Date: Tue, 19 Nov 1996 08:18:59 +1000 From: leto@rabbit.com.au (Brendon Wickham) Subject: (Australia) Brother Sister New - 14/11/96 BROTHER SISTER - QUEER NEWS FROM DOWNUNDER Issue #119 - 14/11/96 Including: 1. Myer bridal storm 2. Commission cause of judge's death 3. Survey reports STDs abound 4. TAS laws cost tourism This and previous postings are archived for the QRD. Point your URL to http://werple.net.au/~leto/news - or go through the Pacific Region of the QRD at http://www.qrd.org/qrd/world/pacific/ =3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+= =3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+ MYER BRIDAL STORM *A same-sex bridal registry introduced by Myer has sparked an anti-gay letter writing campaign from angry customers.* In 1995, Myer-Grace Bros began offering its bridal registry as a service to gay and lesbian couples planning commitment ceremonies. The service, although proving popular with gay and lesbian couples, has angered some customers. Cheryl Johnson, Public Affairs Manager at Myer-Grace Bros, told Brother Sister that the service was introduced last year in Sydney in response to customer requests and is now available nationally. Gay and lesbian customers have welcomed the service and its popularity continues to grow. Any objections received have come not from users of the service, but customers who, says Johnson, "object on so-called moral grounds that we are encouraging same-sex relationships by offering the service". And while "a slew of objections" accompanied its introduction and hostile letters continue to be sent, Johnson maintains that "not to provide such a service would be discriminatory". Indeed, it is this point which Myer seeks to make when replying to the angry letters. Anne Coventry, Civil Celebrant in Sydney, has been conducting gay and lesbian commitment ceremonies for the past eighteen months and has noted their growing popularity. Discussing the same-sex bridal registry, she observes that the commercialism which accompanies heterosexual marriages is not so evident at gay and lesbian ceremonies, which she describes as "more meaningful, warmer". Coventry doesn't anticipate that the bridal registry will engender a significant shift towards the lavish display so common at heterosexual weddings. Coventry is surprised to learn that there is opposition to the same-sex registry and that people "begrudge (lesbians and gay men) their happiness". Actively involved in PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gay Men), Coventry regards this "interference " as "pathetic" and is frustrated at the efforts of such people "to impose their values on this different section of the community". Earlier this year, Macy's department stores on the West Coast in the US encountered a similar response to its decision to amend the bridal register, replacing "bride" and "groom" with partner. When Macy's advertising appeared in the gay magazine The Advocate, Concerned Women for America, a right wing religious group, orchestrated a phone-zap. Gay and lesbian media watch group, GLAAD, learnt that some members of staff at Macy's were apologising to callers and countered with a letter writing campaign to assure Macy's that no apologies were necessary. Steven Angelides, who teaches in the History Department at Melbourne University, argues that "the current political climate in Australia fosters the public expression of homophobia and enables the religious right to mobilise here with greater efficiency". Within the gay and lesbian community, it is not only the homophobic responses which are cause for concern. The growing trend to pass off what are essentially marketing decisions as efforts to counter discrimination has meant that otherwise positive decisions are regarded with increasing cynicism. In particular, the recent emphasis on gay consumer profiles and gay tourism has prompted greater scrutiny of corporate and governmental decision making. Julie Peters, transgender activist and Democrat, maintains that Myer's decision "makes commercial sense" and is largely attributable to the "commercial perception that gays partcularly, more so than lesbians, are a niche market worth hooking into". However, she is also quick to identify "a long tradition of not discriminating in Myer". Peters recalls the "Myer's queens" of the 1970s; gay men who often assumed managerial positions, and notes that a number of transsexuals have happily found employment at Myer- Grace Bros. Despite the negative letters, Myer-Grace Bros are pleased with their decision to extend their bridal registry service to same-sex couples and they continue to defend it in the face of moral and religious objections. They have also led the way for other department stores, such as David Jones, to provide the same service. And, although clearly a marketing success, as Peters suggets, such decisions have the potential to change public perceptions-of the gay and lesbian community and the value of same-sex relationships. Jodie Joyce COMMISSION CAUSE OF JUDGE'S DEATH *Gay and lesbian community leaders have added to the avalanche of criticism levelled at Royal Commissioner, James Wood, and Labor MLC, Franca Arena, in the wake of former Supreme Court judge David Yeldham's suicide.