At its national conference, April 27-29, the ALP revised its policy on same-sex relationship recognition, supporting state-based registries for same-sex relationships modeled on the registry scheme in Tasmania. The conference also endorsed legislation to prohibit discrimination on the grounds of sexuality and/or gender identity.
The motion explicitly rejects same-sex marriage and civil unions. It says that the ALP will "not create schemes that mimic marriage or undermine existing laws that define marriage as being between a man and a woman". This not only rules out marriage, but also legislation that allows for official ceremonies, such as the ACT's Civil Partnership Bill.
The policy excludes a national registry scheme. It leaves same-sex relationship recognition up to the discretion of the states. The Victorian state government had already announced plans on April 24 to introduce a Tasmanian-style scheme. However, New South Wales attorney-general John Hatzistergos told Labor delegates that such a scheme would not be introduced in NSW.
"Pressure from the grassroots is what has forced Labor to change its policy", Community Action Against Homophobia (CAAH) Sydney co-convenor Shelly Dahl told Green Left Weekly. "But since this policy stops short of legalising our right to marry we need to keep up the pressure."
CAAH is helping organise a national day of action for same-sex marriage on August 11.
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shiverstess@gma... replied on Permalink
Dear Green Left editor,
Thank the good lord for Green Left journalists like Farida Iqbal who don't delete the original names of the forgotten voices with a long history of organising campaigns for equality since 1978 when DOCS, police and churches stole me from my birth mother, changed my name without my consent or my birth's mother's or relaitives consent and dumped me in abusive institutions and forgot about me and denied me from being legally adopted by anyone and prevented me from returning home to my relatives and my comrades to change the world. My name is comrade shelly frances kershaw (formerly Shelly Ann Dahl) and yes I am the CAAH Sydney activist Farida Iqbal named in this article. I am a liberation theologian intersex asexual forgotten australian liberation theologian born out of adultery and poverty who was deemed an illegal birth in 1978 under Section 85 of the Queensland Children's services Act of 1965. I find it ironic that the LIberal and ALP governments don't do their research before misquoting the bible. Sexuality and gender was never specified in the original greek and hebrew translation descriptions of marraige and that heterosexuality and homosexuality was only named in the 1800s and was not described in the original greek and hebrew manuscripts. That sodomy in Genesis 19 is the name of a city and not a decription of sexuality and gender and not a description of a sex act. In the year of the fiftieth anniversary of interracial marraiges in Australia since the 1967 referendum anything short of legalising marraige equality and equality means we need to unite to keep up the pressure. I will never forget how Farida used to run up the stairs in the green left office to let me know I was right. My prayer and hope is that Farida hasn't forgotten Farida's youth because I'm legally innocent of all chaged and am on my way home with a few forgotten comrades I found along the way. I'm back in CAAH Sydney doing what comrade shelly does best fighting to unite all to organise a big NDA for marraige equality because I am the founder of Craving liberation alliance community churches australia (CLACCA) and the founder of Forgotten australian justice alliance community (FAJAC) Sydney and any policy that stops short of legallising full equality and full marraige equality is a matter of civil human equal human rights before God. Read the bible it's reliable. Oh alright here is an updated version of the original talk Mel Hughes and myself gave in 2007 that I researched and wrote. We called it the history of queer liberation back then. Today I call it the history of the road to rainbow liberation because the book was missing important historical information that needs to be updated again.
I gave on the history of the road to rainbow liberation tha
Rev 19:9-10 NRSV "And the angel said to me, "Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marraige supper of the Lamb." And angel said to me. "These are the true words of God." Then I fell down at angel's feet, but angel said to me, "You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your comrades who hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." I find it ironic how the stupid ALP and liberal party haven't woken up to the fact that sexuality and gender description of marraige was never specified in the original greek and hebrew manuscripts of the bible.
The name Heterosexual and Homosexual, is not an invention of the bible but was first named by Károly Mária Kertbeny, an Austro-Hungarian man of letters, translator and journalist in 1868. “On May 6, 1868, in a letter to pioneering German sexologist Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, Kertbeny used the word Homosexualisten ("homosexuals"), which he derived from Greek homos ("the same") and the Latin root sexualis. One year later, he used it in two anonymous pamphlets written in German and published in Leipzig, in which he criticized the laws that criminalized same-sex sexual activities.
The term gradually gained wider circulation. In 1880, one of Kertbeny's texts was included in a popular-science book by Gustav Jäger, Die Entdeckung der Seele (Discovery of the Soul)--a study of body odors in sexual attraction; in that same volume, the term Heterosexualität ("heterosexuality") first appears. In 1900, an excised chapter on homosexuality by Kertbeny appeared in Magnus Hirschfeld's Jahrbuch für sexuelle Zwischenstufen (Yearbook for Sexual Intermediates).
Richard von Krafft-Ebing officially made use of "homosexuality" in the second edition of Psychopathia Sexualis in 1887, followed by Albert Moll in Die conträre Geschlechtsempfindung
(Contrary Sexual Feeling) in 1891.
Kertbeny's coinage gave a designation to "The Love that dare not speak its name" and "the sin not to be mentioned by Christians," and gradually replaced other terms for same-sex desire: the earlier persecutory or contemptuous "criminal against nature," "sodomite," "bugger," "hermaphrodite," or "degenerate," and the contemporary more or less non-discriminating "similisexual," "urning," "uranian," "invert," or "homophile."[1]”
[1] (Endres, 2004-2015)
The following will address why we need to unite to win marriage equality for yesterday, today and tomorrow.
The origins of the oppression of LGBTIQPSDGA+ people is not biblical or religion.
The bible and religion is not to blame for the origins of the oppression of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Intersex, Pansexual, Queer, Sex and Gender Diverse, Asexual plus Community. According to Pat Brewer, the origins of the oppression LGBTIQPSDGA+ people “is clearly connected with the rise of the family and of class society, which brought about the subjugation of women.[1]”While the Bible and relgion has a history of being used as a weapon to deny, oppress, exploit, condemn, persecute, treat illegal and exclude the sexuality, gender and equality with God of the LGBTIQPSDGA+ community. According to MCC Elder Rev. Mona West, Ph.D., “It is important to remember that such hurtful things are not a reflection of Christ, or the way God wants the church to be, or even what the Bible really says…Biblical writers had no concept of sexual orientation or sexual development as we understand these today. Therefore, passages that reference…sexual activity should not be seen as comprehensive statements concerning sexuality, but instead should be viewed in the context of what the ancient world that produced the Bible understood about sexual activity and human relationship[2].”
Genesis 1:27 God Created humanity inclusive of sexualities and genders
Genesis 1:27 is not about the creation of sexual partnerships, but is about God’s creation of humanity as a whole in God’s own image that is inclusive of all sexualities and genders. Genesis 1:27 states, “So God created humankind in God’s image, in the image of God he created them; male and female God created them (NRSV).” There is no justified reason if there ever was to assume humanity means heterosexual when God talks about the creation of humanity in God’s own image. According to Walk the Tightrope, “This also applies to intersex people, who have been created with physical characteristics of both sexes (Tightrope, 2013).”
Genesis 2:18-25 God’s Creation of humanity, the helper and marriage
In the beginning God declares in Genesis 2:18-25 what is “not good” for humanity is to be alone that actually supports marriage equality. God declares from the beginning the origins of marriage as a partnership of humanity and it’s helper based on mutuality and intimacy. God was not concerned about the sexuality or gender of marriage but in fact God called humanity’s partner “helper”. According to Ben Myers Adam and Eve is defined as humanity and it’s partner (22 April 2014).
In Genesis 2:22-25 God did not uphold heterosexual relationships as the only ideal within the family. Therefore, what God wanted from the beginning was for humanity to not be alone.
Genesis 19, Ezekiel 16:49, Luke 17:28-29, Jude 1:7, Sodom and Gomorrah
Sodom is the name of a city in Genesis 19 and not a description of sexuality, gender or the act of sex. The story of Sodom and Gomorrah is not about condemning LGBTIQPSDGA+ people for the destruction of the cities, but is a story about pride, rape, incest and inhospitality as to why God destroyed the cities. Genesis 19 states:
The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and bowed down with his face to the ground. He said, “Please, my lords, turn aside to your servant’s house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you can rise early and go on your way.” They said, “No; we will spend the night in the square.” But he urged them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house; and he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house; and they called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, so that we may know them.” Lot went out of the door to the men, shut the door after him, and said, “I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. Look, I have two daughters who have not known a man; let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please; only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof.” But they replied, “Stand back!” And they said, “This fellow came here as an alien, and he would play the judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them.” Then they pressed hard against the man Lot, and came near the door to break it down. But the men inside reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. And they struck with blindness the men who were at the door of the house, both small and great, so that they were unable to find the door.
Then the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone you have in the city—bring them out of the place. For we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.” So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, “Up, get out of this place; for the Lord is about to destroy the city.” But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting.
When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Get up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or else you will be consumed in the punishment of the city.” But he lingered; so the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and left him outside the city. When they had brought them outside, they[a] said, “Flee for your life; do not look back or stop anywhere in the Plain; flee to the hills, or else you will be consumed.” And Lot said to them, “Oh, no, my lords; your servant has found favor with you, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life; but I cannot flee to the hills, for fear the disaster will overtake me and I die. Look, that city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape there—is it not a little one?—and my life will be saved!” He said to him, “Very well, I grant you this favor too, and will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. Hurry, escape there, for I can do nothing until you arrive there.” Therefore the city was called Zoar. The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar.
Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven; and he overthrew those cities, and all the Plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord; and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the Plain and saw the smoke of the land going up like the smoke of a furnace.
So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the Plain, God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had settled.
Now Lot went up out of Zoar and settled in the hills with his two daughters, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar; so he lived in a cave with his two daughters. And the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to come in to us after the manner of all the world. Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, so that we may preserve offspring through our father.” So they made their father drink wine that night; and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; he did not know when she lay down or when she rose. On the next day, the firstborn said to the younger, “Look, I lay last night with my father; let us make him drink wine tonight also; then you go in and lie with him, so that we may preserve offspring through our father.” So they made their father drink wine that night also; and the younger rose, and lay with him; and he did not know when she lay down or when she rose. Thus both the daughters of Lot became pregnant by their father. The firstborn bore a son, and named him Moab; he is the ancestor of the Moabites to this day. The younger also bore a son and named him Ben-ammi; he is the ancestor of the Ammonites to this day (NRSV).
In Ezekiel 16:49, Luke 17:28-29 and Jude 1:7, God explains what Sodom’s real sin is:
“This was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy (NRSV, Ezekiel 16:49). Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day that Lot left Sodom, it rained fire and sulfur from heaven and destroyed all of them (NRSV, Luke 17:28-29). Likewise, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which, in the same manner as they, indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural lust, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire (NRSV, Jude 1:7).
According to MCC Elder Dr Rev Mona West:
“The men of Sodom want to ‘know’ (yadah - a Hebrew word that can mean sexual intercourse) the foreigners who have come to Lot’s house. In essence they want to rape them in order to show their social and cultural dominance over them. In…Ezekiel 16:49, Luke 17:28-29 Sodom’s ‘sin’ is not identified as homosexuality, rather, their sins were pride, failure to help the poor, and lack of hospitality to foreigners (2014, p. 1)”.
Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 Prohibition of incest with virgins of all sexualities and genders
Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 were part of fertility rituals from the ancient Middle-East of the Holiness Code in Israel that educated God’s children of Israel about love of neighbours and justice. This text is referring to the Holiness code which prohibited the real sin of sexual abuse, cultic violence and incest being committed. Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 was not about prohibiting loving caring sexual partnerships of the same gender. Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 states:
“You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination (NRSV, 18:22). If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death; their blood is upon them (NRSV, 20:13).”
According to Pastor comrade Karl Hand liberation theologist of CraveMCC Paddington:
“Scholarly opinion has dramatically shifted in just the last decade about the meaning of the phrase translated by NRSV as "as with a woman", which in Hebrew is mishkeve ishshah or literally "the lyings of a woman"… This text, translated literally, defines a virgin as: one who has not known a man with respect to the lying down of a man (mishkav zachar) and a non-virgin as: one who knows the lying down of a man (mishkav zachar)…Olyan concludes that “the lying down of a man” means being penetrated, and “the lying down of a female” means penetration, and that what is being forbidden here is male anal penetration – not homoerotic behaviour in general (Hand, 2013).
Romans 1:18-3:20 All are Equally sinful and all are Equally redeemable
Romans 1:18-3:20 was written to help Christians of Jewish and gentile backgrounds unite together in one church, on the basis of God’s inclusion of everyone. Romans was not about prohibiting LGBTIQSDG sexual relationships and was not about prohibiting Marriage equality. Romans 1:18-3:20 speaks of resolving cultural conflict with God’s generous inclusivity of uniting all walks of life of humanity in the one church including LGBTIQSDG people. Romans 1:18-3:20 states:
The Guilt of Humankind-For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of those who by their wickedness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made. So they are without excuse; for though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools; and they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal human being or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles.
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the degrading of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
For this reason God gave them up to degrading passions. Their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural, and in the same way also the men, giving up natural intercourse with women, were consumed with passion for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the due penalty for their error.
And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind and to things that should not be done. They were filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, they are gossips, slanderers, God-haters,[a] insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious toward parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. They know God’s decree, that those who practice such things deserve to die—yet they not only do them but even applaud others who practice them.
The Righteous Judgment of God-Therefore you have no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others; for in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things. You say,[b] “We know that God’s judgment on those who do such things is in accordance with truth.” Do you imagine, whoever you are, that when you judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself, you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not realize that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But by your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. For he will repay according to each one’s deeds: to those who by patiently doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; while for those who are self-seeking and who obey not the truth but wickedness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be anguish and distress for everyone who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.
All who have sinned apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but the doers of the law who will be justified. When Gentiles, who do not possess the law, do instinctively what the law requires, these, though not having the law, are a law to themselves. They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, to which their own conscience also bears witness; and their conflicting thoughts will accuse or perhaps excuse them on the day when, according to my gospel, God, through Jesus Christ, will judge the secret thoughts of all.
The Jews and the Law- But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast of your relation to God and know his will and determine what is best because you are instructed in the law, and if you are sure that you are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth, you, then, that teach others, will you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You that forbid adultery, do you commit adultery? You that abhor idols, do you rob temples? You that boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”
Circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law; but if you break the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. So, if those who are uncircumcised keep the requirements of the law, will not their uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? Then those who are physically uncircumcised but keep the law will condemn you that have the written code and circumcision but break the law. For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is true circumcision something external and physical. Rather, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart—it is spiritual and not literal. Such a person receives praise not from others but from God.
Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Much, in every way. For in the first place the Jews[c] were entrusted with the oracles of God. What if some were unfaithful? Will their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Although everyone is a liar, let God be proved true, as it is written,
“So that you may be justified in your words, and prevail in your judging.” But if our injustice serves to confirm the justice of God, what should we say? That God is unjust to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) By no means! For then how could God judge the world? But if through my falsehood God’s truthfulness abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? And why not say (as some people slander us by saying that we say), “Let us do evil so that good may come”? Their condemnation is deserved!
None Is Righteous - What then? Are we any better off? No, not at all; for we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin, as it is written:
“There is no one who is righteous, not even one; there is no one who has understanding, there is no one who seeks God. All have turned aside, together they have become worthless; there is no one who shows kindness, there is not even one.”
“Their throats are opened graves; they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of vipers is under their lips.”
“Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery are in their paths, and the way of peace they have not known.”
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For “no human being will be justified in his sight” by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin (NRSV).”
According to Walk The tightrope:
“For Paul, ‘natural’ always means socially acceptable; ‘shameful’ refers to public humiliation. The sin condemned is the Idolatry of the Roman Imperial cult, uncontrolled lust was the consequence, but Paul reminds Jewish believers that they are also sinners. His conclusion speaks to any cultural conflict: all are equally sinful and equally redeemable (2013).”
The Writings of the Apostle Paul
The writings of Apostle Paul of 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 and 1 Timothy 1:9-11speaks of self-indulgence, abusive relationships in both heterosexual and LGBTIQSDG sexual partnerships. Paul did not speak of prohibiting mutually loving sexual relationships between LGBTIQSDG people or heterosexuals. Paul wrote them in the context of selfish or exploitative actions in relation to inequality and pederasty that MCC Elder Mona West explains. NRSV, 1 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 and 1 Timothy 1:9-11 states:
“Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers—none of these will inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).
This means understanding that the law is laid down not for the innocent but for the lawless and disobedient, for the godless and sinful, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their father or mother, for murderers, fornicators, sodomites, slave traders, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to the sound teaching that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me (1 Timothy 1:9-11).
According to MCC Elder Mona West:
“There are two major issues to consider when one approaches these passages: translation and sexual practices of Greek culture… These Greek words are difficult to translate in the context of these passages…When these words are placed in the context of Greek culture in which Paul was writing, the passages have very specific meanings…the Mediterranean world had a definition of sexuality that was based on dominance/submission and unequal status. Proper sexual relations occurred between people whose status was unequal. In addition there was a practice in ancient Greek culture known as pederasty in which younger men were socialized and educated through a close relationship with an older man…Evidently there was some abuse happening in these relationships and young boys were being exploited and kept by the patron well after the boy had grown into adulthood (which would have made him an equal, hence violating the code of sex only among unequals). These abusive relationships are what the apostle Paul is referencing, not mutually loving and caring relationships between people of the same sex (West, 2014).”
The seven Church views of Marriage Equality
WHAT IS THE PUBLIC POSITION OF OTHER CHURCHES ON MARRIAGE EQUALITY?
There are seven church views of marriage equality that are Hatred, Resistance, Persuasion, Discipleship, Compromise, Affirmation and Liberation.
Hatred – Westboro Baptist Church
Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) has an extremist view of hatred towards marriage equality (WBO, 2014). WBC believes God is sickened by marriage equality as a sign of absolute depravity because LGBTIQSDG people are an abomination who can’t repent, so will go straight to hell (WBO, 2014).
Resistance – Christian Democratic Party
The Christian Democratic Party (CDP) believes that “Marriage equality will destroy the family (CDP, 2014).” So CDP believe it’s their God given right to “politically organise against marriage equality (CDP, 2014).”
Persuasion/Conversion- ex gay programs
Mainline evangelical denominations (MED) with a persuasion or conversion view of marriage equality have been responsible for ex gay programs known as “conversion or persuasion therapy (CNN, 2013)”. MEDs believe being LGBTIQSDG is a choice that is pathological so should seek to be cured and marry heterosexually, yet should not be forced to do so through anti-gay laws (Hand K. , 2013).
Discipleship
Some emergent churches (EC) like the Catholic Church have a Dicipleship view. They consider LGBTIQSDG sexuality as natural and healthy and that we should support LGBTIQSDG people. Yet EC’s abstain from supporting marriage equality, abortion rights, condom usage and have a celibacy policy as part of the call of discipleship. Followers of Jesus of both LGTIQSDG and heterosexual people are required to, “abstain from sex as part of the cause of the gospel (Hand K. , 2013).” Forced celibacy policies promotes abstinence and be faithful programs that have been responsible for an increase in HIV/AIDS in the third world as well as resulted in institutionalised sexual abuse of children in the church (GLW, 14 August 2008) (NewsLtd, 2013).
Compromise
Some Liberal Protestant churches (LBC) like the Salvation Army compromise Marriage equality. According to Karl Hand, “They LBCs consider (LGBTIQSDG) sexuality is not God’s intention for human sexuality, but it is a result of human imperfection. Since not all (LGBTIQSDG) people are able to live lives of celibacy, it is better to have a monogamous relationship, rather than a string of one-night stands (2013).”
Affirmation -UCA
Progressive mainline denominations (PMD)s including those within the UCA such as United Justice, Unity and Friends and Paddington Uniting Church have an affirmation view of marriage equality. PMDs affirm LGBTIQSDG people are neither sick, nor sinful. That it should welcome LGBTIQSDG relationships into its churches and allow them to fully participate in every way that heterosexual people can (Hand K. , 2013).
Liberation – Metropolitan Community Church, CraveMCC, CLACCA
Metropolitan Community Church, CraveMCC and New Covenant publicly support Marriage Equality as part of the gospel with a clear agreed theology. Liberation theology considers, “the oppression of LGBTIQSDG people is the real sin, and full inclusion in the church (including Marriage Equality) is part of our gospel. We should advocate for their rights in the church to make sure they are fully included and that their voices are heard at every level (Hand K. , 2013).”
Heterosexuality was not invented by the bible
Heterosexuality and Homosexuality
The name Heterosexual and Homosexual, is not an invention of the bible but was first named by Károly Mária Kertbeny, an Austro-Hungarian man of letters, translator and journalist in 1868. “On May 6, 1868, in a letter to pioneering German sexologist Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, Kertbeny used the word Homosexualisten ("homosexuals"), which he derived from Greek homos ("the same") and the Latin root sexualis. One year later, he used it in two anonymous pamphlets written in German and published in Leipzig, in which he criticized the laws that criminalized same-sex sexual activities.
The term gradually gained wider circulation. In 1880, one of Kertbeny's texts was included in a popular-science book by Gustav Jäger, Die Entdeckung der Seele (Discovery of the Soul)--a study of body odors in sexual attraction; in that same volume, the term Heterosexualität ("heterosexuality") first appears. In 1900, an excised chapter on homosexuality by Kertbeny appeared in Magnus Hirschfeld's Jahrbuch für sexuelle Zwischenstufen (Yearbook for Sexual Intermediates).
Richard von Krafft-Ebing officially made use of "homosexuality" in the second edition of Psychopathia Sexualis in 1887, followed by Albert Moll in Die conträre Geschlechtsempfindung
(Contrary Sexual Feeling) in 1891.
Kertbeny's coinage gave a designation to "The Love that dare not speak its name" and "the sin not to be mentioned by Christians," and gradually replaced other terms for same-sex desire: the earlier persecutory or contemptuous "criminal against nature," "sodomite," "bugger," "hermaphrodite," or "degenerate," and the contemporary more or less non-discriminating "similisexual," "urning," "uranian," "invert," or "homophile."[3]”
Bisexuality
According to JR Thorpe a journalist of Bustle , “The word bisexuality, as we currently use it, was coined by Charles Gilbert Chaddock in his translation of Kraft-Ebing's Psychopathia Sexualis (pictured) in 1892 — but don't let that fool you into thinking that the world before 1900 was open to bisexuality. England had an anti-sodomy law, known as The Buggery Act, which made sodomy illegal. It stayed on the books in various forms until 1861 —and consensual homosexual acts weren't made legal in the UK until 1967.[4]”
Trans
According to Leslie Feinberg author of Transgender Warriors: Making of History from Joan of Arc to Dennis Rodman, "The term transgenderist was first introduced into the English language by trans warrior Virginia Prince. Virginia told me, “I coined the noun transgenderist in 1987 or ’88. There had to be some name for people like myself who trans the gender barrier – meaning somebody who lives full time in the gender opposite to their anatomy. I have not transed the sex barrier.[5]”
Intersex
On the 1st October 1917 the term intersex was first named by German Richard Goldschmidt in a book titled Intersexuality and the Endrocrine Aspect of Sex. Richard Goldschmidt: “Intersexuality and the Endocrine Aspect of Sex. Organisation Intersex International Australia Limited stated on 13 November 2009, “Goldschmidt proposed that better terminology was needed when intersex was viewed from the then new perspective of “cytology, genetics, teratology, physiology, serology, endocrinology, etc.” He also invited endocrinologists to view sex differentiation with an “open mind and without prejudice.”
Prior to this paper intersex was largely in the domain of medical experts that specialized in thinking problems such as psychiatrists and psychologists. Few other fields of medicine were involved.
Intersex in humans was at that time largely limited to external appearance save for those who were discovered to be ‘internal hermaphrodites’ when autopsies were conducted. The standard test for the living was a ‘hands-on’ affair where some kind of medical ‘expert’ would view and touch the offending organs and make a pronouncement of male or female. That pronouncement was entirely dependent on the size of the ‘protrusions’ felt.
Goldschmidt sagely observes that “we often take the fact of the existence of two sexes for granted” and then notes that “the causes of normal distribution of the sexes is difficult to ascertain.”
Goldschmidt clearly understood the difference between hermaphrodite and intersex. On page 446 of his paper he dismisses reported cases of “hermaphroditism” and “pseudo-hermaphroditism” as being “probably cases of hormonal intersex.”
Over 100 years ago science was aware that sex exists on a gradation or continuum. Goldschmidt was aware that old terms often proposed without the benefit of science were inaccurate and were not reflected in scientific discoveries of the time.
Hermaphrodite and allied terms arose from Greek and Roman mythology and were adopted by the priests, alchemists and soothsayers seeking an explanation for what was otherwise inexplicable to them. Some intersex people reclaim this term, although it remains contentious.
In the years since, intersex variations have been conflated with homosexuality, transgender identities and more. The last forty years have seen huge changes in the way these non-standard sexualities and gender identities have fared, yet intersex remains the only one treated as a curable disorder with clearly identifiable biological causes.
Today, in an attempt to remove from medicine any terms redolent of sexuality and myth, intersex has come to be viewed as a “disorder of sex development” or DSD and OII Australia firmly rejects these as pathologising and stigmatising.
We are intersex.[6]”
Asexual
According to Avia –Viridis Asexual Sexual Orientation files, “The first in-depth documentation of asexual individuals that I could find goes back to Magnus Hirschfeld's 1896 sexological pamphlet Sappho und Sokrates. Hirschfeld proposes a chart (right) to measure sexual attraction from "schwach" (weak, asexual) to "stark" (strong, hypersexual), with "normal" in the middle. He occasionally refers to asexuality as anaesthesia sexualis ("sexual anaesthesia"), and, in a later work of Hirschfeld's, Sexualpathologie Teil I (1916), the author describes "automonosexualism" (attraction to oneself, as opposed to other people of any sex or gender) as "a relatively unknown and unappreciated anomaly, which would have been seen as asexuality in the past."[7]
Pamsexual
“This word “pansexual” was originally coined by Sigmund Freud within his theories on psychoanalysis in the early-to-mid 1900s, but was instead defined as how sexual energy and desire is the basis for all human interaction in life.
However the modern usage of “pansexual” has very little to do with Freud’s definition or his psycho-sexuality theories.
Instead, the modern usage (which I am exclusively referring to in this article) likely started gaining ground in the early-to-mid 1990s.
While it’s hard to pin the exact moment when its use began, it is almost certainly tied to the growing activism and awareness of non-binary and genderqueer people since pansexuality would not exist without these identities.[8]”
Queer
“According to the OED, “queer” first showed up on paper in 1508, in a transcription of “The Flyting of Dumbar and Kennedie.” Flyting, very popular in early 16th-century Scotland, was a public entertainment in which bards “would engage in verbal contests of provocative, often sexual and scatological but highly poetic abuse;” royalty would sometimes set them up as court entertainment, and at least one academic considers flyting the direct ancestor of modern rap battles.[9]”
According to Gay life expert Ramon Johnson,"Queer" was often used during the 16th century onwards to describe something strange, eccentric or peculiar… That change began to happen early in the 1900's when the word started to be used as a form of insult towards men and women who engaged in same-sex relationships and to those who exhibited non-normative gender expressions.
The term later began to be reclaimed by the gay community, by the beginning of the 1980's, and became a synonym of the LGBT fight towards equality - it is used as a positive or neutral descriptive of each other…This process by which a word meaning changes from negative or neutral to more positive is called amelioration.
Nonetheless, much care should be taken when using an ameliorated word as some may take offense. For instance, just because gays have embraced the word "queer" does not mean it cannot be used as a term of hate by a homophobe, which unfortunately continues to happen. Those who often use the term should have in consideration its important history.
Nevertheless, the word "queer" is an exceptional example of how we can transform something bad into something good, of how we can have the power to confront the obstacles and bring out the best of an awful situation. Which in itself is a metaphor for everything else that happens in our lives.[10]”
Aboriginal Australia
In aboriginal culture which is about 60,000yrs old until white settlement there existed the hunter gatherer mode of production. A type of as Marx called it primitive communism existed. Sexuality and gender was an integral part of indigenous culture, beliefs and a strong connection to the land. While having economic and social dealings with other groups they did not form large confederacies for purposes such as warfare or conquest. With their deep connection to the land they organised in traditional tribal structures by a shared production and consumption of the entire social product. People regardless of sexuality and gender would use their shared labour power to kill animals with spears. As there was no surplus, there was no chance of a ruling class institution of a family, private property or a state So if they didn’t work together to get food they died.
So because there was no surplus there was no nuclear family. IE no mum dad and the two kids. Sexuality and gender was irrelevant and communal raising of children was shared. The primary structures of Aboriginal society therefore were based on kinship. As such communal understandings of sexuality and gender were critically important for the survival of the tribe.
