Tag Archives: LGBTI

Labor Conference: Protests push the Left

Posted on by
1

Over the weekend, I was part of a series of protests in Sydney outside the Labor Party’s National Conference. Left-wingers came from across the country as the Labor Party debated important issues such as same-sex marriage, refugee rights and uranium mining. With Gillard pushing Labor’s right-wing agenda, it was crucial to have thousands outside pressure the party to take decent positions, because it’s clear the ALP won’t do so willingly.

Even the Labor ‘Left’, I’d argue, have dragged their feet on same-sex marriage and putting up a decent fight to the Malaysian solution and offshore processing. Putting faith in those inside the party to change things really holds back social movements. Despite the biggest gay rights protest in Australian history, and the ongoing movement pressuring the ALP to change the Labor Party platform in favour of equal marriage rights, a deal with the Right inside the party for a conscience vote railroads the policy toward failure.

Whilst some of the Left have made excuses for why the Labor Left are too gutless to cross the floor over offshore processing, the Right threatened to cross the floor over same-sex marriage before the conscience vote deal was made. The Left, begging for credibility, yet again fail to fight for principle whilst the Right of the party do what they like. The likes of Garret prove again that the Labor Party is nothing but a graveyard for principled left-wing activists, and putting faith in them is suicide.

Though the Left, in this instance, did seem to vote in the right way on most policies on the floor of conference, I’d argue it was due to pressure from outside the party. Prior to the conference, and in previous years, deals and capitulations meant that often motions didn’t even make it to the floor.

So I took it at great offence that some were chanting ‘Thank you Labor’ on the Saturday’s Equal Marriage demo and Labor Party speakers used the opportunity to congratulate themselves and further promote the project of social democracy, so discredited at the moment, when it has been such an impediment to progressive change such as same-sex marriage. Support for Equal rights in Australia has been in the majority for some time now, but it took until this weekend for the Left to move to change the party platform.

The victories have only ever come from pressure from ordinary people, ordinary workers pressuring their union leadership, or left-wing movements outside the party forcing the party to change the position or risk irrelevance.

So there is still a fight to win same-sex marriage, to make it law, and I’d argue that it won’t be through pressuring Abbott and the Liberals, but the party in government. And the Malaysian Solution is far from dead so it will require renewed effort amongst refugee activists to bury it again and keep it that way.

For further analysis on the ALP National Conference, I’d recommend an article by Rick Kuhn, ‘Labor Party contradictions out in the open at conference’ from the Socialist Alternative website.

Note: I’ve edited some aspects of my post from last night to include the fact the Left of that party did actually vote the right way in this instance.

Contradictions in the Vampirism to Homosexuality Analogy

Posted on by
12

The rise of vampires in popular culture being used as an analogy for homosexuality or alternative sexuality can often be looked upon favourably but can it lead to homophobic conclusions?

Vampire

Photo by nulus

Vampires in literature and film at the moment come in a variety of forms stretching from the traditional dark and evil vampire to the new, romantic, sexy vampires that you sympathise with.

I’ve been particularly interested in one strand that’s emerged that sees Vampirism as an analogy for homosexuality, the obvious example being the TV series, True Blood.

I’ve only watched a few episodes but I’m already enjoying the strong characters and am impressed with the plot pulling no punches with its political references. You can quickly see the resemblance to various civil rights struggles including that for gay rights.

And on a superficial level, I think this works. The portrayal of the anti-Vampire bigots works quite well, as do the people sympathising with them.

But I’ve run into doubts after trying to extend the analogy further in some of my own work. I had an idea for a piece of short fiction centring on a vampire that’s forced to hide his vampirism, get married and dissolve into normal society.

The main problem I find is that LGBTI people don’t eat people. We don’t suck people’s blood. We might bite, if you like it that way, but we don’t go about to cause harm.

So much of the analogy is about hiding your vampirism, suppressing innate desires in order to fit into society. The conclusion could be drawn that this lifestyle is harmful, preditorial, and in order for equality to be achieved you have to push aside these innate feelings and become normal.