* Richard Cobden, co-founder of the gay and lesbian community's Royal Commission watchdog, CommissionWatch, said yesterday: "David Yeldham was assassinated. Franca Arena pulled the trigger; Justice Wood and [counsel assisting Wood] Paddy Bergin loaded the gun and handed it to her." Cobden said no evidence of police corruption had been unearthed and Yeldham's case should not have fallen within the brief of the Royal Commission, undermining Arena's allegation that individuals had been "protected" by Wood. Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby co-convenor, Simon Lloyd, said: "Our position remains the same. We regard the conduct of the Royal Commission as homophobic, and we're appalled by it, the more so now that somebody has taken their own life." Wood said in a statement for the bench on Tuesday: "I have appealed more than once for judgement on the integrity of the Royal Commission to await delivery of the final report...if people have evidence or information...[that] relates to purely criminal behaviour, that should be given to the Police Service. "Otherwise the uninformed and those who either have no evidence or are not prepared to test the truth of information would do better by staying out of the arena." Sources in both the gay and lesbian community and the legal profession have come forward since Yeldham's suicide to confirm that the former judge frequently visited gay beats. The Sydney Morning Herald yesterday quoted a source who had seen Yeldham's suicide note, saying "it was in effect a confession to his family about certain matters in his past". Solicitor John Marsden, who has admitted to contemplating suicide during his own ordeal triggered by p=E6dophile allegations made against him in the NSW Parliament, said Yeldham's death was "a sad day". "I think [Yeldham] would have dropped to the depths of total despair and not known how he could ever live the same life again," said Marsden. "It's very easy for people to say something, and it's very hard to disprove it. The onus has been shifted. Normally when people make allegations, the onus of proof is the other way around." Marsden said he had a number of clients who were being threatened with blackmail by youths under the age of 18 who had consensual sex with older men. Ben Widdicombe SURVEY REPORTS STDS ABOUND *A survey of Melbourne gay men's sexual health, to be released at a forum next week, shows a large number of respondents had recently had sexually transmitted diseases.* Although the survey revealed that most men had "consistently high levels of knowledge about HIV transmission and treatment" it also showed that nearly seventy per cent of the older men surveyed and more than forty per cent of the younger respondents had contracted a sexually transmitted disease at some stage of their lives. Gonorrhoea and non-specific urethritis were the most common diseases reported to have been suffered in the past five years by respondents. Other results in the report, titled Melbourne Men And Sexual Health, are similar to those found in a parallel Sydney survey. Over 400 men were recruited for the survey mainly from gay community events, gay organisations and the gay and lesbian press. The survey found that most of these men identified as being gay and reported "strong gay community attachments". It was also found that most men had "widely" disclosed their homosexuality to family (mainly to mothers) and friends, nearly one hundred per cent were out to straight friends. Half of the men were in a sexual relationship with a regular partner at the time of the survey. Of those in relationships, fourteen per cent of the young men and thirty per cent of the older men also had casual sex partners. The survey also found that over sixty per cent of the older participants in the survey didn't smoke while over fifty per cent of the younger men admitted to use of "party drugs". Results show that the most frequently used recreational drugs amongst those surveyed were marijuana and amyl. Speed and ecstasy were the most commonly used "party drugs". Detailed results of the survey will be presented at a free public forum to be held at the Victorian AIDS Council in South Yarra on November 20. Speaking at the forum will be Garrett Prestage from the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research along with Kim Benton from the Macfarlane Burnett Centre. TAS LAWS COST TOURISM *Tasmanian gay activists have called on the State Government to withdraw its objections to their High Court case against the State's anti-gay laws. The call follows a claim that the laws are costing the State valuable tourist dollars.