SSJoe gushes praise to Trump gov - Aust. ambassador to US

Maybe he can get together with Cory Bernardi :s  What is it about Washington that makes Lieberals come back to Australia with guns ablazing for Trump?

Yes folks, Smokin Sloppy Joe Hockey (SSJoe) is back in Australia for some thing or other in Canberra. Ugh, I really
liked him not being here. Everything he says is an insult to the intelligence of Australians.

Not to miss an opportunity to offend our sensibilities, he can't even visit here without saying something so completely ridiculous as to leave our collective chins firmly on the floor.

Of course he's well known for his foot in mouth tragedies previous to becoming ambassador to the US (after losing Treasurer under Trumbles). Who could forget the "poor people don't drive cars", or the windfarm "blight on the landscape" comments? Or the infamous "the age of entitlement is over" in bringing down the ghastly 2014 budget that still has legislation zombiefied in the senate. After of course he was filmed smoking a cigar, and later it was revealed he was paying off his wife's Canberra house by staying in it and claiming the $270/night staying away from home allowance. The man is a buffoon, and it's no wonder Turnbull didn't keep him on as Treasurer.

But yes, from this man we have SSJoe's dopey view of the new Trump administration. I dunno what planet he's been living on over there but very likely it's the same old planet SSJoe that he was on here. A planet of Orwellian psychosis. Thankfully he'll be back in Washington soon.

Australia's ambassador to the US, former treasurer Joe Hockey, has praised the Trump administration as a "practical" and "credible" force that is finding its feet 70days into its four-year term, and called for a halt to "constant" criticism of the White House.

 In his first major speech to an Australian audience since Donald Trump took office, Mr Hockey said the Republican's rise reflected a citizenry that felt "impotent" and heralded "the arrival of disruption into the mainstream of American politics".

 He implored critics to give the unorthodox but "practical" administration a fair go, noted many Americans backed the President's unprecedented attacks on the media, and predicted the failure to repeal Obamacare would not harm Mr Trump.

 "We need to avoid the temptation to become constant critics of the new US administration because it is not a carbon copy of the previous administrations," Mr Hockey told The Sydney Institute on Thursday night. Sydney Morning Herald

No postal plebiscite! - tell the politicians

Tell the politicians no to a postal vote here

Oh FFS, what a stupid idea. The latest brainwave out of the gov to further delay marriage equality is to have a postal vote on it via snail mail. Seriously, they want to rely on Australia post to decide our human rights.

Not only that, they want to rely on Australians actually bothering to send a letter through the mail as it would be non-compulsory. When was the last time you sent an actual snail mail letter? It's a rarity these days. Such a hassle to have to physically do that, and go to a mail box. That alone  skews the results to come from older people rather than pretty much anyone under 50. How is that democracy even?

It's just another delaying tactic by the gov to make it as hard as they possibly can for us to get married. The whole issue could be resolved tomorrow if Turnbull allowed a parliamentary free vote.

Tell the gov in Canberra no to Dutton's ridiculous idea of a postal plebiscite, and for Turnbull to pull his finger out and allow a free vote here.

In 2016 the LGBTI community said “no” to Plebiscite Mark I.

 Our concern was that such a high profile and unnecessary public debate would have an adverse impact on the mental health of vulnerable LGBTI people, especially young people.

 This concern ran so deep 85% of LGBTI Australians said they would rather wait for marriage equality than achieve it through a plebiscite.

 The broader community also said “no” to a plebiscite because of concern about the cost and the fact politicians could ignore the result.

 Plebiscite Mark II may reduce the financial cost of a plebiscite but the human cost would remain, as would the fact politicians are outsourcing their jobs.

 Regardless of the model, a plebiscite does not mean more power to the people, but an abdication of responsibility by politicians.

 It is the coward’s way out.

 Plebiscite Mark I was rightly defeated in the Senate by Labor, the Greens and the cross-bench.