We don’t have many records but quotes like this from early anthropologists seem to show queers were not oppressed. Anthropologist Phyllis Kaberry on Aboriginal people in the Kimberley stated: “The lesbian relationships of Australian women were an acknowledged part of their sexual behaviour and were included in their ritual activities.” Another example of indigenous sexual freedom was the Bugis system.
Colonialism and capitalist expansion in Australia
A distinct conclusion can be drawn about the colonialisation of aboriginal sexual freedom. The nature of the convict settlement was calculated to breed brutality. This inevitably took on a racist and sexist colouring. Racist because white settlement trampled on the ancient laws and social rules of the Aborigines. Yet at the same time depriving them of their hunting and gathering lands. The destruction of Aboriginal society could therefore be justified by a belief they were inferior either as a race or culture or both. Through religion, education, disease, sexual abuse and cultural dominance colonialism and capitalism divorced many Indigenous cultures from traditional practices, which included communal understandings of sexuality.
The Gay & Lesbian Aboriginal Alliance article concludes in reference to the US queer theorist Michael Warner’s claim: “heterosexualisation of society was a fundamental imperative of modern colonialism.”
Colonial authorities in relation to European settlers, including convict men and women, also committed homosexual acts. For example, Joy Damousi and Kay Daniels have both investigated official accounts of lesbian sexual practices as well as relationships. This included relationships between young girls and women who acted as ‘pseudo males’. This was where women went to great lengths to stay together. Damousi observed of Tasmanian convict history, the ‘solution’ to expressions of lesbian suppression was universal. For “to isolate these women in separate cells in the Hobart factory, is used in order to contain and regulate their sexuality.”
Evidence of the performance of unconventional female genders is a wide spread feature of lesbian and queer history in Australia. Consider De Lacy Evans of Bendigo, found in 1879 to have a female body. Enormous interest uncovered three marriages to women from his previous twenty plus years of living as a man while working as a miner. He was father to an 18-month old daughter from his most recent marriage. After a collapse in his health and controversy over his female body, Evans was hospitalised. Three months later he emerged in women’s clothes, ‘entirely feminine’ and entirely cured. It’s a miracle.
Not all past relationships between queers have been uncovered by historians or told by the subjects themselves. Both aboriginals and white convict settlers were caught in a system of discipline as well as punishment. The bugis system is another example of queer suppression of discipline and punishment.
Queer oppression isn’t universal
The Bugis in Indonesia have a five-gender system and practice same sex marriage. This was a system of rules, which severely governed the role of women.
Pederasty was condoned in Ancient Greece. The term pederasty embraces a wide range of erotic practices between adult males and young boys. This is also known as age structured homosexuality. The role of homosexuality in classical Mediterranean culture and society has only recently received significant study. Modern American society generally regards homosexuality as, at best, an intriguing subculture often providing stock for humorists and satirists. Yet at worst, a menacing counterculture threatening impressionable adolescents with irreparable harm. Yet, homosexuality has not always been an aspect of "others." Ancient Greeks acknowledged homosexuality as an important tool in boys’ education. They institutionalised and regulated its practices within their law codes.
Sport was also an integral part of their society. Athletics included wrestling, foot races, running, long jump, javelin, discus throwing, and performance on hanging rings as well as parallel bars. Most boys in general eagerly trained in athletics in hopes of attaining competitive levels for the Olympic games. If they could not win or compete in athletics, they may still have hoped for one of the prizes awarded for physical beauty.
Capitalism
The origins of the oppression of LGBTIQPSGDA+ people has a basis in capitalism, but it’s not simple or mechanical. The relationship between economics and ideas is always complicated. There is a need to biologically reproduce the working class. This is why capitalist governments like the one we are living under have a weird fixation on fertility rates.
Economic production and exchange doesn’t take place in the family under capitalism. People have to sell their labour power as individuals on the market. So this means people (mostly men) have a new freedom to lead their economic and sexual lives outside the family.
There was a marked development of queer subcultures in 19th century Australia. There are indications from as early as the 1830s in Sydney a small urban homosexual subculture with dress codes and appropriation of public space was beginning to emerge. People then found guilty of sodomy were executed. This was well established by the 1890s and 1900s at least in Sydney, Melbourne and to a lesser extent, Brisbane.
In Australian Colonies, the ‘abominable crime of buggery’ was punished by a sentence of life imprisonment and the first known one was tried in 1700.
The combination of disease, loss of land and direct violence reduced the Aboriginal population by an estimated 90% between 1788 and 1900.
During the 1950s there was a decrease in the institution of the family. So under capitalism the Catholic Church considered there still to be a high level of promiscuity and continual resistance to assimilating aboriginals to white culture. The white Australia policy officially adopted in the 1920s not only increased the number of children removed from their families but was also a fundamental contribution to the suppression of homosexuality.
Germany
This was the birthplace of the road to rainbow liberation in the 1800s. The Scientific-Humanitarian Committee (Wissenschaftich-humanitares Komitee, WhK) was founded in Berlin on the 14th or 15th of May, 1897. The WhK was established to campaign for social recognition of homosexual and transgender men as well as women facing legal persecution. It was the first such organisation in history to do so. The initial focus of the WhK was paragraph 175 of the Imperial Penal Code, which criminalised ‘coitus-like’ acts between males. The WhK assisted defendants in criminal trials, conducted public lectures and gathered signatures for a petition for a repeal of the law. Original members of the WhK included Doctor Magnus Hirschfeld. Hirschfeld put up a petition to repeal this law. At its peak, the WhK had about 500 members with branches in approximately 25 cities in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands.
The committee was dissolved in 1933 when the Nazis destroyed the Institute fur Sexualwissenchaft in Berlin where the WhK was based. In 1962 in Hamburg, Hiller who had survived Nazi concentration camps continued to fight against anti-homosexual repression then tried unsuccessfully to re establish the WhK.
Russian Revolution
The Russian revolution was THE most significant moment in the whole history of queer struggle. The new criminal code of 1922 declared, “the absolute non-interference of the state and society into sexual matters, so long as nobody is injured, and no one’s interests are encroached upon.” This happened in the broader context of the Bolshevik attempt at totally revolutionising the family. IE access to abortion as well as equal rights between women and men, thus changing the institution of marriage. Trotsky said you cannot abolish the family, you have to replace it. Amongst all the war and poverty, they were unable to replace the family in Russia.
There is also a genuine pro-gay and pro-sex socialist tradition, which must be defended. Eighty-seven years before sodomy laws in the U.S. were repealed by the Supreme Court, the Russian Revolution of 1917 wiped laws against homosexuality from the criminal code.
The Bolshevik Party–in the tradition of Marx and Engels under the leadership of Trotsky as well as Lenin–was a mass party numbering in the hundreds of thousands. At the time of the revolution, gained wider support among millions of workers and peasants. Every aspect of Russian society was thrown into turmoil by the revolution. The "curious fact" Engels had written about decades before was accurate: "A phenomenon common to all times of great agitation, the traditional bonds of sexual relations, like all other fetters, are shaken off." Marx and Engels had argued "sex love" was distorted as well as alienated by commodity production. Monogamy under capitalism was an extension of the bourgeois concept of private property. While sex itself was turned into a commodity.
Dr Grigor Batkis, Director of the Moscow Institute for Social Hygiene, published a pamphlet entitled the Sexual Revolution in Russia in 1923. The revolution, it says, has attempted to promote "forms of sexual relations responding to the needs and natural demands of the people". (Soviet legislation) declares the absolute non-interference of the state and society into sexual matters.”
Now this is not to say homophobia was totally gotten rid of in the Russian revolution for the revolution was betrayed.
Stalinism
Stalin came to power after Lenin and the Bolshevik revolution came to power in 1917. The Stalinist bureaucracy was horribly homophobic. Homophobia was related to forced collectivisation and rapid industrialisation. People were pushed into massive workloads with more pressure on the nuclear family to be the economic basis of society.
War and poverty took their toll on the leading activists of the revolution. Therefore the grass roots which made the revolution, were unable to stop the bureaucrats from taking over.
Stalinist homophobia influenced new revolutionary movements elsewhere. Stalinism and fascism destroyed the queer movement for a whole generation. In addition, the queer movement is still recovering from it.
Homophobic laws were reintroduced in 1934. Soviet medical and legal experts were very proud of the progressive nature of their legislation in 1930. The medical expert Sereisky wrote in the Great Soviet Encyclopaedia: 'Soviet legislation does not recognise so-called crimes against morality. Our laws proceed from the principle of protection of society. Therefore they countenance punishment only in those instances when juveniles and minors are the objects of homosexual interest' (p. 593)."
America
In the horribly capitalist conservative McCarthy era in the 50s, there was a huge crackdown on communists and gays. The Government conducted homophobic smear campaigns against the Communist Party of the USA. (Saying the communist party was gay as an excuse to crack down on them). The way the party dealt with this was to purge queers from the party. This was also a legacy of Stalinism. Harry Hay was a communist who came out of the closet and out of the party forming the first major gay organisation in the US. This was the Mattachine Society started by communists (without assistance from the homophobic Communist Party) in 1952.
Then the sixties happened. Mass protests in the US against the war on Vietnam. Gay liberationists inspired by all the movements start to organise. They begin to attempt to forge alliances and form collectives with other movements. Black civil rights, women’s' liberation, Cuban revolution and all sorts of stuff.
New nation-wide radical organisations/networks form. Gay Liberation Front, Daughters of Bilitis, Gay Activists Alliance. Mass protests on campuses and everywhere. Homophobic laws start to be repealed. Through the process of the anti-homophobia struggle, gay liberationists start to realise oppression is systemic.
Brutal police repression of both gay liberation and black power intensified when they tried to work together. Splits happened on both sides over the issue.
The Stonewall riots in 1969. Huge upsurge and first ever real mass movement follows. Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries, the first ever transgender activist group, formed after the Stonewall riots.
AIDS
Epidemic in America in the 1980s.
Homophobic propaganda from the Reagan government.
Increase in homophobic violence.
The government didn’t give a fuck people were dying. They didn’t fund programs for prevention or treatment or subsidise cheap drugs.
AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power (ACT UP) formed in 1987.
Cool actions like political funerals bringing the ashes of dead AIDS victims to the steps of parliament occurred. T-shirts said “DESPERATE DYING HOPELESS PEOPLE WITH NOTHING TO LOSE ARE DANGEROUS AND UNPREDICTABLE.”
Cuba
US Gay Liberationists went on the brigade to Cuba, hopeful Socialism would provide a solution to homophobia. They were heartbroken to find homophobia in revolutionary Cuba after the revolution took place in 1969. Their cry for queer liberation was ‘Se dice nada, se hace todo meaning, ‘say nothing, do everything.’
Realising this was a mistake revolutionary Cuba took the queer struggle head on recognising homophobia is a mistake. They start to try and turn the situation around. Strawberries and Chocolate, queer sex ed in schools, drag queens lead May Day parade, same sex marriage and free Sex Reassignment Surgery are being discussed.
After the collapse of Russia during the special period a system of free health care and education was now extended on a much broader level. Yet because of this economic crisis the queer liberation movement slowed.
They form Co ops and are one of the leaders on the environment (Although they copped more homophobia from the other people on the brigade than from the Cuban’s). This is in stark contrast to the reactions in America. This occurred after Hurricane Katrina where queers were blamed for the disaster because of their tendencies towards “sinful behaviour” by the Christian right.
Cuba did take many good anti-homophobia measures in the 1990’s and now provide free male to female operations.
Che died defending the interests of the exploited and oppressed including queers of this continent. As Cuban’s would say, “Before history men who act as he did, who gave everything for the poor, grow in stature with each passing day finding a deeper place in the heart of the people.”
Raul Castro revolutionary descendant of Fidel proposed to pass the bill for same sex marriage in 2007. Mariela Castro has carried on the legacy for full queer rights which the Communist Party of Cuba has welcomed. The plan is to reform the country's family laws granting "full rights" to homosexual couples. This includes adoption of children, allowing sex and identity changes for transsexuals. So in the long term, legalizing homosexual unions.
Venezuela
Revolution is good for the poor. Homeless queers who were kicked out of homophobic families get better access to food etc.
Massive increase in Pride parade attendance.
Free AIDS drugs.
Opposition of the Catholic Church to contend with.
Same sex marriage/civil unions on the cards.
History of the struggle for marriage Equality since 1788
Marriage equality is an issue of equal civil human rights and not an issue of morals or conscience. Philippians 2:6 states, “Who though one was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited (NRSV)”. While the oppression of LGBTIQSDG people has it’s origins in the family since Adam and Eve; Government bans on marriage equality towards all oppressed groups have existed in Australia since 1788. According to liberation theologian, Pastor comrade Karl Hand of CraveMCC Paddington:
“Banning marriage tears apart (both heterosexual and LGBTIQSDG) people’s relationships. We would never accept behaviour like this from a human being. But for some reason our government which is meant to be on our side and protect us, gets away with doing it! This hasn’t always been the case. There is a history which explains how we ended up in this situation. In fact, throughout Australia’s history, marriage has been used as a marker of privilege, a special right, which is only given to certain groups, while others have been denied equal marriage rights (2011).”
The issue of poverty was first used as a weapon by the government of the British colony of Australia to ban marriage equality of convicts. The institution of Marriage was treated by the government as a commodity and a means of social control. Only those from wealthy, privileged backgrounds had the free equal right to marriage, while convicts had to prove they were working class citizens to the government to be granted marriage equality. According to Tasmanian sociologist Rodney Croome:
“In 1788, at the arrival of the first fleet, marriage was a privilege granted to individuals by the government on an ad hoc basis. During this period of time, marriage became a rite of passage from convict life into working class, and it was granted to the most industrious convicts (Hand K. , 2011).”
It was only when the Australian Anti-Transportation League took up the cause of marriage equality in their fight to abolish convict transportation was marriage equality won 1852-53 for the convicts.
Racism was the next weapon used by Australian Governments to ban marriage equality of Aboriginal people in Australia. The Australian government introduced the white Australia policy in 1901 that denied Aboriginals equal citizenship rights which included a ban on marriage equality of Aboriginal people.
1950’s
In 1951, the NSW Crimes Act is amended to ensure ‘buggery’ is a criminal act ‘with or without the consent of the person’. Thus removing the legal loophole of consent. Yet as late as the 1950s and 60s, the typical identifiable homosexual male type remained ‘feminised’. Sexual relations were between ‘normal’ (non-effeminate) men who saw themselves as quasi-heterosexual. The ‘real male’ in the relationship were the effeminate passive ‘camp’ men. Transition from homosexual identity based on gender-inversion to identity based on same-sex attraction seems to have begun by the 1940s. Yet gender-inversion remains institutionalised.
