It's D-Day for the Lieberals on marriage equality (video)

The ball is firmly in the Lieberals court today on marriage equality. Today they have their party room meeting to discuss the issue. They have it in their hands once again to let the parliament decide in a free vote (in which case it will very likely pass) or to continue stalling and sticking to the controversial postal plebisicte; and idea worse than the original plebiscite idea and which would likely fail when challenged in the High Court. As dumb as it is, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if they went for the latter.

Whatever the  Lieberals decide today, this is a history making point in the struggle for marriage equality in Australia. Never before has such a comprehensive bill on the issue come before the federal parliament, and never before has a parliament had the numbers to pass the bill as they do in this parliament. The only thing standing in the way is the Lieberal party and Turnbull's lack of leadership to allow a free vote.

From The Equality Campaign (they have a new page set up here to update on progress or lack of it) email:

This moment builds on years of work from supportive politicians in our parliament — there have been numerous marriage equality bills from Greens, Labor and the cross bench over the years. Each of these has served an important purpose, building support and drawing attention to the need for change.

 Today we are especially excited because no bill has gone through a more rigorous process, nor had a more genuine chance of passing. At the end of last year, the Senate established a special inquiry to explore what marriage equality legislation should look like in Australia. This working group of Liberal, National, Labor, Greens, and Xenophon Team Senators worked together and openly consulted with thousands of Australians.

 Thousands of you mobilised to contribute to this inquiry when I wrote to you — sharing what you wanted and expected from any legislation designed to deliver marriage equality. After engaging widely with the community, these Senators reached consensus on a pathway forward for marriage equality. Now those recommendations have been turned into a Bill and triggered a new discussion on how to get legislation into and passed by our Parliament.

 The time has come for every couple to be treated equally under the law. Australians don’t want more excuses or delaying tactics from our politicians – we want marriage equality and this Bill heading to Parliament will deliver it. Let’s get on with it!

Hopefully, we will be able to celebrate together soon,

 Anna Brown
The Equality Campaign 

The Marriage Rebels/Famous Five/Etc have sent out their bill in a joint media release: pic.twitter.com/DnD8k7bE5F

— Lane Sainty (@lanesainty) August 6, 2017

A Bill that will allow two people to marry, while at the same time protecting religious views about marriage in Australia. pic.twitter.com/MM40b6FNRj

— Dean Smith (@DeanSmithWA) August 6, 2017

Details of private member’s bill that would back same-sex marriage have been released. @LCalcutt explains. #9News pic.twitter.com/dEPhra0hFy

— Nine News Australia (@9NewsAUS) August 6, 2017

#Auspol Send a message to your MP now in support of the #MarriageEquality legislation. Because justice is always social. @TurnbullMalcolm pic.twitter.com/wDSz9lYgTW

— Fr Rod Bower (@FrBower) August 6, 2017

.@AnnaHRLC: It's only gay people being asked to have their rights and interests put to a public vote. #auspol MORE https://t.co/lZhjq6uu7z pic.twitter.com/tU1yImDRzm

— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) August 7, 2017

Postal plebiscite will be challenged in High Court

Marriage Equality advocates will challenge a postal plebiscite in the High Court if the Lieberals  go ahead with it.

The postal plebiscite is attractive to the RWNJ's of the party as they assume no legislation is needed to make it happen. However constitutional lawyers have given advice that this is not correct.

Another one of Dopey Dutton's seriously stupid ideas. What a bloody clown show.

Liberal MPs from the party's right faction want a postal vote on gay marriage, in a bid to thwart any attempt by moderate MPs to support a conscience vote in parliament.

 However, constitutional lawyers Ron Merkel, QC and Christopher Tran have prepared legal advice which argues a postal vote on gay marriage would be invalid unless it was underpinned by new laws, The Sun-Herald reported.

 Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays campaigner Shelley Argent told the newspaper she would 'not hesitate to take the government to the High Court' based on this advice. Daily Mail UK

Marriage equality advocates confirm they will challenge a postal vote in the High Court if the govt goes forward with it: pic.twitter.com/IzkaBPjByE

— Lane Sainty (@lanesainty) August 5, 2017

46,800 same sex couples in Australia who can't get married - census

Two people

From the last Australian census there is nearly 47,000 Australian couples who are a couple enough to declare themselves so on the census. David and I among them. 

That's 47,000 couples, many of them with children, who can't get married.

Convicted rapists, convicted murders, convicted paedophiles, can be married whilst in jail for their crimes. David and I can't simply because we're gay.

Jupiters north pole storm - image

*click to enlarge

As Spock would say, "fascinating".

