Although same-sex couples can’t marry in Australia, at least now those with the means can go abroad to get married in a country that does allow it. Australia is about to allow same-sex couples to obtain “Certificates of No Impediment,” which essentially certify that a person is not already married. Such certificates, or CNIs, must be brandished in certain countries that allow marriage equality, such as South Africa, and until this law was changed, Australia actually refused to grant them to LGBT people. That meant same-sex Australians couldn’t even get married abroad.
Attorney-General Nicola Roxon says while it does not mean a same-sex marriage is recognised in Australia, it does remove a discriminatory hurdle.
“Same-sex couples have been very insulted that they can’t get from their government a certificate which says they’re not married to anyone else,” she said.
“We are not by this step, recognising in any official way the marriage. What we’re doing is providing a certificate in the same way we do for heterosexual couples to say that there’s no legal reason that provides another impediment to people being married.
“It’s a pretty basic thing and that prevents them from benefiting from the laws of another country. So it’s a removal of discrimination rather than the next step, which our Australian Parliament hasn’t yet dealt with.”
The past few days have seen a number of alarming anti-LGBT international news items. Among them:
- in Australia, Prime Minister Julia Gillard has refused to set up a meeting with members of the advocacy group GetUp! (famous most recently for incredibly compelling marriage equality advertisement that’s gone absolutely viral), despite the fact that the group won an “intimate dinner” with Ms. Gillard in a June charity auction, intending to send same-sex couples to dine with the anti-equality prime minister and share their stories. ABC News Australia later reported that Gillard’s office agreed to hold the dinner, but not until after her party’s national conference early next month. h/t: Andy
- in Russia, the St. Petersburg administrative region is considering legislation that would ban so-called “gay propaganda,” essentially prohibiting anyone from writing, publishing, or speaking in public about LGBT identity. Two other regions, Arkhangelsk and Ryazan, have already taken similar steps. h/t: Rex
- in Zimbabwe, President Robert Mugabe has pledged to “punish severely” any Zimbabwean known to be an LGBT person. He also called homosexuality “Satanic” and lashed out at Western governments seeking to make future aid contingent upon the recipient nation upholding all human rights, including gay rights.
Australia is leading the charge among Commonwealth nations–a group of 52 countries, most of which were once under British rule–to legalize homosexuality. Homosexuality is illegal in at least 40 of these countries. Spearheaded by Aussie PM Kevin Rudd, the issue will be discussed for the first time at the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting this week, held in Perth.
British LGBT activist Peter Tatchell has called the Commonwealth a “bastion of global homophobia” and complained in May that its Secretary-General, Kamalesh Sharma, persistently fails to condemn anti-gay violence and “seems to regard the issue as an embarrassment and a distraction.” In September, he called upon the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting to address the issue in detail.
It will be interesting to see what happens if some sort of declaration or program of action is adopted. I doubt it would be binding, but leaders in Uganda, Cameroon, and other hellish countries in which to be born gay will no doubt express fiery opinions, further embarrassing themselves in the eyes of the world.
Some people say that the United States of America doesn’t make anything worthy of exporting to other nations, and this video won’t disabuse them of that notion, not one bit. Some wingnut called “Rebecca Hagelin” decided to go to Australia to lend a hand in making sure gays remain second class citizens in that nation, and during her talk, she said some truly stupid things linking homosexuality and pedophilia. Only the dumbest of all humans could possibly be swayed by an argument like this:
No, seriously. Only the dumbest of all humans. The question, as always, is this: is the wingnut saying these things truly stupid, or is she just a fearmongering liar? Stupid or evil? Stupid or evil? Only she knows her own heart.
FYI, I had to look her up, because she must be a really minor player in the professional bigot industry, but apparently Rebecca is with Heritage and also writes for Clown Hall. Unsurprising.
A CONTROVERSIAL church group has called on Prime Minister Julia Gillard to fall on her knees in prayer in the midst of the looming cyclone crisis facing Queensland.
“It is very sad that this dark chapter in Australia’s history is led by an atheist Prime Minister in Julia Gillard and an openly homosexual Greens leader… both who have no regard for God nor prayer,” Catch the Fire Ministeries said in a statement today.
President Dr Daniel Nalliah said Julia Gillard was not elected by the majority of the Australian people, but rather the personal decision of two power hungry independent MPs who catapulted Ms Gillard to the top job.
“Are we Aussies all paying for that decision? It is very well known that throughout history, in a time of national crisis, kings, prime ministers and presidents of countries around the world have turned to God, irrespective of whether they were Christian, Buddhist, Hindu or Muslim and asked for help or at least called the nation to pray for protection and for the victims of the disaster,” Dr Nalliah said.
Over the weekend, SBS “Dateline” in Australia aired a report about those in Uganda who live in fear for their safety due to their opposition to the country’s barbaric Anti-Homosexuality Bill.
