I See Red

World first: gay PM in Iceland

Johanna Sigurdardottir is Iceland's new Prime Minister - and she happens to be gay.

I get frustrated when people like Chris Trotter go on about "identity politics" within the Labour Party.  For me such success is not about identity politics but about social democracy in action.  Johanna Sigurdardottir was clearly the best person for the job. 

The social democratic mission is about ensuring that people have the opportunity to succeed regardless of their background (age, sex, gender, disability, income, family background, religion).  I don't celebrate Johanna Sigurdartottir because she is gay: I celebrate Johanna because she was the best person for the job, and Johanna and the Icelandic people did not let sexuality be a barrier to her success.

Hat tip (No Right Turn)

Proof - gays cause heterosexual divorce

Gay marriage and adoption in Norway

Norway's Parliament has voted 84 to 41 to replace their "partnership law" with gay marraige, and allow gay couples to adopt and permit lesbian's to be artificially inseminated.  The change was supported by most of the centre-left coalition parties in power and two oppositino parties, the Conservatives and Liberals.  The Christian Democrats and far-right Progress Party voted against. Now that's progress!

Meanwhile, in Northern Ireland, Iris Robinson, the 57-year-old wife of First Minister Peter Robinson, has referred to gays as 'disgusting, loathsome, shamefully wicked and vile' and called homosexuality "an abomination" in a radio interview. She also said she knew a nice doctor who could cure gays.  That's nice of her.

Schools to be safer for gay students

Education Minister, Hon Chris Carter, has revealed that the Labour-led Government will announce a new policy in about three weeks to make schools safer for queer people, in particular combating bullying.

And before people jump up and down thinking this is all "PC" there are good practical reasons to make schools a safe place for queer people.  The Lavender Islands study of gay and lesbian New Zealanders showed that students who admit to being lesbian or gay during their teenage years are more likely to be bullied and less likely to succeed in education.  That should be a concern for all of us, because it means a number of young people are not reaching their full potential.

Homosexual Holocaust Victims Remembered

Berlin has remembered homosexual holocaust victims with a monument to the tens of thousands of homosexual's murdered by the Nazi regime. For many years the the persecution of homosexuals during the Third Reich has been overlooked. The monument's plaque explains the history of Nazi persecution of homosexuals but also draws people's attention to the current situation in many countries where homosexual people still face persecution:

"In many parts of the world people are still persecuted because of their sexual identity, homosexual love is a criminal offense and a kiss can spell danger."

Last week I attended a fantastic Christchurch Film Through Rainbow Coloured Glasses - a film on the history of gay, lesbian and transgendered people in Christchurch. It traverses a gay bashing murder in Hagley Park, and subsequent not-guilty verdict of the young men who killed him, the Parker-Hume (Heavenly Creatures) murder, a harrowing example of the 'aversion therapy' of the 1960s, sex with seamen at Lyttleton port, as well as the campaign for Homosexual Law Reform, Human Rights legislation and the Civil Union campaign.  Yours truly makes a few breif appearances. The directors have done a fantastic job of capturing the colour of queer Christchurch over a number of years.

Anti-gay group to protest Heath Ledger funeral

Reverend Fred Phelps, keeper of the God Hates Fags website, is at it again.  They are going to protest at Heath Ledger's funeral (presumably because of the role he played in Brokeback Mountain).  Media release here.

Some of my best friends are American

New Zealand Bans American Marriages - Channel 8 News - Nov 1st, 2006

This November, as voters in eight states decide on gay marriage, the small South Pacific nation of New Zealand faces a similarly controversial decision in the form of the 2006 Marriage Amendment Act.  If passed, the act will ban Americans from marrying one another on New Zealand soil.

This is a cute wee film that has recently won an international online award - Huffington Post’s Contagious Festival.  Check out the National MP opposing American Marriages, Lockwood Brash!

Hat Tip: GayNZ.com

Eugenics

Two interesting moral issues caught my attention yesterday relating to eugenics.  The first relates to an American University doing research trying to turn gay rams straight (their research indicates around 8% are gay). This has been condemned by gay activists as well as sheep farmers themselves who say that the study is not for the benefit of sheep farming but ideologically driven.  Of course such research begs the question - that if messing with biology and hormones can turn gay rams straight, can it also turn straight rams gay?

UPDATE: Jim Newman has posted an link to an excellent piece on Daily Kos which demonstrates how this rehashed story is a load of bollocks that has been throughly discredited.

