今日吃瓜

ALP Support
The Alexandria Branch of the ALP supports the right of Gays and Lesbians to the same legal rights as all other Australians, including a right to marry, as per the party鈥檚 existing policy 鈥渢o eliminate discrimination on the grounds of sex, race, marital status, colour, disability, language, sexuality, age, pregnancy, status, creed or politics wherever it is practised鈥�.
We are calling on the party to comply with its own policy and remove from the marriage act discrimination on the grounds of sex and sexuality.
-Ben Aveling
(Alexandria ALP Branch Secretary)

Surrogacy laws
The new NSW Laws on surrogacy with the criminalisation of overseas commercial surrogacy will stop all wannabe gay dads from realising their dream of becoming full time, hands-on fathers legally.
The NSW Parliament has legislated for the rest of world. So practices which are legal in their home country are now illegal for gay males in NSW. Is this other than homophobic violence?
The rationale given by the ALP protagonist is to stop exploitation of Third World women. This law stops women from renting their wombs to support and educate their existing children.
Women overseas can sell their eggs and men can sell their sperm legally to NSW people. But women cannot rent their wombs so men and women in NSW with specific fertility problems (social or medical) cannot realise their perceived raison d鈥櫭猼re and become parents.
I thank God every day I am just a sperm donor to lesbians and not a gay male trying to be a full-time dad.
The sooner these homophobic ALP people and Clover go the better.
If the GLRL want a test case to challenge these laws contact me.
-John

Lib candidates #1
Adrian Bartels, an unlikely Liberal Party lad, is dreaming (SSO 1049).
He claims erroneously Sydney Council is shutting down the city鈥檚 nightlife and 鈥淐lover Moore鈥檚 only solutions to problems of alcohol and violence area all negative鈥�.
Yet his Kings Cross business partnership that 鈥減romotes Kings Cross as a… great place to live鈥� promotes 18 pubs and clubs, many with criminal histories including drive-by shootings.
A city is all its people. Pubs and clubs are like Vikings: they come into an area, trash the place and leave with the loot.
These liquor lords forget there is no right to operate a business and if any group needs 1am closing with extensions on a trial basis, this is it.
-Andrew Woodhouse
(President, Potts Point and King Cross Heritage Conservation Society)

Lib candidates #2
Mr Bartels, I wish you luck, you will need it. Try something more original than trying to cast Clover Moore as negative attempting to close down city nightlife.
For the last few years the club scene has been drastically changing; lots of gays don鈥檛 need or use these facilities.
There are much more important issues at stake. Having seen all the candidates over the last elections lining up to toss out Clover, they failed. I feel you will be no more successful.
-Fred

Lib Candidates #3
The openly-gay Liberal candidate for Coogee, Bruce Notley-Smith, is a contradiction in terms.
Far from identifying with the gay community, he didn鈥檛 move on a single issue concerning queer rights in his time with Randwick Council.
It seems Bruce鈥檚 solution to gay oppression and homophobia is to move as far up the corporate ladder as he possibly can in order to make himself immune from it.
As for Adrian Bartels, the openly-gay liberal candidate for Sydney, his attack on Clover Moore is unwarranted.
Council does not want to shut down Sydney鈥檚 nightlife, but to curb the escalating alcohol-related abuse and violence, of which gay people are victims.
His suggestion that we put more police on the streets and run facsimile New Years Eve鈥檚 parties won鈥檛 fix it.
The real problem lies with our elected representatives, and their close relationships with the AHA and liquor manufacturing industry.
-Stuart

Mardi Gras campaign
I like the artwork for the new Mardi Gras Parade 2011 campaign with all the different words, but isn鈥檛 one word missing?
Considering that same-sex marriage is now being talked about at the highest level of Australian politics, shouldn鈥檛 we be talking about 鈥楳arriage鈥� at the Mardi Gras?
Perhaps it could replace 鈥淒ecriminalisation鈥� which sits at the top of the flyer. It鈥檚 not the 1970s, after all.
-Danny