Those behind the new laws see homosexuality as an abomination against their religion and believe a Western ‘homosexual juggernaut’ is threatening Uganda. They say they want to ‘cure’ gays and lesbians and get rid of all homosexual influence in the country.
One lawyer opposing the plans tells video journalist Aaron Lewis that even murderers are treated with higher regard than gays and lesbians.
The transcript begins by introducing the dangers faced by human-rights activist Frank Mugisha:
Daily life on the street has become even more difficult for Uganda’s sexual minorities since the campaign for the bill began. Not yet passed into law, the bill has further criminalised Frank and others in the eyes of the public.
FRANK MUGISHA: Many Ugandans have taken the law into their own hands and started attacking homosexuals, beating them up. Landlords have thrown people out of their houses because they are saying “If this legislation is passed and I have a homosexual who is a tenant, then I become a criminal, so it is better I throw you out now before the law is passed”.
Pepe works with Frank on advocacy for sexual minorities.
PEPE: Kampala is one of the places that is known for mob injustice – anything can happen. You can move on the street and someone can say “Look, the homosexual is doing something” – just that word alone is going to draw attention and something can happen so that we live in fear of all the time.
Besides outright violence, Ugandan mobs are taught by certain Christian churches to use “corrective rape” as a method of turning people straight.
Sheila Mugisha is a lesbian. She’s lived her entire life under attack. Sheila’s worst fears were realised at only 12 years old. She had already started to show interest in other girls and she then became the target of what is known here as curative rape.
REPORTER: Curative rape is the process of sexually assaulting someone hoping that, that process will turn them into a heterosexual?
SHEILA MUGISHA: Yes.
REPORTER: And this has happened to you?
SHEILA MUGISHA: It has happened to me.
REPORTER: Can you tell me anything about that?
SHEILA MUGISHA: At the age of 12 I had a friend at home – and actually these things are done by friends. I had always told him my stories, my secrets, my encounters in bed. So, he would tell me, “You know what? I want to teach you how to play with boys, not with girls.” He put his leg here, and here, and then he got into my body, into my vagina, and I screamed because I’d never had any sex, I’d never known, you know, any of those practices. “So, from now, you are going to learn how to play with boys.”
As a result of the rape, Sheila became pregnant at the age of 12. Her family took her to have the child aborted but the effects of the rape continued.
SHEILA MUGISHA: I went to a certain AIDS information centre in Mengo with a friend – I took a test – and it was positive.
SBS observes that “Uganda is a deeply Christian country where the church and state work hand in glove.”
Hand in glove, that is, to purge and kill religious dissidents. They learned the rationale for such a purge from the U.S. ex-gay movement:
If the anti-homosexuality act were to be passed, courts like this could have their hands full. A whole range of everyday behaviours, including public touching, text messaging, or reporting on a gay or lesbian issue, would be criminalised. Even witnessing an act of same-sex public affection and failing to report it to the authorities could land you in the dock.
DAVID BAHATI: I think the bill addresses the real problem. And the real problem is promotion of homosexuality in Uganda. Whether it is children, whether it’s the adult people, it’s the real problem.
David Bahati and Moses Male both believe that if no-one is promoting the homosexual lifestyle, there simply won’t be homosexuals.
PASTOR MOSES MALE: None is born a homosexual. Homosexuality is a habit that is gradually learned. When it is gradually learned, it can finally become an addiction, just like drugs, just like alcoholism.
Evangelicals are teaching this myth in Uganda because the ex-gay movement was never discredited there:
Lad Rakafuzi tells me that this idea of promotion is the biggest danger for Uganda’s sexual minorities.
LAD RAKAFUZI: That means shutting out debate on these issues. Which means it will be infringement of freedom to speak and freedom to communicate, and to receive information.
Dissidents include religious authorities:
Bishop Alawe Sonjogo was threatened with excommunication from the Anglican Church of Uganda for defending the rights of homosexuals.
BISHOP ALAWE SONJOGO: That bill is draconian and the first thing – people into hiding.
REPORTER: In what way is the bill draconian?
BISHOP ALAWE SONJOGO: First of all, you have to report, me as a counsellor, I would be reporting people who are homosexuals – if I don’t – I could be punished. So anyone working with a person is supposed to report that person. And again, the punishments, the penalties are so severe, ranging from five years to life imprisonment, even to have some people sentenced to death.
Meanwhile, journalist Stanley Nduala of the antigay vigilante tabloid Red Pepper admits what “values” drive the antigay pogrom:
REPORTER: So here in Uganda, being a rapist is minor compared to being a homosexual?
The other day, I wrote about Australian pastor and MP Fred Nile, who made this insane claim opposing adoption rights by gay couples:
Addressing the packed public meeting, Christian Democratic Party leader Reverend Fred Nile said the bill could deter women thinking of adopting out their child and “lead to the tragedy of abortion”.
“Any mother putting up her baby for adoption would never imagine that their baby would be brought up by two male homosexuals or two female lesbians,” he said.
“Is this really an ideological issue or homosexuals demanding yet another human right?
