A regional Queensland newsletter has been condemned for publishing a ‘joke’ about domestic violence.
Murgon Moments published the joke in its August monthly newsletter.
I won’t go into detail on what the joke was. I’ll just say that implied that domestic violence victims should just keep their mouths shut.
Yeaaah. How anyone thought tbat was a ‘joke’ worth publishing I’ll never know.
Not surprisingly, outrage has been swift. Queensland’s Attorney – General and Women’s Minister, Shannon Fentiman expressed her outrage on social media on Wednesday.
…[it’s] a stark reminder of just how far we still have to go. Already this month, it has been reported that several women have lost their lives due to family violence — that’s just in Queensland alone.
Queensland’s Attorney – General Shann9n Fentiman
Numerous people commented their agreement with Fentiman’s criticism. Commenters said the ‘joke’ was “horrific and unacceptable”. Another commenter exclaimed:
Are you kidding!!???? It wasn’t funny or appropriate in 1963, let alone today. That’s a disgrace.
Another commented:
Appalled and ashamed. My heart goes out to every woman who has read this and had their abuse belittled like this.
Sexual consent activist, Chanel Contos shared Fentiman’s post on Instagram stories. She wrote:
[it’s] genuinely disgusting that an Australian newspaper would publish this.
Sexual consent activist, Chanel Contos
On Thursday, Fentimore confirmed that a complaint against Murgon Moments had been lodged to the Australian Press Council.
Publisher pulls joke and ‘apologises’
I know I’m using inverted commas a lot in this post, but it’s warranted. In response to the outrage, Murgon Moments’ publisher has pulled the ‘joke’ from the website and has offered an ‘apology‘. If you can call it that.
In a now – deleted post, Editor, Leo Geraghty wrote:
To my valued readers, I am sorry you found it offensive. Perhaps it might be better to remove all the snippets that used to be classed as jokes from the Murgon Moments which I have voluntary done for the last 190 issues.
Perhaps doing the copy for print at one o’clock in the morning, I should have been more careful to what I was including instead of including jokes from the 2007 edition.
Leo Geraghty
I find it ironic that Geraghty opened the apology with a common gaslighting statement (“I’m sorry you…”). I’m not saying Geraghty meant to. Just an observation.
Domestic violence is NEVER a joke
Needless to say, donestic violence is never, ever funny. It wasn’t funny in 2007 and isn’t now.
Domestic violence is such a serious issue. According to Australian Institute of Health and Wellness, around 1 in 16 men and 1 in 6 women over the age of fifteen have experienced partner violence.
In 2016, the PSS (Personal Safety Statistics) revealed that 3.6 million Australian adults reported experiencing some form of domestic violence. In more than ten per cent of cases (11.8%), the perpetrator was a partner.
Final point: domestic violence is NEVER the victim’s fault. They shouldn’t just keep quiet if they’re being abused.
To all victims and survivors of abuse, my heart goes out to you. I’m so sorry for the trauma you’ve suffered. I’m sorry for those who’ve had old wounds open because of this story. I genuinely hope you find peace and the support you need.
If you’re in Australia and need help, you can contact 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732).
If you or someone you love is in danger, call 000 (or your national emergency number).
TW: this post deals with extreme child abuseand death
*Quick note:Warning to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander – names of deceased Aboriginal and Torres Strait people wilk be mentioned. However, the perpetrator will be referred to as ‘scumbag’. It’s what he deserves
Charlie Mullaley was a darling little boy. Devastatingly, in 2013, his life was cruelly cur short by his evil stepfather.
The little boy was raped and tortured for fifteen hours. He sustained injuries all over his body from head to his feet.
Before the horrific attack, his mother, Tamica Mullaley was bashed on a street in Broome, Western Australia. The perpetrator was the same scumbag who took Charlie’s life.
Encounter with police
Things went from bad to worse. Police officers found Tamica sheltering in a neighbour’s carport. She was covering herself with a sheet and was bleeding.