 If Plebiscite Mark II is to be defeated it will be in the Liberal Party itself, and by the combined voice of millions of Australians who are tired of politicians playing games with the rights and lives of LGBTI people. Rodney Croome, Same Same

"Don't bank on coal" Westpac - Aust. Youth Climate Coalition campaign (video)

As part of the overall push against the Adani coal mine, the AYCC is running a campaign against Wespac over it's coal investments, and the possibility (as it's about the only bank left that hasn't said no to Adani) that it may well fund the mine.

So last night they went out to get their message across.....

*Their Facebook page is here.

Senate resoundingly rejects gov 18C changes racial discrimination Act

Bill Leak's infamous racist cartoons

"People have a right to be bigots" - George Brandis

The much vaunted gov changes to section 18C of the racial discrimination act have been shot down in flames in the senate, with the majority of the senate trashing the entire legislative package. After months and months of the far right campaign to have a right to be bigots and say so publicly, the attempt to pass the changes into anything more than their own pipe dream was a dismal failure.

Most Australians are I suspect still scratching their heads as to why on earth this was even on the gov agenda? In a civil society it's all about respect, which the current legislation backs. What would you want to say that you can't now already say? It's not exactly a screamingly important issue. 

Truth is it was because some of their right wing mates ran afoul of even the current law, with the likes of Andrew Bolt and infamous cartoonist Bill Leak crossing paths with the Australian Human Rights Commission. Abbott has even suggested abolishing the Human Rights Commission over it FFS!

Just as bizarrely, some are now suggesting the gov take this to the next election as an election issue. WTF? Nothing less than political suicide in a country that has the most immigrants per capita in the world. I'm sure the rumblings in many ethnic communities over the government's efforts to change race hate laws haven't been at all friendly. 

Regardless of the amendments, a majority of the Senate went on and rejected the entire legislative proposal.

 Labor and the Greens declared the result a victory for racial tolerance and for multicultural Australia.

The Greens senator Nick McKim said the result meant senators stood “shoulder to shoulder” with multicultural Australia.


 Immediately after the vote, the influential rightwing thinktank the Institute of Public Affairs declared the Turnbull government must take its proposed changes to section 18C to the next federal election.


"If another Andrew Bolt, QUT, Bill Leak or Ashfield Uniting church-type case occurs that will be on the heads of Labor, Greens, Xenophon and Jacquie Lambie who voted today against removing restrictions on freedom of speech,” said Simon Breheny, director of policy at the IPA.

 “Senators who voted against this bill have failed a test of their commitment to basic human liberty.”


But Amnesty International welcomed the Senate’s stance, saying Thursday’s vote should be the end of the matter.

 “The message to prime minister Turnbull is clear: this conversation is over,” said Tammy Solonec, Indigenous rights manager at Amnesty International Australia. “He needs to get on the right side of history and firmly put an end to the debate around racist hate speech.”

 The renewed debate has sparked a significant backlash from ethnic and religious communities, and it has divided the Coalition. The Guardian

All that electoral pain for absolutely no gain at all. As the US Democrat guy said the other day after Trumpcare went down in a similar fashion, "You can't govorn from the far right". The Lieberals here would do well to heed such advice.

It's always a laugh when they bang on about "freedom of speech". Bill Leak and the Australian Christian Lobby's Lyle Shelton have both called the LGBT Nazis, but woe unto us if we describe them as homophobes. In any case once they use the Nazi argument it means they've already lost the argument anyway.

U2 "Stuck in a Moment" - what I needed :)

This was also recommended by YouTube for me., and it perfectly fits my mood right now. I don't care what people say about U2 who don't like them. Much of their music has been there in very dark times and I'll never forget that. The way they can express human emotions is a gift to us all.

Graham Norton re-enacts Alien scene - hilarious (video)

YouTube has been recommending this to me all day. I finally watched it and it's absolutely hilarious! It was the actual way they did it as it was before CGI.

Gay AIDS patients should pay for hospital treatment - Christian Democratic Party candidate

One of Fred Nile's mob, but even Fred and the Christian Democratic Party (CDP) itself is distancing from the comments of their ACT candidate, saying it's not the policy of the CDP. One wonders then if the candidate is making such outrageous propositions on social media, then why is he even a CDP candidate? Surely he should be dis-endorsed?

