I NEVER MADE A COMPLAINT ABOUT TELSTRA.
But even if I wanted to, I can’t.
So thank you to all of you who have contacted me to tell me to build a bridge, get a life, move on, get a boyfriend/girlfriend and so on. Also, thank you to all the people who contacted me to call me names. I’m especially surprised about the sheer amount of abuse that I’ve received over the last 24 hours. I had no idea that there was so much hate and anger and homophobia in this Country.
Joe Hildebrand from News Limited’s Daily Telegraph made it seem as though I’d complained to HREOC about Telstra when he said “Andrew WANTED to be discriminated against by Telstra.” I never said I wanted to be discriminated against. What person would WANT to be discriminated against? Joe, you’re an idiot.
Through Joe’s deliberate and surgical misuse of my words, my point and my original intentions have been lost.
I want to make a few points very VERY clear to the people who are reading this, and forgive me for the tone, but no matter how hard I try to articulate my position, people just don’t seem to READ WHAT I’M SAYING.
- I don’t think the Telstra Ad is worthy of a Human Rights and Equality Opportunity Commission Complaint. I do think the ad is not very funny, and I believe it to be a rather stupid attempt at humour, where the punchline only works if you understand fear and prefer cricket over sex.
But the only reason I ended up at the website www.humanrights.gov.au, was because every other regulatory authority responsibile for advertising issues or complaints would not entertain a complaint that was to do with discrimination. ACMA sends you to Australian Standards Bureau, who then sends you to HREOC, who then says in not so many words, “Sorry, you’re gay, not our issue” This is regardless of the nature of your complaint (unless you got sacked) - I’m gay, so I have no recourse to complain about advertisements that offend me because of my sexuality. I say again:
I NEVER MADE A COMPLAINT ABOUT THE TELSTRA AD WITH HREOC.
- My complaint is that I cannot complain to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission about ANY matter of sexual preference discrimination UNLESS it is soley to do with employment. <– READ IT AGAIN
Imagine you’re married, and you go to a Gym, and the owner of the Gym says to you, “I’m sorry, we don’t accept people in this Gym who are married.” – If you were to try to complain about the discrimination you encountered, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Comission WOULD CONSIDER YOUR COMPLAINTImagine that you’re gay, and you go to a Gym, and the owner of the Gym says to you, “I’m sorry, we don’t accept gay people in this Gym.” - If you were to try to complain about the discrimination you’d encountered, The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission WOULD NOT CONSIDER YOUR COMPLAINT, because they can legally only entertain complaints of a discriminatory nature if you fall into one or more of the following categories: Sex, Pregnancy, Martial Status, Family Responsibility, Race, Disability and Age.
Gay People Cannot be discriminated against, unless it’s to do with Employment AND ONLY EMPLOYMENT – and that’s just not cricket!
Do you see the discrepancy?
Do you see the discrimination?
If you can’t, close this blog, and don’t come back. I really can’t figure how to explain it more clearly than I have already.
I want to see same-sex marriage become possible for us all. I have received thousands of emails, all of which are abusive and homophobic. Google “Gay Activist Telstra” and read any number of the comments on any number of the sites that come up, and you will see a terrifying picture of just how homophobic Australia is.
The Daily Telegraph and all of its News Limited subsidiaries relied on an abundant and huge amount of latent homophobia in Australia to create a furor on the internet, which meant more of their advertisements (including Telstra ads) would get clicked, which in turn meant they’d make more money.
They used me, my picture, and my situation as a tool to make money. To do that effectively they had to paint me as the bad guy who wanted to complain about Telstra.
19/12/2008 Permalink
Well I can only say that I am flabbergasted at the amount of hate that appears to consume our society. Honestly the number of heterosexual men that have the time and the inclination to post horrid hateful entries absolutely astounds me. Even Ray from Mazda at Brookvale who was so completely consumed he used his work email. Silly boy!