As she was calling out for her father, the officers pressed her for a statement. Tamica spat and swore at the officers and was apprehended and put in the back of a paddy wagon.
Her father, Ted Mullaley begged police to take Tamica to hospital. The officers finally caved and Tamica was taken to hospital.
Ted Mullaley told SBS’ See What You Made Me Do, that Tamica would have died from her injuries without immediate medical intervention.
Despite pleas from the Mullaley’s, Charlie was left with his stepfather’s cousin.
Ted went to the hospital to pick up Charlie. But he was gone. He’d been taken by his stepfather.
That’s where little Charlie’s fate was tragically sealed.
Justice John McKechnie said that Charlie’s murder was one of the worst he’s encountered.
Attorney General, John Quigley offered an apology to the Mullaley family:
On behalf of the government, of WA, to Tamica and Ted, I am sorry for the way you were treated by the government and the WA police, both before and after losing baby Charlie.
Charlie Mullaley and Cleo Smith: two completely reactions from police and media
The Mullaley family contrasted the treatment of Charlie to Cleo Smith, a then – four – year – old who was kidnapped in WA last year.
Cleo’s disappearance got both national and international coverage. Police were on the case immediately and no resource was spared.
Was Cleo’s disappearance in the headlines because she’s white? I can’t say that for certain. But, I can’t blame the Mullaley family for feeling that way.
How are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people suppose to trust institutions?
Often, Aboriginal and Torres Strait people are howled down for bringing up racism.
Experiences of ATSI people are too often dismissed. We like to think racism – especially institutional racism – doesn’t exist.
But it clearly still exists. There seems to be still racial prejudice within law enforcement. This needs to be dealt with and snuffed out.
The media isn’t without fault, either. Where was Andrew Bolt when Charlie Mullaley was kidnapped and murdered? Rita Panahi?
To their credit, Sydney Morning Herald have at least written about the case. So has news.com.au.
And SBS should also get credit for their episode of See What You Made Me Do. But I think everyone else needs to do better. Much better.
We need to treat all missing children and domestic violence victims the same. All victims deserve justice.
Should we change the lyrics to Australia’s national anthem Advance Australia Fair?
Queensland Premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk and New South Wales Premier, Gladys Berijiklian agree that we should.
The source of contention is the word “young” in the first verse:
Australians all let us rejoice
For we are young and free
(emphasis mine)
Berijiklian argues “young” ignores thousands of years of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history.
People like Berijiklian want the word “one” to replace it.
However, Herald Sun columnist and Sky News Australia presenter, Andrew Bolt blasted the proposal.
But the NSWPremier’s plan to change the words “young and free” to “one and free” is a con. The people she’s trying to please don’t want us to be “one” at all.
He argued that the people pushing these proposals want more division, not unity.
Proposals in the name of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander inclusion
Over recent years, people have debated a number of proposals in the name of righting past wrongs.
Every year in January, the date of Australia Day (January 26) is hotly debated. 26 January highlights the arrival of British explorer, Captain Arthur Philip in 1788.
Some Aboriginal people find this as a tragic day. It’s the day that signifies the start of their displacement and destruction.
Similarly, more and more Caucasian Australians have joined the chorus for change.
The push to change the date has extended to social media. The hashtag #changethedate has trended over the years. Activist group, GetUp! has called for the date to be changed to May 8.
Issues facing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities
To be honest, I find a lot of this to be fluff. It will change nothing. Not on a fundamental level, anyway.
There are a number of issues facing Indigenous communities. These include:
lack of educational opportunities
poorer mental health outcomes
crime and domestic violence
Discrimination and alienation
More Aboriginal people are opening up with their experiences of racism. Some have gone to the media with numerous examples of alleged discrimination they’ve faced in their lives.