So, Rev Dr David Kim (above left) has made an extremist comment about LGBT people who have AIDS (a rarity these days BTW with modern medication). On a Facebook post about Safe Schools, he came out with this little gem:

The LGBTI patients of AIDS should not be freely treated at the public hospitals Hack

I note he uses the word "AIDS" and not HIV. This so annoys me as AIDS has been deemed no longer a public health risk in Australia. If someone presents to hospital with AIDS they get given HIV meds which reverses the condition and gets the HIV virus under control. Yes, AIDS is no longer the killer it once was and is now considered a reversible condition. 

Dr Kim goes on to say in the article thus:

Dr Kim confirmed to Hack that he wrote the post, but said it was part of a broader discussion on sex education in schools.

 "I don't want to judge one group of people," he said, admitting that the subject was "sensitive".

 Dr Kim said treating AIDS cost the public purse "really big money" and that LGBTI people have a "very high chance of getting HIV", the virus that leads to AIDS.

 According to the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO), nearly seven out of ten new infections of HIV occur in gay or bisexual men.

 Excluding gay and lesbian AIDS patients would ensure that "ordinary people" have access to public funding in the future, Dr Kim said.

 Increasing the financial burden on patients may limit the spread of the disease, he said.

 "We don't want to encourage [gay sex]," Dr Kim said. Hack

Lovely :s The very last comment is the telling one. Because of his religion he doesn't like gays having sex. The inference in this case being that gays are a disease carrying burden to the rest of society and should be singled out and punished for it.

I worked thirty years hard labour in the printing industry, raised my daughter and looked after my sick wife until her death, paying full time tax through all of it often through the nose. That of course including the Medicare levy which funds the health system. To assume I'm now a burden on society because of a specific illness is offensive in the extreme, and victim blaming. How typically christian.

Perhaps the churches should start paying tax like everyone else. Why should taxpayers have to carry them? 

Trump budget proposal goes backwards on HIV/AIDS

NSW campaign to end HIV

Here in New South Wales the Ending HIV campaign has been going for a few years now. It's aim is early treatment of those infected with HIV to make them undetectable and therefore unable to spread the virus. This is done through a campaign of education, amongst other things. For example the NSW gov (conservative) has made HIV meds free in the state by paying what the patient would otherwise have to pay through the PBS.

Trumps proposed cuts however would put this in reverse for those affected by the cuts. It's nonsensical, as there will be an increase in infection rates.

According to a new White House document distributed to congressional appropriators, Trump is calling on a $1.23 billion cut in funding to the National Institutes of Health, a major biomedical research facility under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

 Of that $1.23 billion, the hardest hit program would be a $300 million cut to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which aims to eradicate HIV/AIDS and treat those affected by the disease.

 Bloomberg reports that this would be done by reducing the number of patients accepted into the program, and defunding “low-performing countries.” Queerty

Druggie parent murderers object to lesbian couple adopting their kid - Catholics (Australia)

This story is gob-smacking. 

So, a straight couple who are drug fucked, the mother spent time in jail for the death of one her kids after the 7 month old boy was given morphine and benzodiazepine by the parents. Poor kid, was probably crying from neglect. The mother had a long history of being drug fucked.

The girl left was taken away by social services after the death of the boy, and has since been looked after by a lesbian couple since she was six months old. The lesbian couple now wish to adopt the girl as their own. The law was changed in New South Wales in 2010 allowing them to do so as a same sex couple.

Unbelievably, the fucked up straight parents objected to the daughter being bought up by a same sex couple. Why? Because the parents were "practicing Catholics" and didn't "feel comfortable" with same sex parents in charge of her daughter for religious reasons.

WTF? What sort of practicing Catholicism allows a parent to be drug fucked to the point  of killing a seven month old baby boy with their own drugs? What sort of practicing Catholicism allows someone who's done that to feel they have any sort of moral authority over a same sex couple (who are both university graduates)? A straight birth parent who is demonstrably not capable of raising a cat let alone an offspring.

Thankfully the magistrate granted the same sex couple their wish in light of it all, but my heart goes out to those two women who were dragged through the courts for nothing more than religious bigotry.

