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29 Aug 2008

Aussie lesbian senator Louise Pratt calls for same-sex marriage

Senator Louise Pratt has called for gay marriage to be legalised, challenging party leader and PM Kevin Rudd, who had recently pushed the ACT government to scrap its bid for civil union and gay marriage laws on the grounds the arrangement mimicked marriage.

Newly elected senator Louise Pratt who is the third openly gay member of the current senate - along with Greens leader Bob Brown and Climate Change Minister Penny Wong - has renewed the debate on gay marriage in Australia. She is also the first and only member of parliament known to have a transgendered partner.

Top: Louise Pratt. Bottom: Del Martin (left), the pioneering lesbian rights activist who wed her partner of 55 years, Phyllis Lyon, on June 16, 2008 - the first day same sex couples could marry in California - has passed away at 87. The couple had first married four years ago when San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom allowed marriage licenses to be issued to same-sex couples in the city in defiance of state law. The marriages were later declared null. Lyon, 83, said in a statement: ''Ever since I met Del 55 years ago, I could never imagine a day would come when she wouldn't be by my side... I also never imagined there would be a day that we would actually be able to get married. I am devastated, but I take some solace in knowing we were able to enjoy the ultimate rite of love and commitment before she passed.'' To read more, click on the SFGate link below.

In her maiden speech this week, Pratt, Senator for Western Australia said: "I look forward to a time when we will have removed at a federal level all discrimination on the grounds of gender identity and sexuality, to a time when my partner is not denied a passport because his gender is not recognised under our laws; to a time when my friends' children all enjoy the same rights and protections under commonwealth law regardless of whether their parents are straight or gay; to a time when if my gay friends wish to be legally married, they can be."

The 36-year-old revealed that her partner of two years Aram Hosie, came out as a lesbian at 15 and began transitioning to male in 2006 at the age of 23. He is reported to be the founding president of the Western Australia (WA) Gender Project which is currently lobbying for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to allow transgendered people to have a passport which states their new gender.

"Conservative forces in this country do not offer the kind of leadership we need to face this and other challenges. Far from it: they have a history of fostering division," she said.

She spoke of her experience in advocating equal rights as a state MP in WA. Prior to her election to the WA Legislative Council in 2001, she was spokesperson for Gay and Lesbian Equality, a prominent advocacy group.

"I was, and I remain, very proud to have been part of the West Australian government that completely removed this discrimination against same-sex couples and their children in all state laws," said the Labor member who was elected to the federal Senate last year.

WA's legislative reform included a complete ban on discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, access for same-sex couples to adopt children, lowering the age of consent from 21 to 16 and repealing legislation which had otherwise made it an offence to 'promote' homosexuality in schools.


Penny Wong: Senator for South Australia and Minister for Climate Change and Water on same-sex marriage

Earlier this month, Wong who made headlines last years for being the first openly gay member and the first Asian-born member of an Australian cabinet, was chided by the Australian gay press for toeing the party line on the issue of same-sex marriage. Maiden Speech - Reclaiming One Nation: 21 Aug 2002 criticised the Howard Government for overturning the Australian Capital Territory Civil Unions Act

Gay site Samesame.com.au quoted Wong as saying on Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Q&A programme, "My view is that I'm a member of the party, the party's got a very clear view and that is a view that is supported, let's be frank, by the vast majority of Australians."

She was criticised by Tim Wilson, another openly gay member of the panel and from the Institute of Public Affairs for her stance. "But what have you done, Penny Wong, from inside the party to advocate for an alternate position? There're two gay people on this panel, you and I, and I find it very frustrating that in your party room you may very well be vocal, but when you come out here you defend it. It's okay to have a different opinion from your party. I think the public expects that people have different perspective from time to time."

SX News's Sam Butler wrote in an Aug 6 column: "Wong of course has as much right to a private life as any other MP, and clearly she's not willing to adopt a 'personal is political' approach to her sexuality that underlies the perspectives of former Democrats Senator Brian Greig and (we hope) incoming Labor Senator Louise Pratt. And from all reports, Wong is one of the strongest internal allies of LGBTI law reform and equality.

"More's the pity, then, that she refuses to carry her admirable work beyond the closed doors of cabinet meetings, and into public forums, where she could easily inspire a generation of young women to be open, proud, and - perhaps most importantly - vocal, about being queer."