I feel that delving into the analogy too deeply can lead to conclusions that there is something wrong with homosexuality, but it just needs to be tolerated or controlled, not that it is a perfectly natural and positive lifestyle that people should be free to explore and be open about.

It’s for this reason that I feel my piece of short fiction might not work, but it doesn’t mean that things like True Blood fail in what they’re trying to do, just that I think there are contradictions that if explored, present problems.

I’d be curious to hear people’s thoughts but bear in mind that I’m not saying vampirism is always an analogy for homosexuality but this is in specific reference to some cases like in True Blood.

Why You Need to Protest: Mainstream parties open door to homophobia from Family First

Posted on by
Reply

In the lead up to the election, and more importantly, Saturday’s National Day of Action for same-sex marriage rights, two usually irrelevant parties have (justifiably) pissed people off with their comments in regards to homosexuality and same-sex marriage rights.

Wendy Francis Twitter

Wendy Francis' Twitter comments that were later deleted (click for enlarged view)

Family First candidate Wendy Francis started it all by claiming that same-sex marriage was child abuse because children have the right to a mother and a father. This was followed up by a One Nation candidate backing her up and tweeting that he was up for some ‘poofter bashing.’

These kinds of comments are rightly condemned and really come from the extreme end of homophobia, but it must be said that both mainstream parties are responsible for creating a climate where these kinds of views are seen as acceptable in society, just like discrimination from the top of society gives a green light to homophobes on the street that want to bash gay and lesbian people.

The Labor Party try to hide their discrimination and legitimisation of more explicit homophobia behind tiresome bullshit about how equal they’ve made all these other laws – except for marriage. They can’t even justify why, other than the lie that the community doesn’t support it.

But after the Rooty Hill forum last night, Phillip Ruddock was quizzed about this on Sky News and basically echoed what Wendy Francis said, claiming that children have the ‘right’ to be raised by a mother and father and marriage is for nurturing children.

Not only is this an example about how our society tries to enforce strict gender roles on society through the family, they miss the fact that not every married couple has children. This ideology of the monogamous heterosexual family is becoming further from the reality of peoples lives but remains an ideal to aspire to which leaves those outside of this norm feeling less legitimate.

With both parties refusing to lift the ban on same-sex marriage, they’ve given a voice to fringe opinions like that of Family First of One Nation and ignored majority opinion in favour of full equal rights. If you want that voice to be heard, if you want to put it beyond doubt that there is mass support for same-sex marriage, then you need to lend your voice and your body to march on the streets on August 14, on the sixth anniversary since Howard explicitly banned same-sex marriage.

Demonstrations are happening all around the country and you can find more information by visiting http://equallove.info.

Penny Wong, same-sex marriage and why you can't change things within the Labor party

Posted on by
1

I haven’t said much about politics since the election campaign until now, mainly because it’s been sterile and boring, the debate being the pinnacle of politicians waffling on without actually saying anything of substance. But the defence of Penny Wong’s position on same-sex marriage really needs to be countered.

Penny WongPenny Wong has enraged advocates of same-sex marriage, including myself, for defending Labor’s position that maintains the ban on same-sex marriage because it’s a cultural, historical and religions norm (just like women being unable to vote, Blacks having no rights and gay sex being a crime.)

It all came to a head on Monday night on ABC’s Q&A when someone from the audience asked her to justify her position. Penny talked about how she’d suffered discrimination and how much the laws Labor introduced made things better for LGBTI people in Australia. She didn’t answer the question, whether or not she really does support same-sex marriage. And she defended not having a conscience vote on the issue.

This all made me pretty sick to my stomach. It’s clear Wong puts her own political career ahead of the rights of all LGBTI people. You can’t be a little bit equal so it is a lie to say there’s equality when we don’t have full marriage rights.

