Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor

REFUND PLEASE
I have strong Christian values and when I read someone like Matthew, Kings Cross (SSO 928) writing about lacking respect I am incensed at his naivety.

Here is a visitor who has cost the taxpayers of this state huge amounts of money.

What does the taxpayer get back? The head of that church in this country refusing to accept that child molestation occurs in his church, and taking every opportunity to cover it up.

Judgement and hatred directed towards gay people by a church that has many of its own skeletons that are far worse than being gay.

It is the same church that cries poor and insists that the taxpayers fund restoration works at St Mary’s Cathedral. This of course is at the expense of health care, education and law and order.

I, for one, want a refund as I don’t want to be funding a church that thinks itself above the law and hardly capable of showing respect for gay people.

If you believe the propaganda of the church we are all made in the eye of the Lord so obviously he wanted gays here otherwise he would have had the ability to stop our being born.

-” Jason, Kangaroo Valley

SPEAK UP
To Matthew (SSO 928) who writes scathingly of me and my fellow NoToPope demonstrators. If you, as a registered, marching pilgrim, wanted to shout out yes I’m a Catholic man but yes I love the (sic) cock then why didn’t you shout it out?

It is you who should wake up Matthew, and it is you, not my barricaded demonstrators who is the caged animal -” caged in your world of see no evil, hear no evil while hundreds of young men and women suicide because of your cowardice.

I agree with you that your younger registered pilgrims know nothing about human rights and it is for this reason that we demonstrated: to show them the light.

Matthew, you may wish to pretend that Pope John Paul was not murdered (poisoned?) by Vatican bureaucrats and cardinals. You may wish to blindly regard Cita Vaticanus as a holy place. And it possibly is. But the reality is that it is being run by men and women of evil. And the Antichrist is there in their midst.

I suspect that Antichrist is called Josef Ratzinger.

These people have nothing to do with the loving God that I myself worship. The God that existed in the Bible before the Vatican got its grubby hands on it and changed all the texts around!
-” Ronnie, Bexley

THUGS NOT FRIENDS
I have met WYD pilgrims who enjoyed their time in Sydney and appreciated that protesters could criticise their Church. They went to Sydney with positive, peaceful intentions.

On April 24, Canberra was invaded by thousands of Chinese patriots who came with the intention of silencing dissent through aggression and, in some cases, physical violence.

My gay brothers and sisters in Sydney, you were invaded by young people seeking friendship. Here in Canberra, we were invaded by thugs. You got the better deal!
-” Sandy, Downer, ACT

LOUD AND CLEAR
I’d like to share my experience of walking with a few fellow gay Catholics and the World Youth Day pilgrims, carrying a massive rainbow flag all the way from the Harbour Bridge into the very heart of Randwick Racecourse.

We did it not as a protest, but to say we are part of the Church and God’s love too. I walked on edge, waiting for abuse. I was blown away by the overwhelmingly positive and uplifting response.
Yes, many ignored us and some people asked what country our flag came from. But not one negative comment was said.

A few people asked if we really were gay. Pilgrims came running up to us to have their picture taken with the flag, to tell us they were glad we were there. Several people came out to us. Priests walked with us.

We had a long conversation with a guy coming to terms with his sexuality and faith. Hopefully our presence challenged some people’s views and helped reaffirm others.

I share protesters’ anger and alienation at the Church, that is, its hierarchy and dogma.

But the Church is also its people, many of whom are supportive of our community. Demonstrating against them only makes it harder for those of us trying to create space within the Catholic Church for gays and lesbians.

Our simple act of three people carrying a flag shows that inviting people to have a conversation can go a long way towards acceptance.

PS: How great that the next World Youth Day will be held in a Catholic country with gay marriage!
-” Todd, Canterbury

EMPATHY VISIT
To start with an open record, I’m a gay agnostic who was thoughly pissed off with the disruption to my personal life (road closures, etc) and the negative effect on small business from WYD.

The normally very sucessful cafe where my partner works is located near St Mary’s Cathedral and they would go broke if it was WY Month, such was the downturn in their business.

I also despise organised religion in general and the appalling waste of money spent on WYD.

But I will make a point now of visiting Snakebean Asian Diner and supporting a small businessperson who has apparently done nothing wrong or offensive other than welcoming visitors to our city/country to his establishment.

It will be an empathy visit, I admit, but I’ll get a nice warm feeling out of it and the owner will get a small contribution to his turnover for that day.

And to Brett of Surry Hills -” what this business owner did was exercise the freedoms of speech and expression that gay rights campaigners have fought for for decades. You can’t have it both ways, mate. You’d like to see signs like Welcome Pilgrims -” WYDSYD removed from shop windows, but I bet you’d be first in the queue to complain if someone wrote in demanding that gay-friendly signs were banned from shop windows in Oxford St because it offended their personal beliefs.
However, you are entitled to your opinion, as am I, I hope.
-” Trevor, Camperdown

JUST A THOUGHT
I thought I would set out in writing a little daydream I had today having just perused the week’s papers (and being someone facing 50).