1969
In early 1970 it remains a crime for men to engage in homosexual sex in every state and territory in Australia. Running against this acceptance is a continuing tradition of homophobia with legal and medical codes, which were strongly anti-homosexual into the 1970s.
1960s
Often ministers in rural missions were the ones who defended marriage equality for Aboriginals as they considered, “all races are equal before God” as Karl Hand puts it (2011). According to Karl Hand:
“…In 1967, a national referendum resulted in an overwhelming 97% majority granting full citizenship and suffrage to indigenous people. Just as in the case for the emancipation of the convict, the emancipation of indigenous people came after a vanguard movement for marriage equality! One of the clearest lessons from the marriage ban on indigenous people is that these bans are used by the government in order to control privilege in our world. By legislating to make some people superior to others, the government can create classes of people who are not equal or fully human, and these classes can be exploited, blamed, abused at the government’s whim. Marriage equality is therefore one way of ensuring that all people are treated equal within society…Finally, it makes it clear that marriage rights are not an optional extra, but are part and parcel of human rights…without discrimination based on their sex, sexuality or gender (2011).”
1970
In 1970 the Campaign Against Moral Persecution (CAMP) is formed.
1971
CAMP organises the first gay and lesbian demonstration in Australia outside the headquarters of the Liberal Party in Sydney.
1972
The political activist association, Gay Liberation, is launched at Sydney University. Groups soon flourish on campuses around Australia.
1973
First queer NDA.
1975
The first National Homosexual conference is held at Melbourne University. This attracts around 60 delegates. Under Premier Don Dunstan’s Government, South Australia becomes the first Australian State to decriminalise homosexuality. Campaign, the longest running commercial gay magazine in Australia, is launched.
1976
In ACT, homosexual law reform legislation is passed.
1978
Socialist Youth Alliance (SYA now Resistance) supported gay liberation in Australia pretty much from the get-go. Ken Davis of SYA was behind the first one in 1978. The first Mardi Gras was a protest to mark the Day of International Gay Solidarity. This was the ten-year anniversary of the Stonewall riots. Therefore socialists instigated it forming the Gay Solidarity Group in March 1978. Twenty groups were involved. It was intended as a conscious bridge towards the club/pub scene. There were 1000 – 2000 participants and 53 arrests. “Out of the bars and into the streets” became the chant.
1979
The first FM gay radio program ‘Gaywaves’ begins broadcasting on Sydney’s 2SER.
1980
The ALSO Foundation is established in Melbourne in response to the Hamer Governments decriminalisation of homosexuality.
1981
The first Australia media reference to AIDS is made in the Gay and Lesbian newspaper The Sydney Star Observer. The Gay Rights Lobby is formed concentrating on the decriminalisation of homosexuality.
1982
NSW becomes the first state in Australia to pass laws prohibiting discrimination against homosexuals. Homosexuality is not decriminalised in NSW until 1984.
1984
The Australian Medical Association agrees to remove homosexuality from its list of illnesses and disorders. Decriminalisation of homosexuality is enacted in NSW. Three gay men are elected to Sydney City Council.
1989
The Sydney Gay Mardi Gras becomes the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. The largest gay rights march in Australia history is held, commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. Of the 2,000 odd demonstrators, 53 are arrested, 53 are arrested on charges of offensive behaviour and resisting arrest.
1990
In the 1990s gay venues in the form of ubiquitous drag shows. Indigenous Erotica sets out the politics rewriting 1960s sexual liberation on indigenous terms.
1994
ACT passes Domestic Relationships Act. First jurisdiction to give same-sex relationships the same legal standing as heterosexual defacto relationships. UN Human Rights Commission rules certain Tasmanian legislation discriminates against homosexuals. Therefore this was found to breach the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The Federal Government passes legislation, which establishes the right to sexual privacy, effectively overriding Tasmanian’s anti-gay laws.
1995
The Pride Sydney Lesbian and Gay Community Centre opens.
1996
After 3 years of often-divisive community debate, Sydney’s first lesbian cultural and community centre, the Lesbian Space Project, is opened. Chrystos, Taylor, Akiwenzie-Damn as well as Driskill challenge us to recognise the interdependence of our sexual choices. They also help us to recognise our social and political situations. They at the foreground were about erasing the stigma and silence attached to complex and highly politicised areas of sexual experience. Their courage in speaking out is strengthened by the necessity of doing so.
The queer generation is breaking down barriers, educating society their sexuality as natural and not problematic. Hence are helping to lead the fight against all forms of discrimination.
1997
Tasmania the last state to repeal sodomy laws, now having the best laws in Australia. Huge campaign led by the TGLRG.
Protests attacked brutally by cops.
Counter protests by right wing bigots.
Activists took their case to the UN and embarrassed Tasmania internationally.
1999
Community Action Against Homophobia formed out of the globalisation movement out of the S11.
Successful queer space campaigns at Griffith Uni, Wollongong and ECU in Western Australia. Queer blocs organised at anti-VSU and trade union rallies.
2000-2017 Marriage Equality
1. Netherlands 12 September 2000 Two lesbians and six Gay men were the world's first LGBTIQPSGDA+ couple to get legally hitched on 1st April 2001 even though ha'adama and Steve have been getting illegally hitched since the garden of eden.
https://web.archive.org/…/…/view/news_world_story_skin/34978
https://web.archive.org/…/news.bbc.c…/2/hi/europe/921505.stm
2. Belgium 30 January 2003
https://web.archive.org/…/www.planetout.…/news/article.html…
2003
Relationship recognition and adoption rights allowed in WA. Yet because queers are continually put at the bottom of adoption lists it would be another four years before a same sex couple could be the first to adopt in Australia
2004
Marriage equality also means freedom of the religious practice of marriage ceremonies in the church with complete non-interference of the state. The National Day of Action for Marriage Equality begins with a repeal the ban campaign with barely enough time to organise. On August 13th – the Marriage Act (1961) was amended via a Liberal and ALP bipartisan agreement to specifically ban all marriages that are not heterosexual. The Howard’s Liberal Government broke Section 116 of the Commonwealth Constitution Act by misquoting the bible to argue marriage is between a man and a woman to justify the ban on marriage equality with no separation of the church and the state on the issue. Section 116 of the Commonwealth Institution Act states:
Commonwealth not to legislate in respect of religion - The Commonwealth shall not make any law for establishing any religion, or for imposing any religious observance, or for prohibiting the free exercise of any religion, and no religious test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust under the Commonwealth (AustLII, 2014)”.
The Howard Government was able to gain bi partisan support from the ALP in the lead up to the elections by dropping it’s proposal to ban same sex adoption and then the ALP rammed through the ban on Marriage Equality.
3. Canada 28 June 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/…/canada-passes-bill-to-legalize-gay…
4. South Africa 30 November 2006
https://web.archive.org/…/365…/Newscon06/11/113006safmar.htm
2006
Queer refugee actions pursued. G20 & work choices queer blocs. Queers lead the G20 protest with a banner drop and a two-way chant initiated by CAAH and Resistance. It was the most amazing experience. The Queer Activists Network established. 113 organisation with 3500 people around the country joined the fight on NDA. Bill for de facto rights passed in SA. Couples still must live together for 3 years before they can be recognised. ACT ban on Civil Unions
2007
VSU has been introduced, yet the struggle continues. Ruddock proposes to quash the proposed Civil partnership bill. Nationwide snap actions initiated in 48 hours over the weekend in Sydney, Adelaide and Perth. Over 200 people showed up. Howard proposes to ban HIV/migrants from entering Australia. Over 100 people show up for candlelight vigil. Same sex adoption also proposes to be banned under bilateral and multilateral agreements. First same sex adoption by a gay couple in WA on June 13th. Howard opposes it. ALP proposes relationship register for the states but not federal. Then sides with Howard by opposing same sex adoption Bill of the Greens with Howard. The Human Rights & Equal opportunity commission put out a report identifying 58 laws, which currently discriminate against queers, their relationships and their children based around defacto rights. First NDA forum launched by CAAH to build the NDA to help double last year. 35 organisations nationwide have signed on. Faz reckons we're way ahead of last year considering the ebb in the movement. Yet there is a revolutionary drive we can have a bigger movement with around 2 million queers in Australia. Queers begin organising for Stop Bush around Australia. There’s another banner drop on the cards to stop Bush in September who proposes to ban adoption in 16 states in the US. Internationally homophobia under capitalism is at an all time high not seen since the 70s. Refugee tribunal classes sexuality in detention centres as situational as a product of their circumstances of limited exposure to opposite sex people.
2007 Russia experiences the worst homophobic attack on gay Pride parade for 2nd year in a row. Pantera initiates Europe wide daily pickets; thousands from around the world have signed the online petition.
2007 Massachusetts 400 people stop the ban for marriage rights going ahead where it’s legal.
2007 10 000 people march in Rome for queer rights.
5. Norway 11 June 2008
https://web.archive.org/…/ALeqM5jko_BIHizUFFqUtmEaUrAEoPXFWw
6. Sweden 1 May 2009
http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx…
7. Portugal 17 May 2010
http://www.ontopmag.com/…/Lawmakers_In_Portugal_Legalize_Ga…
8. Iceland 11 June 2010
https://web.archive.org/…/iceland-parliament-approves-same-…
9. Argentina 15 July 2010
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/…/2012368514_argentina16.h…
http://content.time.com/…/wo…/article/0,8599,2005678,00.html
10. Mexico 10 Aug 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/…/08/11/world/americas/11mexico.html…&
11. Denmark 12 June 2012
https://www.retsinformation.dk/Forms/R0710.aspx?id=142282
12. New Zealand 18 April 2013
https://web.archive.org/…/nz-legalises-same-sex-mar…/4635086
13. Brazil 14 May 2013
http://www.estadao.com.br/…/cidades,cnj-obriga-cartorios-a-…
14. France 18 May 2013
https://web.archive.org/…/www.legifrance.go…/affichTexte.do…
15. Uragay 5 August 2013
https://web.archive.org/…/www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-amer…
16. England and Wales 29 March 2014
https://web.archive.org/…/htt…//www.bbc.com/news/uk-26793127
17. Scotland 16 December 2014
https://web.archive.org/…/same-sex-marriage-becomes-legal-i…
18. Luxemburg 1 Jan 2015
http://www.chronicle.lu/…/7947-same-sex-marriage-in-luxembo…
19. Ireland 16 November 2015
https://www.rte.ie/news/2015/1116/742159-same-sex-couples/
20. Columbia 7 April 2016
https://web.archive.org/…/colombia-legalises-same-s…/7371962
21. US 26 June 2016
http://edition.cnn.com/…/p…/same-sex-marriage-debate/Finland 1 March 2017
22. Finland 1 March 2017
https://web.archive.org/…/same-sex_marriage_law_goe…/9486556
23. Taiwan 24 May 2017
http://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3172594
Queer student movement given a new lease of life by the queer bloc at the S11 blockade of the World Economic Forum. Over 20 000 people rallied. It was like heaven on a stick for queers.
Queer Adoption Rights -shelly
NDA endorse adoption rights and civil unions for the first time as its only a matter of time before Howard proposes to ban same sex adoption.
Legal in Tasmania, WA and ACT
Legal in Guam, Andora, Belgium, Iceland, Netherlands, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, UK and France
First Same sex adoption in WA in Australia. Queers are continually put to the bottom of adoption waiting lists.
ALP & Liberals oppose it, as it does not maintain the institution of the family because a mother and a father can only raise children.
Summary
Socialists support a queer liberation because this equals a socialist revolution. Queers don’t want some rights but all our rights just like our heterosexual counterparts. We don’t ask for much but the same as anyone else. Anything less is not good enough. For there cannot be queer liberation without a socialist revolution. A socialist revolution wants:
Eradication of all homophobic laws
Withering away of the institution of the family and the state
Anti discrimination campaigns which will eliminate bigoted, homophobic ideas
Affirmative action towards queers
Relationship rights, adoption rights, all our rights
Fully funded health care including AIDS care and free education
National queer organisations to run queer campaigns
While Marx stated even after the revolution there would still be remnants of the old society left over, a queer revolution is possible. Under capitalism we’re made to believe we can’t fight back, but this is far from the truth. Through collective mass action, we can unfuck the world now with Resistance. Resistance is the socialist youth organisation who is doing something about it right now and you can too by joining if you haven’t already. As individuals we can’t do much but together we can. Resistance has been leading the campaign since the early 60s when we initiated Mardi Gras to help lead the queer struggle. On a united front we can change the world in the lead up to the NDA and Stop Bush right now.
“For human rights for all to be realised we would have to live in a different system, because capitalism doesn’t allow it to happen. To say we only want equal rights is to fall into a trap. What we want is a more just society. For we want is heaven hear and now.” -Fabiana Tron, from Desambrando, Cordoba, a lesbian arts group of Contrama 10
Bibliography
AustLII. (2014, 5 19). COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA CONSTITUTION ACT - SECT 116. Retrieved from Commonwealth Consolidated Acts: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/coaca430/s116.html
Avia-Viridis. (n.d.). Asexual. Retrieved from Sexual Orientation Files: https://avia-viridis.neocities.org/sof/ace.html
Brewer, P. (January 1995). Socialism and the struggle for the rights of lesbians & gay men. Chippendale: Resistance Books.
Cara. (2013, January 9). More Than Words: Queer, Part 1 (The Early Years). Retrieved from AutoStraddle: https://www.autostraddle.com/more-than-words-queer-part-1-the-early-year...
Comháin, A. M. (2017, April 19). The Bi-National-Bisexuality in the Ancient World. Retrieved from Political Irish: http://www.politicalirish.com/threads/the-bi-national-bisexuality-in-the...
Endres, N. (2004-2015). GLBTQ Encyclopedia Kertbeny, Karoly Maria (1824-1882). Retrieved from GLBTQ Archives: http://www.glbtqarchive.com/ssh/kertbeny_km_S.pdf
Feinberg, L. (1996). Transgender Warriors: Making History from Joan of Arc to Dennis Rodman. UK: Beacon Press.
Hand, K. (2011). Chapter 2 The marraige ban - How the 'Marraige Ban' is used to oppress. In F. Iqbal, K. Hand, & R. Evans, The Road to Rainbow Liberation, (Sydney: Resistance Books, 2011): 12-14 (pp. 12-14). Sydney: Resistance Books.
