ALP gives same-s-x couples some love
|
Robert McClelland is continuing a fine ALP tradition in announcing legislation to remove discrimination against same-sex couples in Commonwealth laws and programs. The reforms are long overdue, and more than just the symbolism we like to bag the Rudd Government for. They will make a substantial difference to many gay and lesbian couples, although there are undoubtedly some who may be worse off as a consequence of the tighter household income rules that will flow from the changes. However, McClelland has ducked the issues of adoption, surrogacy and IVF and deferred to the States on them, only urging national uniformity. But the changes are also an inspired political wedge of which former Attorney-General Michael Lavarch would be proud. In 1994, Lavarch introduced the Human Rights (S-xual Conduct) Act 1994, one of the shorter, sweeter and more politically fruitful pieces of legislation produced during the Keating years. It over-rode the Tasmanian Parliament’s refusal to decriminalise homosexuality, and sent the Opposition into remarkable spasms as it tried to work out how to respond, with homophobes hastily invoking states’ rights as a figleaf for their bigotry. McClelland’s reforms also have a strong policy rationale, and will also make life difficult for the Coalition. Indeed, the Coalition doesn’t need much help from anyone to wedge itself on same-s-x couples. Not long before the election, the Howard Government embarrassed itself when, despite the efforts of Malcolm Turnbull, Brendan Nelson, Joe Hockey and Philip Ruddock, Cabinet very publicly decided not to proceed with the removal of same-s-x discrimination in the face of concerted lobbying from Christian groups. The Rudd Government has commendably ignored the likes of the Australian Christian Lobby this time around. Brendan Nelson has indicated “in-principle support” for the changes, although on past form he’s likely to contradict himself next time he opens his mouth. Whether party conservatives, especially in the “Rule 1: No Pooftahs” enclave of the National Party, are quite so happy to back this, particularly when the Government reveals the price tag on Budget Night, remains to be seen. If the cost runs into the tens of millions of dollars, and without the States’ rights argument to use, look for reactionaries to hide their homophobia behind a concern for the budget bottom (no pun intended) line. |
|
|
|
27 Comments
Sorry Lucy, JJ’s nothing to do with me. I’m not above trolling blogs but not my own material and not here. I’m waiting for him to condemn the Albigensians and call every un-pregnant woman a murderer. One can only hope he doesn’t sniff chairs.
Lucy, I’m for real honey, but sadly, so are you. The unborn tremble with fear with the left liberal concept of ‘rights’, the helpless and the innocent being butchered while you laud the freedom of their executioners!
dear mr moron ahem moran when you say ‘i will fight’ against the non ‘normal’ gay people do you mean it rhetorically or by doing the usual and kicking gay peoples’ heads in? as for equating pedophilia with homosexuality, go back to your church, i believe thats where they seem to congregate.
About a week ago, the Fritzl Family of Amstetten, Austria, were a vision of normality. An aging married couple trying to raise three children seemingly abandoned by their daughter who had been caught up in a religious sect. This family would have been viewed and presented as an illustration of the virtues of heterosexual normality. They may well have been defended, even celebrated, by the likes of Jensen or Pell.
But this image was of course a facade, hiding the work of a predator. This NORMAL family, the heterosexuality of marriage which is supposed to protect children…. where was it?? or did this man use the vision of normality that marriage may lend as the smoke screen to his crimes??
What is normal?
Is normality different from one to another?
I have a form of autism, the way my brain works, the way I perceive the world, the way I interact is not the way most others do, yet it is normal, normal for me, as is my homosexuality, as is your hetero/bi/homosexuality. Who is more wor
Lynda, typical Protestant/secularist myopia! When you may your next donation to an AIDS fund think long and hard about these ‘innocent life style’ questions
Look, this issue is black and white. Leviticus says being gay is an abomination, so therefore it is. Everything in the Bible is God’s word. It is the infallible truth. God says gays should be put to death. Just like you should be put to death if you work on the Sabbath, wear clothes made of different fabrics, or if you plant different crops alongside each other. Oh, yeah, and the Bible also says it’s okay to sell you daughters into slavery and, if Lot is any indication, (let’s not even talk about Eve), it is perfectly okay to have sex with your own children. So, how about it, JJ? You going to vociferously campaign on all these other “infallible truths” as well?
