Stand proud

It has been so long since I have had a good old laugh, but after I was informed by good friend Verushka about the harassment laws and fines that will be in effect over World Youth Day week I have to be honest, I laughed so hard I almost fell off my chair.

If you wear a T-shirt that is deemed offensive and you don’t remove it when asked to, you will be committing a criminal offence.

Then there is the condom thing -“ truly ridiculous.

Goodness gracious, if we are talking about outfits that could be deemed offensive, then the show I do on a Sunday is going to cost me a fortune. And that’s without even mentioning the sex toy giveaways we sometimes do, or the free condoms always available at the bar.

And what about the gorgeous Dallas Dellaforce who is famous for her nearly nude outfits? Either she is going to be coughing up a lot of money to the powers that be, or she’s going to prove a super popular attraction for the pilgrims. God, I can only hope they get to see her performance of I Touch Myself -“ that ought to rock the boat a little.

All these special laws got me thinking, are we going to get similar treatment for Mardi Gras in the future? Will the small but ever-present cluster of nay-sayers be arrested in the future for wearing their Homos burn in hell or God hates fags T-shirts? I think that would be fair given recent developments and especially given Mardi Gras generates more for the NSW economy every year than this one-off World Youth Day will (not to mention being much less expensive).

So what gives? Do we just leave these people alone when they start preaching to us? Is silence the only way forward? Has your right to freedom of speech been thwarted? Seems if the freedom of speech doesn’t suit the event then it, along with any number of our basic civil liberties, can be thrown in the bin.

What can we do? Well, I have given it some thought and I reckon we need to get back to basics -“ holding hands and kissing in public. After all, demonstrating your love for someone can’t be deemed offensive.

Mind you, I will not be going out of my way to assemble in World Youth Day hotspots. If the bear’s sleeping I don’t think you should poke it with a stick. However, you can guarantee there’ll be plenty of Catholic visitors checking out our pubs and clubs and I for one won’t be changing my style or my individuality -“ and neither should you.