The international comedian otherwise known as the president of Iran spoke at Columbia University in the USA recently, and denied that gays exist in Iran. Is he a member of the Australian Liberal Party? Perhaps once John Howard gets boned he can go to Iran and seek election there. He would fit in.
Howard has refused again to reform laws that discriminate against same-sex couples. Basically, the Liberals are saying some people are invisible and hence the government does not need to adjust old laws to acknowledge invisible people. But my gay and lesbian friends are not invisible. All around the world, gay and lesbian voices are speaking out about their political experiences, including in Iran.
In a cogent and calm article Tim Wilson demolishes the Liberal case for perpetuating discrimination. His conclusion is brilliant:
Howard’s conservatism should lead him to support reform recognising the dignity of same-sex couples. His critics have always wrongly equated his conservatism with regressivism.
The Prime Minister has, unfortunately, missed his chance to prove his critics wrong.
A few days later comes more gay news from that cesspit of pinko greenie lefty radicalism also known as Telstra. The suits in the big pond think that treating all employees equally regardless of who they choose to fuck in their own time is a sensible thing to do.
It is common knowledge that Telstra and the government are at war over the slow struggle towards privatisation, mobile phone networks, regulatory conditions and the future of broadband infrastructure.
What is so delicious about the news of Telstra’s enlightened sexual orientation policy is its potential to further annoy the government:
Federal Human Rights Commissioner Graeme Innes said Telstra was leading the pack in overhauling its policies.
“This is a demonstration of how a good corporate citizen should behave – not treating people differently simply because of who they love. It’s an example the federal Government should follow, rather than continuing with the 58 laws which discriminate against same-sex couples in financial and work-related entitlements,” he told The Australian.
I suspect that there is a brilliant political strategist at Telstra working overtime on ways to frustrate the federal government. Making the greedy telco with appalling customer service standards appear to be a fairer and more engaged participant in contemporary Australian society than the government, which is supposed to support the Australian community, is a work of subtle genius and beauty. Whoever you are, I applaud you.
ps can you tell me how fast the broadband is in Iran?