Earlier this year, actor, Meyne Wyatt did a passionate monologue on ABC’s Q & A. Wyatt described security being suspicious of him, taxi drivers ignoring him and cashiers serving him last in stores.
Wyatt also spoke of the treatment of former Sydney Swans footballer, Adam Goodes. A then – 13 year – old called Goodes an ‘ape’. His actions in response was hotly debated. Many praised his actions. However, others condemned Goodes, repeatedly pointing out the girl’s age.
When Aboriginal people bring up either domestic violence or racism, they are immediately howled down. They can’t win.
Surely, a step in the right direction is to listen to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people speak. Let them speak about the issues affecting them and their communities.
I’ll say it again. None of these issues will change if our anthem does.
What are your thoughts? Should the lyrics of Advance Australia Fair change? Does it matter to you either way? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
TW: sexual abuse, sexual harassment and domestic violence. If these are triggering for you proceed with caution or skip this post.
Image: iStock
There is something sick in the entertainment industry in the US, UK and Australia that needs to be addressed.
As you probably know, producer Harvey Weinstein has finally had to step down after women alleged that he sexually harassed women over thirty years. There were allegations of massages e and public masturbation in front of an unwilling participant. New York Times said that Weinstein paid off complainants for years.
I won’t go into who knew what, etc. I want to go to a deeper question: what the hell is going on in the entertainment industries in Australia, US and UK? The Weinstein saga is the latest that has been exposed. You’ve had allegations against comedian Bill Crosby, JImmy Saville in the UK and Hey Dad star Robert Hughes to name a few.
It’s not just the movie industry that has been affected either. On Sunday, TV personality Kerri – Anne Kennerly told Sunday Night about domestic violence she suffered at the hands of her ex – husband who was a record producer. It stopped when Kennerly held a loaded gun and threatened to pull the trigger. She then escaped.
These are the incidents I can think of. No doubt there are countless more. My question is, why have children and women (and no doubt some men), who all they wanted to do was become a performer or see a performer they admired (as the Glitter case), only to be abused? What is with that?
More importantly, what has changed to protect those who are vulnerable? What can be done? Last night on ABC’s The Drum, writer, Jamila Rizvi made a point about how too few women become producers and how the movie industry is dominated by men. Maybe she has a point. But what about attitudes? What is the ethos in the entertainment industry when it comes to protecting children and not having anyone assaulted?
People should be able to follow their dreams. They should be able to do that without fear of abuse. Children and teenagers who have a particular passion for performing arts and have the opportunity should be able to do so without some sleaze taking advantage of them. That also goes for young people who see their heroes perform. Enough’s enough.
If this post has brought up any issues for you, you can contact:
Feel free to put numbers/ contact details of any services in your area if you’re not from Australia. The more people we can help who’ve suffered sexual assault, childhood trauma, etc the better).
New episode of “Hack Live” brought on controversy, but also interesting debate over “male privilege”.
I watched the controversial show “Hack Live – Is Male Privilege Bulls***” and I’ve got to say while it caused controversy in which the ABC kind of apologised for, the discussion on male privilege on the panel show “Hack Live” was actually very interesting.
One interesting panellist was *Adrian* (not his real name), who was a part of the Men’s Right’s movement. He, more than other panellists, emphasised what many men face in Australia more than women. These included homelessness and suicide. It was also pointed out that men are over represented in work related deaths as well as the alleged gender pay gap and domestic violence.
So, does male privilege exist?
It’s complicated. Economically, there may be a historical bias that favours men. But in areas like family law, mental health and other areas, these things have generally favoured women – from what I can gather. In the UK, there is a severe lack of appropriate shelters for male domestic violence victims. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was similar here. You don’t hear about domestic violence against men in the media as frequently as you hear about women.
I think another factor to talk about is male victims by sexual assault at the hands of both men and women. While there is a slow increase in awareness and female who abuse boys are finally getting exposed, I believe there is still a long way to go, especially on reducing stigma faced by many male victims, both as adults and children.