Bob Brown: Senator for Tasmania and leader of the Australian Greens on same-sex marriage

Elected to the Australian Senate for Tasmania in 1996, Brown is the first openly gay member of the Parliament of Australia and is an outspoken advocate for civil marriage for same-sex couples in Australia

"Like women getting the vote and Britain giving up its empire, gay marriage is inevitable. It's logical. It's part of the future," Brown said in 2004 when the Marriage Act was amended to recognise marriage to only be between a man and woman, and that same-sex marriages solemnised in other countries would not be recognised in Australia.

The Australianmarriageequality.com web site quotes Brown as saying, "In the 1950s there was a song which claimed 'Love and marriage... go together like a horse and carriage'. In the 2010s same-sex couples in Australia are treated like we are still in the horse and carriage age - and no marriage with love. The Greens will continue to campaign against the Rudd Government's regressive thinking."

Australia

读者回应

1. 2008-08-29 18:17  
55 years. Is that the longest anyone has waited to get married or what?
2. 2008-08-29 18:40  
Personally I find it difficult to get excited about so called 'same sex relationship recognition' it seems to be a lesser token arrangement, in a supposed secular democracy laws should be made for good reason, not because of some ones religious point of view as now is the case, also those people Gay Bi or Heterosexual in Polygamous relationships still miss out, there ought to be an alternative more radical approach to the present hetero monogamous arrangement that every one can have their relationships recognized under.
回应#3於被作者删除。
4. 2008-08-29 20:04  
Kellen said: "55 years. Is that the longest anyone has waited to get married or what?"

No it's not; I have friends in New Orleans who've been together over 60 years and would jump at the chance to get married.

5. 2008-08-29 23:14  
Del Martin was a brave woman. She and Phyllis Lyon fought for our rights when no one else would. They made a difference to all of us...no matter what country or culture we live in. Whether or not you believe in gay marriage, they were fighting for our rights. She will be missed by the communities that she fought for. It is wonderful that she was able to get married before she died.

I hope that the couple in New Orleans who have been together for 60 years have the opportunity that the ones in California have. Good luck to them...and to all the others who want to fulfill their dreams.

6. 2008-08-30 01:10  
This is the direction our world needs to moving towards.. gosh, I hope I'll never have to wait 55 years to marry the man i love.
7. 2008-08-30 01:48  
Good on you louise!!!!! power to you... someone has to stand up and shout down the blackflip and lie that Mr rudd used to get the gay vote to help in his rise to power. Shame Mr Rudd, if you are willing to have gay members in your cabinet and party then you should have the strength to stand up for their rights as human beings to share and make their love official!!!!!!!!!
8. 2008-08-30 07:54  
I wish one day same sex marriage can be global....I want a real wedding and a real cake!!
9. 2008-08-30 21:06  
cool lady
10. 2008-08-31 11:19  
Mmmmm ... same-sex marriage may work for Lesbians because, well, women are women and the whole nurturing-mothering ethos is a major part of their psyches. Not so sure about gay men, though :-) I mean, if the institution of marriage can't stop the China mistresses from disrupting the supposedly marital bliss of straight men, what makes us think that same-sex marriage can rein in the primal instincts of gay men. Would be nothing more than another sham in our lives, I'd say.

Ask your straight brothers and they'll tell about all the escapades they've had or are having behind their wives' backs. Gay men are NO different :-) Might as well get REAL and face the fact that marriage might work for women BUT it sure ain't gonna cut it for men.
回应#11於被作者删除。
回应#12於被作者删除。
13. 2008-08-31 17:13  
Heemale, there are the same variety of personalities and attitudes in both men and women. Enough with the stereotypes already!

There are plenty of women who screw around, just as there are plenty of men who don't. All a bit of a red herring.