And then the worst thing was when Graham Richardson claimed that progress in Australia came from people like Penny Wong fighting within the Labor party for change.

The idea that you can change things from within this party is ridiculous. It’s the same party maintaining the ban on same-sex marriage, kicking refugees, moving to the right on smashing unions, for bombing Afghanistan, supporting Israel down the line. This party is not a party of progress. It’s holding things back.

We have a majority of people in this country that support the simple right for people to marry, regardless of gender. The Labor party don’t want to listen to the majority. And Penny Wong refuses to publicly come out and defy this position.

P8010884

How we get real change

Things change from the mass of people getting out on the streets and fighting for it. That’s how we got women the right to vote, how we got troops out of Vietnam, how LGBTI people got sodomy off the criminal code and how Blacks got basic civil rights in the United States.

It didn’t come from politicians through parliament – but the history books give them all the credit because they have to sign the things we demanded in law because their rule and their legitimacy was at stake.

That is why, if you want same-sex marriage rights, it is more important to come out on August 14 to the next same-sex marriage protest than it is to vote in the election the week after.

We make change, not them, and we need enough of us out on the streets to make that change.

Don't be so surprised, Gillard is a homophobe like all the others

Posted on by
Reply

Just in case the numerous quotes and inaction hadn’t convinced your idealistic dreamy little heads that thought because our new Prime Minster, Julia Gillard is a women and/or an atheist she might be for progressive things such as removing the ban on same-sex marriage rights – she’s gone and proved you wrong again.

She said pretty clearly that Labor’s position and her personal position is that marriage is between a man and a woman.

“That is my personal view, and that’s also where we are at in our community and it’s important in these sensitive issues, that we reflect community views.”

Her statement, that she wishes to reflect the community is an utter lie considering that numerous polls prove time and time again that the majority of Australians support legalising same-sex marriage. Gillard wants to, like Howard and Rudd did, appease the most right-wing, bigoted and backward sections of the population in order to shore up votes against a Liberal party that keeps dragging them further and further to the right.

And as much as everyone’s going on about her being an atheist, it just shows that this isn’t only about the influence of the Christian church on politics. Homophobia doesn’t just come from the church.

The upcoming election is giving you the choice between a party that will continue the homophobic ban on same-sex marriage or a party that will continue the homophobic ban on same-sex marriage. Isn’t democracy great?

This is why we can’t sit on our arses and wait for some politician to do things for us. We need to fight. We need to protest, and the next one is on August 14 all around the country. I’ll be putting the banner for the next rally up soon and will try to post further on it leading up to the middle of August.

Akermanis should shut up and gay players should come out

Posted on by
1

With a campaign against homophobia within AFL still in some people’s memories, it’s enraging that Jason Akermanis confirmed that homophobia is still a long way from being gotten rid of in AFL, sport and wider society.

AkermanisAkermanis has responded to calls for gay AFL players to come out with comments that they should stay in the closet, because AFL is not ready and that coming out might make straight players feel uncomfortable.

The encouraging thing has been the response in the media, on Facebook and Twitter. Akermanis’ ignorant and homophobic comments have almost been universally condemned, except for cases like The Herald Sun where they’re all too willing to spread his message, with “Stay in the closet” brandished on advertisements for their paper and as a banner on the News Corp homepage.

There can be no doubt that there are gay players within the sport and Akermanis’ comments only contribute to them feeling less comfortable to come out. It basically fuels the homophobia in wider society.

The alternative would be to encourage players to come out, support them and make the homophobic people within our society step back and realise it is not ok to attack people on the basis of who they choose to fuck.

AkermanisThe most bizarre part of what he’s said is the idea that due to all the homoeroticism within AFL, it would make players feel uncomfortable if one of their teammates were to come out. I’m not exactly sure how this proves his point because it sounds as if he’s admitting that players have these desires and bonds with their teammates but that they then don’t want people to interpret this as being gay.

The suppression of sexuality outside of the tightly confined heteronormative box is clear with these comments. I even wrote a flash fiction piece drawing on these themes last month.