Oh that there was just one venue that put on shows at say 10pm, 11pm and midnight, with at least one production show with boys in it.

There is plenty of time later at night to dance the night away if you are up for it.

Do licencing laws prevent the Midnight Shift, for instance, opening the back stairs?

Patrons could congregate downstairs over a quiet ale, maybe even play pool or listen to the videos, and then pay their entrance money to see the shows when they open up upstairs.

And you also get to feel the vibe downstairs (or meet up with friends first) unlike where you presently have to mount the outside stairs straight from the street.

I so wish that someone would make my dream come true. I reckon there’s a dollar in it too.
-” Tim, Sydney

BAD ROUTE

The STA proposes to move bus route 311 away from the Elizabeth Bay loop. These residents moved here and embraced sustainability. They gave up their cars for buses.

Their reward after 40 years? STA proposes the stop their buses!

Surely they have done their bit to reduce greenhouse pollution in Australia and they deserve better treatment?
-” Brian, Surry Hills

COURTING TROUBLE

As most people in our community would be aware there has been a recent push to reverse the progressive decline of Oxford St.

The City of Sydney appears to be making a number of attempts to improve the situation. Most agree that reducing the number of clubs which bring agressive and violent people into the area would be one of a number of possible remedies.

A reduction in operating hours for certain venues could also be beneficial. The council has repeatedly said that the current nightlife culture on Oxford St needs to change. It is a shame that no one seems to have told the Land & Environment Court about this.

It is so diappointing that all it takes is one person to overturn the council’s decision and the will of the community and local residents.

The recent ruling to allow extended trading hours at the Burdekin Hotel is a real concern and does not give much hope for a change in direction for Oxford St.

It will be interesting to see if the court makes a similar decision regarding DCM/UN’s appeal for extended trading hours. This will no doubt be followed by an appeal from the owners of the Gaff who are also looking to expand their venue.

I believe it is these sorts of venues which have contributed to the decline in the amenity of the area. What was once a famous gay and lesbian district is now a global embarassment.

I congratulate the council for its efforts to improve the area. What a slap in the face it must be to have their hard work overturned by a single person at the Land and Environment Court.
-” Stephen, Surry Hills

UNDER REVIEW
I am writing in reference to your recent article Gay rights book gets a makeover (SSO 926).

The resource referenced in your article, Understanding your legal rights: a guide for lesbians and gay men in NSW, was launched at the 2007 Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Fair Day and, as noted in your article, provides an outline of the law in NSW and how it affects gay men and lesbians across a range of issues.

However, due to recent legislative changes at a state level, some of the information contained in the resource is now inaccurate.

Our Department is currently in the process of reviewing this resource and will update the website as required.

In the meantime, people who require legal assistance can contact LawAccess NSW (1300 888 529) or the Inner City Legal Centre (02 9332 1966).
-” Brendan Thomas, Assistant Director General, Crime & Community Programs, NSW Attorney-General’s Department

TOKEN GESTURE
Council’s decision to endorse a homophobia-free zone on Oxford St is yet another token PR effort from this Lord Mayor.

How many more plans and strategies do we need? This will be at least the third strategy applying to Oxford St currently.

To borrow from Woody Allen, the best response to neo-Nazis is a baseball bat. The best response to homophobia and gay bashing is more and tougher high visibility policing applying an aggressive zero tolerance policy.

That is why I have called for Council to finance a community policing centre in the middle of the strip and not the failed ACON safe space on the edge.

The last thing we need is homophobia-free zone signs along Oxford St. It will not prevent one bashing and may even attract violence.
-” Cr Shayne Mallard, City of Sydney

PRAISE PENNY
Having watched Senator Penny Wong, Minister for Climate Change and Water, on Q and A on the ABC, I must say we Australians, gay and straight, have a lot to be proud of.

There are very few countries where an immigrant, a lesbian and a woman can become a government minister.

We are very quick to whinge, but we are very slow to praise. Australia is one of the most liberal, open and tolerant societies in the world. Good on ya, Australia!
-” Paula, Bondi Junction

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2 responses to “Letters to the Editor”

  1. Paula may praise Penny, but for my money Tim Wilson was the star of the show. Not all gay and lesbian people are lefties, and Tim did a great job of presenting and intelligent conservative perspective – and on calling Penny on her hypocritical subservience to the arch-conservative Rudd. And he’s hot, so there!

  2. Clr Shayne Mallard’s criticism of proposals to declare Oxford Street as a homophia free zone as mere “spin” is peculiar, but his proposals to station a cop at every corner to addess the problems of Oxford Street are even weirder.

    Until the NSW Police Force cleanses itself of a gaggle of corrupt practices and cultures, it will never solve or lessen any problem in this community – but rather continue to aggravate them.

    IT is surprising that someone like Shayne Mallard who professes to be a “liberal” would be advocating an authoritarian solution. Perhaps he is just playing party politics and opposing for the sake of opposing.