the are female). That is what marriage is all about. It is about raising children and that involves a mum and a dad. Being gay and gay rights is eroding social norms. Destroy the family and you will have an angry generation on your hands. I guess being gay is all about you and your selfishness.
I can’t believe that in the year 2009 when the human brain has been used to achieve such profound advances in so many fields, there are still under-evolved, narrow minded, pathetic examples of human beings making it into a position of relative power and preaching their ignorant, bigoted message.
It is ridiculous that some people look to the teachings of a book with absolutely no empirical evidence to support its content, and base their morals on it. I am a straight male, but this kind of behaviour and thought pattern, particularly by politicians, makes me ashamed to identify myself as a member of the same species.
Why don’t they spend their time and energy trying to fix actual problems and stop spreading their fear based approach to life. Honestly, what f*%$ing harm is it going to do if two people of the same sex get married? Are they worried same sex couples are going to use the power of unity created by the marriage to take over our precious country? Are they worried that god will send them to hell for allowing this kind of behaviour?
Honestly, think outside the box you bigoted morons.
p.s. Brian, since starting uni just under two years ago, I have been absolutely bewildered by the decisions and workings of centrelink. I feel sorry for you mate, it’s like a scene from the movie Idiocracy.
The young bloke John Kloprogge on the left is cute – is he taken?????
If I am to finally be recognised as a normal loving guy(who has lived for the past 40 years with another normal loving guy) who has in the past been taxed at about 49% in the dollar for appearing and playing the charade of being single should I not now be able to access asngle pension without disclosing my sexuality to anyone. Why are we not fighting this terrible homophopic aspect that Centerlink
seems hellbent on imposing.
This may not be related but am I the only gay guy who is relly pissed off by Centerlink saying “A Couple Is A Couple” We have been treated ,and taxed, as single lepers for as long as I can remember.Centerlink are now saying we recognise that you are a Gay couple so we are going to reduce your hard worked for pension as a result of your love for each other. Is anyone else as confused as me?.
Well said Seeing Red. I went to the 2gb website livenewsdotcomdotau and really vented my spleen under the nick of tolerant because I was so outraged by this. What was interesting to note on that blog was the straight men that are standing up for our fight.. The more I see this the more I believe hope will become reality in the not too distant future.
Oliver, that’s all he uses his mouth for too. He opens it and out comes all the shit.
Would you honestly Marry Senator Hefferman? He most definately uses his Anus “Just for shitting”
Also found this:
http://www.queerradio.org/AOC290709.htm
Heterosexuals have MORE anal sex than all the gay men in the world. Not all gay men had/have anal sex remember.
Also when male homosexual acts was a criminal offence in Australia in the past – heterosexual anal sex was also a criminal offence believe it or not at the same time.
Also I found out recently that some lesbians with “strap-on dildoes” have anal sex and even a few heterosexual males with their wife/girlfriend will penetrate them with a dildo.
Queensland still has the word ‘sodomy’ still today in its Criminal Code see section 208. It is in regards to the age of consent for vaginal and oral sex in QLD is 16, but any anal sex at all is illegal until you are 18 (just like Canada in section 159 in the Canadian Criminal Code which also says ‘husband and wife’).
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/qld/consol_act/cc189994/s208.html
http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/showdoc/cs/C-46/bo-ga:l_V-gb:s_150_1/20090817/en#anchorbo-ga:l_V-gb:s_150_1
It is silly and stupid that this argument is used to deny gays and lesbians the right to marry.
-œThe anus is for shitting, not for fucking as if hetrosexuals never have anal sex! Let me tell you Hefferman, it’s all my hetrosexual friends ever talk about!
Lets “rip-up” the ban on same-sex marriage in Australia for 2009!!!!!
I have an idea – lets ban bigots and thugs from marrying!!!!
The context in which Senator Heffernan gave his opinions indicate spontaneity and honesty.
Senator Heffernan is a mainstream Australian and his expressed opinions about homosexuals and homosexuality are the unexpressed opinions of mainstream Australians.
Mainstream Australians mentally block out the existence of the offence of incest. Most cases of child sexual assault occur in the context of incest. Most cases of child sexual assault are committed by heterosexual parents.
They simply do not acknowledge the occurrence of incest in society because to do so would imply that all heterosexual parents are capable of incest and all heterosexual parents are therefore subject to suspicion of intent to commit incest by the dynamic of guilt by association with the heterosexual group.
