Aussielicious

There is a religious conservative who is running for Lord Mayor in Sydney and he’s basically against anything remotely fun or interesting. He disapproves of our Prime Minister because she is unmarried and living in a de facto relationship. He thinks the Mardi Gras parade should be moved to a stadium so that it doesn’t entice the youth into lust and filth etc etc.

Well, in the face of such ludicrous moral conservatism, there is hope. A young straight Sydney-sider is organising a Pash Party Protest. For those abroad, what we call pashing is what Brits call snogging and the U.S. call macking or making out. The young straight guy, Danny Clayton is still undecided whom he will share his first same sex kiss with, but the fact that he’s willing to passionately kiss another man in support of gay rights is a brilliant sign of progress!

The facebook event is here. Go sign up if you are in or going to be in Sydney!

It seems that living in the big cities like Sydney is great if you are gay and want acceptance but if you venture out of the city, go further than the edges of the city. It turns out that there are vast areas on the edges of Sydney and other cities in Australia that don’t really approve of gay marriage.

Sadly these same areas are the same areas that are heavily targeted by politicians in elections because of their tendency to swing their votes to whomever is pandering to them. What does that mean? It means that we are still facing an uphill battle to get marriage equality while those conservative folks in those voting areas voice their opinions on our entitlements.

Read the full article here.

This is Oz is a website devoted to promoting equality and inclusiveness in Australia. Celebrities and ordinary people like you and me can submit photos of themselves with messages of support and equality.

American Porn star and all-round exhibitionist Luke Hass has seen the site and really wants to take part in it, but is asking for suggestions for his message. You can leave your suggestions on here in the comments or you can go to Luke’s blog and contact him there with your ideas!

This is a very clever spoof of the “Old Spice” ads but using the idea to challenge our leaders about their stance on gay marriage. Leaders of both major political parties here are against gay marriage which frustrates me.

Some people are so clever and witty and it’s great to see them put that wit to good use against the bigotry and hatred spewed forth by the bigoted ultra conservatives!

In a fantastic move on Wednesday the judge presiding over the Proposition 8 hearings judged in a lengthy and carefully worded ruling that the Proposition was un-constitutional as gay men and women were not trying to gain any new rights, but rather exercise their right to the same rights as straight people. Of course all the religious conservatives are having coniptions about it all and are appealing. No doubt they are arguing that gay people getting married are tearing at the social fabric of the universe.

Read the full article here.

EQrings is a fund raising venture that I stumbled across a couple of days ago that is trying to raise as much money as they can to fight inequality and have gay marriage legalised once more in California after the disastrous introduction of Proposition 8.

People might think that there’s no point helping California with this fight if they live on the other side of the world, but this fight is one that needs to happen with the backing of the global community so that we can, piece by piece, fight the fight everywhere. The rings come in either pewter or sterling silver and have the simple inscription of “equality” on them. I’ll be ordering one.

“The Equality Ring is more than a simple statement of love, respect and dignity. It is a conversation starter and a signal of solidarity. It is a reminder of our goals yet unaccomplished and an admonition to carry on.”

There has been outrage on gay blogs and facebook profiles of gay men all over Australia today after our new Prime Minister Julia Gillard said that the Government’s stance on Gay Marriage won’t be changing with her in power.

Gay papers and lobbyists are tut-tutting as if she’d condemned us all to hell. She hasn’t. Julia Gillard has said she is all for reforms to eliminate any discrimination against the LGBT community but that the definition of a marriage being between a man and a woman will stay. I would have been much more surprised if she had said that gay marriage was on her agenda. The woman is in her first week in power, through a political coup and has a very precarious election looming overhead. Why would she piss off a huge part of her voting public to appease a minority that thinks it has more clout than it does?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m disappointed and I long for the day when a Prime Minister does stand up, without risking his or her leadership and announce that gay marriage will be introduced without a ruffle of protest. But there is absolutely no chance of it happening in Australia’s current conservative climate on a shaky political platform. Julia is clinging to a leadership that she was thrust into with people waiting for her to slip up.

I think the gay community needs to be more realistic and put the angry sequinned megaphone down for a bit. We need to be patient and keep our expectations in check. I want gay marriage as much as anyone and really wish Ms Gillard had said yep, I’m all for it, but I’m not surprised she didn’t.

This is why we love him!

I came across something via Towleroad last week and I thought it was a brilliant idea. I don’t know how effective it would actually be, but it would certainly raise awareness. Recently a guy called Ben had an idea that gay couples should take out an engagement notice in their local papers announcing their engagement and plans to marry “as soon as it’s legal”. It appears that some have taken up the challenge. Wonder if it would take off here?

Hudson Taylor is a champion for gay rights despite being a 23 year old straight college wrestler. The young man, who has political aspirations, proposed to his fiance after seeing Milk and has even worn an equality sticker during competition.

Taylor is very vocal about gay rights and also feminism and takes every opportunity to drop his cause into conversation and interviews. Enlightened athletes and straight men in general are an amazing addition to our movement towards equality. If Hudson is considering a political career or even a professional sporting career, being so vocal about such a controversial subject could definitely hamper his efforts yet he continues supporting us. Thank you Hudson.

Read the full article at Outsports.

New Mardi Gras and Australian Marriage Equality are having a fundraising dinner over Mardi Gras so we can fight for equality down under. Where are they having the dinner? Taronga Park Zoo. The Iconic zoo is hosting the dinner, partly because people asked for a dining experience as part of Mardi Gras, and partly to show support for our cause. We love that.

Anyone who has been to the Zoo knows it is a beautiful location that is hard to beat and dining with that view, animals all around and a good cause behind it, it’s hard to find a reason not to go.

This Saturday is the National Day of Action for Marriage Equality around Australia. I’m going to be there and I hope thousands and thousands of others are too. Gay, Straight and everything in between, we all need to show our support. Even if you have no desire to get married, isn’t it a basic right that we have the option if we choose to?

I would like to know that if one day, in a mythical land in the future, I find someone wonderful to share my life with, that I can do so in a legally recognised union. For full details about the day of action, visit the official website. I hope to see you all there.

This kid is an inspiration. A 9 year old is organising a rally for marriage equality in the U.S. after hearing that some gay people in his neighbourhood couldn’t marry and hearing anti-gay slurs in the school yard. The world needs more people like this kid.