Hand, P. c. (2013, August 27). Leviticus is for Lovers 3: "Lyings of a Woman". Retrieved from Discipleship for Critical Thinkers: http://critical-discipleship.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/leviticus-is-for-lo...
International, O. I. (2009, November 13). Richard Goldschmidt: “Intersexuality and the Endocrine Aspect of Sex”. Retrieved from Organisation Intersex International Australia Limited: https://oii.org.au/4045/richard-goldschmidt-intersexuality-endocrine/
Jakubowski, K. (2014, November 12). Pansexuality 101: It’s More Than ‘Just Another Letter’. Retrieved from Everyday Feminism: everydayfeminism.com/2014/11/pansexuality-101/
Johnson, R. (2016, May 11). Is "Queer" a Derogatory Word? Retrieved from About Relationships: http://gaylife.about.com/cs/gaylifeglossary/a/queer.htm
Myers, B. (22 April 2014). Introduction to Christian Theology. Sorotiology. North Parramatta: Charles Sturt University - United Theological College.
Thorpe, J. (2014, September 24). A Brief History Of Bisexuality, From Ancient Greece and The Kinsey Scale To Lindsay Lohan. Retrieved from Bustle: https://www.bustle.com/articles/40282-a-brief-history-of-bisexuality-fro...
Tightrope, W. T. (2013). Homosexuality and the Bible. CraveMCC Paddington Homegroup - Walk the Tightrope. Waterloo: facebook.com/walktherope.
West, D. R. (2014, 5 19). The Bible and Homosexuality. Retrieved from Metropolitan Community Church: http://www.mccchurch.org
[1] (Brewer, January 1995, p. 5)
[2] (West, 2014, p. 1)
[3] (Endres, 2004-2015)
[4] (Thorpe, 2014)
[5] (Feinberg, 1996, p. x)
[6] (International, 2009)
[7] (Avia-Viridis)
[8] (Jakubowski, 2014)
[9] (Cara, 2013)
[10] (Johnson, 2016)
shiverstess@gma... replied on Permalink
Please forgive any grammar and spelling errors in my reply above. I had a bad teacher who has great politics but terrible grammar and spelling who doesn't know how to apologise for getting it wrong about me. Don't condemn me I do matter forgotten road to rainbow liberation history will absolve us. God bless and love in struggle to all CAAH Sydney Activist and forgotten green left journalist comrade shelly+
shiverstess@gma... replied on Permalink
A Biblical history of the road to rainbow liberation
Dear Green Left Editor. Yes I am the CAAH Sydney activist yesterday, today and tomorro Faz said in my comrade Farida Iqbal's article. We used to call "Farida" Faz as a nickname.because we all had nicknames amongst LGBTIQPSGDA+ comrades. Mine was Comrade Shellmystro because I was my teacher's Castro even though I don't like being labelled as such because everyone has a different revolutionary history from birth to present including revolutionary relatives. Only we can write our own histories because we lived it and the best people to write our own histories is ourselves because we lived it which is why Fidel Castro said, the revolution cannot be copied, but we can share common histories because "no person is an island" except for those who live in an igloo bubble and believe they can change the world in isolation. It might win a few concessions but it stops short of changing the world which is why I said, "Pressure from the grassroots is what forced Labor to change it's policy, but since this policy stops short of legalizing our right to marry we need to keep up the pressure. This is why I get frustrated with queerocrats when we are so close to victory and some believe oh the let's change the slogan and the date and make it too broad with no specific demands for equality because their too tired to use their brain and heart and have forgotten history and refuse to organise to fight for the same old demands that has been successful since day one. A good old successful united grassroots equality campaign can only be won with specific demands for equality. So without further delay here is an edited version of the above response I gave in relation to Faz's article. Yet first a point of clarification on why not all revolutionaries from the LGBTIQPSGDA+ community and other oppressed struggles are not all identical equality struggles.
Firstly, there is no such thing as an identity struggle in dealing with revolutionaries from oppressed struggles who come out of the closet about it and everyone straight, black, white or queer all have revolutionary closets to come out of . The reason why revolutionaries who are related to each other don't necessariliy have identical revolutionary histories and the source of poverty and oppression of revolutionaries from all poverty and oppressed struggles has to be taken into account is because a false assesment of revolutionaries and revolutionary training methods can be made by revolutionary teachers who believe sucking it up and getting on with the job is the best way to judge and train revolutionaries from poor and oppressed struggles. So revolutionaries who come out of the closet about an oppressed struggle a revolutionary comes from should not be dismissed as an identity struggle or treated like the enemy but rather be valued for taking a brave and courageous revolutionary step forward to become more authentic and truthful as a revolutionary.
My legal name is comrade Shelly Frances Kershaw (formerly comrade Shellt Ann Dahl). The following is an edited version of my above reply that will highlight why liberation theologians support the campaign for marraige equality on the road to rainbow liberation because anything less than full equality aint good enough. God bless and love in struggle comrade shelly forgotten Green Left journalist.
Contents
A Biblical history of the road to rainbow liberation. 1
The origins of the oppression of LGBTIQPSDGA+ people is not biblical or religion. 2
Genesis 1:27 God Created humanity inclusive of sexualities and genders. 2
Genesis 2:18-25 God’s Creation of humanity, the helper and marriage. 2
Genesis 19, Ezekiel 16:49, Luke 17:28-29, Jude 1:7, Sodom and Gomorrah. 2
In Ezekiel 16:49, Luke 17:28-29 and Jude 1:7, God explains what Sodom’s real sin is: 4
Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 Prohibition of incest with virgins of all sexualities and genders. 4
Romans 1:18-3:20 All are Equally sinful and all are Equally redeemable. 4
The Writings of the Apostle Paul 6
The seven Church views of Marriage Equality. 7
Hatred – Westboro Baptist Church. 7
Resistance – Christian Democratic Party. 7
Persuasion/Conversion- ex gay programs. 7
Discipleship. 7
Compromise. 7
Affirmation -UCA.. 7
Liberation – Metropolitan Community Church, CraveMCC, CLACCA.. 8
Heterosexuality was not invented by the bible. 8
Heterosexuality and Homosexuality. 8
Bisexuality. 8
Trans. 8
Intersex. 8
Asexual 9
Pamsexual 9
Queer 10
Aboriginal Australia. 10
Colonialism and capitalist expansion in Australia. 10
Queer oppression isn’t universal 11
Capitalism.. 11
Germany. 12
Russian Revolution. 12
Stalinism.. 13
America. 13
AIDS. 13
Cuba. 13
Venezuela. 14
History of the struggle for marriage Equality since 1788. 14
Bibliography. 19
The origins of the oppression of LGBTIQPSDGA+ people is not biblical or religion.
The bible and religion is not to blame for the origins of the oppression of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Intersex, Pansexual, Queer, Sex and Gender Diverse, Asexual plus Community. According to Pat Brewer, the origins of the oppression LGBTIQPSDGA+ people “is clearly connected with the rise of the family and of class society, which brought about the subjugation of women.[1]”While the Bible and relgion has a history of being used as a weapon to deny, oppress, exploit, condemn, persecute, treat illegal and exclude the sexuality, gender and equality with God of the LGBTIQPSDGA+ community. According to MCC Elder Rev. Mona West, Ph.D., “It is important to remember that such hurtful things are not a reflection of Christ, or the way God wants the church to be, or even what the Bible really says…Biblical writers had no concept of sexual orientation or sexual development as we understand these today. Therefore, passages that reference…sexual activity should not be seen as comprehensive statements concerning sexuality, but instead should be viewed in the context of what the ancient world that produced the Bible understood about sexual activity and human relationship[2].”
Genesis 1:27 God Created humanity inclusive of sexualities and genders
Genesis 1:27 is not about the creation of sexual partnerships, but is about God’s creation of humanity as a whole in God’s own image that is inclusive of all sexualities and genders. Genesis 1:27 states, “So God created humankind in God’s image, in the image of God he created them; male and female God created them (NRSV).” There is no justified reason if there ever was to assume humanity means heterosexual when God talks about the creation of humanity in God’s own image. According to Walk the Tightrope, “This also applies to intersex people, who have been created with physical characteristics of both sexes (Tightrope, 2013).”
Genesis 2:18-25 God’s Creation of humanity, the helper and marriage
In the beginning God declares in Genesis 2:18-25 what is “not good” for humanity is to be alone that actually supports marriage equality. God declares from the beginning the origins of marriage as a partnership of humanity and it’s helper based on mutuality and intimacy. God was not concerned about the sexuality or gender of marriage but in fact God called humanity’s partner “helper”. According to Ben Myers Adam and Eve is defined as humanity and it’s partner (22 April 2014).
In Genesis 2:22-25 God did not uphold heterosexual relationships as the only ideal within the family. Therefore, what God wanted from the beginning was for humanity to not be alone.
Genesis 19, Ezekiel 16:49, Luke 17:28-29, Jude 1:7, Sodom and Gomorrah
Sodom is the name of a city in Genesis 19 and not a description of sexuality, gender or the act of sex. The story of Sodom and Gomorrah is not about condemning LGBTIQPSDGA+ people for the destruction of the cities, but is a story about pride, rape, incest and inhospitality as to why God destroyed the cities. Genesis 19 states:
The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and bowed down with his face to the ground. He said, “Please, my lords, turn aside to your servant’s house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you can rise early and go on your way.” They said, “No; we will spend the night in the square.” But he urged them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house; and he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house; and they called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, so that we may know them.” Lot went out of the door to the men, shut the door after him, and said, “I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. Look, I have two daughters who have not known a man; let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please; only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof.” But they replied, “Stand back!” And they said, “This fellow came here as an alien, and he would play the judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them.” Then they pressed hard against the man Lot, and came near the door to break it down. But the men inside reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. And they struck with blindness the men who were at the door of the house, both small and great, so that they were unable to find the door.
Then the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone you have in the city—bring them out of the place. For we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.” So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, “Up, get out of this place; for the Lord is about to destroy the city.” But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting.
When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Get up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or else you will be consumed in the punishment of the city.” But he lingered; so the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and left him outside the city. When they had brought them outside, they[a] said, “Flee for your life; do not look back or stop anywhere in the Plain; flee to the hills, or else you will be consumed.” And Lot said to them, “Oh, no, my lords; your servant has found favor with you, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life; but I cannot flee to the hills, for fear the disaster will overtake me and I die. Look, that city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape there—is it not a little one?—and my life will be saved!” He said to him, “Very well, I grant you this favor too, and will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. Hurry, escape there, for I can do nothing until you arrive there.” Therefore the city was called Zoar. The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar.
Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven; and he overthrew those cities, and all the Plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord; and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the Plain and saw the smoke of the land going up like the smoke of a furnace.
So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the Plain, God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had settled.
Now Lot went up out of Zoar and settled in the hills with his two daughters, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar; so he lived in a cave with his two daughters. And the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to come in to us after the manner of all the world. Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, so that we may preserve offspring through our father.” So they made their father drink wine that night; and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; he did not know when she lay down or when she rose. On the next day, the firstborn said to the younger, “Look, I lay last night with my father; let us make him drink wine tonight also; then you go in and lie with him, so that we may preserve offspring through our father.” So they made their father drink wine that night also; and the younger rose, and lay with him; and he did not know when she lay down or when she rose. Thus both the daughters of Lot became pregnant by their father. The firstborn bore a son, and named him Moab; he is the ancestor of the Moabites to this day. The younger also bore a son and named him Ben-ammi; he is the ancestor of the Ammonites to this day (NRSV).
In Ezekiel 16:49, Luke 17:28-29 and Jude 1:7, God explains what Sodom’s real sin is:
“This was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy (NRSV, Ezekiel 16:49). Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day that Lot left Sodom, it rained fire and sulfur from heaven and destroyed all of them (NRSV, Luke 17:28-29). Likewise, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which, in the same manner as they, indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural lust, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire (NRSV, Jude 1:7).
According to MCC Elder Dr Rev Mona West:
“The men of Sodom want to ‘know’ (yadah - a Hebrew word that can mean sexual intercourse) the foreigners who have come to Lot’s house. In essence they want to rape them in order to show their social and cultural dominance over them. In…Ezekiel 16:49, Luke 17:28-29 Sodom’s ‘sin’ is not identified as homosexuality, rather, their sins were pride, failure to help the poor, and lack of hospitality to foreigners (2014, p. 1)”.
Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 Prohibition of incest with virgins of all sexualities and genders
Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 were part of fertility rituals from the ancient Middle-East of the Holiness Code in Israel that educated God’s children of Israel about love of neighbours and justice. This text is referring to the Holiness code which prohibited the real sin of sexual abuse, cultic violence and incest being committed. Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 was not about prohibiting loving caring sexual partnerships of the same gender. Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 states:
“You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination (NRSV, 18:22). If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death; their blood is upon them (NRSV, 20:13).”
According to Pastor comrade Karl Hand liberation theologist of CraveMCC Paddington:
“Scholarly opinion has dramatically shifted in just the last decade about the meaning of the phrase translated by NRSV as "as with a woman", which in Hebrew is mishkeve ishshah or literally "the lyings of a woman"… This text, translated literally, defines a virgin as: one who has not known a man with respect to the lying down of a man (mishkav zachar) and a non-virgin as: one who knows the lying down of a man (mishkav zachar)…Olyan concludes that “the lying down of a man” means being penetrated, and “the lying down of a female” means penetration, and that what is being forbidden here is male anal penetration – not homoerotic behaviour in general (Hand, 2013).
Romans 1:18-3:20 All are Equally sinful and all are Equally redeemable
Romans 1:18-3:20 was written to help Christians of Jewish and gentile backgrounds unite together in one church, on the basis of God’s inclusion of everyone. Romans was not about prohibiting LGBTIQSDG sexual relationships and was not about prohibiting Marriage equality. Romans 1:18-3:20 speaks of resolving cultural conflict with God’s generous inclusivity of uniting all walks of life of humanity in the one church including LGBTIQSDG people. Romans 1:18-3:20 states:
The Guilt of Humankind-For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of those who by their wickedness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made. So they are without excuse; for though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools; and they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal human being or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles.
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the degrading of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
For this reason God gave them up to degrading passions. Their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural, and in the same way also the men, giving up natural intercourse with women, were consumed with passion for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the due penalty for their error.
And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind and to things that should not be done. They were filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, they are gossips, slanderers, God-haters,[a] insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious toward parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. They know God’s decree, that those who practice such things deserve to die—yet they not only do them but even applaud others who practice them.