To those posting words of kindness and support I can only assume you are the more intelligent human beings who were actually able to UNDERSTAND the issues at hand. It appears all those other haters have the intelligence of small gnats (sorry if you don’t understand that haters, look it up!)
To you Andrew, stand strong and do have a merry christmas. I hope that somewhere someday the person who this battle does end up helping will let you know it helped, and that you did not recieve all the hate and abuse for nothing.
19/12/2008 Permalink
Hello
Andrew, I don’t know how you stand it. Some of these people are SICK. I love it how gay people keep saying “I don’t want to get married” GREAT I DO!!!! That’s the point. Straight people have the option, we don’t. “It’s just a piece of paper”? No it’s respect. It’s about giving my relationship the same respect you’re given. I don’t want to take anything away from you’re marriage; I just want mine to be recognized.
O and you defiantly deserve this web page.
IDK
George
19/12/2008 Permalink
Oh the irony..
The IP address of the homohater ‘Aussie Male’ resolves to a TELSTRA Bigpond account in QLD:
nslookup
Name: CPE-121-222-245-226.qld.bigpond.net.au
Address: 121.222.245.226
18/12/2008 Permalink
You faggots make me sick, you should never be allowed to desecrate the sanctity of marriage, marriage is between a man and a woman and if you want to love men (you sick fuck) you miss out. (forever)
The government is completely right in what they are doing, by denying you sick idiots any rights whatsoever will help society become a lot more safe and civil place. Sometimes I do actually feel sorry for you queer cunts that your genes are so fucked up that you turned out the way you have. I just hope they find an antidote for your sickness or better still immunisation for what you poor fuckwits have…..
18/12/2008 Permalink
Dude seriously, you really do need to let this go. There are times in life where you can’t do anything about the circumstances that life hands you.
Take me for example…i suffer from depression, and because of that I was fired from my job because they didnt think i could perform my job properly anymore.
due to a whole heap of different workplace laws, theres nothing i can do – no unfair dismissal, nothing like that. i just had to cop it on the chin and move on. and i did! sure, i was pissed off for quite a while, but i accepted the fact that this world is full of jerk offs and sometimes youve gotta deal with the shit they deal out.
and on the marriage side of things…whats the big deal? if youve got a partner that you care about and they care about you, whats the point of having a piece of paper that says ‘legally joined’? hell, id hate to get married personally. luckily my girlfriend feels the same way.
one last thing, you say that the ad is not worthy of a Human Rights and Equality Opportunity Commission Complaint, so why do you want to make one, and why so upset that you cant?
believe me dude it’d be great if this whole thing wasn’t an issue. unfortunately, theres always gonna be ignorance in this world, theres always gonna be some morons who say gay marriage is wrong. if you want to be free of criticism for your sexual preferences, youd have to stay in the closet.
18/12/2008 Permalink
Let us get this straight(!) . A guy deconstructs a Telstra ad and finds a sublime message alluding to that titillating tension that arises when two guys are caught in a tent late at night. Are they doing something naughty? Oh they’re just watching cricket on a mobile phone. Hardy har-har. Even if a whole nation demanded I get a sense of humour I still would not find this stupid ad funny.
So anyway this guy raises an issue about the potential political implications of this sublime sense of humour, and learns that in Australia in 2008, gays and lesbians do not enjoy the same levels of protection against discrimination as other groups. This, in my view, is a bit of a scoop, and deserves to be publicly debated.
Unfortunately, a whole nation unites to silence this guy by calling him queen, princess, wanker, idiot, knob…. This is not because Australians in 2008 suffer from illiteracy. Rather, it is because Australians, in 2008, are still latently homophobic. As soon as a gay activist raises an issue, it’s “shut the f**k up and get a life”.
