Letters to the Editor

COP IT SWEET
Why is it that people such as David (SSO 946) and Name and address supplied” (SSO 947) are now suddenly whining about the loss of Centrelink benefits, etc, related to relationship recognition?
Ours is not to question the impeccable wisdom and judgement of the Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby, and its near two decades of lobbying to guarantee that all homosexuals fulfil their heterosexual rights and obligations.
Ever the voice of reason, norrie mAy-welby (SSO 946) suggests that homos must have the right to marry, too. It is right that homosexuals’ relationships be governed by the Commonwealth Marriage Act, and that, too, in the event of breakdown of our relationships, we be subjected to the rigours, determinations and judgements of the Family Court. We cannot have rights without responsibilities. There can be no equality, without heterosexual obligations.
Since conception became a homosexual act, it can only be right that the law guarantees homosexuals, and their offspring, every equal opportunity and every equal responsibility.
So stop being a moaning Minnie about losing benefits, and paying palimony, because it’s all part and parcel of marriage. We must all, heterosexual or homosexual, cop it sweet, as it were; take it on the chin.
As far as homosexuals living in non-monogamous arrangements -” such as long-term threesomes”-” are concerned, Australian law already provides, to some extent, maintenance consideration for the wives and children of heterosexual men with harems.
However, when gay marriage and de factohood finally become compulsory (in the foreseeable future) for all those of us in such relationships, the Commonwealth Marriage Act must then be overhauled to allow for anything goes. As long as we’re all equal, polyandry and polygamy are okay.
We can’t have one marriage law for monogamists and another for polygamists and polyandrists. It’s gotta be total equality, one size fits all, at all costs. As an old early 1980s (then) Gay Rights Lobby slogan once ran: Equality -” nothing less!”
-” George, Eugowra

Cop-Out
Yes Virginia, the Rees Government and its lackeys in the NSW police are both showing discrimination and harassment to the gay community in their response to beat sex, drugs and violence, compared to the mainstream.
In Sydney Park beats, sex happens discreetly behind bushes and under the cover of darkness, when few families and kiddies are about. But in the residential streets and lanes of Kings Cross, Darlinghurst, and East Sydney, heterosexuals openly do sex with sex workers, often in broad daylight.
In our residential lane, the presence of a child care centre, with the children still in the playground, does not stop them from doing it. In the five years of living there and residents complaining, we have never once seen the police respond.
In our same lane, a straight drug dealer openly sold hard drugs including heroin and ice for years, and despite constant complaints the police turned a blind eye. Now compare that to their constant sniffer dog raids on Oxford St to punters using mainly soft drugs.
And their response to violence? Bear in mind their history of complacency to anti-gay violence in and around Oxford St, and now the 2am lock-out of Arq, Stonewall, and the Oxford Hotel being made into legislation. The off-the-cuff claims and figures quoted about crime and violence at these nightclubs need to be verified by data and released for public scrutiny.
We need less police resources spent on sniffer dogs at our fairs and in our nightclubs, and more police on a different beat -” the Oxford St one where they would be of more social use. Otherwise this latest law by Rees and his police just shows it’s for desperate political use, at our expense.
-” John, East Sydney

SUNDAY MIRACLE
A miracle this Sunday morning -” for the first time in years we have had a sleep-in.
Taylor Sq is quite calm and almost clean -” not sure if the new lock-out helped influence the almost human Taylor Square. Good riddance to T2.
Now dear Lord Mayor, let’s get the square up and running as a local identifying point. Get rid of the fountain and the grassed knoll and also the riff-raff that hang about the square.
-” Fred, Surry Hills

LOCK-OUT WORKING
I was out on Oxford Street over the weekend during the new lock-out period. It appeared to be fairly successful, especially on Friday night. The street would normally be crowded with people, mostly drunk, walking from venue to venue.
Once 2am hit it was certainly a lot quieter. I noticed this gave police the opportunity to target problems more quickly. There was a great police presence on Friday although not as obvious on Saturday.
After seeing the result of this past weekend I honestly believe the principle of a lock-out could work but I have some suggestions to improve it further.
Add problem venues such as Havana, the Gaff and the Courthouse Hotel to the list and introduce legislation to prevent large numbers of high capacity licensed premises opening in one area.
Provide more transport. The lock-out seemed to have the desired effect of encouraging more people to head home rather than keep drinking. Help them get there!
Impose heavier restrictions on late night takeaway shops which contribute to crowding, antisocial behaviour and rubbish. A number of these businesses trade outside their permitted hours to cash in on the drinking crowd. Five Star Kebab next to the Courthouse Hotel is one example.
I know these new laws aren’t popular with everyone but I hope they will go some way towards creating a safer and more civilised nightlife for our city.
-” Steve, Surry Hills