The Righteous Judgment of God-Therefore you have no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others; for in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things. You say,[b] “We know that God’s judgment on those who do such things is in accordance with truth.” Do you imagine, whoever you are, that when you judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself, you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not realize that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But by your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. For he will repay according to each one’s deeds: to those who by patiently doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; while for those who are self-seeking and who obey not the truth but wickedness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be anguish and distress for everyone who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.
All who have sinned apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but the doers of the law who will be justified. When Gentiles, who do not possess the law, do instinctively what the law requires, these, though not having the law, are a law to themselves. They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, to which their own conscience also bears witness; and their conflicting thoughts will accuse or perhaps excuse them on the day when, according to my gospel, God, through Jesus Christ, will judge the secret thoughts of all.
The Jews and the Law- But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast of your relation to God and know his will and determine what is best because you are instructed in the law, and if you are sure that you are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth, you, then, that teach others, will you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You that forbid adultery, do you commit adultery? You that abhor idols, do you rob temples? You that boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”
Circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law; but if you break the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. So, if those who are uncircumcised keep the requirements of the law, will not their uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? Then those who are physically uncircumcised but keep the law will condemn you that have the written code and circumcision but break the law. For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is true circumcision something external and physical. Rather, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart—it is spiritual and not literal. Such a person receives praise not from others but from God.
Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Much, in every way. For in the first place the Jews[c] were entrusted with the oracles of God. What if some were unfaithful? Will their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Although everyone is a liar, let God be proved true, as it is written,
“So that you may be justified in your words, and prevail in your judging.” But if our injustice serves to confirm the justice of God, what should we say? That God is unjust to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) By no means! For then how could God judge the world? But if through my falsehood God’s truthfulness abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? And why not say (as some people slander us by saying that we say), “Let us do evil so that good may come”? Their condemnation is deserved!
None Is Righteous - What then? Are we any better off? No, not at all; for we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin, as it is written:
“There is no one who is righteous, not even one; there is no one who has understanding, there is no one who seeks God. All have turned aside, together they have become worthless; there is no one who shows kindness, there is not even one.”
“Their throats are opened graves; they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of vipers is under their lips.”
“Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery are in their paths, and the way of peace they have not known.”
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For “no human being will be justified in his sight” by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin (NRSV).”
According to Walk The tightrope:
“For Paul, ‘natural’ always means socially acceptable; ‘shameful’ refers to public humiliation. The sin condemned is the Idolatry of the Roman Imperial cult, uncontrolled lust was the consequence, but Paul reminds Jewish believers that they are also sinners. His conclusion speaks to any cultural conflict: all are equally sinful and equally redeemable (2013).”
The Writings of the Apostle Paul
The writings of Apostle Paul of 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 and 1 Timothy 1:9-11speaks of self-indulgence, abusive relationships in both heterosexual and LGBTIQSDG sexual partnerships. Paul did not speak of prohibiting mutually loving sexual relationships between LGBTIQSDG people or heterosexuals. Paul wrote them in the context of selfish or exploitative actions in relation to inequality and pederasty that MCC Elder Mona West explains. NRSV, 1 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 and 1 Timothy 1:9-11 states:
“Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers—none of these will inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).
This means understanding that the law is laid down not for the innocent but for the lawless and disobedient, for the godless and sinful, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their father or mother, for murderers, fornicators, sodomites, slave traders, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to the sound teaching that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me (1 Timothy 1:9-11).
According to MCC Elder Mona West:
“There are two major issues to consider when one approaches these passages: translation and sexual practices of Greek culture… These Greek words are difficult to translate in the context of these passages…When these words are placed in the context of Greek culture in which Paul was writing, the passages have very specific meanings…the Mediterranean world had a definition of sexuality that was based on dominance/submission and unequal status. Proper sexual relations occurred between people whose status was unequal. In addition there was a practice in ancient Greek culture known as pederasty in which younger men were socialized and educated through a close relationship with an older man…Evidently there was some abuse happening in these relationships and young boys were being exploited and kept by the patron well after the boy had grown into adulthood (which would have made him an equal, hence violating the code of sex only among unequals). These abusive relationships are what the apostle Paul is referencing, not mutually loving and caring relationships between people of the same sex (West, 2014).”
The seven Church views of Marriage Equality
WHAT IS THE PUBLIC POSITION OF OTHER CHURCHES ON MARRIAGE EQUALITY?
There are seven church views of marriage equality that are Hatred, Resistance, Persuasion, Discipleship, Compromise, Affirmation and Liberation.
Hatred – Westboro Baptist Church
Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) has an extremist view of hatred towards marriage equality (WBO, 2014). WBC believes God is sickened by marriage equality as a sign of absolute depravity because LGBTIQSDG people are an abomination who can’t repent, so will go straight to hell (WBO, 2014).
Resistance – Christian Democratic Party
The Christian Democratic Party (CDP) believes that “Marriage equality will destroy the family (CDP, 2014).” So CDP believe it’s their God given right to “politically organise against marriage equality (CDP, 2014).”
Persuasion/Conversion- ex gay programs
Mainline evangelical denominations (MED) with a persuasion or conversion view of marriage equality have been responsible for ex gay programs known as “conversion or persuasion therapy (CNN, 2013)”. MEDs believe being LGBTIQSDG is a choice that is pathological so should seek to be cured and marry heterosexually, yet should not be forced to do so through anti-gay laws (Hand K. , 2013).
Discipleship
Some emergent churches (EC) like the Catholic Church have a Dicipleship view. They consider LGBTIQSDG sexuality as natural and healthy and that we should support LGBTIQSDG people. Yet EC’s abstain from supporting marriage equality, abortion rights, condom usage and have a celibacy policy as part of the call of discipleship. Followers of Jesus of both LGTIQSDG and heterosexual people are required to, “abstain from sex as part of the cause of the gospel (Hand K. , 2013).” Forced celibacy policies promotes abstinence and be faithful programs that have been responsible for an increase in HIV/AIDS in the third world as well as resulted in institutionalised sexual abuse of children in the church (GLW, 14 August 2008) (NewsLtd, 2013).
Compromise
Some Liberal Protestant churches (LBC) like the Salvation Army compromise Marriage equality. According to Karl Hand, “They LBCs consider (LGBTIQSDG) sexuality is not God’s intention for human sexuality, but it is a result of human imperfection. Since not all (LGBTIQSDG) people are able to live lives of celibacy, it is better to have a monogamous relationship, rather than a string of one-night stands (2013).”
Affirmation -UCA
Progressive mainline denominations (PMD)s including those within the UCA such as United Justice, Unity and Friends and Paddington Uniting Church have an affirmation view of marriage equality. PMDs affirm LGBTIQSDG people are neither sick, nor sinful. That it should welcome LGBTIQSDG relationships into its churches and allow them to fully participate in every way that heterosexual people can (Hand K. , 2013).
Liberation – Metropolitan Community Church, CraveMCC, CLACCA
Metropolitan Community Church, CraveMCC and New Covenant publicly support Marriage Equality as part of the gospel with a clear agreed theology. Liberation theology considers, “the oppression of LGBTIQSDG people is the real sin, and full inclusion in the church (including Marriage Equality) is part of our gospel. We should advocate for their rights in the church to make sure they are fully included and that their voices are heard at every level (Hand K. , 2013).”
Heterosexuality was not invented by the bible
Heterosexuality and Homosexuality
The name Heterosexual and Homosexual, is not an invention of the bible but was first named by Károly Mária Kertbeny, an Austro-Hungarian man of letters, translator and journalist in 1868. “On May 6, 1868, in a letter to pioneering German sexologist Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, Kertbeny used the word Homosexualisten ("homosexuals"), which he derived from Greek homos ("the same") and the Latin root sexualis. One year later, he used it in two anonymous pamphlets written in German and published in Leipzig, in which he criticized the laws that criminalized same-sex sexual activities.
The term gradually gained wider circulation. In 1880, one of Kertbeny's texts was included in a popular-science book by Gustav Jäger, Die Entdeckung der Seele (Discovery of the Soul)--a study of body odors in sexual attraction; in that same volume, the term Heterosexualität ("heterosexuality") first appears. In 1900, an excised chapter on homosexuality by Kertbeny appeared in Magnus Hirschfeld's Jahrbuch für sexuelle Zwischenstufen (Yearbook for Sexual Intermediates).
Richard von Krafft-Ebing officially made use of "homosexuality" in the second edition of Psychopathia Sexualis in 1887, followed by Albert Moll in Die conträre Geschlechtsempfindung
(Contrary Sexual Feeling) in 1891.
Kertbeny's coinage gave a designation to "The Love that dare not speak its name" and "the sin not to be mentioned by Christians," and gradually replaced other terms for same-sex desire: the earlier persecutory or contemptuous "criminal against nature," "sodomite," "bugger," "hermaphrodite," or "degenerate," and the contemporary more or less non-discriminating "similisexual," "urning," "uranian," "invert," or "homophile."[3]”
Bisexuality
According to JR Thorpe a journalist of Bustle , “The word bisexuality, as we currently use it, was coined by Charles Gilbert Chaddock in his translation of Kraft-Ebing's Psychopathia Sexualis (pictured) in 1892 — but don't let that fool you into thinking that the world before 1900 was open to bisexuality. England had an anti-sodomy law, known as The Buggery Act, which made sodomy illegal. It stayed on the books in various forms until 1861 —and consensual homosexual acts weren't made legal in the UK until 1967.[4]”
Trans
According to Leslie Feinberg author of Transgender Warriors: Making of History from Joan of Arc to Dennis Rodman, "The term transgenderist was first introduced into the English language by trans warrior Virginia Prince. Virginia told me, “I coined the noun transgenderist in 1987 or ’88. There had to be some name for people like myself who trans the gender barrier – meaning somebody who lives full time in the gender opposite to their anatomy. I have not transed the sex barrier.[5]”
Intersex
On the 1st October 1917 the term intersex was first named by German Richard Goldschmidt in a book titled Intersexuality and the Endrocrine Aspect of Sex. Richard Goldschmidt: “Intersexuality and the Endocrine Aspect of Sex. Organisation Intersex International Australia Limited stated on 13 November 2009, “Goldschmidt proposed that better terminology was needed when intersex was viewed from the then new perspective of “cytology, genetics, teratology, physiology, serology, endocrinology, etc.” He also invited endocrinologists to view sex differentiation with an “open mind and without prejudice.”
Prior to this paper intersex was largely in the domain of medical experts that specialized in thinking problems such as psychiatrists and psychologists. Few other fields of medicine were involved.
Intersex in humans was at that time largely limited to external appearance save for those who were discovered to be ‘internal hermaphrodites’ when autopsies were conducted. The standard test for the living was a ‘hands-on’ affair where some kind of medical ‘expert’ would view and touch the offending organs and make a pronouncement of male or female. That pronouncement was entirely dependent on the size of the ‘protrusions’ felt.
Goldschmidt sagely observes that “we often take the fact of the existence of two sexes for granted” and then notes that “the causes of normal distribution of the sexes is difficult to ascertain.”
Goldschmidt clearly understood the difference between hermaphrodite and intersex. On page 446 of his paper he dismisses reported cases of “hermaphroditism” and “pseudo-hermaphroditism” as being “probably cases of hormonal intersex.”
Over 100 years ago science was aware that sex exists on a gradation or continuum. Goldschmidt was aware that old terms often proposed without the benefit of science were inaccurate and were not reflected in scientific discoveries of the time.
Hermaphrodite and allied terms arose from Greek and Roman mythology and were adopted by the priests, alchemists and soothsayers seeking an explanation for what was otherwise inexplicable to them. Some intersex people reclaim this term, although it remains contentious.
In the years since, intersex variations have been conflated with homosexuality, transgender identities and more. The last forty years have seen huge changes in the way these non-standard sexualities and gender identities have fared, yet intersex remains the only one treated as a curable disorder with clearly identifiable biological causes.
Today, in an attempt to remove from medicine any terms redolent of sexuality and myth, intersex has come to be viewed as a “disorder of sex development” or DSD and OII Australia firmly rejects these as pathologising and stigmatising.
We are intersex.[6]”
Asexual
According to Avia –Viridis Asexual Sexual Orientation files, “The first in-depth documentation of asexual individuals that I could find goes back to Magnus Hirschfeld's 1896 sexological pamphlet Sappho und Sokrates. Hirschfeld proposes a chart (right) to measure sexual attraction from "schwach" (weak, asexual) to "stark" (strong, hypersexual), with "normal" in the middle. He occasionally refers to asexuality as anaesthesia sexualis ("sexual anaesthesia"), and, in a later work of Hirschfeld's, Sexualpathologie Teil I (1916), the author describes "automonosexualism" (attraction to oneself, as opposed to other people of any sex or gender) as "a relatively unknown and unappreciated anomaly, which would have been seen as asexuality in the past."[7]
Pamsexual
“This word “pansexual” was originally coined by Sigmund Freud within his theories on psychoanalysis in the early-to-mid 1900s, but was instead defined as how sexual energy and desire is the basis for all human interaction in life.
However the modern usage of “pansexual” has very little to do with Freud’s definition or his psycho-sexuality theories.
Instead, the modern usage (which I am exclusively referring to in this article) likely started gaining ground in the early-to-mid 1990s.
While it’s hard to pin the exact moment when its use began, it is almost certainly tied to the growing activism and awareness of non-binary and genderqueer people since pansexuality would not exist without these identities.[8]”
Queer
“According to the OED, “queer” first showed up on paper in 1508, in a transcription of “The Flyting of Dumbar and Kennedie.” Flyting, very popular in early 16th-century Scotland, was a public entertainment in which bards “would engage in verbal contests of provocative, often sexual and scatological but highly poetic abuse;” royalty would sometimes set them up as court entertainment, and at least one academic considers flyting the direct ancestor of modern rap battles.[9]”
According to Gay life expert Ramon Johnson,"Queer" was often used during the 16th century onwards to describe something strange, eccentric or peculiar… That change began to happen early in the 1900's when the word started to be used as a form of insult towards men and women who engaged in same-sex relationships and to those who exhibited non-normative gender expressions.
The term later began to be reclaimed by the gay community, by the beginning of the 1980's, and became a synonym of the LGBT fight towards equality - it is used as a positive or neutral descriptive of each other…This process by which a word meaning changes from negative or neutral to more positive is called amelioration.
Nonetheless, much care should be taken when using an ameliorated word as some may take offense. For instance, just because gays have embraced the word "queer" does not mean it cannot be used as a term of hate by a homophobe, which unfortunately continues to happen. Those who often use the term should have in consideration its important history.
