Letters to the Editor

TIME FOR CHANGE

The issue with DCM/UN is not what goes on inside (about which I care very little) but what goes on in the surrounding area as a result of the way it operates and the way it is managed.

Ask anyone living in the area about the thugs, noise, obstreperous queuers in the immediate area, and then there are the surrounding streets with illegal parking, noisy yobs, violence, blatant drug dealing and drug use -” accompanied by violence of the sort rarely associated with drugs in the gay community -” and public sex in and around building foyers.

After six years living within 60 metres of DCM I gave up. Friends who live nearby have weekly war stories of havoc wrought by the DCM set each weekend.

Read the Land and Environment Court judgment -” DCM management haven’t even tried to do the right thing. They flouted floor loadings, fire regs and smoking controls, as well as blatantly breaching noise regs and security guard-related laws.

If this decision wrecks their business, there are plenty of responsible operators -” straight or gay -” who can do something worthwhile with the venue.

-” Chris, Sydney

GIVE SPERM A CHANCE

As a hetero sperm donor for lesbians I have no trouble achieving my genetic immortality.

Gay men can also achieve this if they are rich enough to go overseas and pay from $100k to $200k per child. However, for normal mortals the current situation is economic discrimination that is typical of all levels of society and the law towards gays and lesbians.

Women can legally rent out the reproductive areas of their bodies for half an hour. They can also legally vacuum out the tiny lives growing safely inside them.

However, for the sacred causes of (a) creating a baby and (b) enlarging a gay male or infertile hetero family, society still says that women’s bodies are not their own but must be regulated and legislated. What a double standard!

This current review of NSW’s more enlightened surrogacy laws (SSO 930) compared to the other states still falls far short of equity, dignity and philosophical consistency. Surrogacy is not a gay issue, it is a feminist issue and a human issue.

This rejection of commercial surrogacy is typical of the current ALP State Government in that they just throw crumbs at the needy.

Look at the changes to the birth certificate in changing Mother and Father to Parent 1 and Parent 2. Are you thinking what I’m thing P2? Yes, P1 there should be four spaces for the two mums and the two dads.

Oh well, perhaps in another 10 years we might have a compassionate government.

-” John, Ryde

BACK TO BASICS

As the XVII International AIDS Conference concluded in Mexico City this past week, new cases of HIV/AIDS infections still continued to rise. According to UNAIDS, in 2007 there were upwards of 15,000 new cases in Australia and the South Pacific.

Current treatments are changing the stigma associated with the diagnosis from death sentence to chronic illness. This is obviously great for those living with HIV; however, the emotional, psychological and financial burden continues to weigh heavily on patients, health systems and governments.

The World Bank clearly states the 24,000 delegates from the International AIDS Conference are committed to finding a way to utilise the annual US$10 billion budget in controlling the spread of HIV/AIDS. The World Health Organisation website calls for primary interventions to be focused on universal access to prevention, treatment, care and support.

While I agree with the WHO, I think more can be done to prevent initial infection rates.

Reading through the transcripts of the International AIDS Conference, I read a lot about treatment, access to care and antiretroviral therapy. I do not find many discussions focused on primary infection prevention. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s huge campaigns were run to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. The Grim Reaper campaign was hugely successful in keeping new infections under control. Safe sex and abstinence campaigns, I fear, have fallen out of vogue.

While I agree more can be done in regards to universal access to treatment, today’s focus should be geared back to preventing initial infection. I say to the delegates of the XVII International AIDS Conference, kudos for your work, but let’s refocus and stop HIV/AIDS with primary prevention.

-” Andrew, Newtown

TIMES CHANGE

Re Voices of protest weaken (SSO 931), I think I have a fairly good idea as to why there was such a small turnout nationwide and while Andrew Potts’s reasons are all quite valid, I think he overlooks one major point -” none of us could be arsed.

Generally, protests are most effective just after the event, in this case the ban, and four years afterwards, well, surely the time for street marches has ended.

