Glamour and rights

Glamour and rights

It seems not one Academy Awards passes without a winner speaking their mind -” and so they should.

Although the Oscars provide a fantastic opportunity for glitz, glamour and dreaming, it is refreshing to have a star make us reflect on issues plaguing people down on the ground.

In 1973 Sacheen Littlefeather accepted an award on behalf of Marlon Brando for his performance in The Godfather. On Brando’s behalf, she claimed the movie industry was responsible as any for degrading the Indian and making a mockery of his character.

In 1993 Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins said, We’d like to call attention to 266 Haitians that are being held in Guantanamo Bay by the United States government. Their crime: testing positive to the HIV virus.

In his 2003 acceptance speech for Best Documentary, Michael Moore referred to fictitious election results that elect a fictitious president … shame on you, Mr Bush! Shame on you.

The one I will remember most happened on Monday night. In accepting his award for Best Actor in Milk Sean Penn said, For those who saw the signs of hatred as our cars drove in tonight, I think that it is a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect and anticipate their great shame and the shame in their grandchildren’s eyes if they continue that way of support. We’ve got to have equal rights for everyone.

Gay marriage, once perceived as only the domain of the radical fringe, was now front and centre at the Oscars, and consequently on the mainstream stage.

Statements by people like Sean Penn go a long way to garnering broad community support for equality. The next stage is getting politicians to listen to that support.

In Australia, we are about to embark on a campaign for marriage. Part of that campaign will be getting people Australians look up to to speak out in support of equality. The hardest part will be getting politicians to tune into the zeitgeist and realise the time for equality is now.

In the meantime, I strongly encourage you to watch this video: http://www.couragecampaign.org/Divorce
Emily Gray is the convenor of the Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby.

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