Nevertheless, the word "queer" is an exceptional example of how we can transform something bad into something good, of how we can have the power to confront the obstacles and bring out the best of an awful situation. Which in itself is a metaphor for everything else that happens in our lives.[10]”
Aboriginal Australia
In aboriginal culture which is about 60,000yrs old until white settlement there existed the hunter gatherer mode of production. A type of as Marx called it primitive communism existed. Sexuality and gender was an integral part of indigenous culture, beliefs and a strong connection to the land. While having economic and social dealings with other groups they did not form large confederacies for purposes such as warfare or conquest. With their deep connection to the land they organised in traditional tribal structures by a shared production and consumption of the entire social product. People regardless of sexuality and gender would use their shared labour power to kill animals with spears. As there was no surplus, there was no chance of a ruling class institution of a family, private property or a state So if they didn’t work together to get food they died.
So because there was no surplus there was no nuclear family. IE no mum dad and the two kids. Sexuality and gender was irrelevant and communal raising of children was shared. The primary structures of Aboriginal society therefore were based on kinship. As such communal understandings of sexuality and gender were critically important for the survival of the tribe.
We don’t have many records but quotes like this from early anthropologists seem to show queers were not oppressed. Anthropologist Phyllis Kaberry on Aboriginal people in the Kimberley stated: “The lesbian relationships of Australian women were an acknowledged part of their sexual behaviour and were included in their ritual activities.” Another example of indigenous sexual freedom was the Bugis system.
Colonialism and capitalist expansion in Australia
A distinct conclusion can be drawn about the colonialisation of aboriginal sexual freedom. The nature of the convict settlement was calculated to breed brutality. This inevitably took on a racist and sexist colouring. Racist because white settlement trampled on the ancient laws and social rules of the Aborigines. Yet at the same time depriving them of their hunting and gathering lands. The destruction of Aboriginal society could therefore be justified by a belief they were inferior either as a race or culture or both. Through religion, education, disease, sexual abuse and cultural dominance colonialism and capitalism divorced many Indigenous cultures from traditional practices, which included communal understandings of sexuality.
The Gay & Lesbian Aboriginal Alliance article concludes in reference to the US queer theorist Michael Warner’s claim: “heterosexualisation of society was a fundamental imperative of modern colonialism.”
Colonial authorities in relation to European settlers, including convict men and women, also committed homosexual acts. For example, Joy Damousi and Kay Daniels have both investigated official accounts of lesbian sexual practices as well as relationships. This included relationships between young girls and women who acted as ‘pseudo males’. This was where women went to great lengths to stay together. Damousi observed of Tasmanian convict history, the ‘solution’ to expressions of lesbian suppression was universal. For “to isolate these women in separate cells in the Hobart factory, is used in order to contain and regulate their sexuality.”
Evidence of the performance of unconventional female genders is a wide spread feature of lesbian and queer history in Australia. Consider De Lacy Evans of Bendigo, found in 1879 to have a female body. Enormous interest uncovered three marriages to women from his previous twenty plus years of living as a man while working as a miner. He was father to an 18-month old daughter from his most recent marriage. After a collapse in his health and controversy over his female body, Evans was hospitalised. Three months later he emerged in women’s clothes, ‘entirely feminine’ and entirely cured. It’s a miracle.
Not all past relationships between queers have been uncovered by historians or told by the subjects themselves. Both aboriginals and white convict settlers were caught in a system of discipline as well as punishment. The bugis system is another example of queer suppression of discipline and punishment.
Queer oppression isn’t universal
The Bugis in Indonesia have a five-gender system and practice same sex marriage. This was a system of rules, which severely governed the role of women.
Pederasty was condoned in Ancient Greece. The term pederasty embraces a wide range of erotic practices between adult males and young boys. This is also known as age structured homosexuality. The role of homosexuality in classical Mediterranean culture and society has only recently received significant study. Modern American society generally regards homosexuality as, at best, an intriguing subculture often providing stock for humorists and satirists. Yet at worst, a menacing counterculture threatening impressionable adolescents with irreparable harm. Yet, homosexuality has not always been an aspect of "others." Ancient Greeks acknowledged homosexuality as an important tool in boys’ education. They institutionalised and regulated its practices within their law codes.
Sport was also an integral part of their society. Athletics included wrestling, foot races, running, long jump, javelin, discus throwing, and performance on hanging rings as well as parallel bars. Most boys in general eagerly trained in athletics in hopes of attaining competitive levels for the Olympic games. If they could not win or compete in athletics, they may still have hoped for one of the prizes awarded for physical beauty.
Capitalism
The origins of the oppression of LGBTIQPSGDA+ people has a basis in capitalism, but it’s not simple or mechanical. The relationship between economics and ideas is always complicated. There is a need to biologically reproduce the working class. This is why capitalist governments like the one we are living under have a weird fixation on fertility rates.
Economic production and exchange doesn’t take place in the family under capitalism. People have to sell their labour power as individuals on the market. So this means people (mostly men) have a new freedom to lead their economic and sexual lives outside the family.
There was a marked development of queer subcultures in 19th century Australia. There are indications from as early as the 1830s in Sydney a small urban homosexual subculture with dress codes and appropriation of public space was beginning to emerge. People then found guilty of sodomy were executed. This was well established by the 1890s and 1900s at least in Sydney, Melbourne and to a lesser extent, Brisbane.
In Australian Colonies, the ‘abominable crime of buggery’ was punished by a sentence of life imprisonment and the first known one was tried in 1700.
The combination of disease, loss of land and direct violence reduced the Aboriginal population by an estimated 90% between 1788 and 1900.
During the 1950s there was a decrease in the institution of the family. So under capitalism the Catholic Church considered there still to be a high level of promiscuity and continual resistance to assimilating aboriginals to white culture. The white Australia policy officially adopted in the 1920s not only increased the number of children removed from their families but was also a fundamental contribution to the suppression of homosexuality.
Germany
This was the birthplace of the road to rainbow liberation in the 1800s. The Scientific-Humanitarian Committee (Wissenschaftich-humanitares Komitee, WhK) was founded in Berlin on the 14th or 15th of May, 1897. The WhK was established to campaign for social recognition of homosexual and transgender men as well as women facing legal persecution. It was the first such organisation in history to do so. The initial focus of the WhK was paragraph 175 of the Imperial Penal Code, which criminalised ‘coitus-like’ acts between males. The WhK assisted defendants in criminal trials, conducted public lectures and gathered signatures for a petition for a repeal of the law. Original members of the WhK included Doctor Magnus Hirschfeld. Hirschfeld put up a petition to repeal this law. At its peak, the WhK had about 500 members with branches in approximately 25 cities in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands.
The committee was dissolved in 1933 when the Nazis destroyed the Institute fur Sexualwissenchaft in Berlin where the WhK was based. In 1962 in Hamburg, Hiller who had survived Nazi concentration camps continued to fight against anti-homosexual repression then tried unsuccessfully to re establish the WhK.
Russian Revolution
The Russian revolution was THE most significant moment in the whole history of queer struggle. The new criminal code of 1922 declared, “the absolute non-interference of the state and society into sexual matters, so long as nobody is injured, and no one’s interests are encroached upon.” This happened in the broader context of the Bolshevik attempt at totally revolutionising the family. IE access to abortion as well as equal rights between women and men, thus changing the institution of marriage. Trotsky said you cannot abolish the family, you have to replace it. Amongst all the war and poverty, they were unable to replace the family in Russia.
There is also a genuine pro-gay and pro-sex socialist tradition, which must be defended. Eighty-seven years before sodomy laws in the U.S. were repealed by the Supreme Court, the Russian Revolution of 1917 wiped laws against homosexuality from the criminal code.
The Bolshevik Party–in the tradition of Marx and Engels under the leadership of Trotsky as well as Lenin–was a mass party numbering in the hundreds of thousands. At the time of the revolution, gained wider support among millions of workers and peasants. Every aspect of Russian society was thrown into turmoil by the revolution. The "curious fact" Engels had written about decades before was accurate: "A phenomenon common to all times of great agitation, the traditional bonds of sexual relations, like all other fetters, are shaken off." Marx and Engels had argued "sex love" was distorted as well as alienated by commodity production. Monogamy under capitalism was an extension of the bourgeois concept of private property. While sex itself was turned into a commodity.
Dr Grigor Batkis, Director of the Moscow Institute for Social Hygiene, published a pamphlet entitled the Sexual Revolution in Russia in 1923. The revolution, it says, has attempted to promote "forms of sexual relations responding to the needs and natural demands of the people". (Soviet legislation) declares the absolute non-interference of the state and society into sexual matters.”
Now this is not to say homophobia was totally gotten rid of in the Russian revolution for the revolution was betrayed.
Stalinism
Stalin came to power after Lenin and the Bolshevik revolution came to power in 1917. The Stalinist bureaucracy was horribly homophobic. Homophobia was related to forced collectivisation and rapid industrialisation. People were pushed into massive workloads with more pressure on the nuclear family to be the economic basis of society.
War and poverty took their toll on the leading activists of the revolution. Therefore the grass roots which made the revolution, were unable to stop the bureaucrats from taking over.
Stalinist homophobia influenced new revolutionary movements elsewhere. Stalinism and fascism destroyed the queer movement for a whole generation. In addition, the queer movement is still recovering from it.
Homophobic laws were reintroduced in 1934. Soviet medical and legal experts were very proud of the progressive nature of their legislation in 1930. The medical expert Sereisky wrote in the Great Soviet Encyclopaedia: 'Soviet legislation does not recognise so-called crimes against morality. Our laws proceed from the principle of protection of society. Therefore they countenance punishment only in those instances when juveniles and minors are the objects of homosexual interest' (p. 593)."
America
In the horribly capitalist conservative McCarthy era in the 50s, there was a huge crackdown on communists and gays. The Government conducted homophobic smear campaigns against the Communist Party of the USA. (Saying the communist party was gay as an excuse to crack down on them). The way the party dealt with this was to purge queers from the party. This was also a legacy of Stalinism. Harry Hay was a communist who came out of the closet and out of the party forming the first major gay organisation in the US. This was the Mattachine Society started by communists (without assistance from the homophobic Communist Party) in 1952.
Then the sixties happened. Mass protests in the US against the war on Vietnam. Gay liberationists inspired by all the movements start to organise. They begin to attempt to forge alliances and form collectives with other movements. Black civil rights, women’s' liberation, Cuban revolution and all sorts of stuff.
New nation-wide radical organisations/networks form. Gay Liberation Front, Daughters of Bilitis, Gay Activists Alliance. Mass protests on campuses and everywhere. Homophobic laws start to be repealed. Through the process of the anti-homophobia struggle, gay liberationists start to realise oppression is systemic.
Brutal police repression of both gay liberation and black power intensified when they tried to work together. Splits happened on both sides over the issue.
The Stonewall riots in 1969. Huge upsurge and first ever real mass movement follows. Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries, the first ever transgender activist group, formed after the Stonewall riots.
AIDS
Epidemic in America in the 1980s.
Homophobic propaganda from the Reagan government.
Increase in homophobic violence.
The government didn’t give a fuck people were dying. They didn’t fund programs for prevention or treatment or subsidise cheap drugs.
AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power (ACT UP) formed in 1987.
Cool actions like political funerals bringing the ashes of dead AIDS victims to the steps of parliament occurred. T-shirts said “DESPERATE DYING HOPELESS PEOPLE WITH NOTHING TO LOSE ARE DANGEROUS AND UNPREDICTABLE.”
Cuba
US Gay Liberationists went on the brigade to Cuba, hopeful Socialism would provide a solution to homophobia. They were heartbroken to find homophobia in revolutionary Cuba after the revolution took place in 1969. Their cry for queer liberation was ‘Se dice nada, se hace todo meaning, ‘say nothing, do everything.’
Realising this was a mistake revolutionary Cuba took the queer struggle head on recognising homophobia is a mistake. They start to try and turn the situation around. Strawberries and Chocolate, queer sex ed in schools, drag queens lead May Day parade, same sex marriage and free Sex Reassignment Surgery are being discussed.
After the collapse of Russia during the special period a system of free health care and education was now extended on a much broader level. Yet because of this economic crisis the queer liberation movement slowed.
They form Co ops and are one of the leaders on the environment (Although they copped more homophobia from the other people on the brigade than from the Cuban’s). This is in stark contrast to the reactions in America. This occurred after Hurricane Katrina where queers were blamed for the disaster because of their tendencies towards “sinful behaviour” by the Christian right.
Cuba did take many good anti-homophobia measures in the 1990’s and now provide free male to female operations.
Che died defending the interests of the exploited and oppressed including queers of this continent. As Cuban’s would say, “Before history men who act as he did, who gave everything for the poor, grow in stature with each passing day finding a deeper place in the heart of the people.”
Raul Castro revolutionary descendant of Fidel proposed to pass the bill for same sex marriage in 2007. Mariela Castro has carried on the legacy for full queer rights which the Communist Party of Cuba has welcomed. The plan is to reform the country's family laws granting "full rights" to homosexual couples. This includes adoption of children, allowing sex and identity changes for transsexuals. So in the long term, legalizing homosexual unions.
Venezuela
Revolution is good for the poor. Homeless queers who were kicked out of homophobic families get better access to food etc.
Massive increase in Pride parade attendance.
Free AIDS drugs.
Opposition of the Catholic Church to contend with.
Same sex marriage/civil unions on the cards.
History of the struggle for marriage Equality since 1788
Marriage equality is an issue of equal civil human rights and not an issue of morals or conscience. Philippians 2:6 states, “Who though one was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited (NRSV)”. While the oppression of LGBTIQSDG people has it’s origins in the family since Adam and Eve; Government bans on marriage equality towards all oppressed groups have existed in Australia since 1788. According to liberation theologian, Pastor comrade Karl Hand of CraveMCC Paddington:
“Banning marriage tears apart (both heterosexual and LGBTIQSDG) people’s relationships. We would never accept behaviour like this from a human being. But for some reason our government which is meant to be on our side and protect us, gets away with doing it! This hasn’t always been the case. There is a history which explains how we ended up in this situation. In fact, throughout Australia’s history, marriage has been used as a marker of privilege, a special right, which is only given to certain groups, while others have been denied equal marriage rights (2011).”