The latest from the Juno space probe has shown a stunning picture of the north pole of Jupiter. The great red spot isn't the only massive storm on the planet. In fact there are others that are near as big. This picture is from the northern polar region, showing a storm the third largest anticyclonic storm on Jupiter.

The picture was taken on the 7th close flyby of Juno at eleven and a half thousand kilometres up. That's about 11 times from Sydney to Brisbane. In celestial terms that's extremely close.

This storm is a long-lived anticyclonic oval named North North Temperate Little Red Spot 1 (NN-LRS-1); it has been tracked at least since 1993, and may be older still. An anticyclone is a weather phenomenon where winds around the storm flow in the direction opposite to that of the flow around a region of low pressure. It is the third largest anticyclonic oval on the planet, typically around 3,700 miles (6,000 kilometers) long. The color varies between red and off-white (as it is now), but this JunoCam image shows that it still has a pale reddish core within the radius of maximum wind speeds. NASA

Rodney Croome's new book on marriage equality - "Devil in the Detail" (free PDF)

Rodney Croome has released a short book (free PDF). He was head of the Australian Marriage Equality organisation for some time  and has been fighting for gay rights for decades here. He was also involved in the bitter debate on the LGBT in the 1990's in Tasmania which saw a young gay suicide over the hatred exposed against him in said debate. In recent times Croome left as head of Australian Marriage equality to fight against the plebiscite the Lieberals were wanting on gay marriage as he didn't want any young LGBT person suiciding again in the hateful debate that a plebiscite would stir up from the far right.

Now he's released this book. You can download it for free here. I've not read it yet but after looking at the contents page he talks about concerns over the current marriage equality bill being proposed by the rebel Lieberals for a free vote on. It gives exemptions to secular celebrants who don't want to marry gays for religious reasons; in essence creating a new form of discrimination for the LGBT in Australia.

Personally I'm not sure where I stand on this. Would a future gov be able to remove this new discrimination? Should we accept the bill as is for now just to get it past those bloody fuckwit far righters in Canberra and fight for the discrimination to be removed later? I don't know. I do know David and I want to be married....

Download free PDF "Devil in the Detail" here.

Gay dolphins - Australia

Oh baby.....

This is just for those who say being gay is "unnatural". In reality it occurs throughout the wild animal kingdom. If that's not natural then I don't know what is :)

Ms Nicholson said her Mandurah Dolphin Research Project had observed big groups of dolphins engaging in what looked like “homosexual behaviour”.

 She said peak mating season was over, but groups of male dolphins had been observed socialising and she described a pod of 15 who were studied by the research team.

 “These dolphins, all but three of them juveniles, organised themselves in four sub-groups in which they were observed engaging in socio-sexual behaviour that included mounting and genital contact between individuals,” Ms Nicholson said.

 “The subgroups joined, frequently forming a large group and then split again in different group compositions.

 “Homosexual behaviour, as identified here, has been described for dolphin populations elsewhere.”


Ms Nicholson said her research team had only seen a few such displays in the Peel-Harvey Estuary, but were excited to record similarities in behaviour between Mandurah’s dolphins and those in Shark Bay.

 “Apart from homosexual behaviour, males, unlike females, in Shark Bay have also been recorded to perform synchronous displays,” she said.

 “In Shark Bay, where male dolphins form life-long alliances, socio-sexual interactions between males are more common than between females or between the sexes.”

 Ms Nicholson said homosexual behaviour plays an important part in the development of close bonds between males and negotiating dominance relations within and between the eventual alliances. Mandurah Mail

Music video in response to Trump's transgender bans

Wrabel, the writer of the song, uses the video to point out that it's not transgender people who have a problem, it's the society in which they live. Or as the song points out, the village.

I really like the words across the screen at the end; "dedicated to all the colourful birds". You have to watch it to get that, but it's indeed profound.

Wrabel also wrote an open letter about the song:

i wrote this song on february 23rd. the day after trump took away federal protections for trans students in public schools. today i release it, just days after he tweeted to ban trans people from serving in the military.

 i just wanted to write a simple song letting anyone that feels like an outsider know that the problem isn’t you, it’s them. it’s the village. not in an aggressive us vs. them way, but just because you are the minority… just because people whisper “freak” when u walk down the hall… all of these things… it’s so hard out there… i know it is. these things aren’t pointing towards something wrong with YOU they’re pointing to a humongous problem with the majority… the “them”. there’s nothing wrong with you, there’s something wrong with the village.

