"Are gay people people? y/n": The Australian Marriage Equality Voluntary Postal Survey Thread

This. This?! This is the government Australia got, even with compulsory voting???? Geez. My condolences. That would dishearten me something fierce if I lived there. Of course, we have our own shithead proliferation problems here in the States and they aren't under control, yet, either. Getting worse, if anything.

Can we agree to blame all this on Rupert Murdoch? So much simpler than thinking humanity is doomed due to massive design flaws.

Can we agree to blame all this on Rupert Murdoch?

Essentially yeah. He has enormous influence over the media here, and uses his outlets to actively campaign for parties like he does in the UK.

# Is this shit even legal?
We don't know. Various equality groups are banding together to launch two separate legal challenges in the federal High Court.

Longtime marriage campaigner Rodney Croome announces court challenge to postal survey

Croome says the government is exceeding its executive authority with the postal vote.

# I thought Australia was better than this.
It is. The government isn't.

Sadly I no longer think this is true. The number of COMPLETE AND UTTER ARSEHOLE CUNTS IN THE COMMUNITY who think a plebiscite is actually a good idea is proof of this.

Having watched the news this evening can we dwell on how awesome penny wong is and how much of a knuckledragging fuckstick tony abbot is.

Ed otm

Sadly I no longer think this is true. The number of COMPLETE AND UTTER ARSEHOLE CUNTS IN THE COMMUNITY who think a plebiscite is actually a good idea is proof of this.

― oh, boy, .GIF! That's where I'm a Viking! (edwardo), Wednesday, 9 August 2017 21:16 (twenty-seven minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I have seen some thoroughly vile shit today, and it's not even day 1

Penny Wong's fucking incredible senate speech (she's representing the opposition):

https://youtu.be/9noLe7f-VpI?t=321

The whole eight minutes is phenomenal, but I've cued it up to the jaw-dropping final two minutes.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/joshtaylor/this-is-all-the-respectful-debate-on-day-one-of-the-postal

Former speaker Bronwyn Bishop ran the "slippery slope" argument — conflating same-sex marriage with bestiality.

Liberal assistant minister for immigration and border protection Alex Hawke expressed concern that people may be "sued for expressing their religious freedom".

Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott suggested people vote no in the plebiscite because it's about...freedom of speech.

Openly-gay monarchist and former head of the Australian Broadcasting Authority David Flint told 2GB that people could change their genders and, using an "extreme example", go and rape women in bathrooms.

The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) is already arguing that the plebiscite isn't about same-sex marriage but "freedom of speech" and "Safe Schools".

I have nobody to get married to but I would like to have same sex marriage with an excemption in the Law: that Christine Forster isn't allowed to get married.

Because seriously fuck her, she's quite happy to support her dickhead brother in everything about taking away other people's rights and money and transferring them to the wealthy, but when it comes to HER rights, suddenly it's all about the people. I was very rude to her when I saw her handing out HTVs for herself for Mayor of Sydney and I don't regret it.

The Penny Wong embed didn't work

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9noLe7f-VpI&t=321

fuck the embed then

xp to edwardo: She's a good argument for why her brother's worse than dog shit, but seriously fuck her other shitty tory nonsense

Lonely guy just thinking baout civil disobedience

Rules against malicious campaign material will not apply to same-sex marriage postal vote

The public won't see the proposed changes to the marriage act before they vote

I can't see any way out of this other than refusing to play the game, Australia-wide and in huge numbers

don't do that. the ACL won't.

The going theory is that if everyone except the bigots boycotts the vote, there's no way it can be seen as a representative or even fair process, and Labor will have no trouble explaining that to the electorate when it goes about changing the law in Parliament. I mean the whole process is so clearly illegitimate in so many ways (and I've woken up to discover that fmr High Court judge Michael Kirby and his partner have declared they'll boycott! Maybe that's the start of it)

Advice is not to boycott because Labor will campaign for yes while simultaneously hanging shit on Turnbull for all the abuse, all the suicides etc etc.

Meanwhile, day 2 of the Respectful Debate Campaign

Lyle Shelton, head of the Australian Christian Lobby — the loudest voice on the "no" side — refused to withdraw his claim that marriage equality will create a "stolen generation" of the children of LGBTI Australians.

ABC News Breakfast host Michael Rowland received a postcard asking if he approved of the "filthy practice" of "sodomy" and compared gay people to "brownshirts" (i.e. Nazis)

Liberal MP Andrew Laming, in a tense debate with former Labor premier Kristina Keneally on Sky News, suggested if she didn't like the debate, she could go to North Korea.

The minister now in charge of the agency responsible for surveying the public on same-sex marriage once said gay sex was "sordid behaviour" and "unnatural acts".

R E S P E C T F U L D E B A T E

Several times I have started to write some kind of cogent response to the spineless bigoted cretins backslapping each other as they grind people's identities and joy beneath their smdnmejcdnkwqeoiucwd kjcakjnacsnjklcdknjcsa kmasd FUCK YOU FUCKING SHITS.

