January 24, 2008
Not like that’s any big surprise. Joke’s on Freddie & Co., ‘though — the Westboro Asshats— er, Baptists have no idea where Ledger’s funeral is to be held, although it would make sense that it would be in the actor’s hometown of Perth… Australia. (Go ahead, Fred! Take the whole damn klan overseas — we’d bet money your psychotic bunch will never get past the good folks of the Australian Customs Service.)
Here’s the story from ABC News:
A fundamentalist church whose members demonstrate at the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq and believe God hates gays will protest the Academy Awards and the funeral of Heath Ledger, because the actor played a gay cowboy in the 2005 film “Brokeback Mountain.”
Members of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., are trying to find out where the 28-year-old actor’s funeral will be held and have already made signs to hold outside the Oscars that read “God Hates Fags and Fag Enablers,” “Heath in Hell” and “Mourn for Your Sins,” Shirley Phelps-Roper, daughter of the church’s controversial founder Pastor Fred Phelps, told ABCNEWS.com.
Though Ledger was not gay, the church believes he “misused the giant megaphone given to him by God Almighty to speak the truth about fags,” Phelps-Roper said, and instead “used his position of prominence to say God is a liar and that homosexuality is not an abomination.”
The time and location of the Ledger’s funeral remain unknown, but it is widely believed it will take place in the actor’s native Australia.
“They are going to try and hide the body like a bunch of ghouls so we can’t protest. The only thing in this country people worship more than filthy sex acts is the dead,” Phelps-Roper said.
She said members of the church had already purchased plane tickets to picket outside the Oscars, scheduled for Feb. 24 in Hollywood.
A press release posted to the church’s Web site, godhatesfags.com, reads: “Heath Ledger is now in Hell, and has begun serving his eternal sentence there — besides which, nothing else about Heath Ledger is relevant or consequential.”
We like what the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Mark Potok had to say:
“The group is made up of people who are almost literally out of their minds” … “I doubt there is anyone in America who thinks more about gay sex than Fred Phelps,” Potok said.
Posted by: Sapphocrat
Permalink
|
Trackback
|
Category:
Australia/NZ,
Celebrities,
Fred Phelps,
Hate Speech,
Homophobia,
Radical Religious Right
September 29, 2007
Gays to set up security patrol to curb attacks
Frustrated by a lack of official action on homophobic violence, the gay and lesbian community will organise its own security patrols at popular events and party venues.
The GenQ Street Angels want volunteers with policing, military, security or medical experience to join.
. . .
“We’re hoping that just by their presence, the Angels will deter people from any sort of threatening behaviour,” Mr Stopps said.
He stressed that the initiative would not be about vigilantism. But, he said, if people were now scared to venture out at night it was time to do something about it.
. . .
Fewer than 35 per cent thought increased police patrols were enough to remedy the situation and almost 60 per cent said they were in favour of community security patrols.
Discuss this story
Posted by: Sapphocrat
Permalink
|
Trackback
|
Category:
Australia/NZ,
Hate Crimes,
Law Enforcement
September 21, 2007
|
“No, no, waitaminute!
I’m a good Blue Heeler!”
|
|
From the Sydney Star Observer:
Police Accused of Ignoring Violence
A victim of homophobic violence claims a police officer tried to convince him not to file a report.
Jean Pierre Cheaib was leaving a Taylor Square nightclub about 10am 19 August when two men called him a “stupid poof”, told him he was “going to die” and hit him in the jaw.
. . .
“The officer told me how stressful the court process would be and said, ‘Do you realise that nine out of 10 gay men don’t report incidents because they are afraid?’” Cheaib said.
“I said I wanted to press charges anyway, and they said, ‘The men are only going to get off free.’”
. . .
Two days later, Cheaib reported the incident to the coordinator of ACON’s Lesbian and Gay Anti-Violence Project, Carl Harris, who spoke to police about their handling of the confrontation.
Cheaib later received a phone call from the officer he had spoken to after the assault. The officer allegedly told Cheaib the matter would be “thrown out of court anyway”.
Discuss this story
Posted by: Sapphocrat
Permalink
|
Trackback
|
Category:
Australia/NZ,
Hate Crimes,
Law Enforcement
From pinknews.co.uk:
Australia refuses to recognise married transsexual
A post-operative transsexual has been told by Australian authorities that in order to be registered as her correct sex she must divorce her wife.