 two of my biggest supporters are trans teenagers. i’ve had the chance to meet their families. to get to know them. to hear about their struggles and dreams. hi. if you guys are reading this, i need to say thank you. thank you for being YOU. thank you for being honest and courageous and bold and vulnerable and transparent and true. you inspire me to be myself. you inspire me to be fearless in my self expression. my heart breaks for you. what this man is saying and doing. it has to stop. he is giving the village permission to hate. to look at those who are different as wrong and lesser than. i don’t know how else to raise my voice than in a song. and so, i wrote a song for you.

 i came out as gay at around 23. i grew up in the church. i came out into a church in los angeles that called it “same sex attraction”. it was wrong. i was wrong. it was evil. i was evil. “unnatural” they called it. “unnatural” they called me. i can’t pretend like i know what it’s like to be trans. to feel those feelings and know those struggles. all i can do is try to speak up and try to relate.

 there’s nothing wrong with you, there’s something wrong with the village. Towleroad 

Turnbull was dead against a postal vote - 20yrs ago in republic vote (video)

Turnbull in 1997

Turnbull now looks likely to adopt Dopey Dutton's idea and have a postal plebiscite vote for marriage equality. A way to sidestep parliament and not require legislation to do it, making it open to a constitutional challenge in the High Court. 

However an article he wrote 20 years ago in The Australian, when he was head of the vote yes for a republic (another one of his failures) he was absolutely against a postal vote. In fact he was positively scathing of the whole idea. If you want some good reasons why not to have a postal vote, simply read what he wrote back then.

In 1997, as leader of the Australian Republican Movement, Mr Turnbull wrote an excoriating opinion piece against a postal vote on the republic, saying it would contravene basic democratic values. 

He warned it would disenfranchise voters who were not at the address listed on the electoral roll, particularly young people and Aboriginal Australians in remote communities, as well as those who struggled with English. 

Among Mr Turnbull's other concerns were voter fraud, peer pressure from family members and a high informal vote. 

"The voluntary postal voting method ... flies in the face of Australian democratic values," he wrote in a 1997 article for The Australian, unearthed by Crikey on Wednesday. 

"It is likely to ensure that not only will a minority of Australians vote, but also that large sections of the community will be disfranchised." Sydney Morning Herald 

If the postal vote goes ahead it won't have a shred of legitimacy. No one will take the results as in any way representative of Australians views on marriage equality. It will be an exercise in futility and a complete waste of taxpayers money.

Gillian Triggs blasts gov over marriage equality plebiscite (video)

Gillian Triggs has finished her five year term as head of the Human Rights Commission and is now free to pursue politics outside of that. In doing so she has joined a group of lawyers named "Two People" advocating for marriage equality:

Two people want to get married. The law says they cannot. That law is not ancient; it was made in 2004. Equality before the law is ancient. It’s as old as law itself. Older than marriage.

 This law is unequal. It discriminates. No legal principle explains why it should. All we seek is to restore equality. That can be achieved with the simplest change.

 In the Marriage Act, delete the words “a man and a woman” and replace them with “two people”. That’s it – the stroke of a pen. And two people who want to get married, can. Two People

Triggs is highly critical of the gov and their obsession with a plebiscite. In and interview with Buzzfeed:

She said it was her "personal view" that the plebiscite was being pushed by government MPs as a way for marriage equality to fail.

 "We do all sorts of things by a vote in parliament, sometimes they win, sometimes they fail," Triggs told BuzzFeed News. "Nonetheless that is their job.

 "To sidestep the issue, I suspect with the intention of defeating the exercise, that's a personal view, but nonetheless, sidestepping their responsibility and passing it onto the community, when this is the job of parliament, is very, very worrying for the entire democratic system."

 "When we see a group of parliamentarians say, 'Look we tried the plebiscite, this is not disloyalty to the party, we tried it, it didn't work, now let's try something else'," she said.

 "Bringing the task back to parliament again is a very important initiative." Buzzfeed   

Both the High Court and the senate agree with Triggs that it's the job of parliament to vote on the issue. 

Meanwhile in loony land, Abbott has come out with a totally bizarre reason why he doesn't agree with same sex marriage. If you can make the slightest bit of sense out of it you're doing better than me :s

The concept of marriage is between a man and a woman, preferably for life open to children, that long pre-dates our constitution, it long pre-dates our parliament, it long pre-dates the civil law, frankly. It is something that evolved many centuries ago to protect women and children in a world where they were much less secure than they are now. That's why I would be very reluctant to change. Buzzfeed

Like I said, it's just nonsensical. As if parents of whatever gender wouldn't do all they could to protect their partner and kids. 

It matters to 46,800 LGBT Australian couples (according to the last census) who can't marry because of the likes of Abbott.

