Let me start at the beginning...
A couple of months ago a friend of mine, Louise, related a conversation she'd had with her flatmate - we'll call her Waynetta. They were discussing the results of the Australian election.
The conversation centered around Waynetta's voting Liberal (Conservative in the UK, Republican in the US) and what policies she was inadvertently voting for.
Despite Louise demonstrating their anti-women policies regarding single parenthood etc Waynetta was adamant they were the party for her. "After all," Waynetta said, "I'm not a single mother".
Louise's next tack was to try and point out the Liberal party's discrimination against other groups that Waynetta may feel for, such as Gays and Lesbians.
Here again, Waynetta responded with "But I'm not Gay", whereupon Louise, thinking she had her at last said, "no, but several of your friends are!"
This was nothing to Waynetta who clearly couldn't see why that would make a difference and later in the discussion when confronted with Australia's general lack of equality for Gays retorted with "well I'm not sure they should be entitled to the same rights as us!"
Now if Waynetta had only met a couple of Gay Boys in her local pub and had no further contact, I could kind of understand her stance. After all, her family are conservative and right wing and I'd felt myself bristle in conversations with her Father around race for example. However, Waynetta was not some country hick with little exposure. She'd worked, socialised and even shared Xmas with gay people, myself included and as another Sydney orphan had been welcomed as part of our extended family, a family that is very much 50/50, Gay/Straight.
So how did Waynetta become like this and why did she remain so?
Waynetta is a bigot because she "was raised this way"- her words not mine and she fails to see how her attitude harms herself and her society. By her own statements if she could perceive why her position jeopardises her own safeties, she might change her position, for example is she herself were gay. She's not, but she is however, in a state of ignorance. She doesn't know why she feels the way she does, can't verbalise it, but feels it instinctively: She fears the unknown.
She continues to be this way, because nobody until Louise, had ever challenged on it, shown her how misguided she was, or held a mirror up to her face to show her what a dirty, little bigot she is. Sorry Waynetta, but your position is not acceptable in the modern world, you're a 50's reject, a product of your small minded parents and in need of a wake-up call. It's 2008 and you're expected to use that brain between your ears, rather than following blindly in your Father's footsteps. And if you can't verbalise your opinions in a way other than "I just do that's all" then maybe Australia needs to re-think it's mandatory voting stance.
I'd decided not to post on this topic, based on Louise's feelings about the subject and my own inability to write dispassionately and rationally on it. While none of that has changed, I can't help but feel it's linked to a bigger problem and that I fail myself and my peers by not taking some sort of action, even if all that is, is blogging here.
So why now?
Fiction: Sydney: Gay Mecca of the Southern Hemisphere. While people in the States tell you San Francisco is no longer the hedonistic place of sanctuary of the 70's, they look with longing eyes to the Harboured City of Homos. Everyone is treated equally, it's the most gay friendly place on the planet and to be gay here is the norm.
Fact: Oxford Street (Sydney's Castro, Christopher Street or Old Compton Street) has been taken over as the Hen Party destination of Sydney, the Gay bars being seen as lacking the male predators of straight bars and therefore "safe" for groups of straight women - this despite the fact that the straight boys follow. Coupled with the increase in straight venues in the area, Oxford Street and Darlinghurst are no longer the safe spaces they were. Gay bashings are on the increase and you only need to walk past a straight club to have abuse hurled - I know because it happened to me several times in the month or so before I left last August.
Why is this happening? Aren't we talking about clubbers? Generations X and Y? The more liberal and tolerant generations? Shouldn't the two communities be able to sit side by side?
Well you'd think so. But while people with attitudes like Waynetta's remain unchallenged and go around thinking their bigoted mindset is permissible, thugs on Oxford Street will continue to bash.
The worst thing is that there appears to be no penalty for their behaviour.
While John Howard was busy perpetuating the idea that Gays and Lesbians didn't deserve the right to equality, the police force in Sydney dithered over the incidences of Homophobic crime reported to them.
As reported in the SMH only today, a victim of an attack occurring last December (Craig Gee - see pic) where he was able to identify his attackers on CCTV, has still yet to receive further communication from the Police. I'd blame the Xmas holidays for the Police's lack of response, but an attack on another victim in January of 2007 sees the victim still waiting for a return phone call from his Liaison Officer assigned to his case. In his own words "Every time I call, the officer is sick or doesn’t ring back.”It seems like a victim of Homophobic abuse has a long wait for any sort of justice.
To be fair, the police have identified key areas where they can impact, education in schools being one of them, but greater police presence is not one of their options. The sad thing is, that without an arrest, without a visible penalty for these attitudes and these actions, there is no deterrent for the homophobic thugs.
So what can we do? Well you can attend the march in Sydney on Australia Day for a start (details below) and you can stop taking those deep breaths when you hear someone spouting their right wing values. Waynetta is your best friend, your sister, your colleague; which only means you have more responsibility to tell her where she's going wrong. If there's one person in your world who may be affected, it's you. Because today it's the Gays, tomorrow the Jews, the Blacks next week and on and on. It's time we stopped pussyfooting around and pretending we're so close to equality we don't want to rock the boat. There is no partial equality - you're either equal or you're not. Making your society the best it can be is hard work and it's your job and mine. Are you equal to the task?
WHEN: 26 January 2008, starting 4pm
WHERE: Harmony Park (next to Surry Hills Police Station)
BYO: Rainbow flags, friends & family, seating, drums/instruments, peaceful determination, sunscreen, snacks/water