So, does ‘male privilege’ exist?
Like I said men may have some economic and professional advantages over women – depends who you believe on the age wage gap and poverty after retirement. But, I think there are areas in which women have the upper hand, including custody disputes and family law, awareness on domestic violence and mental illness and relevant services for these men.
Privilege in general
“Hack Live” also looked into – albeit too briefly – intersections of identity and how that plays in the privilege debate. I’ve written extensively about challenges faced by LGBTQ+ people over the years since I’ve started blogging. Is there such thing as straight privilege? I think most certainly! From adequate and fair media representation, visibility in education, LGBTQ+ people of faith struggling to find a place of worship where they feel accepted, (although as I have written before, things are slowly looking up).
In other areas, I think “white privilege” isn’t an overblown concept either, to be honest. I think, while things are improving for people of colour in countries like Australia, I don’t doubt that that some may still face racism in a way that Caucasian people generally don’t have to think about. I believe that there are people of colour who face racial profiling. People of colour and of Asian backgrounds do get stereotyped in a way that Caucasian people generally don’t get. I have also heard a few years ago that a survey (I think) pointed out that some employers tend to look past resumes that have a non – English sounding name. Whether this has improved over the three or so years since the story was on The Project, I’m not entirely sure. I hope it has.
Did anyone else watch “Hack Live”? What did you think about it? What do you think about the concept of male privilege? Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments.
Christian singer, Vicky Beeching has revealed that she’s temporarily leaving social media after she received a torrent of homophobic abuse.
As you can tell from the embedded link, from Christianity Today, most of the abuse was by Christians.
I fumed when I first read this on Monday.
The debate over the LGBTQ+ community and the church still goes on. It looks like it may go on for a while. Some people still have a staunch traditional view when it comes to sexuality. Regardless, this can’t be accepted.
When will we learn? The church seems to have a dark history of abuse. Even if you take the Catholic Church sexual abuse to one side, the toxic culture of spiritual and emotional abuse is horrifying. Domestic violence is another scourge just coming to light.
Some people use the “not true Scotsman” argument. “Well, they (the bullies and abusers), aren’t real Christians”.
I think this is a convenient excuse, to be honest. The problem is, these issues aren’t just caused by a few “bad eggs”. If it was, it would be dealt with years ago. But like with the Catholic Church abuse scandal and others, the issue goes much deeper. As you’ll see if you click the link, unfortunately the Church’s attitudes towards sexuality and gender has exacerbated the rates of sexual assault and domestic violence.
Going back to the Vicky Beeching story, this issue is an issue that must be addressed. I firmly believe that it’s stems from certain members of the Church dehumanising the LGBTQ+ community. They are equated with “what they do”, rather than a child of God. Harmful stereotypes and misinformation are what fuelled the incredibly harmful “ex gay” therapy. Some attitudes, seems like haven’t changed.
There is good news for LGBTQ+ Christians though. A group, Equal Voices offered a national apology to the LGBTQ+ community on any mistreatment they suffered at the hands of the Church late last month.
Australian Christians are apologizing to the LGBTIQ community. Are you one of them? Read the apology here https://t.co/ULf1BtgYDw
— Anthony Venn-Brown OAM 🏳️🌈 (@gayambassador) March 27, 2017
Last time I checked the letter, over 500 people signed. Most of them identified as being a member of a Christian denomination. Others said they were ‘ex’ members and others identified as either agnostic or atheist. I do believe that this is a sign that there are Christians who want to move in the right direction and treat LGBTQ+ community with dignity and compassion. That doesn’t mean that what has happened to Vicky Beeching shouldn’t be addressed.
Here’s the thing. If you are a Christian and you see abusive comments on social media by other Christians, call it out. Block or report the person. If you hear it in real life, if you can, confront it head on. It’s about time all Christians start being real and calling out abuse when it occurs. Whether it’s against an LGBTQ+ person, someone suffering domestic violence or any other types of abuse, it needs to be called out and condemned.
