Cowboy to Carnival Day
Monday, April 14, 2008
Anger at school gay ban
(When someone says "If you don't make a fuss, we'll fix it," ask them "When?" - Doug)
STUDENTS of a prestigious private school may boycott their senior formal after a ban on same-sex partners.
HERALD SUN
STUDENTS of a prestigious private school may boycott their senior formal after a ban on same-sex partners.
HERALD SUN
A year 12 student at Brisbane's Anglican Church Grammar School has criticised the all-boys school after he made a request on behalf of at least eight gay students wanting to take partners to the June formal.
The student, who did not wish to be named, said he felt misled following his approach to a senior teacher and said he expectedstudents would consider a boycott.The student said he approached Head of Senior School Dr Phil Cummins, who told him the school's practice of allowing only female formal partners would be "quietly changed" if he did not make a big deal about it.
"He said to me, 'If you go quietly about this and if you don't cause us too much trouble, we will just quietly change the rules so they'reallowed and no-one gets hurt'," the student said."At the start of 2006, there was no one at the school who was openly gay, now there are dozens.
"Generally it's a very accepting school. It's not like anyone has ever been persecuted for being gay."A few students will have second thoughts about going to the formal because of all this."
Headmaster Jonathan Hensman said the formal was an opportunity for students to escort a young lady to a dance and the school would not change that practice."We decide what is appropriate behaviour and what is not," Mr Hensman said.
Catholic schools in Queensland have also ruled out allowing gaypartners at school formals, but state high schools set their own guidelines.Thai Red Cross ends discrimination for gay donors
Friday Apr 11 15:12 AEST
The Red Cross of Thailand has said it would change its screening process for blood donors to address concerns from activists who said the system discriminated against gays.
The Red Cross requires donors to fill out a form to assess their risk of disease.Gay-rights activists had complained that one question, which was meant to target people more likely to have diseases transmitted by sex and drugs, had effectively blocked all gay men from donating by only asking about same-sex relations.
We didn't mean to hurt anyone," said Soisaang Pikulsod, director of the Thai Red Cross National Blood Centre. "It was just to ensure the highest possible safety of our patients."
The Red Cross will rework the form to include more questions about all types of sexual behaviour, gay or heterosexual, that could increase the risk of diseases such as AIDS, she said.
Nathee Teerarojanapong, a gay activist who complained about the questioning, urged the Red Cross to focus on screening out anyone with risky sex and drug habits, instead of singling out gay men and women."Sometimes gays want to do good things too," he said.In Buddhist Thailand, donating blood is an important way of earning religious merit, which Thais believe will help them in their next life.
Soisaang said concerns about infected blood donations grew after the agency found HIV in blood from 500 donors in 2007.The Red Cross notified the donors of their infection, but only one third of them returned for further counselling, she said. Half of them said they were gay and half said they were bisexual, she added.
About 28 percent of gay men in Bangkok had HIV in 2005, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
We do marriage better
Same-sex couples tend to go along, get along
JULIE SULLIVAN
The Oregonian Staff Watching Silda Wall Spitzer and Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan try to reconcile their idea of "room service" with their husbands', you might wonder whether same-sex couples are better off. More understanding of each other's needs and nature. Less conflicted about the whole monogamy means monogamy means monogamy concept. Happier, even.
Isn't the problem between men and women -- forgive me, dear -- men and women? Well, yes and yes. Same-sex couples are more honest about monogamy and sex, researchers say. They're also more mature, considerate and fairer to each other than heterosexual couples. They're funnier and more affectionate when they argue. Less controlling. They don't take everything so personally.
The findings come from the same famed laboratory that studies thousands of heterosexual couples -- the Gottman researchers in Seattle -- as well as large university studies. After videotaping gay and lesbian couples' discussions, arguments and daily interaction, John Gottman concluded that straight relationships might one day be so healthy -- "in 200 years."
More. . . .Well there it is in black and white. None of your shonky James Dobson ersatz-Christian pseudo-science - real hard data from proper studies. When we finally get round to doing the couple thing, we do it better than anybody.
But I'm not so sure about 'not taking things so personally'. Maybe we don't at home, but at work I've found it really hard to have dispassionate and analytical discussions over business decisions with gay colleagues - they seem to take every disagreement, every suggestion of an alternative, every different viewpoint as a personal attack. Maybe I shouldn't work in gay businesses.
On the other hand, I don't mind them taking it personally, either - I love a rattling good robust argument, it clears the air and makes adjusting to and incorporating different viewpoints a lot easier than all that anodyne, bloodless, conflict-resolution pseudo-niceness.
I'll take a colleague who tells it like it is over one who makes soothing noises to my face and stabs me in the back any day.
