Florida Agenda

MELBOURNE, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA – The Salvation Army of Australia has issued an apology after an official told a radio interviewer that he agrees with Biblical punishments against homosexuality, including the death penalty. On Thursday, Major Andrew Craibe appeared on a Melbourne gay radio station to encourage donations for the organization’s charitable works. The appearance was scheduled after Darren Hayes, the lead singer of pop band Savage Garden, called for a boycott because of the charity’s views on homosexuality.

Hayes is openly gay, and in a civil partnership with his British partner. When the interviewer asked Craibe to defend the section of the organization’s “Salvationist Handbook of Doctrine” which cites the declaration in Romans 1:18-32 that homosexuals deserve death, Craibe responded, “That’s a part of our belief system.”

“We have an alignment to the scriptures,” he said, adding, “That is part of our Christian doctrine and that’s our understanding of that.” Under Salvation Army rules, practicing homosexuals are prohibited from becoming full members.

About homosexuality, the Biblical Book of Romans states that “those who do such things deserve death.” Craibe noted that homosexuals can choose to be celibate if they wish to become full members, something he compared to his choice to abstain from alcohol.

“The Salvation Army sincerely apologizes to all members of the [LGBT] community and to all our clients, employees, volunteers, and those who are part of our faith communities for the offence caused by this miscommunication,” the Salvation Army’s Communications and Public Relations Secretary for the Eastern Territory of Victoria wrote in a statement.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – In separate but coordinated pastoral letters to their respective flocks, the Roman Catholic and Anglican archbishops of Sydney condemned parliamentary efforts to legalize same sex marriage.

LGBT rights activists and marriage equality supporters accused the churches of utilizing fear-mongering tactics from pulpits for political purposes.

In a letter read Sunday to Anglican congregations, the Archbishop of Sydney, Rev. Dr. Peter Jensen said called gay marriage a “state-imposed idea,” and referred to “a blatant propaganda war fought on this issue, with what amounts to product placement and celebrity endorsements.” The Anglican prelate called on his flock to pressure their Members of Parliament to oppose marriage equality bills,” and to those lawmakers, he added, “my advice to people is to take this into account as you cast your vote.”

In a similar epistle to Roman Catholic congregations, Sydney’s Cardinal George Pell said that same-sex relationships are “contrary to God’s plan for sexuality,” and that the two proposed bills for marriage equality “will cause” “discrimination and injustice,” “instead of removing” them.

And the Primate of Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia, Archbishop Stylianos Harkianakis, wrote “Our Orthodox view is contrary” to same sex marriage, “because the proposed alteration to the traditional form of marriage is diametrically against the sacredness of marriage and of the family, as taught by the Christian faith and Greek Orthodox Tradition.”

The prelates’ opinions will likely prevail, at least for now, because although a majority of Australians support marriage equality, a senior lawmaker said on Monday that MPs will likely maintain the ban on same sex marriage, when the issue comes to a vote later this year. Graham Perrett— who has two gay brothers and supports gay marriage—chairs the Australian parliamentary committee that examined gay law reform, and said that he believes a majority of lawmakers don’t share his views.

MELBOURNE, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA – The leader of Australia’s most densely-populated state is under fire for his plans to form an advisory panel to focus on LGBT issues.

Ted Baillieu, Premier of Victoria, has promised to appoint members of the southwestern Australian region’s LGBT community to advise senior government ministers on matters including HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention, bullying, gay teen suicide, and an aging gay population.

The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (GLBTI) Health and Wellbeing Committee—which will be appointed by Victoria Minister of Health David Davis and Minister of Mental Health, Women’s Affairs, and Community Services—has received wide praise from LGBT rights groups and others, but some conservative Members of Parliament (MPs) say that such a body is unnecessary and an overreaction to a problem that doesn’t exist.

“I don’t see what used to be known as ‘poofter-bashing’ happening, and I don’t see overt discrimination,” one senior MP told The Sunday Age newspaper. “It’s unnecessary.

You don’t need a committee for everything.” “Poofter” is a negative colloquialism used to describe homosexuals in the United Kingdom and other places with close cultural ties to the U.K., including Australia.

Experts on Australian politics say that the idea of a ministerial-level advisory committee was advocated by both of the state’s major political parties prior to 2010 state elections, as each side attempted to net progressive voters in the urban areas, including Melbourne, the state capital.

