Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor

MISSING PIECES
I’d like to provide a little context for my story in The Sydney Morning Herald [31/01/09] reporting that Mardi Gras was considering a NSW Government proposal to shift parade and party to Homebush, because the truncated story as published did not include all the relevant quotes.
Late last year in an interview about Mardi Gras with chair David Imrie, I asked him about the future of Oxford St, which he said had changed massively.
There’s street violence, there’s a number of empty stores, David said. It’s probably not the gay ghetto it once was. It’s a much more mixed population on Oxford St now, and the gay and lesbian community is spreading.
In that context, we moved directly on to what those Oxford St issues meant for Mardi Gras.
There have been all sorts of suggestions made on different locations, David said. There are other events where it’s [the parade] done in a stadium, which then becomes the party.
David would not be drawn on which stadium had been suggested, concluding cryptically, For the time being, this [Oxford St] is the right place for the parade.
So in late January I asked Mardi Gras general manager Anna McInerney in an interview about this hint of holding the parade and party in a stadium. Anna volunteered that Homebush had been offered, and I suppose the challenge for us is convincing the gay community it’s a good thing to do, she said.
I asked Anna if Homebush had been knocked on the head.
I don’t think we should knock it on the head, she said, adding these interesting remarks: I think the community wants us to evolve. They don’t want the same old formula.
Moving the parade and party out to Homebush would be fairly high risk, so I think there’d have to be a fair bit of community consultation. It would be a two-to-three year project, and a case of having a board brave enough to do it.
-” Steve Dow

ANOTHER GAY ISSUE
The Mardi Gras parade and party have been dying in the arse for the past nine years. If I see one more dyke on a bike or one more marching boy, I’ll move to Homebush -” just in time to attend the funeral.
Meanwhile, I propose we put our energies into fighting a much worthier cause: boycott Another Gay Movie.
More offensive than Mel Gibson, less funny than Cruising, AGM is proof that gay men have bad taste and lack creativity.
Hmmm… a bit like MG really.
-” David

PICK UP SSO
Re query from Wally in 29 Jan SSO, The Feminist Bookshop at Lilyfield has plenty of Mardi Gras Guides as well as Queer Film Festival Guides.
We are also a pick-up point for your weekly SSO. On several bus routes plus light rail. Map on our website www.feministbookshop.com
-” Gail

AUSTRALIA DAY

Australia Day should be moved to May 27, the day we first recognised Aboriginal equal citizenship rights with constitutional change in 1967.
In the 1967 referendum, 90.77 percent , the biggest majority in the nation’s history, voted in favour of Aboriginals being counted in the census and to be subject to Commonwealth laws, rather than just state laws. Prior to this, Aboriginals were legally flora and fauna.
Every year the issue becomes more divisive because we lack a cohesive national identity. January 26, the day of Phillip’s arrival, is the day we started purposely purloining Aboriginals’ land, culture and identity.
Today, many are outsiders inside their own land and locked into a begging bowl approach to life.
Aboriginals had no reading or writing as we know it before Governor Arthur Phillip arrived. They had no dates. They don’t need dates: they are simply the oldest, living continuous civilisation on earth. They are timeless.
But Australia needs an Australia Day to celebrate our heritage, what we have in common.
Let’s realise the opening line of our national anthem: Australians all, let us rejoice.
-” Andrew

RUDD NO STAR
Things are getting better over the long term for queer people, but this is not cause for complacency.
Your correspondent Rauli says I have negativity for protesting the lack of a grandfather clause to protect older people from intrusive questions about their sexuality, and losing their pensions.
It’s out of a positive regard for these people, who have lived their whole lives and arranged their affairs by the rules of the time (which didn’t recognise gay relationships, and which still ban marriage), that I protest the lack of grandfathering.
Yes, things are getting brighter, but this does not happen only with blithe Pollyanna endorsements of the status quo. Our government should do better than hassle little old ladies to balance its budget.
And I’m afraid I can’t yet give Rudd credit for changing our bleak immigration detention regime, or ending the outrageous marriage ban, pushing for carbon reduction targets high enough to stop disastrous climate change, or ending the racist Intervention.
This government, slightly less dull than Howard though it may be, is still far short of shining.
-” norrie mAy-welby