The Reverend Fred Nile, a Christian Democrat MP in New South Wales, Australia, said that porn accessed on a parliamentary computer under his log-on likely resulted from official research and not someone “sitting there perving.”
According to The Herald Sun, the parliamentary audit turned up close to 200,000 hits, which Nile blamed on research for his efforts to tame the porn industry.
“He said the porn site research was used for questions, speeches, and bills, including the federal Labor government’s internet filter plan,” reported the Sun.
TWO-HUNDRED THOUSAND HITS!
That kind of committed research could leave a man raw, if you know whadda mean.
Wait, I think I’ve heard of this sort of “research” before, somewhere.
The thesis here, promulgated by Australian pastor Fred Nile, seems to be that pregnant women will be more likely to just have lots of abortions, rather than consider the idea of their offspring being raised by gay parents. This happened in a meeting called in opposition to a bill which would legalize same-sex adoption in Australia:
Addressing the packed public meeting, Christian Democratic Party leader Reverend Fred Nile said the bill could deter women thinking of adopting out their child and “lead to the tragedy of abortion”.
“Any mother putting up her baby for adoption would never imagine that their baby would be brought up by two male homosexuals or two female lesbians,” he said.
“Is this really an ideological issue or homosexuals demanding yet another human right?
WHERE DO THOSE DISGUSTING GAYS GET OFF WANTING “HUMAN RIGHTS”?
Ahem. What a revealing statement from the “man of God” in Australia that was!
Thankfully, there are sane people in this debate as well:
However, the Benevolent Society charity and UnitingCare Burnside, one of the largest child and welfare agencies in NSW, have come out in support of the bill, saying it will benefit children and boost foster carer numbers.
“We believe that an individual or couple’s sexuality has no relevance when it comes to considering their ability to provide high quality care and a nurturing environment for a child,” Benevolent Society acting CEO Maree Walk said today.
The charity has had contact with many same-sex couples who have adopted children outside of NSW and have found they are highly sensitive to the needs of their child, Ms Walk said.
“Potential adoptive parents should be assessed on the basis of their suitability to parent, not their sexual orientation.”
I can’t imagine why. Of course, the states that have marriage equality tend to be run a little bit better than the slave states, so we shouldn’t give all the credit to gay couples. Just some of it.
Have you ever thought of what it might be like if Wendy Wright had an Australian accent? Did you wake up from that night terror covered in sweat?
Watch this debate between two minority party candidates in Australia — The Australian Sex Party and the Family First Party. As you can imagine, and as P.Z. Myers points out, the candidate representing the “family” party is the least equipped on matters relating to actual families, and is much more about being discriminatory and upholding her baseless conservative Christian supremacy than anything else.
If you don’t have twelve minutes, the Gay Part starts at about 6:30. To be fair, the “family” lady’s arguments are just as strong as the defendants’ arguments in Perry.
I like the Australian Sex Party. They make a lot of sense, and their name seems designed to give wingnuts fits.
Wait, Twilight? The vapid crap written by the Mormon lady with the misspelled name about how women should pine over men who mistreat them, who are unwilling/unable to commit to them? Isn’t that kind of a Catholic message anyway?
THE appointment of a new exorcist by Sydney’s Catholic Church precedes a warning by a senior clergyman that generation Y risks a dangerous fascination with the occult fuelled by the Twilight and Harry Potter series.
Julian Porteous, the auxiliary bishop of Sydney, warns that pursuing such ”alternative” relaxation techniques as yoga, reiki massages and tai chi may encourage experimentation with ”deep and dark spiritual ideas and traditions”.
Bishop Porteous, who is second to Cardinal George Pell in the Australian Catholic hierarchy, told The Sun-Herald the Twilight and Harry Potter books and films ”are attractive to adolescents and can be innocent enough.
”However, they can open up a fascination with this mysterious world and invite exploration of various phenomena through the use of occult practices like seances.”
(…)
Bishop Porteous – who has stood in as exorcist for the Sydney archdiocese over the past five years – warns that yoga, reiki massages and tai chi can lead to people being in the grip of ”demonic forces”.
Uh huh. And people who believe that demonic spirits can inhabit people’s bodies are somehow not dangerous?
Come clean, guys: isn’t the problem more that if kids are off reading Twilight and Harry Potter instead of coming to church, then they run the risk of noticing how similar those fantasy worlds are to the utter fantasy world that is the Catholic Church? Wizards! Demon spirits! Hotty totty vampires! A multi-tiered spiritual world we can communicate with! Transsubstantiation! Using a priest as a medium to curry favor with a deity!
Etc.
As to the weird comment about yoga leading people into the grip of “demonic forces,” I’d rather my child be in the grip of a “demonic force” than in the grip of a Catholic priest, ifyouknowwhatImean&Ithinkyoudo.
- in Australia, Prime Minister Julia Gillard has refused to set up a meeting with members of the advocacy group GetUp! (famous most recently for incredibly compelling 
The other day, I 