The NSW Supreme Court heard the birth mother was "a practising Catholic and she is not comfortable with the placement of CJD with the proposed adoptive parents because of her upbringing and religious values".

 The lesbian couple, who are both university educated, have been in a stable and loving relationship for almost a decade. However, they told the court they couldn't raise CJD as a Catholic given the religion's longstanding opposition to homosexual relationships.

 The birth father told the court he was from a Catholic family and wanted his daughter to be raised in that faith.

 He said if the birth mother wasn't granted care of the girl, he wanted to, because he was "deprived of the opportunity to be a father" when the child was taken away by social services.

 Justice John Sackar found both the mother and father, who has significant mental health issues and learning difficulties, were incapable of caring for the girl, who has some behavioural challenges, likely caused by her mother's drug use in pregnancy.

 He said while the law required cultural and religious ties to be preserved "as far as possible", those concerns should not predominate alongside the child's best interests.

 "Religion of course is only one of a multitude of factors the court is to consider in determining CJD's best interests," he said.

 "While the birth parents' religious beliefs must be respected, the proposed adoptive parents' attitude to the Catholic faith requires equal respect."

 The adoption agency Barnardos, acting on behalf of the Department of Family and Community Services, submitted it wasn't in CJD's best interests to be baptised or christened because the adoptive parents "would not be able to facilitate her involvement and development with Catholicism due to their sexual orientation".

 "They do not want to go to church, stand up and commit to raising CJD as a Catholic when they could not commit to doing so," the agency said.

 Justice Sackar said most concerning was the birth mother's refusal to accept responsibility for her son's death. She was granted parole after 3½ years but returned to jail after failing drug tests. Furthermore, the birth father did not accept his former partner was a risk to their child. Sydney Morning Herald

Cats cats cats! (pics)

Natasha watching birds in the afternoon sun out the back door

The kittens (Cloe and Casper) are growing fast and even the old cat Natasha is liking them now. 

We're still getting used to having 4 cats. Yesterday I opened the curtains in our bedroom and the morning sun was streaming in. It's still warm in Sydney, in the mid 20'sC and not cold at all over night. I lay down after taking all my pills. 

First Zac bounded in like he does and sat on top of the air conditioner in front of the open window, watching the passing traffic and birds. Next came kitten Cloe who jumped on top of the windowsill watching outside, almost imitating Zac. Then came kitten Casper who went to the sun on the floor. Lastly Natasha came in onto the bed next to me in the sun and lay down on the fluffy pink woolen blanket (cat heaven). I was surrounded :s

Zac has developed sort of a cat strut now. He's taken on the role of daddy cat to the kittens I think. Proud father sort of thing. He  looks out for them too. If one meows upset about something he's right there to make sure they're OK 💓

Casper loves my PC chair

Cloe has her tongue out for this pic. "Yum, cat food!"

Feeling vulnerable and anxious - psychologist visit

Quite often I don't get through the whole session hour as there's been no major catastrophes of late. This time however had only 5 minutes to spare before I ended it.

Discussed the obvious state of mind recently thanks to the ongoing kidney scare. Noticed in summery that I'm exhibiting classic depression behaviour; everything seems to be an effort, find it hard to be interested in much, sleeping absurd amounts of time. This was obvious to me upon self analysis and I told him about it all. There's been days when I can hardly bring myself out of the bedroom as getting up and starting the day seems all too hard and depressive. 

Given what's happening with my health he advised that feeling this way was understandable. The collapses/faintings I've been having, the severe dizziness, the disoriented vision, the severe muscle pain, has all contributed to me feeling vulnerable and anxious. 

Indeed at times I've stayed in bed because I've felt dizzy getting up and felt it was safer just to lie in bed than risk another collapse. Some days I've not even been able to do the dishes in the morning because it's too painful to stand leaning over the sink, or I've been so dizzy  I've had to do them a bit at a time. David does so much looking after me I don't want him doing the bloody dishes as well!

