Makes My Blood Boil

I get a gay and lesbian news feed - source, it'ts not a hugely intelligent news roundup as it looks for keywords like Gay, Homosexual etc.

Today an article heading looked unusual - 35% of Foster-Parent Molestations Homosexual from the Family Research Institute, a right wing, religion organisation with an aim of keeing the discriminiation against gays and lesbians.

On first read of the article (and it is early and I was drinking my coffee) it infers that in a small sample of child sex assaults in two American States, the perpetrators were 'homosexual'.

On further reading the linkage is not that the pepetrators were homosexual, but 35% of the vicitims were the same sex as the atacker.

To suggest that these Attackers are then 'Homosexual' is absurd and is an old trick by the religous right, to distort statistics particuarly about same sex parenting where children are involved.

Anyone with knowledge of child sexual assault knows that the majority of children abused are done so by 'Heterosexually' identifying parents or parental figures. The sex of the child and the sex of the attacker is irrelevant.

Good well crafted research over th elast 30 years have proven time and time again that the children are not physically or psychologically harmed by havinhg a gay parent (s). In fact the children of same sex attarcted parents are better adjusted, more open minded, are more in touch with their own feelings etc etc.

John Howard & The New Wedge Politic

In Australia we have started the defacto election campaign with the incumbent Conservative government indicating that they will be seeking to ban the recognition of international adoptions by same sex parents.

There is no recognition of adoption by same sex parents in Australia presently so this is a huge backwards step for equality. As it is this weekend on the 13th of August represents the anniversary of the legislation banning the recognition of same sex marriage in Australia.

The issue of 'gay adoption' is such an off key issue, when we face soaring petrol prices, soaring interest rate rises, a significant reduction in civil rights and a government who simply lies to get what it wants.

The issue is only bought up to do two things,

1) Deflect the public's attention away from the actual problems,
2) Appease and consolidate the religous right (who have become a politically savvy group in Australia even if they represent a smaller minority than gays and lesbians do.

We can all see where this is heading, the government is pulling out the good old

"Look at the nasty Homosexuals, they want to adopt children so they can molest them", whilst with the other hand are sweeping the country's problems under the metaphorical carpet.

7:44:00 AM