Recently out swimmer, Daniel Kowalski has responded really well to the comments saying “I’m disappointed, I’m mad, I’m angry, I’m sad.” He went on to point out that Akermanis’ comments only make it harder for players to come out and for homophobia to be put on the back foot.

It’s a step backward for these comments to be interpreted as mainstream views within the sport, because as the recent campaign against homophobia within AFL showed, many AFL players support their closeted teammates – but it’s always that minority of bigots that seem to be the loudest and get the most attention.

Rainbow FlagThose that are opposed to homophobia in AFL, in sport, in Australia and in general need to counter this homophobic minority by being loud and confident. I would love to see a group of AFL fans turn up to the next Western Bulldogs, waving big rainbow flags and brandishing placards in support of players coming out.

It is also why the campaign for same-sex marriage rights is so important. People might wonder what marriage rights have to do with players coming out of the closet, but Howard’s ban on same-sex marriage that’s been carried on by Kevin Rudd is the form in which state-sanctioned homophobia takes at the moment.

It is a legal statement that says gay and lesbian relationships are not equal to straight relationships and these homophobic ideas filter down to the rest of society; it gives players like Akermanis the backing to say these things to gay AFL players and it gives the violent homophobes on the street the green light to attack same-sex couples walking down the straight if they dare to show affection toward one another.

Out players, the removal of homophobic laws like the same-sex marriage ban, and people on the streets, in our workplaces, schools, universities or any other public place countering homophobic ideas contributes toward getting rid of homophobia, smashing divisions in society and reveals that ordinary working-class people have a lot more in common with each other regardless of who we choose to sleep with.

Thousands Rally for Same-Sex Marriage on International Day Against Homophobia

Posted on by
4

Almost 5,000 people rallied in Melbourne on International Day Against Homophobia to call for same-sex marriage rights as we head closer to the federal election. Once again younger people kept the atmosphere energetic with numbers buoyed by the appearance of actor, Ian McKellen.

The announcement that McKellen was speaking, alongside the rest of the cast of Waiting for Godot, really lifted the anticipation in the week leading up and I think added a bit of legitimacy to the significance of this campaign. He’s known as a vocal supporter for gay rights, particularly in Britain and has not been shy about using his high profile as part of his work with Stonewall, a LGBT campaign group.

It was awesome to see him hold the 100,000 signatures up high in triumph as he handed them to Greens Senator, Sarah Hanson-Young.

P5150320 copy

Other speakers included an official from the Firefighters Union who made the link between getting rid of discrimination in the workplace and the need to extend it to federal marriage laws.

But National Union of Students National Queer Officer, Kath Larkin really summed up the most important part of the rally, the thousands of people that came out to show their active support, representing millions of other Australians who make up the majority of the population that support same-sex marriage.

P5150350The crowd was full of creative placards such as “I really shouldn’t have to be here,” “Jesus had 2 Daddies” and “I may never marry, but at least I have a choice.” These were thrust in the air for all to see backed by a soundtrack of chants.

One of the favourites started with the Equal Love convener, Ali Hogg screaming into the megaphone, “I say same-sex, you say marriage – Same-sex!” and the rest of the crowd responded with “Marriage!”

The next rally will take place once again all over the country on August 14 on the sixth anniversary since Howard imposed the homophobic ban on same-sex marriage and people will hopefully heed the calls from the stage for everyone to return and bring friends to make the crowd even bigger.

P5150332 copy

Book Review: Sexuality and Socialism – Sherry Wolf

Posted on by
11

Sexuality and Socialism: History, Politics, and Theory of LGBT LiberationSexuality and Socialism by Sherry Wolf is described as the ‘History, Politics and Theory of LGBT Liberation.’ A book like this that covers the issues of sexuality and homophobia under capitalism is a long overdue contribution to socialist politics, but especially timely given the struggles all over the world for same-sex marriage rights.