That said, many of the people I know who also attended the rally last year, as I did, said they didn’t go this year due to the confused cross-issue message that was being sent on behalf of the organisers and some people who attended.

I went last year to fight against the marriage ban, and for equal rights, not to hear about Venezuela, not to hear about the fight for Palestine. Then the get rid of the marriage ban chant was drowned out by Socialist groups screaming about the revolution and imperialism.

Andrew Potts hits the nail on the head in relation to the ALP’s true colours. That, I figure, is probably why so many of them were there, desperate to show support for something that their party doesn’t. Strange -¦ when are those council elections again?

-” James, East Hills

TOTAL HYPOCRISY

I couldn’t help but agree with the opinions of both Brendan and James in this week’s SSO (931).

Dr Nelson, and Howard before him, are on record as doing nothing to champion equal rights for the gay and lesbian community. In fact, they do all they can to send legislation off to meetings to either water it down or delay its implementation.

For out gay members of the Liberal Party to state they champion gay rights is hypocrisy given the stance of the party proper.

In less than 12 months of government, Rudd has introduced changes to see our rights come some way towards equality.

In all those Howard years, what was done? No, the Liberal Party will never be actively campaigning for gay and lesbian equality. That is plainly obvious.

-” Eric, Nowra

STUDENT POWER

Early August saw in a number of cities across Australia rallies demanding the Rudd Labor government repeal the same-sex marriage ban and end all legal discrimination based on gender and sexuality.

Despite the ongoing hardship facing many of our queer departments because of another Rudd government refusal to reverse anti-student union laws, queer departments were the main organisers that called and built the Brisbane and Perth rallies which each attracted over 150 people.

Students also played a key role in building and attending the other rallies in Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra.

Without our student unions the rallies would not have been half as successful as they were.

The NUS petition for queer equal rights looks like hitting 30,000, again highlighting the hard work student unions play in fighting for equal rights and taking on homophobia.

This is a job all of us need to be doing regardless of which party is in the Lodge.

-” James Vigus, NUS National Queer Officer

SAFETY FIRST

Councillor Phillip Black’s motion to declare Oxford St a homophobia-free zone is an example of City of Sydney Council’s empty PR (SSO 931).

How will Cr Black’s motion increase safety on Oxford St?

His motion misses the point. Is Council improving safety on Oxford St ? Is Oxford St safer after Council’s 2007 Oxford Street Safety Strategy?

Our community needs real policies to increase personal safety and reduce violence. There is a well-known link between concentrations of licensed premises and violence.

In addition, the mix of visitors to Oxford St has changed with the increasing number of non-GLBT venues. All these matters may be impacting personal safety.

I used to regularly visit many Oxford St venues, but now find the strip quite uncertain at night. I am very aware of my personal safety after having been mugged at Redfern train station in 2002.

I am running on the Labor council team as I want the City to implement policies that work. Labor Lord Mayoral candidate Meredith Burgmann and all Labor council candidates are interested in the City working with the local police, community and businesses to implement evidence-based policies that improve personal safety on Oxford St and throughout the City.

We are interested in outcomes, not strategies and slogans.

-” Dr Sacha Blumen, Elizabeth Bay, Labor candidate, City of Sydney council election

POTTY MOUTHS

I was very shocked to hear the Potbelleez are going to be headlining Sleaze Ball this year (SSO 930).

I am surprised that they would agree and that New Mardi Gras would invite them back. While I agree they are great performers and they were well received at Mardi Gras this year, I would have thought their derogatory and homophobic comments after the event would have been taken into consideration.

I was listening to an interview with the Potbelleez on Nova 96.9 after Mardi Gras when they made comments like they were scared to leave the green room and that they needed a cork up their butts for protection. I really think New Mardi Gras needs to reconsider handing over money to a couple of guys who are clearly homophobic and maybe give the money to others who are supportive of the community.

-” Allan, Sydney
Potbelleez respond here