Stonewall 40 years on

Queers for Justice recent arcticle Stonewall 40th and Pride Unveil NYC’s Shameful Priorities - highlights how there has always been a inherent tension in the queer communities.

The article discusses New York city spending money targetting gay tourists to New York but not providing funds to the poor and working class queers.

This isn't suprising and often I think the poor working class gays and lesbians are the ones who don't get acknowledged in the fight for queer rights. Often research highlights the spending power of gay men without acknowledging the hidden gay poor. Hopefully more research on Queer poverty will occur - and one day sexual orientation will actually appear on national census questions - without this simple change the Queer poor will always be lost.

India throws off imperial shackles at last - gay sex declared legal

Finally India is throwing off the last vestiges of British imperialism with the Dehli High Court ruling that homosexual sex between adults is legal.

The High Court has ruled that the 1861 Bristish law which made illegal "sex against the order of nature," which had been widely interpreted to mean homosexual sex in India, does not apply to consenting adults.

Sadly other British colonies in Africa and the South Pacific still have laws banning homosexual sex. Hopefully they will eventually remove this last vestige of imperialism - ironically a lot of these countries argue that they won't cave in to Western decadence whereas their pre European history often accepted gay men and women.

Hopefully the decision in India will encourage gays and lesbian in other countries to challenge the laws and remove these dangerous laws from every country in the world.

Naked Rugby 2009

It is that time of year where Otago men get naked and play rugby. The annual match in Otago happened again. (Hat tip: put 'em all on an island)

SMS Scammers - Action at last

The Sydney Morning Herald reported today that The Federal Court has granted interim orders against three companies over allegations of setting up false dating profiles and SMS spamming.

(Lonely hearts tricked into paying for spam: watchdog)

Unfortunately there are some companies which have no ethics which are out their to get your money. The scam is simple in that they obtain your mobile number via a false profile then send you an SMS but if you respond you are signed up for an expensive premium SMS service. (See previous posts for more details)

The proceedings began in January when The Australian Communications and Media Authority started proceedings against three companies Mobilegate Limited, Winning Bid Pty Ltd, Jobspy Pty Ltd and individuals associated with these companies.

( see http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD/pc=PC_311593 ).

It is good to see some action against these companies and I noticed that the safedivert sites are no longer active.

Of course the telecommunications who were providing the premium SMS service were still making money. 

Watch out for them on places such as facebook - with quizs where the only way to get a result is to put in your mobile number - just don't!

Mardi Gras Changes

The news which has generated the most comments for a long time is Mardi Gras decision to split the party and parade.

With over 120 comments most against the move Mardi Gras then announced that their would be a new after parade party.

What is really interesting is the claims and counter claims around the decision. Mardi Gras is claiming research is what lead to the decision but to date haven't published or discussed this research.

It will be interesting to see if this change sticks and if it does will the party actually make money in 2010.

Now if only people could get so fired up on gay marriage or civil unions in Australia. 

One of Them

NZ on Screen now has One of Them online now - a great short film made in 1997 - adapted from a short story by Peter Wells.

One of Them! was one of two films (with Memory and Desire) adapted from short stories in Peter Wells' book Dangerous Desires, (1991). It was made for TV One as a Montana Sunday drama. Set in Auckland, 1965, this film tells the story of Lemmy and Jamie, two teenage boys coming to terms with their sexuality. In the dark days before gay liberation, bullying and intimidation was rife, and while the boys flaunt their sissyness, their internalised homophobia wreaks havoc on their emotional lives - until they can admit to being ‘one of them'. 

Great to watch this again. It is amazing to think how much things have changed in New Zealand in the past 30 years. 

Broadband Plans

Both Australia and New Zealand look set to get substantially improved internet access with annoucnements on both sides of the Tasman of broadband plans.

The Australian Plan

The new fibre-to-the-home network would take eight years to build, cost $43 billion, and give 90 per cent of Australian households download speeds 100 times faster than they currently experience.

In the process Australia will break the Telstra monolopy and stalemate in Internet connectively. 

The New Zealand Plan

Communications and Information Technology Minister Steven Joyce said a new Crown-owned company would work with private sector partners as a key part of its plan to deliver ultra-fast broadband to 75 per cent of New Zealanders' homes, workplaces and places of study within ten years.

The Government has committed up to $1.5 billion of taxpayers' money for the roll-out and expects that to be at least matched by the private sector.

Both plans do mean that both countries might finally get to experience the internet as other countries do.

It will be interesting to see how they develop. Hopefully the plans won't get delayed by politics and by big business politics of Telstra and Telecom.

Flashback: For Today

1985 was my final year living in Wellington which was a great time to be living in New Zealand's capital city. This song still can take me right back to those times - to friends, lovers, flatmates and events. 

1985 was the year the homosexual law reform bill debate started including the infamous "Nuremburg rally" - the protests, the nuclear free legistation, Rainbow Warrior bombing and the protests against the proposed All Black tour to South Africa which was cancelled.

Enjoy the song from the Netherworld Dancing Toys - and the ferry's still run between Wellington and Picton and are as amazing as the video - though the weather isn't always that smooth.