Minister of Health Davis applauded the plans for the GLBTI Committee, saying it will give gay rights advocates direct access to government officials and to shaping policies. He also told reporters that the government is considering “different testing approaches” to HIV – including “rapid testing,” which enables individuals to receive HIV test results within minutes, rather than weeks as is currently the case.

Public health experts say that the island nation’s HIV-screening methods are behind those employed by the rest of the industrialized world. “We’re aware of some of the international approaches,” remarked Davis, “and this would be a useful point for the ministerial advisory committee to give some direct advice on.”

“A Melbournian must wait up to two weeks for their HIV result, while a Londoner or a San Franciscan waits 20 minutes,” agreed Victorian AIDS Council executive director Matt Dixon. “Australia is lagging behind the rest of the world regarding this.”

By Phoebe Moses

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – Australian tennis legend Margaret Court said this week that while she supports gay rights, her religious views prevent her from supporting same-sex marriage.

In an interview with Reuters on January 11, Court, a 24-times grand slam singles champion and a pastor at Victory Life Centre Church in Perth, Australia, said “I actually love homosexual people.

I do not have anything against them.”

But her views on same-sex marriage can be found “in the scriptures,” she said, adding that “the bible will always be the TV guide to my life. I believe marriage is something between a man and a woman.”

“To dismantle this sole definition of marriage and try to legitimize what God calls abominable sexual practices that include sodomy, reveals our ignorance as to the ills that come when society is forced to accept law that violates their very own God-given nature of what is right and what is wrong,” Court told an interviewer.

The 69-year-old Court has long been on-record as opposing same-sex marriage. Her views came under attack recently by retired women’s tennis champions Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King after an interview in which she restated her opposition, referring to same-sex marriage as “unhealthy” and “unnatural.”

Court said she has told Navratilova previously that she was unlikely to change her opinion on same-sex unions. “I said ‘Martina, God loves you but a wrong does not make a right,’” she recalled, adding that she told the Czech-American tennis star, “Don’t try to change me’.” Both Navratilova and King are gay.

Australian LGBT rights activists are calling for those attending this year’s Australian Open first grand slam event, which starts on January 16, to carry “rainbow flags” with them to Margaret Court Arena, Melbourne Park named show-court named after the tennis champ. A “Rainbow Flags over Margaret Court Arena” page on Facebook is calling on people to come out in large numbers. “Our Mission: To support the gay community by inundating MCA with rainbow flags during the Australian Open,” it says.

Tournament director Craig Tiley distanced his organization and himself from the hot-button elements of the issue, saying: “Margaret Court has won more grand slam titles than any other player and has been honored for her achievements in tennis. She is a legend of the sport. We respect that her playing career is second to none. But her personal views are her own and are not shared by Tennis Australia.”

Court told Reuters that she will attend the Australian Open, although she is “sad” that activists protesters might seek to use the tennis as a venue for expressing their views.

She was sad her religious views were being used as fuel for a planned protest at next week’s Australian Open, but said she remained staunchly opposed to same-sex marriage.

Martina Navratilova (above) Has Taken Issue with the Expressed Beliefs of Margaret Court

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – Last weekend, organizers announced that the 33-year-old Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras will be renamed dropping the “Gay and Lesbian” part. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the event also has a new logo and a new message of inclusiveness that organizers admit could alienate traditional supporters.

The organizers insist that the heart of the annual festival remains gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex people, but now the Mardi Gras is inviting any and all comers who wanted to celebrate diversity and ”the right to be.” They hope that reaching out will rejuvenate the event, which has failed to attract younger people and has lost relevance in its core community. They also acknowledge that long-standing supporters might feel the new approach would water down the event’s celebration of sexual difference but said the Mardi Gras had to evolve with its community.

By PAUL RUBIO & NICK MOSS

As the sun rises over the Pacific Ocean, we gather on the dive deck and peer down into the clear blue waters. Beneath the boat, large dark shapes swim ominously back and forth in anticipation.

We had travelled from the U.S. for three nights to one of the most pristine and isolated sea mounts of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. Osprey reef sits 200 miles from Cairns in the Coral Sea and is separated from the mainland by 12 hours of rough seas. Our boat, the Taka Liveaboard, makes this 5 day/4 night trip weekly from Cairns (www.takadive.com.au), although the unpredictable weather in this part of the world can sometimes delay the trip for days, even weeks. In fact, it had been 6 weeks since the crew had been out to Osprey.

