Vic rights rally on Wednesday
A rally protesting a bill to restore exemptions for religious organisations in Victoria’s Equal Opportunity Act will take place at noon on Wednesday on the steps of State Parliament.
Called ‘Don’t Wind Back The Clock’, the rally intends to draw attention to plans to make it lawful for some organisations to deny someone a job on the basis of their gender, sexual orientation, religion, marital status, parental status or gender identity.
It comes after the Baillieu Liberal Government’s Mental Health Minister, Mary Wooldridge, missed a vote on the proposed bill last week, leading to an embarrassing failure in the Legislative Assembly during its first attempt.
Premier Baillieu hopes to recommit the vote using commonwealth laws regarding the reintroduction of bills in the event of confusion, error or misadventure, but opposition leader Daniel Andrews had argued the federal laws did not apply to Victorian parliament.
For more information of the rally, visit facebook.com/DontWindBackTheClock
A petition calling on the Victorian Government to leave the Equal Opportunity Act as it is can be found at www.equalrightsvictoria.com.au/petition
Only Christians and their pals have the right to hate.
I am involved in the community sector and am forever frustrated with dissatisfied clients who want to, for example, receive counseling by a religious organization that fits with what sort of direction they are comfortable with only to find that a specific counsellor doesn’t meet their expectations. Under existing arrangements, employers don’t have the right to know…. this means I refer clients to organization they prefer hoping they receive staff member who holds values it purports because we can’t even request this!
Minorities benefit greatly from community organizations that are specific to them…but it has to be more than just in name or all organizations can be assumed to be more or less the same.
Anglican Bishop John McIntyre was outraged by any exemptions in the Equal Opportunity Act. He strongly believes billions of dollars of government funded services are being used to vilify and carry out acts of hate against people in the GBLTI community.
He said “Such a response is arguably at odds with the essence of what the founder of the Christian faith lived, taught and died for. How bizarre that the followers of Jesus Christ would oppose, and ask for exemptions from, a legal instrument that has at its heart a declaration of the dignity and value of every human life and the basic rights of every person.”
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/a-betrayal-of-the-faith-20090928-g95o.html#ixzz1NyddWXLW
Sorry folks..The Liberal/National Party has no place requiring people who do government funded jobs to follow the practices of a particular religious faith.
And of all the six months of government, the Liberal/National Party can only offer an on the spot fine for swearing, and placing 400 cows in the high country, then this rubbish. This is not why people voted for them. This is all they think we as a community can be. This all the hopes and dreams they had for change in Victoria.
All this equal love is all about this warm, fuzzy feeling inside without much thought of all possible implications of your actions. This so called hate from the Government is a hate of the action, not the person. This screaming attention seeking is not helping anyone, except to draw attention to the fact that you are imposing your ideology on all of society. Religious freedom is a basic human right and just as you wouldn’t want Christians preaching to you in a gay bar so they don’t want you forcing your way into Christian schools and churches. It makes me sick to think that there are poor kids in an unfortunate situation being in foster care and they have gays looking after them.
Sorry folks… the freedom to practice religion is a human right.
In the case of the Christian faith, that means you cannot impose a morality on people or Church organizations that is against their doctrines and practices. The victory of Cobaw community health over the CYC camps was a hollow one.. under appeal, but nevertheless if the CYC group has even half a brain in their head they will examine the court case and learn from it what NOT to do next time some person rings up to entrap them.
I thank those who are standing up for justice and the freedom of people to work freely. To be selected on merit and ability for a job, and not your religious practices. Sacking the thousands of people for being Same-Sex attracted who work in places such as schools, hospitals, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, home help, those that feed you when you cannot feed yourself, those who look after children in foster care, is an act of hate and economic vandalism by the Liberal/National party.
Now is the time to strike and show support. This is the time to make a stand for those who contribute so much to our soceity even in upaid positions, helping make this country great. These people need our help. They need your help now.
Say yes we can, and we will send a message of hope and support to thousands of good and decent people.