There is another thing. Calling out abuse is only a tip of the iceberg as well. Christians need to develop a culture where abuse cannot fester. Everything needs to be examined, including theology and whether it’s used as an instrument of harm rather than healing. Correcting someone when they are wrong is one thing. But abuse cannot be tolerated. If you need to, look deeply into Scripture. Look at the historical context and the original Greek and Hebrew/ Aramaic to get a fuller understanding on what the authors meant. If you can’t get an exact answer, I believe that we need to go back to the number one rule: Love God and love our neighbour as ourselves fulfils the law and the Prophets. I believe that means that anything that causes harm – whether intended or not – cannot be accepted and cannot remain a part of Christian culture.
This goes to the those who abused Vicky Beeching as well. You’re conduct does NOT in any way fulfil what I said above about loving God and others. If you are against same – sex relationships, I’m not going to attack that. But the abuse needs to stop. Treat LGBTQ+ people like people FIRST!
Content warning: homophobia and Church abuse.
Christian singer, Vicky Beeching has revealed that she’s temporarily leaving social media after she received a torrent of homophobic abuse.
As you can tell from the embedded link, from Christianity Today, most of the abuse was by Christians.
I fumed when I first read this on Monday.
The debate over the LGBTQ+ community and the church still goes on. It looks like it may go on for a while. Some people still have a staunch traditional view when it comes to sexuality. Regardless, this can’t be accepted.
When will we learn? The church seems to have a dark history of abuse. Even if you take the Catholic Church sexual abuse to one side, the toxic culture of spiritual and emotional abuse is horrifying. Domestic violence is another scourge just coming to light.
Some people use the “not true Scotsman” argument. “Well, they (the bullies and abusers), aren’t real Christians”.
I think this is a convenient excuse, to be honest. The problem is, these issues aren’t just caused by a few “bad eggs”. If it was, it would be dealt with years ago. But like with the Catholic Church abuse scandal and others, the issue goes much deeper. As you’ll see if you click the link, unfortunately the Church’s attitudes towards sexuality and gender has exacerbated the rates of sexual assault and domestic violence.
Going back to the Vicky Beeching story, this issue is an issue that must be addressed. I firmly believe that it’s stems from certain members of the Church dehumanising the LGBTQ+ community. They are equated with “what they do”, rather than a child of God. Harmful stereotypes and misinformation are what fuelled the incredibly harmful “ex gay” therapy. Some attitudes, seems like haven’t changed.
There is good news for LGBTQ+ Christians though. A group, Equal Voices offered a national apology to the LGBTQ+ community on any mistreatment they suffered at the hands of the Church late last month.
Australian Christians are apologizing to the LGBTIQ community. Are you one of them? Read the apology here https://t.co/ULf1BtgYDw
— Anthony Venn-Brown OAM 🏳️🌈 (@gayambassador) March 27, 2017
Last time I checked the letter, over 500 people signed. Most of them identified as being a member of a Christian denomination. Others said they were ‘ex’ members and others identified as either agnostic or atheist. I do believe that this is a sign that there are Christians who want to move in the right direction and treat LGBTQ+ community with dignity and compassion. That doesn’t mean that what has happened to Vicky Beeching shouldn’t be addressed.
Here’s the thing. If you are a Christian and you see abusive comments on social media by other Christians, call it out. Block or report the person. If you hear it in real life, if you can, confront it head on. It’s about time all Christians start being real and calling out abuse when it occurs. Whether it’s against an LGBTQ+ person, someone suffering domestic violence or any other types of abuse, it needs to be called out and condemned.