The issue of poverty was first used as a weapon by the government of the British colony of Australia to ban marriage equality of convicts. The institution of Marriage was treated by the government as a commodity and a means of social control. Only those from wealthy, privileged backgrounds had the free equal right to marriage, while convicts had to prove they were working class citizens to the government to be granted marriage equality. According to Tasmanian sociologist Rodney Croome:
“In 1788, at the arrival of the first fleet, marriage was a privilege granted to individuals by the government on an ad hoc basis. During this period of time, marriage became a rite of passage from convict life into working class, and it was granted to the most industrious convicts (Hand K. , 2011).”
It was only when the Australian Anti-Transportation League took up the cause of marriage equality in their fight to abolish convict transportation was marriage equality won 1852-53 for the convicts.
Racism was the next weapon used by Australian Governments to ban marriage equality of Aboriginal people in Australia. The Australian government introduced the white Australia policy in 1901 that denied Aboriginals equal citizenship rights which included a ban on marriage equality of Aboriginal people.
1950’s
In 1951, the NSW Crimes Act is amended to ensure ‘buggery’ is a criminal act ‘with or without the consent of the person’. Thus removing the legal loophole of consent. Yet as late as the 1950s and 60s, the typical identifiable homosexual male type remained ‘feminised’. Sexual relations were between ‘normal’ (non-effeminate) men who saw themselves as quasi-heterosexual. The ‘real male’ in the relationship were the effeminate passive ‘camp’ men. Transition from homosexual identity based on gender-inversion to identity based on same-sex attraction seems to have begun by the 1940s. Yet gender-inversion remains institutionalised.
1969
In early 1970 it remains a crime for men to engage in homosexual sex in every state and territory in Australia. Running against this acceptance is a continuing tradition of homophobia with legal and medical codes, which were strongly anti-homosexual into the 1970s.
1960s
Often ministers in rural missions were the ones who defended marriage equality for Aboriginals as they considered, “all races are equal before God” as Karl Hand puts it (2011). According to Karl Hand:
“…In 1967, a national referendum resulted in an overwhelming 97% majority granting full citizenship and suffrage to indigenous people. Just as in the case for the emancipation of the convict, the emancipation of indigenous people came after a vanguard movement for marriage equality! One of the clearest lessons from the marriage ban on indigenous people is that these bans are used by the government in order to control privilege in our world. By legislating to make some people superior to others, the government can create classes of people who are not equal or fully human, and these classes can be exploited, blamed, abused at the government’s whim. Marriage equality is therefore one way of ensuring that all people are treated equal within society…Finally, it makes it clear that marriage rights are not an optional extra, but are part and parcel of human rights…without discrimination based on their sex, sexuality or gender (2011).”
1970
In 1970 the Campaign Against Moral Persecution (CAMP) is formed.
1971
CAMP organises the first gay and lesbian demonstration in Australia outside the headquarters of the Liberal Party in Sydney.
1972
The political activist association, Gay Liberation, is launched at Sydney University. Groups soon flourish on campuses around Australia.
1973
First queer NDA.
1975
The first National Homosexual conference is held at Melbourne University. This attracts around 60 delegates. Under Premier Don Dunstan’s Government, South Australia becomes the first Australian State to decriminalise homosexuality. Campaign, the longest running commercial gay magazine in Australia, is launched.
1976
In ACT, homosexual law reform legislation is passed.
1978
Socialist Youth Alliance (SYA now Resistance) supported gay liberation in Australia pretty much from the get-go. Ken Davis of SYA was behind the first one in 1978. The first Mardi Gras was a protest to mark the Day of International Gay Solidarity. This was the ten-year anniversary of the Stonewall riots. Therefore socialists instigated it forming the Gay Solidarity Group in March 1978. Twenty groups were involved. It was intended as a conscious bridge towards the club/pub scene. There were 1000 – 2000 participants and 53 arrests. “Out of the bars and into the streets” became the chant.
1979
The first FM gay radio program ‘Gaywaves’ begins broadcasting on Sydney’s 2SER.
1980
The ALSO Foundation is established in Melbourne in response to the Hamer Governments decriminalisation of homosexuality.
1981
The first Australia media reference to AIDS is made in the Gay and Lesbian newspaper The Sydney Star Observer. The Gay Rights Lobby is formed concentrating on the decriminalisation of homosexuality.
1982
NSW becomes the first state in Australia to pass laws prohibiting discrimination against homosexuals. Homosexuality is not decriminalised in NSW until 1984.
1984
The Australian Medical Association agrees to remove homosexuality from its list of illnesses and disorders. Decriminalisation of homosexuality is enacted in NSW. Three gay men are elected to Sydney City Council.
1989
The Sydney Gay Mardi Gras becomes the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. The largest gay rights march in Australia history is held, commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. Of the 2,000 odd demonstrators, 53 are arrested, 53 are arrested on charges of offensive behaviour and resisting arrest.
1990
In the 1990s gay venues in the form of ubiquitous drag shows. Indigenous Erotica sets out the politics rewriting 1960s sexual liberation on indigenous terms.
1994
ACT passes Domestic Relationships Act. First jurisdiction to give same-sex relationships the same legal standing as heterosexual defacto relationships. UN Human Rights Commission rules certain Tasmanian legislation discriminates against homosexuals. Therefore this was found to breach the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The Federal Government passes legislation, which establishes the right to sexual privacy, effectively overriding Tasmanian’s anti-gay laws.
1995
The Pride Sydney Lesbian and Gay Community Centre opens.
1996
After 3 years of often-divisive community debate, Sydney’s first lesbian cultural and community centre, the Lesbian Space Project, is opened. Chrystos, Taylor, Akiwenzie-Damn as well as Driskill challenge us to recognise the interdependence of our sexual choices. They also help us to recognise our social and political situations. They at the foreground were about erasing the stigma and silence attached to complex and highly politicised areas of sexual experience. Their courage in speaking out is strengthened by the necessity of doing so.
The queer generation is breaking down barriers, educating society their sexuality as natural and not problematic. Hence are helping to lead the fight against all forms of discrimination.
1997
Tasmania the last state to repeal sodomy laws, now having the best laws in Australia. Huge campaign led by the TGLRG.
Protests attacked brutally by cops.
Counter protests by right wing bigots.
Activists took their case to the UN and embarrassed Tasmania internationally.
1999
Community Action Against Homophobia formed out of the globalisation movement out of the S11.
Successful queer space campaigns at Griffith Uni, Wollongong and ECU in Western Australia. Queer blocs organised at anti-VSU and trade union rallies.
2000-2017 Marriage Equality
1. Netherlands 12 September 2000 Two lesbians and six Gay men were the world's first LGBTIQPSGDA+ couple to get legally hitched on 1st April 2001 even though ha'adama and Steve have been getting illegally hitched since the garden of eden.
https://web.archive.org/…/…/view/news_world_story_skin/34978
https://web.archive.org/…/news.bbc.c…/2/hi/europe/921505.stm
2. Belgium 30 January 2003
https://web.archive.org/…/www.planetout.…/news/article.html…
2003
Relationship recognition and adoption rights allowed in WA. Yet because queers are continually put at the bottom of adoption lists it would be another four years before a same sex couple could be the first to adopt in Australia
2004
Marriage equality also means freedom of the religious practice of marriage ceremonies in the church with complete non-interference of the state. The National Day of Action for Marriage Equality begins with a repeal the ban campaign with barely enough time to organise. On August 13th – the Marriage Act (1961) was amended via a Liberal and ALP bipartisan agreement to specifically ban all marriages that are not heterosexual. The Howard’s Liberal Government broke Section 116 of the Commonwealth Constitution Act by misquoting the bible to argue marriage is between a man and a woman to justify the ban on marriage equality with no separation of the church and the state on the issue. Section 116 of the Commonwealth Institution Act states:
Commonwealth not to legislate in respect of religion - The Commonwealth shall not make any law for establishing any religion, or for imposing any religious observance, or for prohibiting the free exercise of any religion, and no religious test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust under the Commonwealth (AustLII, 2014)”.
The Howard Government was able to gain bi partisan support from the ALP in the lead up to the elections by dropping it’s proposal to ban same sex adoption and then the ALP rammed through the ban on Marriage Equality.
3. Canada 28 June 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/…/canada-passes-bill-to-legalize-gay…
4. South Africa 30 November 2006
https://web.archive.org/…/365…/Newscon06/11/113006safmar.htm
2006
Queer refugee actions pursued. G20 & work choices queer blocs. Queers lead the G20 protest with a banner drop and a two-way chant initiated by CAAH and Resistance. It was the most amazing experience. The Queer Activists Network established. 113 organisation with 3500 people around the country joined the fight on NDA. Bill for de facto rights passed in SA. Couples still must live together for 3 years before they can be recognised. ACT ban on Civil Unions
2007
VSU has been introduced, yet the struggle continues. Ruddock proposes to quash the proposed Civil partnership bill. Nationwide snap actions initiated in 48 hours over the weekend in Sydney, Adelaide and Perth. Over 200 people showed up. Howard proposes to ban HIV/migrants from entering Australia. Over 100 people show up for candlelight vigil. Same sex adoption also proposes to be banned under bilateral and multilateral agreements. First same sex adoption by a gay couple in WA on June 13th. Howard opposes it. ALP proposes relationship register for the states but not federal. Then sides with Howard by opposing same sex adoption Bill of the Greens with Howard. The Human Rights & Equal opportunity commission put out a report identifying 58 laws, which currently discriminate against queers, their relationships and their children based around defacto rights. First NDA forum launched by CAAH to build the NDA to help double last year. 35 organisations nationwide have signed on. Faz reckons we're way ahead of last year considering the ebb in the movement. Yet there is a revolutionary drive we can have a bigger movement with around 2 million queers in Australia. Queers begin organising for Stop Bush around Australia. There’s another banner drop on the cards to stop Bush in September who proposes to ban adoption in 16 states in the US. Internationally homophobia under capitalism is at an all time high not seen since the 70s. Refugee tribunal classes sexuality in detention centres as situational as a product of their circumstances of limited exposure to opposite sex people.
2007 Russia experiences the worst homophobic attack on gay Pride parade for 2nd year in a row. Pantera initiates Europe wide daily pickets; thousands from around the world have signed the online petition.
2007 Massachusetts 400 people stop the ban for marriage rights going ahead where it’s legal.
2007 10 000 people march in Rome for queer rights.
5. Norway 11 June 2008
https://web.archive.org/…/ALeqM5jko_BIHizUFFqUtmEaUrAEoPXFWw
6. Sweden 1 May 2009
http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx…
7. Portugal 17 May 2010
http://www.ontopmag.com/…/Lawmakers_In_Portugal_Legalize_Ga…
8. Iceland 11 June 2010
https://web.archive.org/…/iceland-parliament-approves-same-…
9. Argentina 15 July 2010
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/…/2012368514_argentina16.h…
http://content.time.com/…/wo…/article/0,8599,2005678,00.html
10. Mexico 10 Aug 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/…/08/11/world/americas/11mexico.html…&
11. Denmark 12 June 2012
https://www.retsinformation.dk/Forms/R0710.aspx?id=142282
12. New Zealand 18 April 2013
https://web.archive.org/…/nz-legalises-same-sex-mar…/4635086
13. Brazil 14 May 2013
http://www.estadao.com.br/…/cidades,cnj-obriga-cartorios-a-…
14. France 18 May 2013
https://web.archive.org/…/www.legifrance.go…/affichTexte.do…
15. Uragay 5 August 2013
https://web.archive.org/…/www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-amer…
16. England and Wales 29 March 2014
https://web.archive.org/…/htt…//www.bbc.com/news/uk-26793127
17. Scotland 16 December 2014
https://web.archive.org/…/same-sex-marriage-becomes-legal-i…
18. Luxemburg 1 Jan 2015
http://www.chronicle.lu/…/7947-same-sex-marriage-in-luxembo…
19. Ireland 16 November 2015
https://www.rte.ie/news/2015/1116/742159-same-sex-couples/
20. Columbia 7 April 2016
https://web.archive.org/…/colombia-legalises-same-s…/7371962
21. US 26 June 2016
http://edition.cnn.com/…/p…/same-sex-marriage-debate/Finland 1 March 2017
22. Finland 1 March 2017
https://web.archive.org/…/same-sex_marriage_law_goe…/9486556
23. Taiwan 24 May 2017
http://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3172594
Queer student movement given a new lease of life by the queer bloc at the S11 blockade of the World Economic Forum. Over 20 000 people rallied. It was like heaven on a stick for queers.
Queer Adoption Rights -shelly
NDA endorse adoption rights and civil unions for the first time as its only a matter of time before Howard proposes to ban same sex adoption.
Legal in Tasmania, WA and ACT
Legal in Guam, Andora, Belgium, Iceland, Netherlands, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, UK and France
First Same sex adoption in WA in Australia. Queers are continually put to the bottom of adoption waiting lists.
ALP & Liberals oppose it, as it does not maintain the institution of the family because a mother and a father can only raise children.
Summary
Socialists support a queer liberation because this equals a socialist revolution. Queers don’t want some rights but all our rights just like our heterosexual counterparts. We don’t ask for much but the same as anyone else. Anything less is not good enough. For there cannot be queer liberation without a socialist revolution. A socialist revolution wants:
Eradication of all homophobic laws
Withering away of the institution of the family and the state
Anti discrimination campaigns which will eliminate bigoted, homophobic ideas
Affirmative action towards queers
Relationship rights, adoption rights, all our rights
Fully funded health care including AIDS care and free education
National queer organisations to run queer campaigns
While Marx stated even after the revolution there would still be remnants of the old society left over, a queer revolution is possible. Under capitalism we’re made to believe we can’t fight back, but this is far from the truth. Through collective mass action, we can unfuck the world now with Resistance. Resistance is the socialist youth organisation who is doing something about it right now and you can too by joining if you haven’t already. As individuals we can’t do much but together we can. Resistance has been leading the campaign since the early 60s when we initiated Mardi Gras to help lead the queer struggle. On a united front we can change the world in the lead up to the NDA and Stop Bush right now.
“For human rights for all to be realised we would have to live in a different system, because capitalism doesn’t allow it to happen. To say we only want equal rights is to fall into a trap. What we want is a more just society. For we want is heaven hear and now.” -Fabiana Tron, from Desambrando, Cordoba, a lesbian arts group of Contrama 10
Bibliography
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[1] (Brewer, January 1995, p. 5)
[2] (West, 2014, p. 1)
[3] (Endres, 2004-2015)
[4] (Thorpe, 2014)
[5] (Feinberg, 1996, p. x)
[6] (International, 2009)
[7] (Avia-Viridis)
[8] (Jakubowski, 2014)
[9] (Cara, 2013)
[10] (Johnson, 2016)