Angry Aussie - Dual citizenship idiots and Bannon's own cocksucking, etc (video)

OMG, Angry is in top form on this one! 

The way he describes it all in colourful language is just an art form. Watch as he dissects both Australian and US politics as only an Aussie can. He is deservedly brutal of both :)

Doco on anti-gay feelings in Jamaica (video)

Bob Marley's "One Love" is put to the test in this Australian documentary about homophobia in Jamaica. It's not pretty.....

Shit hitting Lieberal fan over marriage equality meltdown - latest (video)

It's getting very serious now in Lieberal land. They are ripping themselves apart over marriage equality.

So, the far RWNJ's are really pissed off at the gay MP's from the back bench pressuring for a conscience vote on marriage equality and are pushing even harder for a snail mail plebiscite-or-nothing doctrine again. Yes these idiots want David and I's human rights placed in the hands of Australia Post.

So pissed off are they that they have threatened the gay MP's to be deselected from the party (a gay purge?). It fully smells of bully Abbott. Fellow straight supporter Entsch, a party veteran and stallward, isn't impressed.

What's more, Nationals nutter MP George Christensen is threatening to leave the Coalition if the Libs break their agreement with the National party to not have a conscience vote. 

The National party, now getting very few votes and way over represented in Canberra as part of the Coalition gov, are about 85% opposed to marriage equality according to how they voted in that 6 hour megathon combined party room meeting over marriage equality last year. With such a slim majority we're talking the possibility of bringing down the gov if the odd disgruntled RWNJ follows him.

Talk about Karma. Oh how sweet it is. The Lieberals deserve this for fucking us LGBT over for years. Playing politics with our lives to placate members of the party, giving all their attention to navel gazing having nothing to do with us yet making policy about us only to suit them.

That has infuriated Mr Entsch, who phoned Mr Spence last night and told him he would not be silenced.

 "I have every right to be able to express a view," he said.

 "I have every right to vote according to my conscience.

 "I am not going to be dictated to. If they don't like it — as I said to the president last night — disendorse me.

 "I am not making threats, they are the ones making threats against me.

 "I just said to him, mate don't threaten me — do it, pull it on, bring it on."

 Mr Entsch is also angry because he says anonymous threats have been made in the media against people, including himself, who support changing the law to allow same-sex couples to marry.

 He said some people would declare any change to be "the end of the world and we are all the anti-Christ".

 He defended his Liberal colleague Trevor Evans, who has also advocated for same-sex marriage.


"Veiled threats have clearly been made by anonymous sources," he said.

 "If you are going to make those sort of threats, put your name to it and have the courage to stand up for what you claim to believe in."

 Mr Entsch said he told Mr Spence of his real "disappointment and anger that this was also targeted at first-term members in an effort to intimidate them".

 "Members should not be intimidated one way or other in relation to how they do their job," he said.


"They do it as they deem it to be appropriate." ABC

.................................................


Things are moving apace in the Liberal National Coalition. Peter Dutton is running the numbers ahead of a planned challenge for the leadership next week, according to Canberra insiders. 

 His decision to move was allegedly triggered by the refusal of members agitating for free vote on equal marriage to back down and give his postal ‘plebiscite’ plan a clear run. 

 Numbers are looking so poor for Malcolm Turnbull that Julie Bishop is cutting her Philippines visit in half to stand against Dutton. She will throw her hat in the ring as the moderate candidate against Dutton. She is by far preferred by the voters, but Dutton is confident he will win in the party room.


Tony Abbott is described as “incredibly chuffed”. “Turnbull must not at any cost get to two years from his perspective,” I was told. Meanwhile the PM continues to front the cameras wearing the pained expression of a man sliding down a razor blade using his balls for brakes. The Stirrer

Buy my tribulation food or go to hell - Jim Bakker (video)

Not in so many words, but Jim Bakker in this video says that to buy food in the tribulation you'll have to sell your soul to the devil. If that doesn't mean going to hell then I don't know what does.

These extremist christian lunatics never cease to amaze me at how far they'll go, in this case to rip people off. Note he was sent to jail for fraud.

How close are we to marriage equality now?

Labor leader Shorten salivating at the Lieberals marriage meltdown

I'm always very cynical about the Lieberals and the chances  of marriage equality in Australia. The far right of the party has blocked it every step of the way, even going so far as to annul the marriages of those gays in Canberra (who got married in a small window of opportunity) through the High Court. Albeit what came out of that was the High Court ruling that it was up to parliament to vote on the issue (*gasp*).