We all need to vote so they go the fuck down. I don't even want those arseholes winning a popularity contest.

Firs of many High Court challenge hearings today before 3.30 AEDT.

I just… the effect of all this. Not going into my personal situation itt, but I'm less impacted by this than a million Australians and I'm stressed and terrified. Hate to think what it's like for people who are openly gay, trans people, kids who are scared of being themselves etc. I've been listening to The Informer podcast on Joy Melbourne and even the reporters are audibly shaken by this. It's all just so fucking harrowing.

I have to say that

# I thought Australia was better than this.
It is. The government isn't.

is a very optimistic view given our treatment of refugees. Australia isn't better than this, as we prove time and again.

On balance we're slightly better than the government in that a large number of us don't support the worst things that the whole of the government thinks is fine. I agree that Australia is largely a backwater shithole though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khLEbeV400M

massive thanks to flipmod is the squizzod for fixing the top post, i had no idea it was so painful to edit posts

turnbull announced he's stepping back entirely from the "campaign". goes to war against his own people, four days later runs away. strong leader my fucking arse.

ha, be fantastic if barnaby fuckface joyce loses his seat due to NZ citizenship. maybe he'll finally have that massive coronary.

iirc joyce is the only leader of a federal or state government who opposes marriage equality. so fuck him.

There are few Australian political figures I loathe more than Joyce so this would be some antidote to all the other fuckery happening atm

NZ just confirmed that Barnaby is an NZ citizen.

watching reps now, it's a mess

:D

I can see it now. Barnaby renounces, but is determined to have been ineligible to have stood previously, but now can run in the by-election. Which he then wins because he promises to protect his constituents from dykes and poofs.

This fucking country, seriously.

Can I distribute bits of paper for people to stick in their plebiscite envelopes that say this? The ABS could count them, I feel sure.

Barnaby Joyce is a CUNT:

[ ] YES
[ ] NO

Will this invalidate results? Someone give me constitutional advice.

I am starting to notice a rich vein of "I'm not a bigot but... fuck equality before the law" hot takes, because there wasn't just enough "I'm a bigot and fuck equality before the law because hurrrr" hot takes.

Which will come first the postal survey or yet another federal election?

julie bishop is attacking nz labour now? what the fuck is happening?

I am starting to notice a rich vein of "I'm not a bigot but... fuck equality before the law" hot takes, because there wasn't just enough "I'm a bigot and fuck equality before the law because hurrrr" hot takes.

i keep hearing "shut up you already have equality, it's just the word that's different", which is so clearly a batshit lie that you know they've got nothing

wtf lol

that's like 1 person with a glass of milk asking 1 person with an icecream if they can have some icecream too. "well techically you already HAVE icecream"

*throws milk at them, stabls them with broken glass*

"it's exactly like ice cream in every way, shut up and eat your ice cream"

"but it's liquid"

"i said shut up"

If we can escalate this trans-ditch stoush so much that we can provoke a sneak invasion - NZ law will prevail and we can have gay marriage and no nasty postal survey.

well our deptuy pm's a kiwi so

turnbull goes on a two day diplomatic trip and boom, west island confirmed

Does that mean Barnaby can marry the man of his choice with he goes to the NZ high commission?

yes, in fact he married kevin andrews on a cycling holiday

btw ed you've picked up the gist of our political culture damned quickly, great work

i'm watching reps question time, it's exactly like a sitcom

even the lnp's dixer was like a punchline! she asked turnbull about foreign interference, OF ALL THINGS.

plibers just asked turnbull who'll be acting pm when turnbull is away next week, turnbull said "usual arrangements", the roof came off.

every second this goes on, the postal survey implicitly dissolves further into satire.

they're tripping over their own dixers, it's like the plank x 75

What's there to know?

1) Democracy Sausage
2) Knockabout fun at question time is preferable to getting any real work done
3) Elections are preferable to getting any real work done
4) If you've exhausted your options 2 and 3 change PM and try again.
5) Fuck Barnaby Joyce, Tony Abbott and George Christiansen
6) Preference deals lead to surprises!
7) Xenephon, Katter, McGowan, Hinch, Lambie etc. - not all loons all the time
8) Fuck One Nation Pauline Hanson and her nasty tribe
9) Sovereignty was never ceded so this all should be moot anyway - ignore that one ask hard as possible
10) Democracy sausage, except when voting ing a mean, spiteful and meaningless postal survey

10 out of 10, you're hired

So when Turnbull goes away next week our Prime Minister will be a New Zealander and our Head of State is British.