I’d also like to point out to all those neo-con gays who seem to enthusiastically side with the homophobic bogans who engage in derogatory name calling, that it is YOU who take us 20 years back. It is YOU, not Andrew, who should shut the f**k up and get a life. You’re the conformist “we’re just like everyone else” gays who stifle social progress by refusing to acknowledge that this is your battle too. It is YOU that do not deserve to be gay. You should be ashamed of yourselves, because you have no balls, you have no courage to stand up for us. You have the gay activists of the Stonewall riots and of the Pride movement to thank for the rights you now enjoy.
It is people like Andrew who make a difference, who dare to raise issues publicly and to point out the deficiencies in our legal system. The rest of you mainstream gays, go back to your clubs, your dance parties, your fitness firsts and gym buddies, and let Andrew fight your battle why don’t you. You’re the judgemental scum of the gay community and with a lack of better words to use because of my sheer frustration, unless you have the guts to join in this battle, then do us all a favour and shut the fuck up.
18/12/2008 Permalink
I just read your blog now and can see the underlying point you’ve been making. I also read Joe Hildebrand’s “article” when it was published and remember instinctively raising an eyebrow, now I know I had good reason to. Ignore the angry letter writers because they don’t get it and they don’t matter because this is not about most of them.
The Rudd government (with whom I am in no way affiliated, just to be clear) has formed an inquiry into some form of Australian Charter of Rights. It that happens and/or a federal Sexuality Discrimination Bill happens, on top of existing state-based Anti-Discrimination legislation, would those things address the concerns you’ve been raising?
Another part of the equation, in my view, is separating Church & State in Australia ( http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=54429760859 ). This is the only way our government and public institutions can hope to fully move forward with fairness for all.
18/12/2008 Permalink
STOP SPEAKING FOR THE GAY SOCIETY – YOU HAVE DONE MORE DAMAGE THAN GOOD, ALL OVER NOTHING. I HOPE THEY MAKE MORE ADS LIKE THAT ONE, BECAUSE I COULDN’T CARE LESS….
YOU DON’T DESERVE TO BE GAY – YOUR AS BAD AS THE HOMOPHOBES THAT RULE THIS WORLD AND ALWAYS WILL !
18/12/2008 Permalink
Again – stop your whinging, Australia is not a homophobic country, its people like you that make people more so by carrying on with your ridiculous complaints about totally irrelevant things.
My god – a stupid TV commercial, no wonder no agency wanted to deal with your trivial complaint, I think Joe has every right to write what he has, hopefully it will stop imbeciles like yourself making it harder for all gays to live in the community without being discriminated upon.
I am gay and proud of it and also have a sense of humour which you seem to lack, marriage is nothing more than a peace of paper, if you need to have that to have a meaningful relationship, I do feel sorry for you.
Anyway I hope in the future you will think before you act and take into
consideration what your actions may do to other proud gays who love this country and its people.
You don’t deserve to have a website – get a sense of humour first !
18/12/2008 Permalink
Andrew, I really think you’re blowing this out of all proportion and, as a consequence, actually making it harder for the gay rights movement. I do appreciate your passion for your cause and for this reason I condemn all of the horrible things that have been written about you. But I’d just like to let you know that the gay rights situation in Australia is not how you have described it.
In Australia, anti-discrimination law is primarily a state rather than federal matter. Nearly all of the states have very comprehensive anti-discrimination laws in place to protect LGBT people from a wide range of discrimination, not only in employment, but also in the provision of goods and services, education, health care, etc. In many states, including NSW, there are also protections against vilification of gay people (hate speech, etc).
So, the respond to your gym example: if a gym owned were to refuse you admission because of your real or perceived sexual orientation, that would be against the law in NSW. You could easily make a complaint to the NSW Anti-Discrimination Board.
I support a federal law banning sexual orientation discrimination beyond employment, but it would not actually make that much difference in practical terms. The major beneficiaries of such a law would be those dealing with federal agencies who may not always be subject to state anti-discrimination laws.