John James is hilarious. Does he have a blog, a la the mirandadevine.com spoof? Because I know he’s not for real. Actually I suspect him of being a Bernard Keane alter ego. Leaving aside for the moment the oddly revealing (but common) bible-basher’s image of a slippery slope from men having sex with each other to having sex with dogs, yaks, newts, etc… wasn’t the church the very institution that invented the concept of marriage-as-license-to-shag in the first place?
JJ: woof.
” secretly fantasizing about the love of another man ” Eric, I’ve been accused of alot of things in my life but that is a first! And “make a man of you! Mate, when you dont know the difference between a man and woman, “time to admit what you call defeat”
Eric, I’ll buy you a case of champagne when Kev makes his move! Come to think of it , I’ll buy you a case when anyone makes his (or her ) move! You can celebrate your 50th wedding anniversary.
Sadly I fear John James fictional character is the result of an excess of self stimulation by a person or persons unknown. By the way the rights of parties to de jure marriages where one party has changed gender subsequent to marriage need to be considered in this legislation and also in State legislation. Perhaps surprisingly there are a significant number of such marriages subsisting.
John James, your bigoted, homophobic garbage is appalling. how dare you try to define what love is and claim that some book written by man purported to be the word of a non-existent god is right to condemn people for who they are. you spew out the word perversion but the only real perversion is your views. go back to the middle ages where you belong in your inquisitors hood getting sadistic pleasure from torturing yet another ‘non believer’. take your homophobic misogynistic christian bull shite elsewhere.
As a married heterosexual man, I can never understand opposition to gay marriage except in one situation: people who feel they have married an opposite sex partner to fulfil social expectations despite their own feelings of same-sex attraction. “If it’s good enough for me to either be married or live my true life but not both, then it’s good enough for everyone else” sort of thing. My marriage would in no way be threatened by two blokes getting married and moving in next door, and I struggle to think of reasons why other heterosexuals could have a different view. I love being married to my wife, so why should gay people be denied their own experience of marriage if that’s what they want?
Rodney Croome, Kerin Phelps and friends need to concede that THEY are DIFFERENT Bernard. I wouldn’t go as far as JJ in my descriptions, but I will fight to prevent gay adoption, IVF and most definitely prevent gay marriage. This tiny minority wants the majority to treat them as normal, but they are nothing of the sort. At some point there IS a LIMIT to what the majority will find normal or dare I say it, natural. We don’t permit people to say “my preference is that I can have sex with 10-year-olds, I’m a minority, so therefore you (majority) should stop discriminating against me”. Society/nature sets a limit, and I believe I’m with the majority that says no gay marriage, no gay IVF and no gay adoption. Homosexuals can have their money related changes, well done ALP.
Spoken with any menstruating women lately, JJ? Yes? No? Aren’t sure? You need to start asking if you want to be certain you won’t incur God’s wrath…
homophobes please leave the room - i agree with ellen, it’s a first step to remove discrimination but also entrenches it - same sex marriage, ivf & adoption are integral to the complete removal of discriminatory laws. these steps are essential. people like our resident ranter, john james, hark on about love between a man & a woman and that being the only ideal for love & raising children yet he and his ilk ignore the number of abusive hetero relationships. the best foundation for children is a loving home and a loving parent(s) regardless of gender, sexual preference. let us also not forget that many of the abusers of children have come from the paedophilic priesthood. so, props for the first step but we need to go all the way!
This is an appaling policy announcement. A wedge? Well, yes, the thin end of a very big attempt to portray a sexual perversion as morally neutral and marriage as nothing more than a licence to ‘lay’ someone, regardless of their gender.
The complementary nature of male and female, the crucial role of a biological link between parents and children, the unbreakable link between ‘true’ giving of oneself and fertility in sexual expression, the crucial role of male and female in the education of children and the explicit condemnation in Divine Revelation for this abomination, all set aside for the sake of the left-liberal agenda.