Osprey Reef, the most northerly of all the Coral Sea reefs, is known for its exceptional wall diving. The reef covers an area of 50 square miles and its perimeter drops vertically into a half mile of clear Coral Sea water. Exciting dive sites include South Horne, Admiralty Anchor Bommies, Pelagic Gully and Flashlight Ravine, which is most spectacular at night when the flashlight fish are feeding. The most requested site at Osprey Reef is the North Horne, where we had come to today. The North Horne is a reef shelf in depths from 60-125 feet, which drops into deep water. The shelf is covered with numerous hard and soft corals, and deeper still grow large, spiky soft coral ‘trees’ and gorgonians. This shelf attracts many reef fish; however, the North Horne is most famous for its sharks and is a popular shark-feeding location.

Just beneath the boat, and at the base of the dive line, the reef forms a natural amphitheatre, the rock formation allowing divers to sit in a semi circle. Positioned in the middle is a large rock, to which a chain with a float has been attached. From here, bins of frozen tuna heads from our boat can be pulled down to attract the sharks.

As we perch on the walls of the amphitheatre, we peer into the distance, where sharks are beginning to congregate. Usually calm and eerie, the deep water is alive.

Above us, the small dive dinghy powers over and drops the refuse bin, which is then pulled down to the amphitheatre by the dive master. She fiddles clumsily with the lock and opens the lid. The tuna heads spring out and bob in the water, attached to the bin by a chain. The serenity of the moment lasts a second, as the water erupts in a vicious frenzy.

The sharks swim in quickly, ripping the heads apart and swim away gorging on their mouthful. They bite into the heads and writhe back and forth, forcing the meat off the bone. The number of sharks in the water seems to have quadrupled. An initial head count is in vain, as more and more sharks emerge from the deep blue to share in this bounty. The majority of them are large grey reef sharks, a common species in these waters.

We are all no more than 40 feet away from this spectacular event. Any initial fears or trepidation evaporates as we realize that they are not interested in us and instead are concentrated wholly on their next bite. Small black and white tip reef sharks dart into the amphitheatre quickly, pushing aside their bigger competitors and audaciously taking small bites before hurrying away.

As the initial excitement subsides and the heads start to become skeletons, the sharks begin to drift off. But the feeding is not quite over.

Out of the deep blue, a rather large and mysterious silhouette begins to take shape. All of a sudden a large oceanic silver tip is in the amphitheatre. Almost double the size of the grey reef sharks, it feeds with such power and ferocity that the water around it becomes cloudy. The other sharks disperse in fear.

It takes a few minutes over the last of the heads, leaving it in tatters, bobbing pathetically in the water. This signals the end of the feeding and the sharks are soon replaced by smaller, less voracious scavengers. The dive master checks that everyone is alright and has all their limbs intact. Thankfully, we all give a big okay sign, and signal our intention to return to the surface. Everyone in the group starts to climb the dive line, looking back frequently, haunted by the image of the past hour.

Back on deck, the atmosphere is one of intense excitement. We are all aware that we have just been witness to something spectacular and conscious of the incredible controlled aggression of the sharks. The dive team woops and cheers and describes the shark feeding as one of the best that they have been on. We finish the day on the top deck, looking out over Osprey Reef and watch as the waves curl serenely over the top of the reef. As the boat moves away, a humpback whale joins us, breaching the surface as it swims to keep up with the boat.

Complaints from a Christian group in Australia caused HIV prevention ads to be taken out of bus shelters in Brisbane.

The ad featured a fully clothed gay couple embracing while holding a condom. According to the Brisbane Central Telegraph, the city took down the ads due to a “massive groundswell of people power;” however there were only 47 complaints made.

Australia – A same-sex couple from Bangladesh who had their protection visa application refused by the Australian immigration department, have launched a legal challenge through the High Court to appeal the decision, describing it as a “miscarriage of justice”.

The men’s application was made based on a claim that they were at risk of torture and death threats in Bangladesh due to their homosexuality. They claim the reason for refusal was based partly on an anonymous faxed letter claiming they were not a legitimate couple. The men say this is likely to have been written by their former Australian immigration agent with whom they were in dispute over fees.

