Well, now I’m all worked up.
This morning I got home from the gym, and over a cup of coffee I watched Jim Wallace from the Australian Christian Lobby and Kerryn Phelps, a gay rights activist have a debate on Seven’s Sunrise.
You can see it here:
During the debate Wallace begins to make a statement to compare the marriage equality movement to the Nazis of WWII, he says this:
I would like to just say that I think this whole campaign would do great credit to Joseph Goebbels, because what we’ve had, we’ve had the demonisation
To his credit, Kosh, Seven’s Sunrise presenter, prevents him from continuing that line of thought. But it’s too late, the words have been released and we get a glimpse at the true thoughts of an organisation the purports to show true christian values.
It’s easy to say that I shouldn’t get upset by these comments. However, the demonisation of gay people continues unabated in this country because the likes of Wallace are permitted to continue to speak out in such a reprehensible way. That’s not to say that I think he or the ACL should be gagged. However, the ACL does not represent all christians, in fact they probably represent very few christians. The media continue to call upon them as though they represent the whole of christianity in Australia. It’s near impossible to find out just how much support they have. In these days of modern communication everyone can pretend to be a big organisation with hundreds of thousands of supporters.
The media make Wallace the ‘go to person’ for comment on these matters, it reminds me of how they always asked for Bruce Ruxton’s opinion. You are always sure to upset people and drive your audience up. However, the ACL deserve as much media attention as the likes of Muehlenberg or Nalliah. That is, very little.
And it’s not just him.
Today Bob Katter on “The Circle” on Ten said that the whole issue of marriage equality was irrelevant, this is despite just 39% of his electorate being against marriage equality. He said that in his 39 years in Parliament only one person had raised the issue with him, he seems to have forgotten the 70 people who protested outside his Mt Isa office last year.
It also seems to have slipped his mind that he didn’t think it was that irrelevant when he stood up before a bunch of christians at Parliament house in August 2011 and said that equality should be ridiculed.
I’ve always known about the Jews and how they were killed during World War II. Until very recently, I didn’t know any Jews. Now through Michael I have a much better understanding of what the Holocaust means. The impact of it is still felt all these years later. I’ve sat with my partner and read articles and felt his repulsion when the Nazi tag is applied. I’ve seen how visibly upset and emotional he becomes when we see a movie about the Holocaust. It’s real. I can see it, I don’t fully comprehend, but I know.
extreme disappointment and dismay
Is Michael’s rather timid response on the Aleph website.
His personal Facebook pages says this:
Absolutely shattered by the news that Jim Wallace invoked Joseph Goebbels on Sunrise this morning. This is about love and marriage. We are not trying to kill anyone.
To read those words is cutting. It breaks me up. I don’t want to see anyone feel such a level of emotional discomfort, and while I can say all the right words, I can not change history. I can’t change what has happened to all those gay and Jewish people killed for no good reason at the hand of Hitler and Goebbels.
This is sickening beyond belief. For me, I struggle every time I read another news story that suggest that I’m evil, that I’m a pervert, that I’m not a good parent, all because I’m gay. As I’ve said so many times, I am resilient. Michael is also resilient. He draws from a strength that I’ve seen him use to get himself through some of the most trying times in his ongoing battle with the Jewish establishment. Others are not so lucky.
It’s for those others that I say to the likes of Wallace and Katter. Enough is enough. We are human, we hurt.
Express your point of view, but if your reason for objection is because you think I’m evil, or that Michael or myself are like a Nazi, then you’ve got a serious issue that needs checking.
Go get it checked.
Thank you.
Well said Gregory, I hate this nazi tag that gets throw around all the time by people like Wallace. I am not fond of religion, but I would ever think to say such a thing to Wallace etc. It shows what small minds they have and how little they have in the way of evidence to support their stupid claims. .
Thanks, Gregory. It’s difficult for those of us who have not been the direct targets of such vile attacks to understand how deeply painful they would be those who are. I appreciate your sharing and admire you and Michael very much.
I don’t understand why people think it’s o.k. to ban same sex marriage; we’re all supposed to be equal in the eyes of the law and marriage is a legal concept. I looked at the banner on the still above and thought, “How would the opponents of same sex marriage feel if the banner read, ‘Should opposite-sex marriage be banned?'” It makes just as much sense as banning same-sex marriage; that is – none at all.
Thank you Gregory for such an informed, cogent and passionate response to the rabid harmful abuse that the likes of Wallace, Katter, Pell are inflicting on us with impunity. There is nothing about the demand for equal human rights, including equal relationship and parenting recognition, which could prompt a sane person to describe the issue as irrelevant, let alone akin to Nazi idealism. That suggestion is cruel, evil and malicious. My Mum was prone to jumbling her truisms – but she was spot on in declaring “There are none so blind as those who cannot see.”
[…] and the Nazis – It has to stop Wallace and the Nazis – It has to stop << Gregory Storer. Share this:FacebookEmailPrintShareRedditStumbleUponDigg This entry was posted in Activism, GLBT, […]
Thanks Gregory! One of the things that strikes me about Wallace’s performance is the way the Goebbels slur was so obviously calculated. It was his opening shot, and carefully scripted. There is no possible way that he can back away from it and claim that it was a ‘slip of the tongue’ or any of the usual excuses that people make for these kinds of attacks when the inevitable fallout hits them.
Well written, Gregory. After watching both clips last night, my wife and I were left shaking our heads at these morons.
Thank you all for your wonderful comments, I write based on my feelings and the way I see the world. I’m glad it hit a chord with people.
[…] Earlier in the week our mate Wally was on Sunrise, comparing Kerryn Phelps and the marriage equality campaign to the Nazis. Read up about this with my bear friend Gladly the Cross-Eyed Bear, gay rights activist Michael Barnett on the support website, Aleph and of course the wonderfully delightful Gregory Storer. […]
So Gregory, what you are pretty much saying is that people can not publicly oppose gay marriage? That you can voice an opinion that is in favor of it unless you want to be attacked by people on the internet?
How can you be for human rights and equality when you don’t even allow everyone to voice their own opinions? I understand that you’re in favor of change but you’re completely contradicting your beliefs.
Hugo,
You seem to have overlooked the second last paragraph of this article:
Michael.
No Hugo, I’m not saying anything of the sort. Did you read my post at all?
Wait!?!? Are you gay, Seriously i know you can change your gayness just tried to stop looking at men, maybe hire a hooker and one day you can be normal again Catch ya!
Wait?? Are you stupid? I know you can change your stupidness – just stop looking stupid, maybe get an education and one day you can be normal too. Catch ya!