ISSN 1446-4896 ISSUE 2, 1998, NUMBER 37
MARCH - APRIL 1998

   
1) HOMOPHOBIA IS ALIVE
and writing articles on the Editorial page of the Newcastle Herald. Jeff Corbett, a daily columnist and long time homophobe, wrote an article published in the Newcastle Herald on Tuesday 31 March 1998. The article was headed "My sexuality is my business". What has upset Corbett? "Media GP Kerryn Phelps spent the best part of half an hour on ABC TV's Australian Story last week telling the world of her marriage to schoolteacher Jacqui Stricker." He goes on to say, "Homosexuality is one thing, the homosexual lobby is another." Corbett is very upset that the homosexual "lobby" as he calls it, managed to get an anti-vilification bill passed by the NSW State Parliament in 1994, and that no such bill exists to protect heterosexuals. He has also been upset by the nuns of the "Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence" [sic], because he says that their float vilifies the devoutly Reverend Fred Nile. If you would like a copy of the article so that you can respond with a letter to the Newcastle Herald, contact us at our address and we will provide you with the relevant information.                                                                                                                        


2) UK AGE OF CONSENT:
An article in the Sydney Morning Herald of 9 March 1998  stated: "The age of consent for homosexuals in Britain will be reduced from 18 to 16 this northern summer after the Government decided to bring forward the date of a free vote for MPs on the issue." The UK can do it, Tasmania can now do it, even Victoria and South Australia can do it, but the Carr ALP government in NSW can't do it! Write letters to your member of NSW parliament, telling them that an election is due in NSW next year and you will know how to vote if the government does nothing to equalise the age of consent.                             


3) "IT WAS A RIOT" 
at Western Sydney Uni. If you missed seeing the 78ers commemorative, mostly photographic, exhibition during the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, it's on again! Curated by Gavin Harris, "It was a Riot" will manifest once more at the University of Western Sydney Nepean (UWS). The painful birth of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras back in 1978 will be relived in photographs and comments when the exhibition is mounted in the WARD Library Display Area, Werrington South Campus, UWS Nepean. Relaunch: Thursday, 23 April, at 5pm for 5.30pm. Thence on view daily until 7 May 1998.                                                                                                                                   


4) SPAIDS - SYDNEY PARK AIDS TREE PLANTING PROJECT: Planting dates for 1998 are: 31 May and 26 July from 10.30am to 3.30pm.                                             


5)  AUSTRALIAN LESBIAN AND GAY ARCHIVES (ALGA)
ALGA materialised for the first time at this year's Mardi Gras. Leaflets were handed out by the ALGA BANNER SUPPORTERS giving information about the Archives and seeking new members. If you are not yet a member, we have enclosed leaflets and urge you to join, thereby providing much needed financial assistance. ALGA is also 20 years old like the Sydney G&L Mardi Gras, being an initiative of the 1978 Homosexual Conference.                                         


6) AFGHANISTAN: 
In accord with orthodox Muslim doctrine, Taliban Islamic authorities in the Herat province bulldozed a wall onto two convicted sodomites, the Voice of Sharia reported last week. Bismellah, 22, and abdul Sami, 18, had confessed to having gay sex. They died in the rubble. Orthodox Islamic scholars believe homosexuals must be punished by having a wall felled on them or being flung from a hilltop, the report said. In February three men survived after a similar punishment. (Capital Q 3 April 1998.) In the meantime, the Taliban is a male-orientated and controlled organisation. Any guesses about the amount of sodomy practised behind those macho exteriors?        


7) ZIMBABWE: 
The Sydney Morning Herald reported on 28 March 1998 that Zimbabwe's Supreme Court had ruled  that the country's former president, Canaan Banana, must face trial on charges of sodomy and homosexual rape. Zimbabwe's economy is in a parlous state, and whatever scapegoats can be found will be used by the ruthless regime of  President Robert Mugabe, the latest dictator to appear on the African continent. In the meantime, another report in the same paper and on the same day states:"At last count, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade had 74 countries, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, on its "warning" list of places where Australians should proceed with caution." Don't forget, enjoy your holidays in South Africa as much as the authors of this newsletter did in 1997, but don"t go to Zimbabwe to see the Victoria Falls. If it is a must on your travel lists, try and see the falls from the Zambian side - maybe not as easy or spectacular, but avoiding Zimbabwe in the process.                                                          


8) GAY AND LESBIAN HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL PROJECT:
The latest news seems to be that the project is once more about to proceed, but the co-convenors of the SPAIDS (Sydney Park AIDS Memorial Groves) project have decided to dedicate part of the AIDS groves and tree plantings to gays and lesbians who were murdered by the Nazis and also to those countless hundreds and thousands who have been bashed and murdered by bigots and macho regimes around the world. We have also written to one of the papers to express views on Candlelight and possible thoughts on a permanent memorial which encompasses some or all of the above thoughts. Let us know what you think!                                                                                


