Pogo - Mellow Brick Road

AUSTRALIA: Safer Sex Activists Act Out Actual Anti-Gay Letters To The Editor

AUSTRALIA: Safer-Sex Campaign Reinstated After Ad Company Relents

Brisbane's safer-sex ad campaign has been reinstated after widespread outrage across Australia. The campaign had been yanked after complaints from an anti-gay Christian group.

Announcing their backflip this afternoon, the company said it had changed its mind because it did not realise it had been subjected to a campaign from the Australian Christian Lobby to remove the posters. “Following ACL Queensland director Wendy Francis’ acknowledgement that the complaints received by Adshel, Brisbane City Council and the Advertising Standards Bureau regarding QAHC’s campaign have been orchestrated by the Australian Christian Lobby, Adshel is reinstating the ‘Rip and Roll’ campaign," a company press release said. "Adshel earlier responded to a series of complaints by removing the campaign from its media panels yesterday. None of the complaints indicated any liaison with the ACL, so Adshel was made to believe that they originated from individual members of the public.”

AUSTRALIA: Christianist Group Forces Removal Of Safer Sex Campaign

An anti-gay Christian group in Brisbane, Australia has forced an outdoor advertising company to yank a just-launched safer sex campaign. The ads featured a fully-clothed gay couple holding an unopened condom.

Adshel, the company that provides advertising for Brisbane's bus shelters; Goa Billboards; and the Advertising Standards Bureau were targeted in an orchestrated campaign by the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL). Healthy Communities executive director Paul Martin said it was extremely disheartening that Adshel had buckled. "Those of us who have been around fighting HIV in Queensland for a while will remember this kind of reaction from days gone by," he told AAP. "We certainly don't expect it in 2011."

ACL was trying to have gay people "erased from the public sphere", Mr Martin said. "It's an extreme minority of people who are very well organised and are able to launch this kind of action," he said. "The vast majority of Queenslanders support gay and lesbian rights." ACL Queensland director Wendy Francis said she objected to the sexual nature of the ads, not the fact the couple pictured were gay. Ms Francis was last year forced to apologise publicly after a Tweet likening gay marriage to legalising child abuse.

Planking

AUSTRALIA: Christianist Hate Group Crashes Rally Against Homophobia

A peaceful rally against homophobia was ruined in Adelaide, Australia yesterday when a Christianist hate group unexpected showed up to shout anti-gay epithets and generally disrupt the event.

About 200 people gathered outside parliament today to rally in support of International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia when members of the Adelaide Street Church showed up. Rally organiser Jason Virgo said one woman was pushed out of her wheelchair and police had to be called. "A small number of right-wing Christians came out and started waving their flags and getting in people's faces, yelling quite loudly, some of them got in a bit of a fight," Mr Virgo said. "(They had) signs saying 'God hates sinners' ... no sign should say 'God hates'. "It's an International Day Against Homophobia and for them to come to us and come to our rally and say things which we find homophobic, it's disrespectful. "We would never go to their church and disrupt things the way they did today."

Pogo - Living Island

Australia's aural whiz kid takes on H.R.Pufnstuf.

AUSTRALIA: Armistead Maupin & Husband Denied Restroom For "Real Men'

Last week famed author Armistead Maupin and his husband Christopher Turner were treated shamefully by the bartender at an Alice Springs, Australia restaurant.

According to Mr Maupin, they were told to take a seat, after which Mr Maupin's husband Chris asked if he could use a rest room. "The guy said, sorry, we don't have one in here but you can go across the street to the public facility." Mr Maupin, who had used the toilet in Bojangles the day before, said he pointed in the direction of the toilet and said 'what's that over there?' "[The barman] gave me a very pointed look and said that's reserved for 'real men'," said Mr Maupin. "Neither one of us could quite believe he'd said it, and he actually repeated it, [he said] 'see the sign on the door, it says gents, it's for real men.'" Mr Maupin and Mr Turner immediately left the establishment and made an official complaint at the Visitor Information Centre. "I think it was less than 24 hours later that we got an email from Peter Griggs in the tourism office saying he'd spoken to the proprieter of the business who was just as shocked as we were and that the man had extended his apologies."

Last night Maupin commented on his Facebook page: "Just to be clear: There are no apologies necessary from either Alice Springs or Australia. I've never felt more welcomed by a country. This was a lone gunman, and we just handed him his balls on a platter. It's over."

Sydney's Gay Mardi Gras Parade

INXS - Don't Change

Yup, same song.

Sydney Mardi Gras: Lifeguard Rehearsal

Dash Berlin - Disarm Yourself

Lovely retro late 90s-ish trance, reminds me of the fantastic album by Grace. Proceeds go to Australian flood disaster relief.

Tim Minchin On Conan O'Brien

Hilarious Australian comedian/musician Tim Minchin made his U.S. debut on Conan O'Brien last night, performing his classic Inflatable You. (A less censored version is at that link.) You may recall the last Minchin song I posted, the insanely catchy Pope Song.

Summer Floods Ravage Australia

In what the prime minister is characterizing as the "worst natural disaster in Australian history," torrential rains have brought massive flooding to Queensland and its capital city, Brisbane.

Pogo - Joburg Jam

From his coming World Remix project.

New Year's Fireworks From Sydney

Lady Gaga's Meat Book

Copyranter notes that Lady Gaga's biography is being promoted in Australia's meat cases. OK, then.

TRAILER: Sydney Mardi Gras 2011

Pogo - Whisperlude

Another brilliant entry from the Australian wunderkind.

Majority Of Australians Support Marriage

A just-released poll shows that 57% of Australians now support legalizing same-sex marriage. Via the Sydney Morning Herald:

The poll of 1400 voters, taken from Thursday night to Saturday evening, finds two-thirds of Labor voters and 86 per cent of Greens voters support same-sex marriage, while 51 per cent of Coalition voters were against it and 42 per cent supported it. More than half of voters support gay marriage in every state, except Queensland where 47 per cent support it and 43 per cent are opposed. The findings are expected to intensify pressure on political leaders at least to allow a conscience vote on the issue. Both main parties oppose gay marriage and there is no sign of a change within the Coalition.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has said that her party will not debate the issue until their conference in December 2011.