Coming soon to a Parliament near you
Lords rejects gay adoption reforms
Thursday, 17 October 2002
A coalition of Tory and independent peers and bishops blocked by 196 votes to 162 proposals in the Adoption and Children Bill to lift the restriction on unmarried or homosexual couples adopting. The Government immediately vowed to reintroduce its plans in the Commons, which approved them in May.
The Labour Party and Liberal Democrats reacted angrily to the Conservatives' stand and said it showed that the party was not, as claimed by Iain Duncan Smith, caring and compassionate.
Tory peers and bishops argued that the plans would undermine the institution of marriage and lead to instability in households that adopt.
But Department of Health sources said last night that ministers would press forward with the reforms, which had the backing of the "settled will" of the Commons.
The House of Lords backed an amendment tabled by the Tory frontbench peer Earl Howe to retain the status quo, which restricts adoption to married couples and single people.
The Independent
The recent debate in the Victorian State Parliament over relationship recognition gave clear indications that this is what will happen to the proposed reforms of laws relating to adoption, fertility treatment and parental recognition in our state.
Already the Catholic wing of Federal Labor, led by Shoppies Union head honcho Joe De Bruyn - the Dutchman who doesn't like dykes - is demanding Victorian Labor MPs be given a conscience vote on this issue.
Strangely enough, the same demand is being made of British MPs in relation to these measures: sure sign of a Vatican co-ordinated anti-gay conspiracy.
Time for the Roman Men in Frocks to sashay back into their closets, swinging their burning handbags to the hollow tinkling of their bells. Get you Mary!
Time for a GayFL?
The beautiful gay-me!
Apr 12 2008 by Sara Nichol, Evening Chronicle
THE North East is a football hotbed – and it is soon to get its first gay football team.
TheNewcastle Pink Panthers are on the lookout for players and sponsors as they join sides from London, Manchester and Leeds to offer the local homosexual community a way socialise and play sport.More.....
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Newcastle, UK, is every bit as tough a town as Newcastle, Oz - so why doesn't anyone start a GAFL here in Melbourne? There must be plenty of gay blokes who play footy on the weekends, or would love to, so why not start a team of our own?
Friday, April 11, 2008
Farewell Bnews
I’m sorry to tell you all that I have decided to leave Bnews. I will of course continue to write for the gay media as a freelancer.
I have greatly enjoyed my time as Editor of Melbourne Star and then as News Editor of Bnews (following the Star’s closure), and the success and recognition that came with the job.
I won the Rainbow Award for Outstanding Media Achievement in 2005 (given for my current affairs program, the Rainbow Report, on Joy 94.9) around the time I joined the paper.
Then late last year the Victorian Aids Council honoured me for my reporting on AIDS-related issues (in print and on radio), and in particular the Michael Neal case.
Together these awards make wonderful bookends to my time at Bnews.
Since the closure of Melbourne Star, Bnews has tried to blend serious news and current affairs into what is essentially a lifestyle and entertainment magazine, so as to continue to provide quality GLBTI-focused news and current affairs reporting to the community.
I am immensely proud of what we achieved in this regard, thanks to the hard work and dedication of my colleagues, editor
However, mainstream print media now cover GLBTI issues on a regular basis. And people with an interest in news and current affairs increasingly turn to radio, television and the internet. These are now the main media through which to reach them and where I need to focus my attention for the future
Under new dynamic and forward-looking management, Joy is re-energised, its news and current affairs coverage growing and developing. The Rainbow Report is growing along with it, and will need more of my attention as podcasts, webcasts and satellite distribution come onstream.
New internet opportunities have become available, and I am actively pursuing some exciting developments in GBLTI news & current affairs online.
And another of my interests, the ChillOut Festival, continues to generate new and surprising possibilities. We have just had our first board meeting for ChillOut 2009, building on our great success this year. The festival is evolving in fresh and exciting directions. This will require an even greater level of commitment from me.
These new challenges are incompatible with what is in practice a more than full-time editorial position, which increasingly encroaches on my limited free time. So I have decided to drop Bnews from my portfolio.
Meanwhile I wish everyone at Bnews the best of luck for the future. And thanks to everyone in the community for your support over the years.
Doug
Saturday, April 05, 2008
Back after TWO YEARS!!
Dusty old blog, here I am again, after an absence - I'm ashamed to say - of almost two years. But now I'm back, and I'll be posting again.
Funny to look back and read stuff from the Howard years - before the election, the Ruddslide, the commitment to HREOCs 58, the Relationship Register bill in Victoria - and the one thing that hasn't changed - the never ending stoush over the ACT Civil Partnership bill. Latest silliness is a proposal for 'flying registrars' to lurk outside every ceremony to capture your signatures as you leave.
Plus ca change, as M Sarkozy would say . . . . . . . . . .
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