And again, as I outlined in a previous post, you CAN make a complaint to the NSW Anti-Discrimination Board about the Telstra ad if you so wish.
I am strongly in favour of same-sex marriage, but I don’t see how complaining about the AHRC’s inability to tackle sexual orientation discrimination in the provision of advertising helps the same-sex marriage movement.
18/12/2008 Permalink
Hey Andrew,
Ignore the uneducated rantings of the idiots of this world. You have every right to expect to be protected against discrimination. The FACT that the Australian government is discrimanatory against gay people is there and available for all to see, all they have to do is try to lodge a complaint and they WILL come up against the same barriers as you did.
Unfortunately for all Australians your experience with the Daily Telegraph should be seen as a warning that you CANNOT trust the press, they will always be looking after number one and printing whatever will sell the most papers or generate the most reaction from the public that should be able to have trust in what the media has portrayed.
How many times have we seen or heard someone complain that the media has twisted what was said to make things more inflammatory.
The media should be using their power of the press to support people who have been discriminated against not to crusify them in order to keep their jobs.
As your family we understand exactly what has aggrieved you and know that you will not let the rantings of idiots sway you from your objective (TO HAVE THE SAME RIGHTS UNDER AUSTRALIAS LEGISLATIVE POWERS) as those who mock you.
There WAS a time when women COULD NOT vote or drink in the very australian public bar.
There WILL be a time that Gays in this country are treated as all Australians expect to be.
It may take a while but ONE DAY people will look back and see that you were right, every Australian is entitled to the same protection and treatment from our government agencies.
Keep up the good work Son, dont be swayed by idiots.
18/12/2008 Permalink
I nearly fell off my chair when I heard that you had complained about the Telstra ad … in your blog above you’ve written, “I believe it to be a rather stupid attempt at humour, where the punchline only works if you understand fear and prefer cricket over sex.” That is exactly the problem here – your attempt to pin your personal beliefs on society as a whole.
I’m a straight, married male who grew up with sport and the great outdoors. Your complaint has become a topic of conversation around our BBQ. No-one I know thought ill of the ad. Quite simply, we all thought the two guys in the tent didn’t want to share the coverage of the cricket with their mates because the screen was too small for any more than two people to watch. Let’s face it … if the other two guys tried to join in there would be two problems: firstly, limited room in the tent and secondly, four heads crowded around such a little screen.
Any connection with homophobia, homosexuality or the like has been formed in your own head, not anyone elses! You are entitled to your opinion, and I respect that. I have gay friends and a gay cousin … even a gay next door neighbour whom I play golf with. Now, if none of them complain about the ad and none of them impress their sexuality on me or society why should you?
IF …. IF the ad had clearly portrayed two gay men in the tent AND the other guys had not been their mates, or had not been gay, then I would accept your position.
The fact is nothing in the ad implies a fear of being gay or that gay people have anything to fear. Even after considering your position, I am unable to draw such conclusions from the ad.
I believe that you have drawn a long bow and your aim has faltered on this occasion. You will receive criticism. You will be rebuked. You will be run down. Not because people are homophobic, but because you tried to make a gay issue out of a TV commercial that has nothing to do with sexuality at all.
Still disagree with me? Sure you do! Let me propose one more thing: What if Telstra were to make the same ad with four women instead of four men? Here’s the scenario: Two women are in one tent watching an episode of Desperate Housewives or Kath and Kim … the other two are calling to them … would such an ad bother you? Would it bother lesbians? I hope not … because AGAIN it has nothing to do with sexuality or homophobia.
I appreciate your reason for this website and applaud your activism. There are real issues of sexuality in society, but the Telstra ad wasn’t one of them.
Cheers and Merry Christmas,
Steve
17/12/2008 Permalink
In reply to your other message, don’t bother with the gay guys fighting you against what they obviously haven’t read. Guys like Marcus (who cannot provide time for the simple grammatical laws of your/you’re) are obviously looking to fight you on whatever they can. Honestly reading what you’ve been though and what you’ve fought for, I’d say you’re doing a world of good, and you should be proud. Honestly, ignore this bullshit about the commercial and focus on what’s important to you!