UNCOMFORTABLE
Phil Scott’s view (SSO 947) that those who grew up homosexual post-nineties don’t need to define, defend, or even celebrate their sexuality in social terms … it’s just a given made me very uncomfortable.
That is not the impression anyone could have taken away from the That’s So Gay conference organised by the NSW Anti-Homophobia Interagency and attended by police, teachers, school counsellors, Department of Education and Training officers and others.
There have been a number of these conferences. The presentations on homophobia amongst youth and on mustering effective social responses to this homophobia are harrowing.
None of the brave people addressing and acting on these issues would be pleased to see the distress of persecuted gay youth being dismissed as identity crises … personal matters, not communal concern.
Easy, carefree acceptance of one’s homosexuality is just a given to a tiny, tiny, extremely privileged minority of Australia’s youth.
Also, we have been hearing versions of Bruce doesn’t read since the seventies.
-” Ian, Elizabeth Bay

NO ANGRY ORGAN
If we had gay marriage rights and equality as to social benefits, maybe we would be docked $45 by Centrelink a fortnight (Free Viagra, SSO 947) as would occur to a married hetero couple who were on benefits.
In that case if I was in a gay relationship I would be happy for equal rights, somewhat disappointed at the loss of income, but my organ would definitely not be angry!
If our relationships are to be taken seriously by heteros and by ourselves it should look like we don’t only have them for the sake of convenience.
-” Layne, Surry Hills

STILL POSITIVE
Seeing all the support for World AIDS Day last week was fantastic, especially from new and young members of the community like Matthew Mitcham.
HIV still disproportionately affects gay men over 40, but the young aren’t immune. Equality, adoption, marriage are all issues that will eventually become redundant, but HIV is going to be with the gay community for a very long time -” probably forever as the search for a cure runs out of leads.
But it seems that HIV/AIDS organisations are still holding out the begging pans in the direction of the gay community’s pockets. We’ve been funding some of their projects out of our own pockets for the last 20 years. Isn’t it time that the Federal Government got more involved in funding the outreach work not covered by the state?
What happened to the $10 million television HIV awareness campaigns that Tony Abbott spruiked in 2007? I still haven’t seen a single ad. With national HIV rates continuing to climb, are we being left to solve this problem ourselves?
-” Daniel, Chippendale

SPIRITUAL SUPPORT
What a fantastic move forward in the MCC to have Gavin Ward ordained (SSO 947). Look at his face and know that he is as excited about this new position as anyone else.
May he be guided by his faith and his peers as he begins this new journey with MCC and his journey with God.
Ordination is a journey I am working on as soon as I can and it is exciting to know that there is a new vibrancy within the MCC and the church in general.
We here at MCC Melbourne are keeping you in our prayers and supporting you in your faith journey.
-” Jason Turner, MCC Melbourne

TRANSPORT NIGHTMARE
As many others out on Friday night would have experienced, trying to get home if you hadn’t made it into a club before the lockdown period and didn’t feel like dealing with the crush at the Midnight Shift was an absolute nightmare.
I don’t understand how the government and police can claim that these measures are about improving safety, when you then don’t provide people with adequate transport options. If you are going to have people pushed out onto the street at that time, there need to be buses at the least, or a change in the 2am lock-out time so it doesn’t coincide with changeover. Or, even better, just scrap these stupid lock-out laws.
-” Paul, Leichhardt

INTERNET BULLIES
I was disappointed to read about the internet bullying going on in Newcastle (SSO 946). It left me sadly shaking my head and wondering when are these people going to grow up. For all the reasoning behind why people decide to bitch at each other via the net -” the lack of GLBT venues, etc -” there really is no excuse. If you are over the age of 12, you need to be grown up enough to stand behind whatever comments you make about another person. Grow up and stop hiding behind your avatar.
-” Name and address supplied