Then the Lieberals decided on a plebiscite. One which the LGBT fought solidly against and won, being as it would have been a viscous debate by the religious bigots and wasn't even binding. The last thing the LGBT needed was a platform set up by the gov for the lunatics to preach god know what about us. The plebiscite died on the senate floor after the Greens and Labor were amiable to what we LGBT were saying to them. What came out of that was the senate joining the High Court in saying it was up to parliament to vote on it. 

Since then the Lieberals have steadfastly stuck to the plebiscite-or-nothing mantra. reciting over and over that it was the only way forward for marriage equality. Well it was for the Lieberals because they were all in such a tizz over it. This even though they removed funding for a plebiscite in the budget. According to the Lieberals we all had to wait for them to drag themselves in to this century before any of us LGBT could be married. It was all about them, not us.

Which brings us to now. Such has been the absurdity of the plebiscite-or-nothing doctrine that 4 MP's within the Lieberals own party are in mutiny against it and seem determined to force the gov into a conscience vote on the issue. The irony is delicious. The homophobes have painted themselves into a corner and have nowhere to go.

I'd not be surprised mind you if the Lieberal bigots found some way to block marriage equality yet again, but the push for it is now so strong there'd be a huge outcry from all sides. Will it finally get through the lower house this time (the numbers are there in a conscience vote) or will the few bitter and twisted white Catholic men hold Australia back in last century yet again? I'm feeling hopeful about the former.

If there’s a conscience vote, the bill would probably pass, which is why it probably won’t happen.

 But the MPs can introduce the bill anyway and it will be referred to parliament’s powerful Selection Committee, which decides what bills are actually debated. The committee is where most private member’s bills go to die. It’s dominated by the government, so if Turnbull doesn’t want the bill to move forward, he could stop it there.

But wait, there’s more.

 Labor could then move a motion to suspend standing orders, which means they’d postpone the routine business of parliament to debate a matter of great importance — in this case, marriage equality.

 Because Labor only has 69 MPs (nice), it would need the support of some crossbenchers and Liberals to reach the 76 votes needed to suspend standing orders. It would probably get the support of four crossbenchers, meaning it would need a few Liberals too.

 That’s where the guys mentioned before come in. They’ve said they’re open to the idea of crossing the floor to suspend standing orders. Once they’ve done that, Labor could bring on a vote on marriage equality, which the same MPs would be likely to support, and BAM, we’ve got marriage equality.


This would be great for people who aren’t shit, but terrible for the government. It would mean it has lost control of parliament, it would piss off conservatives who might do anything to gain revenge, and it would really annoy the Nationals. Junkee

Sick of religious fanatics forcing their religious beliefs on other people
We are all equal or we are not #MarriageEquality #auspol pic.twitter.com/FXP17pTu04

— Comrade craigjack36 (@craigjack36) August 1, 2017

Wow how did all these posters get everywhere in Steve Iron's electorate the day he was hosting the PM that's just so weird!? pic.twitter.com/EprQovaXoZ

— Sally Rugg 🏳️‍🌈 (@sallyrugg) August 1, 2017

Can you imagine the stupidity of this? Actually throwing out gay members? #auspol https://t.co/iSF5SW0hwu

— Glengyron (@glengyron) July 31, 2017

Turnbull gives green light to backbenchers crossing the floor over marriage equality

Prime minister Turnbull has had no choice in this. It's always been the way that back benchers can vote how they please without repercussions in the Lieberals. A front bench minister in the Lieberals would lose his portfolio for doing so, not the backbenchers. 

Turnbull is stuck with this revolt against the plebiscite-or-nothing policy now. He has only a one seat majority in the lower house. If his pro-marriage equality members cross the floor from the back bench, there is absolutely nothing him or Tony Abbot could do about it.

Yes darlings, the Lieberal right wing are losing of their anti-gay agenda. Could it be that their day is belatedly and finally done?

It has been a travesty of justice in Australia that only a few people on the far right have dictated policy to all Australians for so long of the Abbott/Turnbull gov. It is an outrage to minorities and those of us who find it hard to defend ourselves without much of a voice. They're the ones in power, and they rammed that home when they annulled the first gay marriages in Canberra through the High Court. A complete asshole of an act. More love from the christians.....

Now the momentum has come so strong and overwhelming for the likes of David and I to be married that they fear it's inevitable. Much of the reason they want to control the process now is simply because they're looking at losing the next election big time to Labor and they want to legislate re "religious freedom". 

Honestly it's just pathetic to see where the Lieberals are at now. The gov is made up mostly of religious Catholic zealots still thinking the Catholic church has some sort of moral authority over mostly secular Australia. How they could even imagine that is beyond me, given the fact that the royal commission has put paedophile Catholic priest conservatively at 7% of them all. What moral authority?

Sydney Morning Herald