VILIFICATION

My pending litigation against former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett alleging unlawful homosexuality vilification is complex because unlike my previous landmark substantiated complaint against joint defendants radio 2UE, John Laws and Steve Price, in this case I am seeking to show Mr Kennett’s comments were capable of inciting hatred towards or serious contempt for male homosexuals.
The imputation behind Mr Kennett’s comments as a whole is that men who have sex with other men are a danger to young male children as they are by nature more likely to sexually abuse them and therefore should not be allowed to work or have contact with them. The imputation infers that mums and dads have to keep their children away from male homosexuals.
Given the strong feelings that many members of society have against pedophiles, it may be arguable that Mr Kennett’s comments that equate or link male homosexuals to pedophiles could incite feelings of hatred or contempt toward male homosexuals.
My expertise is not in the Victorian law that rules Campagnolo’s case.
I am only familiar with NSW anti-vilification law, which is complex.
I know there are many commentators incensed that I am taking this action because of a forlorn belief by them that a Victorian homosexual should lodge this complaint instead of me.
The lay folk are not familiar with the Victorian AD Act..
A homosexuality complaint lodged in Victoria would fail.
I am careful not to lend my hand to emotional tirades.
I am out to nail those who vilify the homosexual community.
I can decide where my recompense should go because I am a male homosexual living in NSW.
I am confident I will also be successful in this litigation against Mr Kennett in the end.
The homosexual community will continue to resemble a quilted patchwork design as they watch me and my monumental battle against Mr Kennett from the safety of their grandstand barriers.
I am also hopeful of a remedy that will deliver $20,000 to Twenty10, a gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex youth support group.
In conclusion I am not speaking on behalf of the homosexual community.
If I was to do that I would have to seek permission from my community spokespersons (wherever they are ).
I am tackling these tough issues because a person in the powerful position of Mr Kennett attempting to link male homosexuality to a characteristic of pedophilia perversion is pernicious and could cause physical violence to homosexual men if not challenged and dispelled through the court.
-” Gary Burns

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2 responses to “Letters to the Editor”

  1. I for one don’t give a toss about Mardis Gras the display of self parody makes my skin crawl, it’s a waste of time, money and resources, I fail to see how an insipd bunch of tasteless, ice addicted queers faggoting their pansy ass’s up the main drag once a year in a delusional shambolic display benefits me, it doesn’t, lets face it unless your down with the pox there is no mythical Gay community there for you and if your on benefits due disability, old age, unemployment etc. you have to stand in line with every other Australian for what ever meager hand out’s the Government makes available

  2. National Live Broadcast by the ABC of the New Mardi Gras Parade.

    In 1993 the possibility of a live broadcast by the ABC of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade was first suggested. During the 1990s and early 2000s, due to the combination of a misguided attempt by Mardi Gras to try and make a small profit from it by selling the broadcast rights to a commercial company for $10,000, and by the non-support of a recalcitrant Howard controlled ABC Board, the idea floundered.

    Now is the time to finally demand a National Live Broadcast by the ABC of the New Mardi Gras Parade.

    It would be fairly easy and inexpensive for the ABC to produce and broadcast the parade live- the ANZAC Parade only needs two small crews and has broadcast that event live for many years.

    Being free access, the live ABC broadcast will reach the homes of every Australian, from Darwin to Tasmania, Perth to Byron, rallying and re-invigorating the Parade. Renewing its original purpose to reach out and support Queer people wherever and whomever they may be.

    A live television broadcast is a far greater quality medium than online internet, enabling all the work people put into their floats, costumes and choreography to be seen to their full potential- and being free and with a truly national coverage it can be seen by everyone, not just inner city paid subscribers to a cable network.

    Now is the time after 30 years of the parade and on the eve of our 31st year, for the New Mardi Gras Board to make an official demand to the ABC, our national public free to air broadcasting service, to broadcast live the New Mardi Gras Parade.

    Yours Sincerely,

    Gareth Ernst Gillham
    Chippendale