Letters to the Editor

Thank you
Last Saturday night I had my 25th birthday party where I did my debut in drag. It was an incredible night that received so much support from the gay community and my friends.
I want to take this chance to publicly thank a few of those supporters.
With the support of those who donated, we raised $1300 which I will be donating to ACON and the Ankali Project. Amazing stuff.
Slide bar was the most welcoming and accommodating venue -” thank you so very much to Marc and his team for the use of their amazing venue (the food was just delicious!).
Thank you to Trevor Ashley and Miss Prada Clutch for their emergency makeup makeover! To my back-up dancers Adam and Tom -” you guys were amazing and hot! We make a great team!
To Jess, my pole dancer -” every person wanted to either be you or shag you by the end of your show!
To Naomi and Zac from Bingay -” your assistance and support on the night was amazing, so thank you.
And to those who attended -” from my Mum, Aunty and their crew from Dubbo to my workmates, Ankali friends, CSU trashbags, my sponsor family and everyone else who came -” I was overwhelmed by your support. The night wouldn’t have been as fabulous without each and every one of you there. Thank you.
My debut was a 25-year dream come true. If you have a dream, chase it. If you have ambition, use it. And, to echo those sentiments we hear from Mitzi and others in our community -” if you can get out there and raise money for a charity, do it! We can all make a difference.
See you from the stage sometime soon.
-” Ms Tina Turnon aka Tim
GAYS NEED NOT APPLY
The Vatican continues its fear-mongering (FM) homophobia.
This time the FM is sent to the seminaries in Melbourne. First the FM Team visited the seminaries in the United States to test for homosexuality, and failed miserably.
Now they put their holy sights on our cousins in Australia. What a laugh. The test for homosexuality is not going to get rid of a deep-seated culture that has led the Church for centuries.
One wonders what such a test could consist of, and if such a test really exists, why it is not being given to all priest so we can root out the -˜Lavender Mafia’.
The obvious answer is there is no singular test that is given. What happens is an interview process, and the question is asked are you a homosexual or not. If you say Yes, obviously you will not be admitted to the seminary.
The Vatican will come to the conclusion there is no way to stop the flow of gays/lesbians to the priesthood or the religious life.
Once again we are witnessing how the Vatican tries to wield its authority through fear and intimidation. The Vatican would better spend its time trying to develop a test to weed out pedophilia or child molestation, targeting the bishops who hid clergy child sexual abusers.
In two months the interviews will be over. I am sure there will be statements from the Vatican that homosexuality has been weeded out.
The reality of the situation is that the Vatican will force both men and women to go further into the closet, which will allow the bishops to continue with business as usual. We all are aware of the critical shortage of priests and religious in the Western Church, and these crafty bishops will not close down more churches just because someone is gay.
If such a test for homosexuality existed don’t you think both the US Pentagon and the Republican Party would be using it.
-” Tom Anderson, Rainbow Sash Movement

WITHHOLD TAX
If the federal government insists on treating queers as second-class citizens, we could always withhold our tax and refuse to lodge tax returns. Then they’d be forced to act.
-” Stuart
ALCOHOL-FREE ZONES
Why would Sydney City Council oppose the new alcohol-free zones?
We have a serious problem in this city and the less alcohol on the street, the better.
The alcohol-free zones seem to be a relatively new thing so it may take time for them to become effective.
My understanding is Oxford St is not an alcohol-free zone. How ridiculous.
More than any other street, it needs a restriction like this to help discourage the hordes of drunk teenagers from the suburbs
-” Stevie

ENFORCE ZONES
I like the way [Cr Shayne] Mallard craps on about alcohol-free zones not-¦ addressing the real problems [SSO 964].
They’re not meant to address the real problems if Mallard means the whole of society’s drinking woes.
They’re meant to cut down on anti-social and dangerous behaviour caused by intoxication in public areas. And they’re meant to be enforced. I bet the no-parking zones around Oxford St are enforced (despite not addressing the real problems of illegal parking).
I fail to see how the zones are inequitable. Are some people being fined and not others? If so, penalise everyone who breaks the law.
What really is inequitable is having wasted and potentially violent people dominating public places.
-” David

HAVANA RAID
Re the Havana raid: 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
SECURITY VIEW
As a security guard who worked for UN when it was at DCM and now Havana I have to say that the security boys can only do so much.
It was only in October 2007 that the security company I work for had become the contractor for UN while it was at DCM. The security company before was also let go by the owners for some unknown reason.
Of all the venues I have worked at (strip clubs, Kings Cross and even out west at the Collingwood Hotel and the Serbian Club), UN was never an easy crowd to monitor, control and predict. You have different styles of music on Friday and Saturday and thus different crowds attend.
I know and vouch for the boys at the door and inside who do all they can but never seem to get a break. Havana is a cocktail lounge which does not cater to the R’n’B Friday night crowds and the hi-nrg dance Saturday night crowds either. If anything, this type of crowd needs a warehouse.
Either way, the boys do a fine job and if we have been able to last for more then a year at UN/DcM/Havana, then we must be doing something right-¦ right?
-” Bollo
STRAIGHT CLUBS
If we can get rid of Havana and a couple more of those wretched straight venues from Oxford St then the changes will be obvious.
I have no idea why these straight clubs were allowed to set up shop in the first place. They have the whole of the CBD and suburbia for their trash clients. Time to take Oxford St back to its roots. Need to keep up the pressure.
-” Mikey

OIL AND WATER
It can be a bit scary with that straight nightclub next to Stonewall.
The pack of angry young men loiter in front of it, giving filthy but menacing stares and sometimes verbal abuse to any gay-acting or -” wait for it -” gay/straight-acting single male who walks past them.
You can [combine] oil and water and shake it as much as you like, but at the end of the day they won’t mix. Like the straight clubs on Oxford St, they just don’t belong there.
-” Mark