There is another thing. Calling out abuse is only a tip of the iceberg as well. Christians need to develop a culture where abuse cannot fester. Everything needs to be examined, including theology and whether it’s used as an instrument of harm rather than healing. Correcting someone when they are wrong is one thing. But abuse cannot be tolerated. If you need to, look deeply into Scripture. Look at the historical context and the original Greek and Hebrew/ Aramaic to get a fuller understanding on what the authors meant. If you can’t get an exact answer, I believe that we need to go back to the number one rule: Love God and love our neighbour as ourselves fulfils the law and the Prophets. I believe that means that anything that causes harm – whether intended or not – cannot be accepted and cannot remain a part of Christian culture.
This goes to the those who abused Vicky Beeching as well. You’re conduct does NOT in any way fulfil what I said above about loving God and others. If you are against same – sex relationships, I’m not going to attack that. But the abuse needs to stop. Treat LGBTQ+ people like people FIRST!
Content warning: homophobia and Church abuse.
Christian singer, Vicky Beeching has revealed that she’s temporarily leaving social media after she received a torrent of homophobic abuse.
As you can tell from the embedded link, from Christianity Today, most of the abuse was by Christians.
I fumed when I first read this on Monday.
The debate over the LGBTQ+ community and the church still goes on. It looks like it may go on for a while. Some people still have a staunch traditional view when it comes to sexuality. Regardless, this can’t be accepted.
When will we learn? The church seems to have a dark history of abuse. Even if you take the Catholic Church sexual abuse to one side, the toxic culture of spiritual and emotional abuse is horrifying. Domestic violence is another scourge just coming to light.
Some people use the “not true Scotsman” argument. “Well, they (the bullies and abusers), aren’t real Christians”.
I think this is a convenient excuse, to be honest. The problem is, these issues aren’t just caused by a few “bad eggs”. If it was, it would be dealt with years ago. But like with the Catholic Church abuse scandal and others, the issue goes much deeper. As you’ll see if you click the link, unfortunately the Church’s attitudes towards sexuality and gender has exacerbated the rates of sexual assault and domestic violence.
Going back to the Vicky Beeching story, this issue is an issue that must be addressed. I firmly believe that it’s stems from certain members of the Church dehumanising the LGBTQ+ community. They are equated with “what they do”, rather than a child of God. Harmful stereotypes and misinformation are what fuelled the incredibly harmful “ex gay” therapy. Some attitudes, seems like haven’t changed.
There is good news for LGBTQ+ Christians though. A group, Equal Voices offered a national apology to the LGBTQ+ community on any mistreatment they suffered at the hands of the Church late last month.
Australian Christians are apologizing to the LGBTIQ community. Are you one of them? Read the apology here https://t.co/ULf1BtgYDw
— Anthony Venn-Brown OAM 🏳️🌈 (@gayambassador) March 27, 2017
Last time I checked the letter, over 500 people signed. Most of them identified as being a member of a Christian denomination. Others said they were ‘ex’ members and others identified as either agnostic or atheist. I do believe that this is a sign that there are Christians who want to move in the right direction and treat LGBTQ+ community with dignity and compassion. That doesn’t mean that what has happened to Vicky Beeching shouldn’t be addressed.
Here’s the thing. If you are a Christian and you see abusive comments on social media by other Christians, call it out. Block or report the person. If you hear it in real life, if you can, confront it head on. It’s about time all Christians start being real and calling out abuse when it occurs. Whether it’s against an LGBTQ+ person, someone suffering domestic violence or any other types of abuse, it needs to be called out and condemned.
There is another thing. Calling out abuse is only a tip of the iceberg as well. Christians need to develop a culture where abuse cannot fester. Everything needs to be examined, including theology and whether it’s used as an instrument of harm rather than healing. Correcting someone when they are wrong is one thing. But abuse cannot be tolerated. If you need to, look deeply into Scripture. Look at the historical context and the original Greek and Hebrew/ Aramaic to get a fuller understanding on what the authors meant. If you can’t get an exact answer, I believe that we need to go back to the number one rule: Love God and love our neighbour as ourselves fulfils the law and the Prophets. I believe that means that anything that causes harm – whether intended or not – cannot be accepted and cannot remain a part of Christian culture.
