Over the weekend, to coincide with the weekend of Mardi Gras, the Australian Marriage Forum caused a stir with their decision to air an anti-gay marriage television commercial during the Mardi Gras broadcast.
In case you’ve never heard of them, the Australian Marriage Forum is a consortium of Bible bashing busybodies whose sole purpose for existing is to encourage more public handwringing about same sex marriage, who are supported by the Australian Christian Lobby. Their slogan, no shit, is a Helen Lovejoy quote: “Think of the child”, with a logo that looks oddly like two intertwined cock rings.
The 30-second commercial, which featured the president of the Marriage Forum Dr David van Gend pretending to be a ‘family doctor’, and warning concerned straight people that we shouldn’t rush to let gay people get married because children are better off with a mother and a father.
The Marriage Forum are apparently unaware that a marriage license is not actually a prerequisite for procreating. They also apparently don’t realise that according to the last census, tens of thousands of children already live with same sex families with no evidence it is to their detriment, untold millions of children are being raised by single parents or that not all married couples actually have children.
To their credit, SBS, who this year telecast the whole parade with the help of Melbourne’s gay radio station JoyFM, made the principled decision to refuse to broadcast the ad during Mardi Gras. While Dr van Gend accused the public broadcaster of applying censorship to the marriage debate for pulling the ad, which had already been booked and paid for. SBS’s decision was, in his words, a “suppression of free speech,” confusing the right to freedom of expression with the right to buy advertising space.
Several free-to-air networks including Channel Seven and Channel Nine ran the ad in the midst of their Mardi Gras coverage, with no such compunction about its bigotry as a testament to the fact they care more about money than principles.
If it makes the concerned citizens of Marriage Forum feel any better, you weren’t the only ones censored by SBS on the night. SBS also cut POOF DOOF’s entire giant milkshake float from their broadcast, for no apparent reason except for the idea that the name of the weekly Saturday night party might offend some prudish viewers, which is somewhat ironic.
In happier news, Our Lady Madonna has obviously recovered from falling arse over tit on stage at the Brit Awards and has announced that she will tour Australia for the first time in 23 years next year. This isn’t the first time Madge has promised to come Down Under and subsequently cancelled the show, but fingers crossed that this time the Material Girl will make the journey.
This Friday March 13, Pandora’s Box, the alt drag night hosted by Olympia Bukkakis and Godzilla, is back for a one-night only last hurrah at Liberty Social, before that particular den of debauchery closes its doors at the end of this month. DJs are yet to be announced but head to https://www.facebook.com/events/797622033651904/ for details. Doors open 9pm ‘til late.
Bar Kylie, the pop-up bar dedicated to worshipping that other gay icon, returns after four sell outs at Midsumma last year, for a one night only engagement at Sircuit on Friday March 20. DJ Argonaut will pay presumably nothing but Kylie Minogue remixes, Kylie-inspired air hostesses will provide the entertainment and there will be a surprise appearance, which we can only hope will be Dannii Minogue turning up for an encore of her Mardi Gras Party performance. Kylie fans of “all genders, shapes and sizes” are welcome. Tickets are on sale now. Visit www.barkylie.com for more details.
Grrl Fest, the independent music and arts festival for women-identified artists and performers, is hosting its one day festival on Saturday March 21 at Northcote Town Hall. Now in its third year, the all-female festival has outgrown its previous venues and raised over $6000 to hire its new home. Inspired by the Riot Gurl movement’s Ladyfest in the ‘90s, Grrl Fest welcomes all but features an all-female lineup. There will be live music, cabaret, markets and art. The festivities kick off at midday and run through until 1am. For details, visit http://grrlfest.com.