It's been a few visits since the psychologist has asked, but this time he asked if I'd had any thoughts of suicide. That question was a standard one for quite some time in the past, but in more recent times has become less frequent. Such has been the nature of my mental health that suicide was a very real option for years.

I explained that I was describing to him my behaviour and the conclusion I'd drawn from it was that I was very depressed, but no I'd not thought about the last resort escape from it all 😎 

Trump Russian sex video - claymation version (NSFW)

This has to be seen to believed :)  Someone has made a claymaytion version of the Trump piss tape. The results are truly mind boggling!

Short film "Heavy Weight" - two boxers

Only one of them is gay, but the other one finds their first kiss disturbing being "straight". 

I found it interesting the angry reaction by him to the kiss, and the violent boxing in the ring by him. Much the same as in life, when people react angrily to gays they're very often disturbed by their own gay feelings.

"You can't govern from the hard right" - Trumpcare fall-out

Now that Trumpcare has abysmally failed the recriminations and analysis have begun. Here a Democrat leader in the senate is interviewed about what happened. 

At one point he states "you can't govern from the hard right". A statement stunning in it's simplicity and reality.

There's a lesson here for Canberra and the Lieberals. Govern for the common man or face electoral  suicide.

Turns out this was all a big misunderstanding. Trump told Ryan he wanted to retweet, not retreat.

— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) March 24, 2017

Congratulations @realDonaldTrump on your complete and utter failure on repealing ObamaCare. #Loser pic.twitter.com/FEyziQo6RL

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) March 24, 2017

Bill Mayer destroys Trump over Trumpcare failure :)

Not a big fan of Bill Mayer as sometimes he goes into nuts-ville, but he does have his moments. This is one of them 😀

I wonder how the Trum-pets are going with all this Trump "winning"? Are they sick of all that winning yet? 😋

Christian prediction falls flat - god will pass Trumpcare :s

Christian televangelist Pat Robertson predicted that god would intervene and give the votes to pass Trumpcare. As we all know now, Trumpcare when down in a screaming ball of flames and didn't even get to a vote. A total humiliation for Trump and the Trum-pets. 

I honestly don't understand anyway why christians would think it would be OK to have millions chucked off health insurance. Not exactly caring.

Idiots on TMZ talk HIV criminalisation (video)

This is so fuckin bad. People who know nothing about living with HIV or the advances in medications making judgments about people with HIV. Mostly that transmitting the disease knowingly when you have HIV should remain a "felony". In other words, severely criminalised.

This has been the subject of many studies, and always the results of criminalisation is that it drives HIV+ people underground. Less likely to get tested and treated, meaning the person remains infectious. 

Recent studies have concluded that when an HIV+ person has an undetectable HIV viral load on treatment, that it's impossible to pass it on. These studies monitor gay couples over time in a sero-discordant relationship (only one of them HIV+) where the couple has unprotected sex. Results have shown no incidence of transmission of of HIV to the negative partner. Not one. This isn't an "argument" as stated in the video, it's a scientifically proven fact. 

There's also the thing that safe sex isn't just the responsibility of one person. It takes two to tango. The person receiving in a casual encounter should always insist on condoms, if for nothing else than avoiding the much more infectious sexually transmitted diseases around. Like for instance a new super strain of gonorrhea immune to all antibiotics. Ack!

At one point the lady host asks how do you know if you remain undetectable? Saying you may have been "6 months ago" but what about now? Oh FFS! The stupidity and sheer ignorance! You get a quarterly blood test every 3 months to check that.  I've had an undetectable viral load for a few years now. The meds I'm on suit me well. Get tested and treated. The thinking now is that you go on meds as soon as you're diagnosed to become undetectable. All part of a responsible approach to maybe ending HIV.

The lady commenter that says getting HIV is a possible death sentence is so exaggerated. If you take the pills you don't die anymore.

In short such punitive measures revolving around HIV+ sex are completely outdated and reflect early HIV hysteria. If we're to end HIV the answer isn't to criminalise it, but to treat us as human beings like everyone else. We're not murderers.

Three new marriage equality adds (videos)

Australian Marriage Equality has two new adds just put up on YouTube an hour ago. They feature a gay doctor and a lesbian nurse who both do their jobs serving the public and asking why can't they get married?