This goes to the those who abused Vicky Beeching as well. You’re conduct does NOT in any way fulfil what I said above about loving God and others. If you are against same – sex relationships, I’m not going to attack that. But the abuse needs to stop. Treat LGBTQ+ people like people FIRST!
Content warning: homophobia and Church abuse.
Christian singer, Vicky Beeching has revealed that she’s temporarily leaving social media after she received a torrent of homophobic abuse.
As you can tell from the embedded link, from Christianity Today, most of the abuse was by Christians.
I fumed when I first read this on Monday.
The debate over the LGBTQ+ community and the church still goes on. It looks like it may go on for a while. Some people still have a staunch traditional view when it comes to sexuality. Regardless, this can’t be accepted.
When will we learn? The church seems to have a dark history of abuse. Even if you take the Catholic Church sexual abuse to one side, the toxic culture of spiritual and emotional abuse is horrifying. Domestic violence is another scourge just coming to light.
Some people use the “not true Scotsman” argument. “Well, they (the bullies and abusers), aren’t real Christians”.
I think this is a convenient excuse, to be honest. The problem is, these issues aren’t just caused by a few “bad eggs”. If it was, it would be dealt with years ago. But like with the Catholic Church abuse scandal and others, the issue goes much deeper. As you’ll see if you click the link, unfortunately the Church’s attitudes towards sexuality and gender has exacerbated the rates of sexual assault and domestic violence.
Going back to the Vicky Beeching story, this issue is an issue that must be addressed. I firmly believe that it’s stems from certain members of the Church dehumanising the LGBTQ+ community. They are equated with “what they do”, rather than a child of God. Harmful stereotypes and misinformation are what fuelled the incredibly harmful “ex gay” therapy. Some attitudes, seems like haven’t changed.
There is good news for LGBTQ+ Christians though. A group, Equal Voices offered a national apology to the LGBTQ+ community on any mistreatment they suffered at the hands of the Church late last month.
Australian Christians are apologizing to the LGBTIQ community. Are you one of them? Read the apology here https://t.co/ULf1BtgYDw
— Anthony Venn-Brown OAM 🏳️🌈 (@gayambassador) March 27, 2017
Last time I checked the letter, over 500 people signed. Most of them identified as being a member of a Christian denomination. Others said they were ‘ex’ members and others identified as either agnostic or atheist. I do believe that this is a sign that there are Christians who want to move in the right direction and treat LGBTQ+ community with dignity and compassion. That doesn’t mean that what has happened to Vicky Beeching shouldn’t be addressed.
Here’s the thing. If you are a Christian and you see abusive comments on social media by other Christians, call it out. Block or report the person. If you hear it in real life, if you can, confront it head on. It’s about time all Christians start being real and calling out abuse when it occurs. Whether it’s against an LGBTQ+ person, someone suffering domestic violence or any other types of abuse, it needs to be called out and condemned.
There is another thing. Calling out abuse is only a tip of the iceberg as well. Christians need to develop a culture where abuse cannot fester. Everything needs to be examined, including theology and whether it’s used as an instrument of harm rather than healing. Correcting someone when they are wrong is one thing. But abuse cannot be tolerated. If you need to, look deeply into Scripture. Look at the historical context and the original Greek and Hebrew/ Aramaic to get a fuller understanding on what the authors meant. If you can’t get an exact answer, I believe that we need to go back to the number one rule: Love God and love our neighbour as ourselves fulfils the law and the Prophets. I believe that means that anything that causes harm – whether intended or not – cannot be accepted and cannot remain a part of Christian culture.
This goes to the those who abused Vicky Beeching as well. You’re conduct does NOT in any way fulfil what I said above about loving God and others. If you are against same – sex relationships, I’m not going to attack that. But the abuse needs to stop. Treat LGBTQ+ people like people FIRST!
