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Comments Off on Gay marriage supporter Kevin Rudd becomes Australia’s prime minister

Gay marriage supporter Kevin Rudd becomes Australia’s prime minister

Posted by | June 26, 2013 | News

From http://www.gaystarnews.com

Kevin Rudd has defeated Julia Gillard in a snap election of the Labor caucus to become new party leader and Australia’s prime minister.

It comes just weeks after he announced his personal support for gay marriage equality in the country – saying he had previously been a ‘dinosaur’ on the issue.

And he is now facing calls from LGBT campaigners in the country to take action to deliver same-sex marriage equality in the country.

Rudd was previously prime minister from December 2007 to June 2010 but was defeated by Gillard.

Within the last few minutes Rudd won the new election by 57 votes to Gillard’s 45.

With Australia heading to the election, Labor still looks likely to be defeated by the Coalition headed by Liberal Party leader Tony Abbot. He remains steadfastly against gay marriage equality, refusing to even allow his Members of Parliament a free vote on the issue.

But the 102-strong Labor caucus took the widely-held view the party’s support would grow with Rudd back at the helm.

Throwing down the gauntlet earlier today, Gillard had pledged to retire from politics if she lost.

Australian Marriage Equality national director, Rodney Croome, said marriage equality advocates will seek a meeting with Rudd to discuss the future of the reform.

Croome: ‘Having a prime minister who supports marriage equality opens up a new chapter in the debate by mainstreaming and legitimizing the reform like never before.

‘Kevin Rudd’s support for marriage equality will be an important point of difference with Tony Abbott, increasing pressure on Mr Abbott to allow a conscience vote and bringing marriage equality to the center of the federal election campaign.

‘Mr Rudd’s stance will also draw young voters to the Labor Party and galvanize the Labor grassroots behind him, given that both groups strongly support this reform.

‘The majority of Australian Christians will also welcome a Christian Prime Minister who represents their support for marriage equality.’

Community Action Against Homophobia are demanding Rudd bring on legislation for equal marriage rights and hold his party to a binding vote to get it passed immediately.

The demand came from Cat Rose who is CAAH co-convener and National Queer Officer of the country’s National Union of Students.

She said: ‘Rudd says he’s had an epiphany since he was last prime minister – well a change of heart is always welcome but the fact remains that he spent several years as a homophobic prime minister who stood in the way of equal rights.

‘He has to make amends and that can only be done by getting equal marriage laws through parliament as a matter of urgency. Whatever else is before parliament, a significant step forward for civil rights has to take priority.

‘The majority of Australians have been years ahead on this issue, we’ve only been waiting for parliament to catch up. It is a huge thing to have for the first time a prime minister who supports equal marriage rights – to not act would make Rudd a waste of space.’

Rudd announced his support for gay marriage in a blog post in May, citing the journey he had taken to change his mind on the issue.

He admits within his family he has: ‘Long been regarded as the Last of the Mohicans on this one. The kids have long thought I’m an unreconstructed dinosaur for not supporting marriage equality legislation.’

In September, Rudd was against legalizing same-sex marriage in a parliamentary conscience vote.

But following a chat with an unnamed former political staff member, who revealed he was gay and that he had told his pastor he would like to get married one day to ‘another bloke’, Rudd began to reflect on his own Christian views on gay and lesbian marriage.

And he said: ‘I have come to the conclusion that church and state can have different positions and practices on the question of same-sex marriage. I believe the secular Australian state should be able to recognize same-sex marriage.’

Comments Off on Remove Gay Cure App from Google Play – Take Action Now

Remove Gay Cure App from Google Play – Take Action Now

Posted by | June 5, 2013 | News

Cure yourself of being black, of being straight, of being white, of being gay, of having brown hair. How would you feel if there where apps for all of those?

Apple have removed one such app from iTunes recently (although many are many are complaining that it should never have been published as it is easily defined as ‘hate-media’) , however Google have left the ‘Gay Cure’ application on their Play store. Please read on to see how you can help.

The majority of people come to realise that you don’t get to decide whom you are attracted to, and that the ethics of an application like this are equivalent to producing an app claiming to ‘cure the heterosexuality’. However there are those whom evidently haven’t obtained such revelations, and create things like this.

It is hard for many individuals to grow up coming to terms with the fact that you’re not in the majority, whether that be due to race, colour, or sexuality, and that some people may dislike who you are through no fault of your own. It’s also well documented (1)* that growing up in an environment where there is a heterosexual norm, could very well be a reason for depression and suicide in many LGBT individuals. Hence, this app could easily contribute to self harm and suicide in LGBT individuals struggling to cope with whom they are . It’s intentions aren’t pure, and as said, can be defined as hate-media. The authors should be held responsible for any such outcomes, and Google should know better than to publish such applications.

There’s a petition to pressure Google to act more responsibly for its content  and remove the application. It’s evident by the amount of signatures (almost 100,000 already) gathered in such a short time that lots of people agree quite passionately. Usually Google are spot on with their operations, however we here at Pink Jobs think that they’ve slipped up this time.

Would ‘Cure the Blackness’ or ‘Cure the Straightness’ applications be published by Google as well?

Sign The Petition

Please visit https://www.allout.org/en/actions/gaycureapp to sign the petition and get this hate-application removed.

Kind Regards,

The PJ Team!