As always, it's the personal stories and getting to know us that changes people's minds on marriage equality.





Update: this the latest one posted on the YouTube channel. An army bloke who put his life on the line for Australia, but can't marry the one he loves.

Life on welfare - Jacqui Lambie (video)

One of the most heartfelt and passionate speeches you will hear from any politician. Jacqui Lambie attacks the gov's heartless cuts to welfare by relating her experiences of being on the Disability Support Pension for 7 years with two kids. The reality of which is poverty that most people have little idea of in mainstream Australia.

She says that welfare is not a choice but a necessity through no fault of your own.

BTW she's totally pissed off with Pauline Hanson who voted with the gov cuts to welfare. So much for Hanson being for the battler.

Knitting parliamentarian - response to Dutton's "they should stick to their knitting".

After Dutton's homophobic attack on CEO of Qantas Alan Joyce (who's gay) saying that instead of making supportive comments on marriage equality CEO's should "stick to their knitting", Greens senator Janet Rice rice has held a knit in at question time. She got out balls of yarn and sat there knitting a rainbow scarf :)

"I got you babe" - indulgent David and I (video)

QLD "gay panic" defence for murder finally repealed :)

This story has 8 years of history and the final victory has been a long time coming. It started when a man was murdered in a Queensland church yard, the murderers getting the sentence reduced to manslaughter after using the "gay panic" defence. An anachronistic law that said if a man made sexual advances on another man and the other man panicked, then that could be used as an excuse for murder.

The Catholic priest running the church was appalled that this could happen. The murdered man's mother reckoned he wasn't even gay. Father Paul Kelly started a petition to remove this law gaining nearly 300,000 signatures, that being the catalyst for movement within the Queensland parliament to expunge the law.

It's taken years but it's finally happened.

It’s been a rollercoaster. When an innocent man named Wayne was killed in my parish churchyard 8 years ago, I was revolted by the injustice. The two men who killed him claimed Wayne made “sexual advances” on them, and cited the gay panic defence in court to justify his murder.

 I then met with Wayne’s mother Joyce, who is still alive today. She was determined to not die until this revolting defence for murder was abolished. Today she’s finally received some justice for her son’s death.

 Thank you for fight for this campaign with me. For the thousands of emails, calls, news reports, protests and online actions taken - thank you. One of Australia's worst laws has been scrapped because of your signatures. This is as much your win for justice as it is mine, or indeed Joyce’s.

 From today, saying a gay person made a pass at you will no longer be an acceptable, legal excuse for murder. And I couldn’t be prouder to have led this Change.org petition in honour of Wayne Ruks and his family.

 Father Paul Kelly Catholic Priest Petition Update

Gov channels Bill Leak wanting to change racial vilification laws (video)

Turnbull mentioned Bill Leak 3 times during this presser, the gov putting forward changes to the racial discrimination act. I doubt it will ever get through the senate. I'd say it's another lunar right pipe dream that will never see the light of day. It's only because Trumbles needs the far right to keep being PM that he's doing their biding.

He reckons the proposed changed will be better for all, I guess just like the internet was going to be faster and sooner...  In truth the law is about making it easier for far right nutters raving about free speech to have a go at minorities.

This isn't going to go down well with the most multi-cultural country on earth. Especially as many immigrants reside in Lieberal marginal seats.

It's about protecting their bigotry. There's hardly any prosecutions under the present laws, but their dear Andrew Bolt has been convicted, and the infamous Bill Leak they reckon was "hounded to his grave" by the laws.

Why they're even bothering with this is beyond many Australians. As one of the questioners asked, why not have a plebiscite over it? Most people see many more important things to deal with than this. Why is this such an issue?

I'd quote Brandis the other year, when he said in parliament back in 2014 that people "have a right to be bigots". He doesn't want bigotry to come afoul of Australian law, even when it's on the public stage. Repulsive.

Trumps worst day ever as president - FBI chief says he's lying

Far out. This has to be the quickest and most spectacular fall from grace of any US president surely. 