The book covers such a broad scope of different issues within the issues of LGBT oppression and liberation that I cannot possibly cover all of it in one review. It begins with the theoretical and historical origins of sexual oppression under capitalism and makes the argument that the repression of sexuality and things like homophobia are the product of the material conditions and the economic needs of capitalism. This is in stark contrast to explanations that homophobia is in our human nature or just from the religion and the bad ideas in our heads.

It goes on to cover the gay liberation movement of the 60s and 70s and the theory surrounding much of LGBT politics. It then goes on to cover contemporary struggles and debates today.

Sherry Wolf links in all of the arguments within the context of class society and the nature of capitalism. Homophobia and other forms of sexual repression are not divorced from other forms of oppression and the needs of exploiting workers to make a profit.

This is used to argue against the prevalence of ‘identity politics,’ the idea that all LGBT people have a common experience of oppression and a common interest in fighting it. In fact, LGBT workers need to organise separately from LGBT business owners who are tied to the existence of capitalism.

She argues that straight workers have more in common with LGBT workers because they both have a common interest in defending their conditions as workers and fighting their exploiters. Despite homophobia within the working class, Wolf argues that straight workers don’t benefit or gain an advantage by partaking in homophobia as it weakens the working class, divides and distracts workers from the class struggle.

Another aspect of the book that needs to be touched on is the fact that she covers issues of transgender and intersex. This is something that hasn’t really been touched on before in other Marxist literature about sexuality and it’s covered in quite an extensive way.

One point though that wasn’t touched that is sometimes controversial even within the socialist movement is that I think transgender can sometimes be seen as a product of capitalism and the gender norms that come in it. This isn’t to take away from the fact that trans people have the right to have sex changes or identify as another gender but the fact the capitalist society assigns ways of behaving to particular genders, such as women being feminine and men being masculine means that if you don’t fit into these norms then you can feel like you don’t fit into your body.

I would argue that under a socialist society that this feeling would be less prevalent because you wouldn’t need to conform to the gender norms and there wouldn’t be such a connection between gender biology and your behaviour.

Sexuality and Socialism covers a lot and does it clearly. It mixes theoretical and historical explanations with concrete and often emotive contemporary examples that make these issues feel real and connect with the reader. This book is also something that can be re-read in parts as a kind of reference book on Marxists’ attitudes to various issues of LGBT oppression and liberation.

I heartily recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the topics of sexuality, homophobia and LGBT politics.

Thousands March for Same-Sex Marriage in Melbourne

Posted on by
3

P3130642Yesterday, up to 2,000 people marched through the streets of Melbourne to demand same-sex marriage rights in an inspiring continuation of Equal Love’s National Year of Action for same-sex marriage leading up to this year’s Federal Election.

It was refreshing to see so many young people chanting loud and angry against Rudd’s homophobia and there is no sign that we’re going to give up soon. The vote in Federal parliament this month which saw many Labor MPs not even turn up, and Abbott’s homophobic comments were reminders of the need to continue fighting.

It was great to see leaflets for the next rally on May 15 at this rally and I saw many people spontaneously handing them out at the end, keen to keep the momentum going. The May 15 rally will be on the International Day Against Homophobia, and it will be a national demonstration.

So whilst we’ll be marching with thousands of others around Australia, we’ll be marching with many more around the world against all of the expressions of homophobia in the world today.

P3130646

P3130643

Equal Writes Raises $400 for Equal Love and NaNoWriMo

Posted on by
2

Some of you may remember my idea to have people sponsor me during National Novel Writing Month last November. Well, it took me a lot longer than I’d hoped but I finally collected most of the donations that were pledged to me.

I sent $200 to The Office of Letters and Light, organisers of NaNoWriMo and $200 to Equal Love, the Melbourne group campaigning for same-sex marriage rights.

Thanks everyone who donated and cheered me on last November. I may do this again this year, and might use the Facebook group, Equal Writes, to rally writers for same-sex marriage in the future.