9) LIBERATIONIST DIES IN SEATTLE: 
Clara Fraser, co-founder of Radical Women and a committed unionist, feminist and liberationist from her early teens, was always in the forefront of agitation for civil rights and socialism. She died on 24 February from emphysema only weeks away from her 75th birthday and the release of her book in the USA and Australia, "Revolution, She Wrote." Her book features a collection of her diverse and radical Freedom Socialist newspaper columns and speeches.In a tribute to her, the Seattle Times said "In being fired in 1975 for speaking out against sex-and-ideology discrimination at Seattle City Light, then being rehired seven years later, Clara Goodman Fraser improved life for many of the city"s working women, poor people and minorities. Her headline-grabbing actions of the mid-1970s and early 1980s made Clara Fraser a familiar name (in Washington State)." For information about Clara"s book, contact Alison Thorne PO Box 266, West Brunswick Vic.3055. Of Clara, Alison recalls: "Her advice helped me to win a precedent-setting Equal Opportunity case in 1986."                                                                                     


10) LaRouche ORGANISATION ACTIVE IN AUSTRALIA:
Also from Melbourne, one of our readers sent us details of the anti-gay and racist organisation calling itself the Citizens Electoral Councils (CEC). Lyndon LaRouche is the leader of this organisation in the US. It recruits in areas hit by unemployment where people are suffering economic hardship by trying to channel people"s anger at the economic crisis into race hate, anti-Semitism and conspiracy theories. CEC is reported to be active in rural areas in Victoria and Queensland. Now NSW can be added to the list. In the Newcastle Herald (6.4.98) there appeared a letter from a CEC candidate for the seat of Hunter in the coming election. According to her, "anyone who has casually inspected any of Mr LaRouche"s writings in politics on the subject of physical economy, would see that it is all based on a single premise: that all human beings are created  imago viva Dei (in the living image of God)." She was replying to a letter from a reader who was warning people to beware of the extreme right wing traits of the LaRouche organisation which was on a recruiting drive in NSW. LaRouche is a convicted criminal, in jail for fraud and tax evasion in the USA.              


11) MORDECHAI VANUNU:
According to the latest information received from Israel, Mordechai Vanunu was released from solitary confinement on Thursday 12 March 1998. On 21 April Vanunu will be eligible for parole having served two-thirds of his 18 year sentence. While he remains in prison he needs continued support. Write to Vanunu; Mordechai Vanunu, Ashkelon Prison, Ashkelon, Israel, or contact LGS Newsletter for other addresses and local actions/meetings in Sydney during the next few weeks.           


12) LESBIAN AND GAY SOLIDARITY & JABILUKA:
LGS carried a banner in support of the protest against the proposed Jabiluka uranium mine in Kakadu National Park, the march and rally being held in Sydney on Sunday 5 April 1998. Despite good publicity in the gay papers for LGS, gays and lesbians weren"t moved to support us in their scores so we were pleased to have Zohl de Ishtar there to help carry the LGS banner. About 3 000 people attended the Sydney rally and similar rallies around Australia and attracted large numbers in all centres. Senator Bob Brown of the Greens spoke at the end point of the rally and stated that Jabiluka would become a bigger issue than the Stop the Franklin Dam campaign. The dam was stopped from being built by the ALP government when it came to power in 1983. Other prominent speakers addressed the rally when it stopped outside the offices of Energy Resources Australia, the development company for Jabiluka. Chalk was given to the protesters to enable them to record their thoughts on the footpaths leading up to the entrance to the building. Stalls and other social activities were available at First Fleet Park after the rally ended there where other speakers also spoke of what awaited us all if the mine development went ahead. The Aboriginal people living in the Jabiluka area were also represented at the rally.                                                                                    


13) AN INJURY TO ONE IS AN INJURY TO ALL!
LGS urges you to show support for the waterside workers of the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA). This coalition government has an obvious agenda to wipe out unions. The current Patrick Stevedoring sackings are the thin end of the wedge to kill off any workers solidarity in this rotten economic rationalism climate. Write letters to newspapers, get on to talkback shows and join demos in union support.                                                                                             


14) MAY DAY 1998:
The  May Day rally will be held this year on Sunday 3 May. Assembly point for the rally will be in Bathurst Street between George Street and Sussex Street at 12-12.30pm. It will reach First Fleet Park, Circular Quay, for the Rally speakers at 2pm. Join Lesbian and Gay Solidarity who will be there with banners to indicate international and our support for workers' rights and to help counter union bashing, homophobia, racism, sexism, discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS and all other attacks on workers.                                                                                                                       


15) MICHAEL AND DANNY:
Michael, a long-time member of LGS is going to Indonesia with his partner Danny to try and obtain permanent residence in Australia for Danny. We wish them well and hope that they succeed in their plans to continue their relationship in Australia without any future hassles. Bon Voyage Michael and Danny. 


16) MARDI GRAS -  
A History of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras by Graham Carbery: further copies of this fascinating history are now available from LGS, SPECIAL PRICE $10 - proceeds to the Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives (ALGA)

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