Nine Outs Gay Whistleblower and Desk Masturbator
In 1978 the Sydney Morning Herald famously published a front-page story listing the names of queer demonstrators arrested at Sydney鈥檚 first Mardi Gras Parade.聽 Forty-three years later, the paper鈥檚 new parent company Nine Entertainment Co. has outed two gay men in the pages of the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
Publishing the names and photographs of two men at the centre of a gay sex scandal in the nation鈥檚 capital served no purpose other than to increase readership while shaming and humiliating those particular individuals. Outing gay men鈥檚 identities has serious implications for the LGBTQI community in general and for the safety of those two men in particular.
https://twitter.com/BlowingTom/status/1375655195598721025
Without their names the story is salacious enough. A gay Liberal staffer jacking聽off on his bosses鈥� desk. To prove he was a good shot, he photographed his exploits and shared it with a friend he met on Scruff (amongst others). His boss was a woman, a minister and a government whip opposed to gay marriage. His friend was , a committed Twitterer with a passion for 鈥渆xposing鈥� misconduct.
Ever since Brittany Higgins publicly decried having allegedly been raped by a Liberal staffer on a minister鈥檚 couch in Parliament House, the capital has been abuzz with talks of sexual misconduct.聽 In that climate, Tom the Whistleblower finally found a media outlet for his four-year old video.聽 Evidence that a conservative female MP鈥檚 desk was defiled during the gay marriage plebiscite in 2017 was used in 2021 to divert the conversation. Conservative commentators and political operatives like implied that Canberra鈥檚 real problem has been gay men who have corrupted the moral values of the Liberal Party.
Chip Le Grand's smear piece on the whistle-blower blames victims and excuses perpetrators. It's designed to silence victims and stop whistle-blowers coming forward. If you have a subscription to The Age, please consider cancelling it today.
— PRGuy (@PRGuy17)
Talk about a beat up. Even without their names the story was pure click bait. But why was it in the public interest to out these two individuals? How does naming the desk masturbator serve the public good?聽 Presumably, Nine has the best legal advice money can buy. With his personal reputation severely damaged and his future employment prospects limited thanks to the reckless reporting of Nine, the now unemployed former government staffer will no doubt consider suing for libel.
Exposing the identity of an editorial source who requests anonymity is a serious breach of journalistic ethics. Chip Le Grand, the journalist who outed鈥淭om the Whistleblower鈥� asserted he 鈥渋sn鈥檛 a whistleblower in the true sense of the word.鈥澛� According to Britannica, 鈥渁 whistleblower聽is an 鈥渋ndividual who, without authorization, reveals private or classified information about an聽organization, usually related to wrongdoing or misconduct.鈥�
https://twitter.com/BlowingTom/status/1375565741143977985
Tom the Whistleblower didn鈥檛 work at Parliament House. He may not be protected by Whistleblower legislation. But he expected to be protected by a code of ethics amongst journalists who are taught to never reveal sources.
All of this has been a diversion: an attempt to shift the conversation from the abuse of women at Parliament House to the sexual misdeeds of gay men.聽Le Grand understood the implications of what he was reporting when he wrote, 鈥淭he story that engulfed federal politics this week is a distraction from this conversation. It is being misleadingly framed, carries more than a whiff of homophobia and since its initial broadcast, has been distorted by the deep hatreds that shape Liberal Party politics.鈥�
So why hasn鈥檛 Nine published the name of Brittany Higgins鈥� alleged rapist?聽Why only publish the names of two gay men and protect everyone else?
Writing for Nine, Le Grand聽expressed concern for the desk masturbator.聽 鈥淗is decision to share those images with a man he mistook for a friend was career ending.鈥澛營n doing so both of their names have been published nationally. Career ending is a good phrase for it.
When will the rest of the country wake up and see how corrupt and scary the current government are? I find it quite scary how right wing so many people are many a gay included.
Ehat gets me about all this scandal being bandied around now is that it all happened in one case 33 years ago. The Desk Flounder Pounder did his wank over four years ago and another case was over 2 years ago. Why did those offended wait so long before revealing what had happened? With regard to the alleged rapes it is all now a matter of “My word against their’s”
There is a salutory lesson we should all – heterosexuals and members of the GLBTIQA+ Community..
That is that if we know, or as a result of over use of alcohol or drugs, we think we have been raped then the first thing we should all do is go directly to the nearest hospital and get checked. Contrary to the misandrist claims on ABC-TV’s “The Drum by the anchors and most of their almost all female panelists, not all male doctors, not all males, are misogunistic monsters. According to them, without a shred of proof, no trial they make it very clear that the men are Guilty. They may well be but that is for the Courts to decide not so-called journalists.
It is not only women who get raped by men. I am living proof of that for many years ago I was relentlessly purued by a woman to the point of physical attack, She knew I was gay. My GP at the time told me that what she had done was Rape but as just being gay was a crime at the time the Police would not have believed me and I would have been the one to go to prison and in those days there was no DNA testing
If anyone thinks/knows they have been raped. Do not shower, change your clothes, go as soon as you possible can to the nearest hospital and get tested. Even if there is no semen present all Rapists leave behind DNA. All hospitals will have immediate contact with the Police who are required to act immediately on such claims. Get tested, name your attacker. That way it is not just a case of “Your word against him/her”. The proof is there. Get the alleged offender – and if the DNA proof is there it is not a case of “alleged” – charged.
Maybe we should focus on the unprofessional behaviour of the two.
I think the Star is the one beating up a story
I am very confused, are you saying the pics are from the marriage equality debate, if yes it is no less disgusting
I am a 70 yo gay male and not a fan of the LNP, but to do what was done is nothing short of revolting.
I do not or would ever agree to outing the perpertrators , as done by nine
I hope both men find jobs, but a lesson to all , don’t share stupid
pics with the nett.