Problems with Palms
My friends and I will no longer be going to Palms on Oxford St due to an incident there a few weeks ago with one of the security guards on a Friday night. He was so rude to a group of gay guys as he refused them entry, saying one was intoxicated, who in fact was the driver for his friends for the night as they had just come from home and he had not had a drink.
The doorman said he did not believe him and told them to all 鈥渇uck off鈥�. We were standing in the line and could not believe the abuse he was giving them.
My friend said there was no need to be so rude and was told the same as well. We have been going there for years and have always been greeted by Ian and Vince with great respect, but they鈥檙e no longer there, that鈥檚 why we wont go.
Those two are so helpful and it鈥檚 a shame Ian is no longer there. He helped my friend out who had lost her purse and it was handed in to police station, so when he finished he walked her down there as she was unsure where to go.
What鈥檚 happened to the security there? We get guards that are straight and never worked in gay bars and are not used to these bars so why keep changing them?
We have heard from friends as well who go across the road saying the security are rude now, some of the staff are either drinking behind the bar as well – sometimes drunk or seem to be on drugs. Shame, as Palms is good and we wont go back if we don鈥檛 see Vince or Ian, as they are so polite, helpful and are used to the gay crowd. Come on Palms, get this sorted and get your security guards back to the way it was please, as they are the best I have met. Let鈥檚 hope we see both Vince and Ian back soon.
-Jamie & Nick

Disagree
Re: Nathaniel (SSO 1047) Sorry Fred I鈥檝e got to disagree (Nathaniel SSO 1047). Don鈥檛 burst the dude鈥檚 bubble, Fred, not all of us in relationships 鈥渆njoy a bit on the side鈥�, some of us do have monogamous, trusting, very loving long term relationships and a great sex life to boot, and 鈥渟traying a little鈥� is unacceptable. I don鈥檛 judge friends that have an open relationship, it鈥檚 just not for me or my partner and I know many of my friends are the same. Horses for courses. Keep looking Nathaniel he is out there.
-James

Tourists
Oh Maxi, get down off your high horse and stop complaining about tourists actually wanting, and paying money, to come to Oxford Street!
Why hasn鈥檛 some smart venue operator, with a lot of empty space on a Sunday night, realised that there are 12 bus loads of cashed-up Asians, just ripe for the picking.聽 I鈥檝e seen them try to get into the Shift and Stonewall – and be refused entry, and probably rightly so – sure we don鈥檛 need them in the 鈥淶oo鈥� – but what about a 鈥減etting Zoo鈥�.
I鈥檓 sure that Mr and Mrs Park, Wang and Wong would happily fork out fifteen bucks for a photo op with a Sydney Drag Queen. Who knows, it may help spread understanding and tolerance to our norther neighbours. They could tell their friends back home that they had been to a real 鈥楽ydney Gay Bar鈥�, and didn鈥檛 get fucked up the butt by some rampant homo, which is what their oppressive Governments tell them will happen.
If you鈥檙e personally too camera shy, I鈥檓 sure there are plenty of other budding show girls out there who would dive right in. Times are tough darling, and a dollar鈥檚 a dollar for some of us. 12 bus loads of 20 people at $15 a pop, plus drinks – you do the math.
-Greg

Party politics
I was amazed to read the open letter to the member for Grayndler in this week鈥檚 SSO. Alex, you are wasting your time and money appealing to the major parties on gay marriage. Anthony Albanese is as gutless as most in the Labor and Coalition parties. These people don鈥檛 care about us. They merely look after their own skin from one election to the next. The only worthwhile reform has come from the Greens and the Australian Sex Party on this issue and nothing will change.
-John

Party Politics #2
It is a sad day when GLBT organisations attack a supporter of the community and think that their tactics advance the cause of gay marriage. Yes, Australian Marriage Equality, I refer to your paid advertisement about Anthony Albanese.
I am profoundly disappointed and angry that the Labor Party supported the same sex marriage ban, but it is clear that many in Labor support marriage equality and are fighting for it internally.
We all know that ALP party rules do not allow them to vote for it at this stage, the Liberals and Nationals also have a handful of politicians who may support too. The Greens clearly will.
Anthony Albanese will be pivotal in getting Labor to shift their position. Australian Marriage Equality should be working with all supporters not targeting them.
– Peter

CAAH Thank you
Community Action Against Homophobia would like to say a big thank you to everyone that come out to the rally in Sydney on Saturday. We would like to thank our fabulous speakers and everyone who played a role up on stage. We also like to acknowledge all the people who were behind the scene organising and advertising the rally, who worked so hard to make this happen. Since our last rally there have been a number of significant cracks made in the Labor party on the issue of marriage equality, including Penny Wong who finally came out supporting LGBTI marriage rights on the day of the rally. This is why we encourage the community to come back on March 19th at Town Hall 1pm for our next mass demonstration for equal marriage rights.聽 Help us continue to put pressure on the Gillard government to pass legislation that gives us full equal marriage rights. See you then and thanks again!

-Ben Cooper, Cat Rose (CAAH Sydney)