Letters to the Editor

REBEL RABBI
-˜Rebel priest’ Father Peter Kennedy, who ignores the Pope’s insistence on misogyny and homophobia,  was likened by Tony Abbott on Q&A to a backbencher challenging the PM.
However, there is a more apt and religious analogy, for he is more like the rabbi Jeshua (Jesus) opposing the snobbery and authoritarianism of the Pharisees. The Roman Empire got him too, but his message of love and inclusion of all lives on, and empires come and go.
-” norrie mAy-welby
NO RESPONSE
I’m struck by the lack of response and debate to my letter a few weeks ago, in which I challenged gay parents and their refusal to allow nudity in Mardi Gras (SSO 960).
Perhaps it’s mum and dad’s way of maintaining the status quo, much the same way as the Federal Government refuses to allow gay marriage.
-” Stuart
Pell’s victimhood
I groaned when I read the article (SSO 962) telling how Cardinal George Pell is bemoaning being the victim of intolerance by gay activists and the population at large, who increasingly see him and his anti-gay church as an anachronism.
He is a -˜victim of intolerance’?
How bizarre that he is now being meted out the very treatment that he and his church have for so long inflicted on the gay community. The only difference is that his church has sought the general community’s contempt, where my community never sought anything but equal rights.
He accuses gay rights advocates in the US of intimidation against religious groups over the Prop 8 same-sex marriage ban. What the f..k?!?
How would he describe the religious cretins who gather at funeral ceremonies screaming faggots rot in hell as the body is lowered into the grave?
-” Ronnie
A BEAUTIFUL HEART
We are never going to end discrimination and achieve gay equality unless we stop all this petty discrimination within our own community.
I’ve dated guys who have ranged from downright ugly to international supermodels, had cocks that ranged from three inches to 10 inches, from rich to poor, young to old, from fat to skinny and muscular, from straight-acting to queen, and from nearly every continent on earth.
And you know what I found?
None of it matters.
The only thing that matters is what’s in your heart.
And the more people see that, the more people will want to be part of our community -” not the other way around. And just so they can be a part of our community, they will give us every right we deserve.
No one owns your heart except you. A beautiful heart and mind is the most powerful, sexy thing in the world.
-” Hamish
MALE ROLE MODEL
While the position of the gay community is one of wide acceptance and indeed encouragement for us all to somehow -” miraculously -” procreate, I agree with the argument put forward by John (SSO 962).
I grew up without a father as a result of a divorce when I was young. I find it quite disturbing to think there are families that start out with neither mother nor father. I think it is unfair on the child in that same family to not have had experience with a father figure or mother figure.
I had to work out my way in the world without the guidance of a male role model and I missed this enormously.
I am not casting aspersions on the parenting abilities of same-sex families. I am simply arguing for the child who is raised in such a family who doesn’t -” in some cases, not in all -” get the benefit of a relationship with both parents.
In my situation a male role model may have helped me -˜toughen up’ and deal with many situations differently by offering a -˜male’ interpretation of the situation. I could have perhaps enjoyed more male-oriented excursions and pastimes.
I am certain I still would have grown up gay, but I would have grown up knowing the love of a mother and a father. As that is something I never had, as an adult I miss it and I can never reclaim it.
I was teased mercilessly at school for being a fag, what can we expect of schoolchildren when the children of gay and lesbian parents enrol? Kids are cruel, and there is nothing the parent can do to stop these same kids from teasing a child who is seen to have a different family.
John rightly mentions that many children today are abused and neglected, and should not be used to prolong or give substance to your relationships. I couldn’t agree more.
-” Eric
CONDOM TERROR
In the West, in an age of reason linked to education instead of blind faith, we see an increasing sense of irrelevance regarding  theist, god-based religious dogma.
In  sub-Sahara Africa, all  failed states, where education is decreasing, the god belief is on the increase. The Pope, taking advantage of this marketing opportunity launched an assault on  one of the few measures that could check the spiralling increase in AIDS in the continent. Any medical practitioner promoting this calumny to a patient, could well be the target of an expensive malpractice suit or culpable negligence.
The Pope, with a closet full of expensive gowns, nevertheless does not seem a happy or liberated man.
-” Patrick
HAVANA RAID
It’s a bit rich for Havana to blame the security company. I don’t know the company’s name, but they were the same group as used at DCM, so their track record was already well known.
And let’s not forget that it’s the crowd outside that venue that is the main problem. They’re anti-gay, anti-lesbian and anti-drag. They should never have been allowed to move next door to one of the oldest and largest gay venues in Sydney.
­-” James
APPLY PRESSURE
The manager (and possibly owner) at Havana is the same guy who used to run DCM/UN Sydney. They essentially moved all of DCM’s operations up to Havana when they were forced to close at midnight.
It’s therefore no surprise that we are seeing the same problems occurring. It really is time to get these guys off the strip.
Thank you to SSO for reporting this issue. I think we need to keep applying pressure to get this place fixed up or closed down and once again make Oxford St a place where everyone feels safe and welcome.
-” Stevie
UNCOMFORTABLE
I don’t normally feel unsafe when out and about, especially when at Stonewall -” but with all the violence outside, for the first time in ages I felt really really uncomfortable.
Is Havana even on the top 48 club list? Will this prompt them to be added?
Or should patrons of Stonewall just look forward to paying the price for being next door to a club full of homophobic morons?
-” Sarah
ROLL OVER, ANDREW
What’s with Andrew (SSO 963) saying that Mayor Clover Moore should roll over? Where were you in the ’80s, Andrew, when Clover opened her heart and soul to the gay community, the only brave politician to do so?
I notice you don’t offer any alternative to Clover, presumably because you don’t have one, unless of course you have a vested (pecuniary) interest in the Mafia henchmen that pose as the NSW Labor Government, and who want to bulldoze everything in our city!
You only have to read Clover’s regular emailed newsletter to see what valuable work she is doing for our community; tirelessly so for 21 years!
I hope our Clover is our Sydney Mayor forever! Shame on you Andrew, you need to be taught some respect matey!
-” Phill