17/12/2008 Permalink
I wish you niggers would stop pretending you’re equal because you’re lying to yourself. Your genetic structure is flawed; you are an evolutionary mistake that only continues to exist because of guilt ridden race-traitors.
You should go back to Africa and die of malaria or starvation like the rest of your pathetic race so us genetically superior whites can flourish like we did before the nigger scourge.
17/12/2008 Permalink
Hello Andrew
I’m George from Connecticut, USA. I to fight for gay marriage and recently Connecticut started allowing us to marry. Good for you on you’re continued fight!!! We only have 2 states in the US that allow full equality for LGBT people, much work to be done. Over all the majority of gay people want marriage rights in America.
Keep you’re head up and fuck those who are pissed at you. ALL LGBT people in your country should be PISSED that marriage is not an option. They don’t want to get married, DON’T but those that do SHOULD.
You explained you’re side well; he obviously used you and your words. Keep moving forward and never look back. It’s amazing, the first ones in line to get married will be the assholes that were nasty to you, you do the work, they benefit.
We have that here to it’s called the Log Cabin Republican’s, AKA Gay Republican’s. They vote for conservative republican pricks and wonder why were not getting anywhere. They too will be the first ones in line while the rest of us liberals are catching our breaths. It pisses me off…
It’s great to meet you, GOOD JOB ANDREW
George
17/12/2008 Permalink
I’ve read quite a few entries about this whole crazy scene, I think it’s incredible you’ve had such a strong negative response from such a wide spectrum of people. Regardless of the barrage of insults, you’re trying to make a difference, and the unfortunate consequence is that many people have misunderstood what exactly your intentions are.
Stay strong!
17/12/2008 Permalink
Andrew,
One thing sticks out to me when i read the comments posted on this website, is that there seems to be a lot of people posting horrible and pointless comments, telling you to get a life, move on and so on. What seems to be escaping their attention is that they are the ones wasting time, and energy posting mindless, useless and truely disapointing messages.
I agree totally with what it is that you have said, and am sadened by the fact that the numerous people that have also read your blog cannot get past the fact that you are gay, and have something to say about the way that you (as an individual not as an activist of the entire gay community) has been treated.
Keep your chin up.
Although most of the comments on this site are negative, people who have more things to do with there life other than post hate mail will be supporting you from the sidelines.
Atleast you have the guts to speak your mind!
You definately have my support!
17/12/2008 Permalink
Queen
I stand by what i said yesterday. Whom said you could speak for the “gay collective” your as bad as gary burns when you think you speak for us all YOU DO NOT. I am a gay man and i do not want this “marriage thing you speak of” but equality under the law. You are not doing gay rights any favours and are starting to sound extremely self serving. as i said yesterday if you wanna advocate then how about helping in areas of drug addiction/ depression services / hiv education. YOU KNOW THINGS THAT ACTUALLY MATTER AND HAVE AN IMPACT ON THE COMMUNITY IN GENERAL. Your are a rather self indulgant precious little queen . The antithesis of me as a gay man. you serve no one but yourself and do the gay movement no good whatsoever. Stop this attention seeking bullcrap
Marcus
17/12/2008 Permalink
I’d like to see marriage available for all people regardless of gender, I think that would be a wonderful thing.
Sadly you’re a bit ranty, but i see the underlying. Good luck with everything.
17/12/2008 Permalink
Wah Wah Wah, stop whinging and get out and live your life
“I just want to get bloody married” – Marriage is just a piece of paper…me and my de-facto partner have been together 8 years, we have 3 kids and we are not married, and cant see how a piece of paper would make a difference to our relationship, why would it make a difference to yours? are you THAT insecure?