* At a tourism conference in Hobart, the General Manager of an international tourism promotions corporation, Landmark South Pacific, Judy Ashton, said that Tasmania is missing out on the lucrative gay travel market because of the perception overseas that it is illegal for two men to book a room together. Tasmanian Gay and Lesbian Rights Group spokesperson, Rodney Croome, confirmed that visiting gay couples have reported being denied accommodation on the basis that homosexual activity is still illegal in Tasmania. Croome claims: "If we are to have any chance of tapping into the gay and lesbian travel market our anti-gay laws must either be completely repealed by the Parliament or conclusively invalidated by the High Court. "For this reason we call on those members of the Upper House who oppose gay law reform to put their personal prejudices to one side in the interest of job creation." Croome also called on the State Government to stop frustrating their High Court case with legal technicalities. The Tasmanian Gay and Lesbian Rights Group lodged their case with the High =01Court in November 1995 asking it to overturn Tasmania's anti-gay laws, but the case has still not been heard because of a stream of objections raised by the State Government. Croome said, "If the people who run this State are serious about giving a boost for the tourism industry and producing jobs for young Tasmanians they will drop their opposition to gay law reform." =3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+= =3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+ BOTTOM LINE Smartarse by Jeffrey Smart A QUICK MINCE DOWN THE AISLE As we mince down life's glittering byways, the search for love is one of the most peculiar and tawdry little challenges faced by poof or dyke. All of us do it at least once in our lifetime; mooching about in our dressing gowns listening to Roberta Flack and k d lang, or painting our nails and listlessly thumbing through bridal magazines as we wait for Mr or Ms Right to tap on the door. There are a million different ways of doing everything in the gay and lesbian community, and this is no different. The quest for love can be a full scale assault complete with the most modern Police Search and Rescue capabilities, or a solitary meandering along the path of self-discovery. Some people look for love in all the wrong places; barking up all the wrong trees, parking their slippers under hundreds of beds, test-driving every new model to cross their paths. Others spend only an hour, a day or even a mere month, between significant relationships. Whoops, my girlfriend of four years dumped me half an hour ago and I'm devastated. Hello! Who's that gorgeous thing over there with the dimples and the Saba slacks? I'd better get my lawyer to draw up a new pre-nuptial agreement. Then there are others who stagger around in a desert of post-matrimonial despair, refusing the advances of all as they seek to make sense of their pain and loss. Like exotic beauties these troubled ones will bloom brightly again eventually; they're just waiting for those once-in-a- decade rains to break the drought. The reassuring thing is that none of us is alone. You only have to trip over someone on a dancefloor to discover a tale of love gained and lost, love sought and won, or love nowhere to be seen and not taking calls. Love is always spelt the same, but means different things to everyone. It can mean that you want to race off home with someone one night, and buy picket fences by the metre with them at Mitre 10 the next morning. It might mean that you want to root a particular boy once a fortnight, with your emotions tied in a little bundle and kept neatly out of the way. Or it could mean that you want to wear her wedding ring and eat the food she puts on your table, whilst remaining free to go to bed with every spunky woman you see. Now Myer/Grace Brothers are trying to cash in on the gay dollar by offering a Bridal Register for gay couples. I hope they realise that gay relationships do not necessarily follow the pattern of straight relationships. It is, after all, possible to have two brides at the one wedding. Jeffrey Smart =3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+= =3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+=3D+ Brother Sister is a fortnightly newspaper published in Melbourne, VIC and Brisbane, QLD, Australia. I have selected the main news stories as well as items of interest. Overseas media who utilise any or all of the above material please credit Brother Sister as your source (and by-line if it is listed). Thank you. Brendon Wickham