Engayment.org

Either that, or he’s too busy watching movies and playing with his iPhone

It’s been over a year since the shit hit the fan and my face was plastered all over every News Limited papers and website Australia Wide. It’s taken me quite some time to deal with how angry I was with… well, everyone, yes, even you possibly.

The homophobes of course had lots of lovely things to say, much of which can be read by reading the comments on this site, and the News Limited websites. Just google (Andrew James Gay Activist Telstra). They were, unsurprisingly, a force United!

What did manage to take me by surprise, however, was how quickly Gay people jumped in on the feeding frenzy too. I found myself being attacked by both sides, and for what?

For nothing.

The show Hungry Beast did a really interesting segment on Outrage Stories, and I wish I had seen it before December 08.
If I had, I’d have known in advance what I was in for, and why it was happening.

Here is the Video and a link to it, in case it doesn’t continue to embed on engayment.org

Sounds awfully familiar. I didn’t make any money out of the whole thing. I wonder how much NEWS Limited did?

So what has been happening since it all ‘went down’, so to speak?

Well, Joe Hildebrand, the Telegraphs finest, is still writing articles and using the word gay whenever he can for no reason whatsoever:

If you can be bothered to read the trash this man writes, and you do see a link between Brangelina and Gay Marriage Equality, please be so kind as to let me know what it is. I might not be smart enough to figure it out.

And I am still writing letters to politicians trying to get the Australian Human Rights Act amended so that people who are discriminated against because of their sexual preference (sexual orientation) are protected like all other human beings in Australia.

As the law stands now, I am entitled to protection from discrimination, harassment, and bullying because of my:

• Sex (including pregnancy, marital status, family responsibilities and sexual harassment)
• Disability, including temporary and permanent disabilities; physical, intellectual, sensory, psychiatric disabilities, diseases or illnesses; medical conditions; work related injuries; past, present and future disabilities; and association with a person with a disability
• Race, including colour, descent, national or ethnic origin, immigrant status and racial hatred
• Age, covering young people and older people

BUT

• If I am homosexual however, I am only entitled to protection provided it is specifically to do with employment matters.
• If I am a criminal, or have been convicted of crimes, I am only entitled to protection provided it is specifically to do with employment matters.

Are you seeing a pattern here?

Tanya Plibersek, has honestly been a great help. She always replies to my emails (even when it takes months). She even went to the trouble of forwarding my concerns to Robert McClelland (the Attorney General), but I never received a response from his office. They said they sent it, but then they said they lost it. Tanya was kind enough to hunt down an electronic copy which she forwarded to me.

In the letter the Attorney General promised to ‘Look into the matter’ and advised that the discrepancy may be included in the next Human Rights Consultation report which was due to be released later that year. Well it was released in September 2009, and guess what? I read the whole damn report, and it made no mention of the fact that Gay and Lesbian people were not protected by the Australian Human Rights Act.

Kevin Rudd never bothers to respond to my emails. He used to, when I gave him website tips while he was running for Prime Minister, but he responds no more. He must be too busy. His marketing staffers do manage to keep my email address on file, so that they can spam me. Most recently I was invited to join his Twitter following, so I could read about how much he enjoyed watching Zombieland, with Therese and the Kids. Isn’t it funny that Kevin07 has time to post tweets about movies he’s watching, but he sadly doesn’t have the time to fulfill presently broken election promises. Actually, no, it’s not funny. It’s terrible.

I was promised, to my face, that if Kevin Rudd became Prime Minister, Gay and Lesbian people would receive equal rights under the law.

I was lied to. We all were.

I’ve been trying for over a year now, to get the Human Rights Act amended to be inclusive and protective of GLBT people.

I have failed, and no one cares.

Just to be clear, for those who don’t get what this rant actually means:

• If you are told “You can’t come into my shop because you’re too fat”, the Australian Human Rights Commission will be able to protect you, and take action against whoever breached one of your basic human rights.

BUT

• If you are told “You can’t come into my shop, faggot”, the Australian Human Rights Commission, will not even read your complaint, because they are legally unable to assist you.

If you care at all, let me know so I don’t feel like I’m the only one.

Join me on twitter @engayment

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