I've started reading this, its very good:

https://www.quarterlyessay.com.au/essay/2017/09/moral-panic-101

(startled that QE is such an expensive tome to buy, but I needed a good lunch read!)

people who think marriage is, as Mojo Nixon said, a way to screw yourself up REAL good are also "people"

Sure, but in your country at least you can make that choice one way or t'other.

xps ben law’s qe should be required reading. i’ve not finished it but even the first part explains exactly what safe schools is and isn’t.

Truth. I wish I could make my dad read it. He probably wouldnt.

xps: South Melbourne, not far from the market. a lovely area if a little bougie.

i miss south melb market and the plant nursery on the tramline. I mean Brunswick is nice but I still feel like a southside gal sometimes.

also Ben's QE is one of the best things I've read this year. The hysteria and misinformation out there in relation to Safe Schools absolutely infuriates me and I'm glad a relatively high profile writer took the time to meticulously correct the record.

mono were you someone else previously on 'ere or are you a new mongrel ILXor?

Relatively new breed I think (can't remember when I joined - maybe 2012?)

September 4, 2012

don't call it a comeback

sic.xls

still so impatient. I have literally had the number of people I could go into a sham marriage DOUBLED, WHY MUST I WAIT.

Heartening conversation with my 100yo grandmother last night, who is all in favour of gay marriage and voted yes

We got a new green state mp, first indigenous woman in the state parliament too. Things are looking up.

yeah this is a clear and long-overdue turning point imo.

james: that is incredibly excellent and almost made me cry (again, for like the 70th time this week)

I had avoided even discussing the topic with anyone whose views i did not know as it was all so depressing, so this was a very nice surprise

me too, legitimately could not deal with learning who the bigots are

also you have the best grandfather

nice sizzle there pato

maybe we're meant to be surprised that bigots are falling over themselves to corrupt this

And now we can have a golden gaytime this summer.

golden gaytimes should be banned because my religious freedoms

Barrie Cassidy was pointing out the obvious on AM this morning with Jon Faine that if they push hard for "religious freedoms" around this, they shoot themselves in the foot cos hey, Islam is a religion too you idiots.

otm, can’t wait for them to accidentally defend burqas

no they'll say it's about fuckin' 'strayan fuckin' values which are Judeo-Christian and not some raghead bullshit.

why? because they are cunts.

Wearing a burqa = un-Australian
fiddling kiddies = GROUSE!

no they'll say it's about fuckin' 'strayan fuckin' values which are Judeo-Christian and not some raghead bullshit.

why? because they are cunts.

― oh, boy, .GIF! That's where I'm a Viking! (edwardo), Thursday, 23 November 2017 17:23 (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

look edwardo, they're only trying to strike a balance between the freedom to destroy the lives of everyone they hate and the freedom to turn every australian into a fucking handmaid

it's not their fault they're hostile fucking bigots who ignore everything about their religion the second they have a chance to kick a non-straight literally in the face

it passed!!

IT DONE

and something in the region of 900,000 people are telling lyle shelton to eat shit

finally a good thing in a terrible year

YES

i have cried several times this evening and now i am drinking pinot noir

went to trivia tonight and our team name in round 1 was "Suck shit Lyle", then in round 2 we were "Keep sucking shit Lyle"

lol

Listening to the Senate debate last week with all the “reasonable” arguments about the “rights” of bigots to cling to their bigotry was enough to erase any magnanimity toward the misguided noes. Imagine in the aftermath of the 1967 referendum, arguments being made to modify the recognition of indigenous citizens to protect the beliefs of people who really really feel that non white races are inferior. I mean, it’s their traditional belief, right? And yet all this poison was spoken righteously and entered into the parliamentary records of our country. Fuck you, bigots, I hope you squirm in your discomfort. It’s done now. Fix your hearts or die.

eat shit Lyle made my morning

That's pretty beautiful.

love my homeland for eat shit lyle <3 brings a tear it does

a genuinely admirable display of GOOD Australianness, which we've been sorely lacking recently

So who's getting an invite for January 9th?

The correct term is proposal.

went to trivia tonight and our team name in round 1 was "Suck shit Lyle", then in round 2 we were "Keep sucking shit Lyle"

― oh, boy, .GIF! That's where I'm a Viking! (edwardo), Thursday, 7 December 2017 23:06 (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this is excellent i am certainly stealing this

I mean, it’s their traditional belief, right? And yet all this poison was spoken righteously and entered into the parliamentary records of our country. Fuck you, bigots, I hope you squirm in your discomfort. It’s done now. Fix your hearts or die.

― attention vampire (MatthewK), Friday, 8 December 2017 00:23 (twenty hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

well said. what a fucking embarrassment. although it was delightful to hear christensen shriek about the cheering in the gallery, which was followed by cheering in the gallery. and the more the gallery cheered, the more it wound up the bigots. there's nothing like an angry sore loser, especially when they're fucking muck, and it's on video and in hansard for eternity. good. they can fucking die.

...it will take me a VERY VERY VERY long time to stop being weapons-grade furious with those fuck trumpets, probably never