Soon the words ‘mother’ and ‘father’ will be banned and substituted with ‘Progenitor 1’ and ’ Progenitor 2 ’ .
Bernard, first the killing of the unborn and now, sodomy. Is there no end to your loveliness?
Go for the trifecta, and write about the virtues of ‘Bestiality’. After all, its your ” choice”!
dear john, you revel in your bigoted outlooks don’t you mate, secretly fantasizing what it would be like to feel the love of another man, just like it was back in boarding school, those naughty little moments of exploration, the fear that god would know your shame, oh the Christian guilt! we could share the champers together and tho i would like to make a man of you, you’ve made the assumption that I’m gay, alas i am not, i’m one of those heterosexuals who believes in the rights of our same sex bretheren…. mmmmwaaah
JJ -shite is a substance that spews forth freely from your keyboard! it’s really quite sickening to know that their are people like you out there who believe it is their right to ENFORCE what a woman can & cant do with her body and that unless love is between a man and a woman it is not real. you hide nicely behind your keyboard blogging away at the evils of the ‘leftists’ whilst frothing at the mouth about the need to return to the good old days of burning nonconforming women, gays & free thinkers at the stake. christian love eh? i can picture you now - middle aged, white middle class, pro-war, pro-death penalty - so full of love & forgiveness eh! no wonder god has a bad rap when it’s ball bags like you tooting his horn!
Kim Beazley Senior (Kim Beazley’s dad) warned Labor Party & Australians almost 40 years ago that the ALP was being taken over by perverts - meaning homosexuals. Alas, the blue collar heteros ignored the warning & now their party puts desires of a sexually abnormal minority ahead of the other 98% of population. Homosexual adoption is a form of child abuse and a vile human experiment that Nazis would be condemned for yet the modern left applauds. This homo promotion phase will pass - after all, Rome had a cross dressing homo emperor who had a “husband” yet the normal human instinct rejected it.
”..John James fictional character..” I keep pinching myself, not because I’m overwhelmed by some Cartesian doubt, but because it is really amazing to debate someone and when they cannot make a coherent argument, watch while they simply deny that you exist. Bit like God and atheism!
Connor, I’m glad to see that everyone hasn’t jumped on the ’ if it feels good,do it’ bandwagon, though I feel sorry for that dog with Bernard.
I dont believe that the word “normal” conveys the truth of the matter. Questions that pertain to all human actions, sexuality included, are questions of an ethical or moral nature. You can define ” normal” simply in statistical terms ie anything 2 standard deviations from the mean is abnormal. But. on that basis, mensa IQs or gifted athletes would be ‘abnormal.’
Rather, the issue is does a particular activity enrich the human being carrying it out. Does it help them become a better man or woman, and of course, for believers, does it bring them closer to God.
Greg, mate, I use my full name, not any pseudonym or first-name only! Who is hiding? Defending toilet encounters safe within the confines of your anonymity! Typical of the sodimites.
JJ, lesbians generally have extremely low levels of HIV infection. You will need to think of another excuse
Greg, what’s “shite”? The sodimites euphemism for something they play in? And Bernard, “woof”? Doing it with dogs must be ‘liberating’ or at least, a relief! The joys of untramelled ‘freedom’!
Eric Blah ahem Blair (two can play that game). I did not equate pedophilia with homosexuality, read it again. It is an example of a minority that wants to be considered “normal” when they are not. I won’t be kicking anyone’s head in, I disagree with violence and I am an active atheist.
To conclude the previous post -
Who is more worthy?
You’ve got to admit JJ has a strong writing skills. Can’t say I like him but he’s got conviction to be sure. He would damn the world to rapture and say we were lucky I reckon. Given the literacy I wonder if he is Tony Abbott’s alter ego actually. But he insists on ‘labour’ not ‘labor’ which rather confounds the theory because the Monk would get hat spelling right (?). Or is that the boxer’s ruse? Damn so clever only not clever enough to win the Nov 24 07 election. PS if you keep this up JJ gathering caped vigilantes with flaming torches alongside you will snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in NSW too.