Just as all homosexuals are suspected of having the intention to commit child sexual assault because mainstream society holds the opinion that homosexuality is a causal factor of the crime of child sexual assault.
Senator Heffernan and all mainstream Australians do not want to believe that incest exists because if the belief that incest exists becomes widely accepted then society would have to accept the fact that most acts of child sexual assault are committed by mainstream heterosexuals who are parents.
The acceptance of the belief that incest exists and most cases of child sexual assault occur in the context of incest would shatter the myth held by society that children are safer under the guardianship of heterosexual parents in a family environment.
The fundamentalist Christian lobby assert that the campaign to win legal recognition of same sex marriage is an attack upon families.
I assert that the refusal of the fundamentalist Christian lobby to acknowledge that the offence of incest exists and that most cases of child sexual assault occur in the context of incest is a real threat to the family system because the denial of the existence of the offence perpetuates the offence of child sexual assault and the victims of incest can only associate the cause of their trauma to the familial system and the organisations which continue to deny the existence of the offence of incest.
Those organisations are the Christian churches.
I agree with David. The Labor Party is playing us for fools with their stance on marriage. Even the member for Sydney, with one of the highest GLBT populations in the countrry, “Tanya Plibesek”, tried to hedge her bets in 2004 when she said the “abstained” from voting for the Liberal’s Marriage bill. Tanya, that’s like what people said during Nazi Germany – “well I didn’t help them round up the Jews, homosexuals etc” – but Tanya, you didn’t stand up against bigots and be counted either as being agaignst homophobia either!! You ran like a dog with it’s tail between it’s legs whilst your marriage stayed in tact, and our collective marriages were quashed with no further correspondence entered into. Shame, Labor Party, SHAME!!!
“the Senate balance of power won’t go to the Australian Christian Lobby” – Lets hope not!
The only way to make sure is to vote 1 Greens, and 2 Labor.
(A 1 vote for Labor is just taken for granted as being part of the masses- in effect, a completely wasted vote for gays in the current climate).
-œThe anus is for shitting, not for fucking, says Heffernan?
Let it be declared that the date of Senator Heffernan’s passing, whenever that should eventuate, shall be National “Heffernan was Right” Day.
On this day, all are encouraged to attend his grave and take a hot steaming dump on it, in memory of and tribute to the good Senator’s keen observations, compassionate insights and amazing ability to unite people from all walks of life.
As for the shameless equality doublespeak from Rudd Labor, when is the penny going to finally drop? LGBT Australians and our friends, families and supporters are sick and tired of being knifed again and again by cheap spin and base pandering to religious zealots. Labor would do well to remember this when the double dissolution trigger finally comes within reach, because the Senate balance of power won’t go to the Australian Christian Lobby..
I could hardly breathe after reading that from stress. There is NO way the ALP will get my vote again – state or federal – until they break this connection with the Christian lobby groups and alter the marriage act to include same-sex couples.
PS for Social Inclusion? One thing this Rudd government is good at: hypocrisy. I still haven’t forgotten Nicola Roxon’s attendance at a similar function a few years back. When I emailed Roxon about it at the time my email was deleted before being read.
what else would anyone expect from Bill Heffernan? His history of bias and bigotry represents the religious right wing nutbag segment of the population. Heffernan is apparently incapable of understanding the accepted research that refutes the Senator’s equation of paedophilia and homosexuality. The ALP support of the event is just another indication that the LBGTQI communities cannot and must not trust the major parties to work toward equal rights and social justice for LBGTQI people. We *MUST* learn to vote for the individual and not the party.
Labor’s policy on same-sex relationships appears to be “lets pretend we are doing something to win the gay vote, but actually do nothing to keep the religious ‘nut job’ votes”.
Why am I not surprised – even less that a Labor Minister would pretend to have said something that they actually hadn’t.
Heffernan may well be a right-wing homophobic bigot, but at least he is honest about it. The Labor pollies just hide it under a veneer of respectability.
“fooled” – yep, gays have been fooled by Labor while they chase the Christian Evangelical Extremist vote. They think gays will just continue to vote Labor regardless, as Libs are too right wing & the Greens are too “kooky”. Well hey, the Greens are starting to look pretty good! (besides the “kooky” viral campaign against the Greens was exposed as being bank-rolled by the Exlusive Bretheren- the hate the fact that the leader of the Greens is gay).