He's got the worst popularity ratings of a president since polling began some 70 or so years ago. From all reports the White House is lurching from one chaotic disaster to the next, with Trump torpedoing any opportunity to gain ground with his stupid tweets. The most spectacular of course was accusing Obama of wiretapping Trump Tower with no evidence.

The FBI chief has roundly said there's no evidence of it, and it's impossible for a president to do that without other arms of gov approving of it. In essence, the FBI chief called Trump a liar.

But much much worse for Trump is that the FBI has officially stated that it's now investigating links with the Trump campaign and Russia. Watch as Olbermann shows how precise the FBI chief's language was in saying that.

Trump is doomed now without a doubt. All sane media in the US that I've read are ripping him to shreds. He might as well be a lame duck president.

Himes: Trump will “attack anyone & everyone” including Hamilton cast, Schumer, U.S. allies, intel community. Asks—why won’t he attack Putin? pic.twitter.com/n1CuYJJEUe

— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) March 20, 2017

Katy Perry tells of growing up in church and sexuality struggle (video)

Katy Perry has been awarded the National Equality Award from the Human Rights Campaign in the US. In doing so she tells of how LGBT people that she met were very different that the demonised version she was taught about in the church.

As always, we're nothing like the demons they make us out to be. Just people like everyone else.

BTW, she's done more than just kiss a girl 😃

Also, there's no sound for about 30 seconds on the video, don't panic.

Natasha and Teddy (pic)

Natasha and Teddy

Natasha seems fine with the kittens now, and is even almost playing with them. She's very cautious about the ones she likes the old girl, but once she does she'll be a friend for life. She's eating together with the kittens now which means she's fine with them.

I imagine she'll start mothering them soon like she did with Zac. She's a very good mother. David tells me she's had a couple of litters when she was younger.  

Slept 18 hours - WTF?

I know I had a disturbed sleep the night before, but I've never in my life slept that long before. Kept thinking I'd get up then suddenly it's 2 hours later. That went on all day. Think I could have kept going but it was already 7pm.

Haven't got anything done today. Late taking my pills. No even the dishes done. 

"Should married gay men have access to children?" - ACL Lyle Shelton (video)

This is an interview between the Australian Christian Lobby's Lyle Shelton and long time gay marriage advocate Rodney Croome. I'm still trying to pick my jaw up off the floor now after just watching it.

Croome is well versed in the ACL's bla, but nothing prepared me for what Shelton said. At one point near the end of the video Shelton asked Croome these exact words; "Should married gay men have access to children?"

Croome was stunned, the interviewer was stunned. There followed some seconds of silence as both of them got over the shock of what Shelton had said.

Said it before and will say it again, as a father of a 26yr old daughter such a question is deeply offensive. And yes, most paedophiles identify as straight. It's the same old anachronistic line that gays are a danger to kids. Completely false.

The christians must be getting really desperate to drag that old line out. Yet Shelton did. 

BTW he's said in the past that the debate from the ACL has been very respectful of the LGBT, That after he called the LGBT Nazi's.

And we're supposed to just accept that he has the "freedom of speech" to say such terrible things about us. Yet if we show any anger at all we're supposedly "shutting down opposing views". 

How would he like to be called a paedophile then just because he's straight? Should married straight couples have access to children? Statistics tell us that straight men are vastly more a danger to kids than gays. To ignore that is to ignore paedophiles.

The video was posted today on the ACL YouTube account. How Shelton could let that happen is beyond me, so embarrassing tor the ACL :s

Latest kitten pics :)

Natasha is slowly getting to like the kittens, but Zac has dived in head first and loving them both. All three of them go running around the house like a herd of elephants playing. Both Cloe (the left kitten, female) and Casper (white, male) are extremely affectionate. Zac has taken to washing them. Cloe is such a dainty little thing, and Casper a real little rough and tumble cat. Cloe is quite happy to wrestle Casper, despite her dainty nature.

Not sure if he thinks of himself as an older brother or a proud father. When they go to sleep on the bed he sleeps at the bottom like he's guarding them. Other day Natasha hissed at one of them and Zac bopped her with his paw.