Welcome back, concerned citizens! The most useless and expensive straw poll ever conceived has made a triumphant return!
The Cabinet has approved a plan to provide funding to the tune of seven and a half million dollars to each side of the marriage equality debate in the lead up to the Saturday February 11 plebiscite.
That’s right. The government is going to fund an anti-gay campaign. Now before you tell me I’m being unfair because the “yes” side is getting funding too, let go of your pearls and read this carefully: the government is literally going to fund an anti-gay campaign, with a $1,500 cap on tax-deductible donations. The problem here is that churches don’t have to pay tax, so this cap isn’t applicable to them. This means that individuals can donate big money to their churches who will then donate to the “no” campaign. We’re all on this horse together, galloping psychotically through hell.
Now, Labor understandably wants to stymie the Coalition’s plans for the plebiscite to go ahead, evidently because a campaign such as this will absolutely cause damage to queer people, especially youths. Bill Shorten said it himself, “Let me be as blunt as possible: a ‘no’ campaign would be an emotional torment for gay teenagers, and if one child commits suicide over the plebiscite, then that is one too many.”
Ever the charismatic raconteur, Malcolm Turnbull addressed this concern in a soundbite so thick with smarm it’s a miracle he didn’t suffocate while gurgling out his response: “If the Labor Party wants to frustrate that, well all that will mean is that the resolution of the same-sex marriage issue will be postponed potentially for a very long time.”
So with Turnbull determined to valiantly squeeze out this uncomfortable turd, damn the naysayers: the rest of us will have to deal with the impending splash back in a political climate that’s already so absurd I have a hard time believing it’s real. I mean Pauline Hanson merely substituted the word “Asian” with “Muslim” in her maiden speech just a few days ago and then said, “Australia needs a national government, not a corporate one, not a union one, and not an alternative lifestyle one.” An alternative lifestyle government? Please explain?
The hostility is real, not imagined. Queers aren’t being sensitive little flowers: we’re about to be publicly persecuted for an extended period of time on a national level. Sensationalist idiots like Hanson and her feckless goons get plenty of airtime spouting hateful shit that the disgusting bigoted, racist underbelly of Australian society all agree with. We’re already stewing in hate and now the foundations have been laid bare: just look at the Safe Schools fiasco. And now we’ve got a government-funded campaign against people who live “alternative lifestyles” and it’s going to dial this hate waaay up.
People are going to suffer. Queers are going to be told that they’re paedophiles, unfit parents, unfit teachers, unfit people. We’re going to be told that we are dangerous, damaging and wrong. We’re going to be told that we are subhuman while being forced to pander to those who deign to give our mangled human rights even a moment of consideration.
We’re going to have to do that same old assimilationist rain dance to save ourselves. We’re going to have to prove our humanity, because it will be assumed we have none. We will need to somehow demonstrate that we are human beings worthy of rights and protections and freedoms.
In order to pacify the rabid, numbskulled masses who’ll be fighting to protect their “way of life” from big scary queers, we’re going to have to do some pathetic, saccharine reenactment of human foibles so they can recognise themselves in and identify with us. It’s gonna be the same old, “Hey, we’re people too. We pay bills, mow our lawns, wash dishes, drive cars, have jobs. Hell we even breathe oxygen! We’ve also adapted to Earth’s atmosphere! We have so much in common!”
What’s this endless parade of national vitriol going to do to some 15-year-old queer?
If this plebiscite goes ahead, we’re going to see some even nastier shit. We’re already hearing it. Gird your loins, my alternative lifestyle brethren, for this is only the beginning.
PS: It’s that time again. We must vote in our new Mardi Gras overlords, AKA Board of directors. Mardi Gras members can vote for directors, get discounted tickets and early offers to events and parties. Ollie Henderson and Kat Dopper are among the few ladies who have put their hands up to be on the board, so if you want to have a say in how Mardi Gras is run, go vote!
[Marriage Equality Advocates in the US, 2004 – photo by Bev Syke – Flickr]
This Week:
From Tuesday September 20 to Sunday September 25, get down to Event Cinemas on George Street to see some fabulous queer films for the Queer Screen Film Fest.
On Thursday September 22, Shift Bar & Club is hosting a panel discussion on marriage equality called Q&Gay: How To Win Marriage Equality. The panelists will include: Cat Rose, Sally Rugg, Shirleene Robinson, Nic Holas, Norrie and Simon Hunt (also known as Pauline Pantsdown).
On Friday September 23, The Sydney Hellfire Club makes its return after a long, cold winter with Spring Feverat Shift Bar & Club. Dress code is No Effort, No Entry. It’ll be a night of amazing music and sensational performances set against a backdrop of 23 years of Hellfire’s visual history playing out on some big screens.
Oh, and here’s one for all you Bette Midler fans – a celebration of Midler’s life and work is heading to the Oxford Hotel. You Bette will feature songs an stories, so make sure you leave Saturday September 24 free and head on over.