The second issues relates to a severely disabled girl in the US.  Her parents have authorised doctors to stunt her growth with oestrogen and have given her a hysterectomy to prevent her menstrual cycle.  Her parents have set up a blog and say that it is a more humane solution for their daughter who suffers from an irreversible brain impairment.  Opponents say stopping normal human development oversteps the bounds of medical treatment and the 'do no harm' rule.  The parents have since updated the blog with a summary of what they have done what they have.  The comments section of the blog is worth a read with comments both for and against what the parents have done.

Rainbow flags, bigots, and compassion

This is a lovely heartwarming story about a couple in Meade - a small town in Kansas.  Their 12 year old son gave them a Rainbow flag as a gift because he is staying with family in California.  They knew it was a symbol of gay pride but they hung it up because it was colorful and reminded them of their son, not to celebrate gay pride.

In the month since the flag went up, the Lakeway Hotel has become a target, with local residents launching an informal boycott of the hotel’s restaurant, one Meade resident comparing the flag to the Nazi flag on the local evening news, and an anonymous vandal tearing the flag to shreds. Knight said he plans to replace the flag, and the local opposition has only made him and his wife more resolute in keeping the flag flying.

Their story exploded in the blog world, and they have since received thousands of supportive messages and gifts.  And they have sent out this beautiful message as a thank you. 

A Lifetime of Progress

This is the speech I gave on Sunday night (yes, it was a long day!) in Wellington at the 20th Anniversary of Homosexual Law Reform celebrations at Premier House.  There is a media report on the event here. 

Kia Ora koutou.

Firstly I’d like to acknowledge the presence of Judy Keall, who was my buddy MP when I stood for Labour in Rakaia in 2002.  Judy played a very important role in Homosexual Law Reform.  Thank you.

1981, 25 years ago, was a very dramatic year.  Putting aside the Springbok Tour it was the year that I was born in Invercargill!

For me these (hold up) were most important part of my life at the time.

Little did I know that forces were at play then that in 5 years time would lead to the decriminalisation of gay sex: making it possible to live and love without the fear of arrest!

Although, in 1986 (hold up picture of my first day at school) the only thing I had to fear was the fashion police.

And little did I know then that just 7 years later, in 1993, discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation would be outlawed: making it possible to live a life without the fear of being rejected just because of what you are.

  I was 12 then.  Beavis and Butthead were all the rage (hold up).

But if only life was that simple.  Because while those bills created legal protection, laws can’t protect you from homophobia.

This was a time when I was starting to become aware that I was different and what that meant.  A time when I started being conscious of the need to blend in: become invisible.

At the time I wasn’t aware of Homosexual Law Reform – or even what homosexual meant. 

I wasn’t aware of Human Rights Law – or even what that meant. 

All I knew is that I thought I was the only one.  That the feelings I was having for boys I should be having for girls. 

When I was 15 I experienced the liberation of coming out to a few friends. But then the stomach sickening feeling when the whole school found out.  I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole. 

But I survived.  Other gay kids in Invercargill at that time didn’t. 

My major motivating factor in life was doing well at school so that I could go to University, and most importantly the fact that that was my one way ticket out of Invercargill.

And moving to Christchurchwas like I had been born again –a born again Christchurchian!

I found myself.  I found my identity.  Not only did I fall in love with Christchurch, but I found the love of my life and we’ve been together the 6 years since.

Sometimes younger queer people forget that the freedom we have hasn’t always been there. 

That for those a bit older at least part of their lives was spend forced onto the margins and in Maryan Streets words hated for being there.

Forced to gather in secret for both protection and to meet other gay people.

Forced to unite to work for shared political and social ends.

In my lifetime that world has changed.

The laws that were fought so hard for over the past two decades by many of the sung and unsung heroes in this room today (on behalf of my generation thank you so much) you helped create a freer, more tolerant NZ and the foundations for future reforms.

In 2004, like many people around my age, I participated in the successful campaign to pass the Civil Union Act, giving a status to same sex relationships.

Like Homosexual Law Reform and Human Rights Law, Civil Unions are now part of our queer story, part of our history, part of our New Zealand landscape.

So, my 25 years socially and legally represents a lifetime of progress for our community. 

Of course we have some way still to go.

Not only in New Zealand where we are still denied queer adoption and safety in schools for queer people but also around the world, in places like Iraq where queer teenagers are being tortured and killed, and even in our own backyard, Fiji where gay men are being sent to prison. 

What we seek is greater freedom for all people so that we can all follow our dreams.

I dream about a world where a kid can be born in Invercargill in 2006 and grow up where queer is visible and respected. 

A world where we are politically united in the drive for equality based on our standing as human beings, entitled by our shared humanity to the same rights and dignities as everyone else.