回应#14於被作者删除。
15. 2008-09-01 15:09  
Steveuk, I was referring to the general and NOT to the exceptional, i.e. monogamy is generally a woman thing while it's mostly an exceptional one for men. That's just MY personal opinion based on what I see happening around me and what I know of myself. Nothing more, nothing less :-)
16. 2008-09-01 15:28  
men cannot keep themselves exclusively to one.
gay or straight.
prostitution is the oldest profession cos men need to see themselves thru different women...for gay men, they need to do it with different men...that's why u have gay saunas, gay pick up...gay sex joints.
when a gay men gets dumped in a 1 year plus relationship, he picks up he pieces really fast and move on to another men...love dun mean much so u need not mourn.
the novelty in gay men's eyes are the same as little boys....he cry for ultraman....but in 3 days later or sooner, he will want superman....same goes with gay men, he fucks u...in the sauna, later u see him cruising another man for sex...n he avoids u like poison.
the joy is in the hunt, the thrill of nailing a man...as soon as he release his 'juice'...u have no value in his eyes. ..men makes faster disappearing acts after sex than ghost caught at the corner of yr eyes.
men are ruled by their cocks...they need sex...if all men can just masturbate at home...all the sex joints (gay or straight) wld be out of business.
when gay men brags abt having 'lovers' all over....their frens think highly of him....he gets a certain high from conquering...with his penis.
men are selfish when it comes to sex...."Can u suck me then I rock yr ass wide open?" after that...he dun give a damn if a bus runs over u...he wants u gone.

COME ON OWN UP....GAY MARRIAGE IS HOG WASH. U guys will have more gays who jump from marriage to divorce faster than the straight cos no kids...no responsibility...with the so what attitude...hell care,...just divorce loh attitude...only the lawyers will be grinning from one ear to another....so many marriage and divorce gay cases.
17. 2008-09-01 16:22  
U think I am against u guys....let's be fair...for everyone of US...who ve a gay fren who stays in a long relationship...how many gays frens we know whom u know cannot hold relationship n r proud of getting many men for sex???? Truth, those who stays in relationships for over 3 years are few, those who stays in relationship for over 5 years are damn hard to find...those who ve been together for over 10 yrs are so damn rare.
Men are design to plant the seeds all over, just that we gays shoot it up the 'wrong' places. To the conservatives we r sinners, deviants, faggots..etc etc...why do we need to get 'married' n with the credential of gay men staying together for over 3 yrs r few...think of the VERY VERY many going into marriage and ending up in bitter angry and VERY public divorces that will have conservatives mock at us...condemn us further??? Those gays in divorce cases dun care cos they r so busy fighting over claims n rights in their divorce n cursing n swearing at the one they once 'loved'....do they care that their inability to make a marriage last is giving gays the bad name...of unloyal...dun deserve to be love...put us in the public's eyes. They dun care....cos your worse enemy is yr own kind...a gay man would be too busy doing war with another gay man.
Let the straight people go into marriages and deal with the terms n condition of marriage.
We gays are better off...bouncing from one men from another...let's be honest...for men who love deeply wld be labelled wuss, sticky,...woman's heart...we dun want love...we want SEX. Really....the man who woo u n talk sweet nothings into yr ears will be the same man who will avoid u like a plague n dun give a shit abt u when he is tired of u....very quickly...u want to marry him???? U want to go through all those legality etc knowing men cannot be tied down. Know our own kind...say NO to gay marriage, we are fine the way we are now. We have the 'freedom' to come and go...from ne man to another. At most if we get dumped...we will bitch abt him to our frens. If we dump him...well, suddenly our frens wld not hear us talk abt how marvellous he is...rite?
18. 2008-09-01 20:47  
errrrrmmmmm... I think its safe to assume that 'JasonTankk' is not the "marrying" type.
19. 2008-09-01 21:16  
#Jupiter101
Not only that.......this idiot named "JasonTankk" really fails to see what lies beyond the so-called "gay marriage".

F.Y.I. The legalization of gay marriage is the pinnacle victory of GLBT people struggle to obtain full right comparable to straight citizens, which includes tax, discrimination protection, pension, inheritance, etc.

Not only that, gay marriage also can change straight people negative perception on homosexuals' promiscuity and "disease spreading" bugs.
20. 2008-09-02 12:32  
Even in a predominately heterosexual world, where heterosex-propaganda incessantly bombards us from every direction, roughly 50% of their marriages will end in divorce (un-researched stats for you anal people out there who love to correct). But heteros have priviledges and rights under their hetero-based-laws which they are able to take for granted; priviledges to freely love and show affection for someone of the "opposite" sex, the rights to marry (AND to DIVORCE, and make lawyers rich). What condition would heterosexual relationships and specifically marriage be in, if for the past 2000 years societies in every country were killing, imprisoning, opressing, marginalizing, inflicitng suffering on all known heterosexuals? What we want, and what we deserve, are equal rights and equal choices.
21. 2008-09-02 14:54  
then u guys get married n show the world u gays are worse at holding a marriage than straights.....pinnacle victory....?? some creep in Indonesia with a name like goodvenus would never get to know....ooops buying too many naive young Indonesian boys???
22. 2008-09-02 22:20  
Good job, JasonTankk...