If this post has brought up any issues, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14. If you’re from another country, feel free to leave numbers of any counselling services in the comments below.
So, it’s International Women’s Day. A day that is supposed to celebrate and advocate for women. But now, it’s turned into a trivial laughing stock, at least here in Australia. Example: the Andrews Labor Government of Victoria has this bright idea (sarcasm in case you didn’t know) about changing traffic lights across Melbourne because they allegedly spark an “unconscious bias”. I kid you not. These things are causing sexist attitudes, apparently.
Memo to the Andrews Government, women do wear pants, you know!
Secondly, the ABC has come up with the idea that today, all the news, current affairs and radio stations are filled with all women. Men, apparently, get the day off. Now, I’ve talked in the past about women in the media and controversies that have occurred over the years about women over a certain age (usually 40’s and above), being replaced by younger women or men. I understand why that ruffled feathers, although, luckily, I haven’t been hearing about that happening lately. But what does this achieve, really? Supposedly it all will go back to normal tomorrow anyway.
It’s this sort of trivial garbage that scares millennial women off feminism. Feminism doesn’t seem to be about fighting for equality anymore, nor is it about confronting issues facing women either here or abroad. For example, former Chief of Staff, Peta Credlin has repeatedly condemned underage girls who get married off to older men in some Muslim communities. Child marriages have also known to happen in the U.S. as recently as 2010 and, while it’s “rare”, Pew Research acknowledged that 5 in every 1,000 of girls between fifteen and seventeen. While rare, as of 2016, it is legal in all American states. In most states, 16 and 17 – year – old teenagers can marry and in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, children can marry as young as 12. In some states, such as Florida, a minor can get a court’s permission to marry if a party is pregnant. Fortunately, last year, Virginia finally outlawed the practice. Let’s hope other states follow suit soon. As for Australians, migrants, as well as citizens need to know it’s condemned here. Every time it happens, the perpetrators need to be prosecuted legally and face fierce criticism by society.
The issue of domestic violence is raised quite a bit. We should stick to that – make sure that there are adequate services to help women (and men) leave abusive marriages and relationships. But then again, this issue has also been hijacked by ideologues and conflicting claims about the rate often takes all the time, rather than funding services. Case in point from a few years ago:
Not to mention that domestic violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women is rarely discussed by women who claim to be “feminists”, including those in the media. Not to mention the ignorance around Keysar Trad’s comments a few weeks ago on “The Bolt Report”. Look, domestic violence needs to be condemned. All of it. Full stop. No ideology, religious, political or otherwise should stop us from condemning domestic or other violence and helping victims find safety and justice.
There is a lot that young girls face too. When I was researching for my last blog post, I was horrified at the number of links to stories surrounding severe abuse of young girls I found. And that doesn’t take into account atrocities like female genital mutilation (FGM), which happens in the West too, by the way. A few days ago, wrote about the horrific number of trans women that have been murdered in the U.S. this year alone – and we’re not even a quarter into the year yet. More globally, Saudi Arabia has come under the spotlight when it was reported that two Pakistani trans women were beaten and tortured to death by Saudi police. Saudi police has since acknowledged that two trans women died in custody, but denies that they were tortured.
These sorts of issues are what should be talked about on a day like International Women’s Day – plus a lot more I didn’t mention that affect both cis women and trans women around the world. Society doesn’t need more token gestures by feminists for anyone else, for that matter. We need real change, both here and around the world. Unfortunately, I think culture wars and a lack of honesty prevents us from getting done what needs to be done to help women and their loved ones. I’m starting to get sick of it. Can we all forget the tokenism, forget political correctness and work out ways to help ALL people achieve their potential and live their lives in safety and fulfilment?
So, what do you think? Have you/ are you doing anything for International Women’s Day? Feel free to put your thoughts in the comments section.