Completing her gender reassignment in 2002, the unnamed woman, who is happily married, has been unable to change her gender on her birth certificate in her current married status as same sex marriage is still banned in Australia.
. . .
Transsexuals in Australia who are still in the process of transitioning are now banned from having their intended gender on their passports following an amendment made to passport legislation earlier this year.
This was highlighted when Stefanie Imbruglia, a cousin of singer Natalie, attempted to obtain a temporary passport so she could travel to Thailand for gender reassignment surgery and was told she would have to travel with a male passport.
Discuss this story
Posted by: Sapphocrat
Permalink
|
Trackback
|
Category:
Australia/NZ,
Marriage Equality,
Transgender
September 5, 2007
CINOs = Christians In Name Only. They look like this.
Reports the Sydney Star Observer:
Christian lobbyists have warned federal MPs that reforms to give same-sex couples de facto status would “normalise” same-sex couples and lead to gay marriage.
But Labor’s proposed state-based relationship registries has been given the Australian Christian Lobby’s (ACL) tick of approval.
ACL director Jim Wallace attacked the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission’s (HREOC) Same-Sex: Same Entitlements report, saying it was “social engineering”.
“We reject HREOC’s attempts to normalise same-sex relationships by extending the definition of de facto marriage and redefining parenthood,” he said.
“Such a move plays directly into the hands of activists whose long-term aim has been to redefine marriage and family.”
While Sapphocrat says:
They’re just blowing smoke. First, “de facto” (a.k.a. “interdependent”) relationships are the norm across the board in Oz; the term applies to unmarried hetero couples, too — and while it’s more difficult to establish a same-sex de facto relationship (yes, you need reams of paper “proof”), the same hassles apply for extracting oneself from such a relationship. It’s as close as Australia’s got to civil unions, for everyone.
Second: Nothing is going to “lead to gay marriage” in Australia, as long as the federal constitution prohibits it (which it now does, thanks to John Howard). There is no slippery slope.
Discuss this story
Posted by: Sapphocrat
Permalink
|
Trackback
|
Category:
Australia/NZ,
Immigration,
Radical Religious Right
We’re delighted that Motahar Hussein, a Bangladeshi gay activist, was granted asylum by the Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship (made even more xenophobic after anti-immigrant John Howard sacked the unbelievably evil Amanda Vanstone) — which, after three years, agreed that Hussein was in danger of homophobic persecution in his native country.
What we don’t understand is why Hussein went to Australia on a student visa in the first place (and then “came to the attention of immigration officials after failing to pay his university fees“). In three years, he could have found a nice Aussie de facto husband to sponsor him.
What we really don’t understand is why Hussein is bitching about the asylum process: “On the whole the tribunal is homophobic, but on this instance they accepted I was homosexual and I would face persecution if sent back.”
Sure, refugees have to jump through hoops (especially in Australia, which treats refugees like human garbage), and gay and lesbian applicants have to jump through even more hoops — but fercrimenysakes, he’s in. If he wanted a comparatively easier process, he could have gone to Canada, or even the U.S. (which, while denying same-sex couples immigration rights, is generally more welcoming to gay asylum seekers).
If nothing else, Hussein is mad as a cut snake to complain before his visa is finalized (right now, he’s on a bridging visa).
Discuss this story
Posted by: Sapphocrat
Permalink
|
Trackback
|
Category:
Australia/NZ,
Immigration
Same-sex couples will stage a mass gay wedding ceremony on Montefiore Hill as part of November’s Feast Festival.
While gay marriage is not legal in Australia, Feast artistic director Daniel Clarke said the celebration, called Loved Up, would be an opportunity for same-sex partners to publicly declare their love and commitment.
“It is a political statement but it will also be a really fun day,” Mr Clarke said yesterday. “There are 20 couples at the moment and it keeps increasing. It’s not a mock-up and people are taking it very seriously.”
The ceremony, to be held on November 18, will be followed by a garden party with wedding singers and musicians on the lawns of Carclew. …
More from news.com.au
Discuss this story
Posted by: Sapphocrat
Permalink
|
Trackback
|
Category:
Australia/NZ,
Marriage Equality