Again you showed how idiotic and asshole you are to the fridae.com readers.

Not only you bring some stupid racist comments, you are denying your own rights as well !!!

GOOD JOB!!!

I suppose you only posting your nude pictures around or wanking at saunas without reading anything about LGBT movements in the world, don't you?

Do you have any ideas WHY, I repeat WHY, WHY, WHY, they put EQUALITY...EQUALITY...EQUALITY behind the gay marriage things?
Is it only for the marriage itself??????

Because gay marriage is a pinnacle victory, YES, I repeat, PINNACLE VICTORY for gay people to have same rights and protections as heterosexual members, which of course INCLUDES NON-MARRIED and WANK-GO-ROUND gay people like you. YES...YOU!!!

So, don't you think it is idiotic to deny such freedom all LGBT people cherish for just because you want to wank around??

READ, JasonTankk, READ READ READ....!!!

There is plenty of resources about gay marriages and why we are dying to fight it for !!!!
23. 2008-09-03 14:48  
goodvenus,

let me read when u r DEAD fighting for those rights....a fight u most likely will NOT win....considering how the Asian government view homosexuals. Go fight Lee Kuan Yew.....do it!!!!
24. 2008-09-03 15:02  
Democratic freedom of speech is alive and well here in Fridae, but hey, lets be nice to each other, because we are all in this 'gay-life' together.
25. 2008-09-03 17:27  
Getting back to heemale; you see what you see because of your own experiences, context attracts content. We all see things and judge them in accordance with our pre-existing beliefs. All my life since the age of 17 virtually all my gay friends around the world have been in long term relationships. The exception to this seems to be Singapore, but then also straight friends and relatives seem to find it hard to maintain relationships unless they emigrate. Somy experience is the opposite of yours.

Why Singapore is different, in my experience, I can only guess; is it this "always on the lookout for something better" idea? Maybe someone else can enlighten me, or maybe I am just wrong on that point!


26. 2008-09-03 21:08  
@JasonTankk

Sorry to say this but you really need to READ what happened in the past...

People said using lighting other than FIRE is not possible, but Thomas Alva Edison proved it wrong.

People said women didn't suppose to study and gain equal education and vote as men because they are less intelligent, but proven wrong by Women Suffrage Movement.

People thought black people were destined to be slaves and low class citizens, but Martin Luther King proved it wrong.

People generally thought that gay people are sissies and loser in sports but Matthew Mitcham proved it WRONG.!!!

So....

It must start from somewhere. It's just simply useless to think in fatalistic paradigm like what you did. Even MUCH worse if you think gay people are generally promiscuous and un-loyal, which I am so keen to rebutt.

Please look around the world, not only in Asia, I have seen many couples that are even MORE loyal and supportive than straight people. Their relationship will be even better if the government and surroundings accept them....*Which THAT'S WHY gay marriages is a thing worthwhile to fight for*

Now, how to change Asian government view about gay people if the gay people themselves view their other members as promiscuous and disease spreader??

Just be smart, intelligent and considerate, it is a good start for you.
27. 2008-09-05 10:13  
Keep at it girls and boys. It will happen
28. 2008-09-06 15:52  
It is sad to see "US" with opposing opinions. Why don't we get along? Guys who are skeptical, why don't you just step aside and let those who unwavering fight for gay marriage do their thing and in the end you are the judge whether it is worth the fight or not. We'll see who has the last laugh, ya?
29. 2008-09-09 22:00  
what sirib said ... ;) ... kisses to sirib and others of same view
30. 2008-09-09 22:04  
jasontankk ... are you a ...

a) someone who pretends to be the fella in the picture ... personal revenge ? disgruntled ex ? or what ? ... something else more silly perhaps ?

b) or thats really you and your address is real and you are really really ignorant?

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