Escalation to the High Court follows an appeal at a tribunal in which the Immigration Minister’s original decision to refuse protection was upheld, based partly on the letter which claimed one of the men had a girlfriend and that his claim to be gay was “totally bogus”.

Speaking in 2009, tribunal member Giles Short said he “would not ordinarily place much weight on a message from an anonymous informant, but I consider it significant that the person … was clearly close enough to the applicant to know his passport number and the nature of the claims he had made in support of his application for a protection visa”.

The High Court’s decision is believed to be likely to influence standards for evidence and procedure in future Refugee Review Tribunal hearings.

Photo: The Peel Hotel’s strip bar- Courtesy, QGuide

VICTORIA, Australia – Since 2007, The Peel Hotel in Victoria, Australia was allowed to ask patrons if they are gay or straight and refuse to let the “breeders” enter the premises. But in a new ruling by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, they are taking away The Peel’s exception to the state’s Charter of Human Rights. The hotel must now let all patrons in.

The original point of only allowing gay males in was to protect the guests inside from straight guys who want to cause trouble, but the tribunal ruled that The Peel, “must explain the nature of the venue to prospective patrons … and to permit them to choose whether or not to enter.”

The pub can still bar those it believes may threaten the safety or comfort of patrons or the pub’s nature as a gay bar.

The owners of The Peel did not oppose the changes. No incidents at the bar were reported over the New Year’s Eve holiday.

In South Australia everybody knows your name

By JIMMY IM

I’m drinking a Cooper’s Light on the rooftop indoor patio of Mars Bar when a tall, hot Australian approaches me with two of his very young Asian-Australian friends. “Who are you?” Tall-guy Josh says with his thick Aussie accent, smiling, leaning into me as if hard to hear, though there’s no music (the dance club is downstairs), just chatter. “We’ve never seen you around here before.” One of his Asian friends pipes in. “Yeah. You’re hot. What are you, Vietnamese?” “Are you visiting, or are you straight?” the other friend asks. In any other circumstances, this moment would have been a little too overwhelming for me to absorb. But we are in small-town Adelaide (at the only gay bar, mind you) which means the whole city is kinda like a gay Cheers: everybody knows your name. And if they don’t, they want to. Comfortable, friendly and burgeoning with gay couples and visitors: South Australia is unarguably the most charming region on the continent. It’s fueled by an unspoiled natural environment with pockets of cosmopolitan flair, the hybrid of geology, wildlife and culture a remarkable creation.

Embracing a liberal attitude, South Australia’s leftist mentality makes virtually any attraction within its boundaries safe and gay-friendly (it was the first state in Australia to decriminalize gay sex). While it effortlessly owns panoramic landscapes, gourmet food and wine and sublime hideaways, South Australia proves its no longer “that excursion” in Australia and a worthy destination of its own.

Adelaide

With only one gay club, the scene here is by no means thriving but it’s the small, community feel that makes it truly worth a visit. The gayest time to come is November for the gay and lesbian Feast! Festival, which kicks off the week of Adelaide’s Pride march. The twoweek festival celebrates art, culture, cinema and community with more than 8,000 homos. Adelaide’s main attraction isn’t a tourist site but—believe it or not—the Central Market.

It’s actually the most visited place in all of South Australia, and considered “the center of the world in Adelaide.” All family owned shops and vendors sell everything from local spices and produce to cafes brewing strong coffee or serving “frog cake,” an iconic chocolate and cream dessert that comes in the shape of a—gasp—frog. The market is conveniently located near Gouger street, the preeminent “restaurant district” where you can find everything from authentic Asian cuisine to fresh seafood. A short tram-ride will take you to the popular Glenelg beach district, a quaint and quiet oasis by the ocean. Stop for a coffee at Zest, a bustling gay-owned and operated cafe tucked away on Sussex Street. The owner is an ex-cop (swoon!).

Barossa Valley

Winos take note: fermented grape juice doesn’t get any more divine than Barossa Valley’s stash. More than 600 grape growers are responsible for 65% of Australia’s wine export. Clean your palettes and hit more than 70 cellar doors across the region. If you want a little more than wine tasting, stop by Penfold’s winery, the largest winemaking organization in Australia. For $45, you can mix from a range of varietals to make your own wine and receive a 375 ml bottle of your best concoction. Willow’s vineyard is worth a visit to stop for some sparkling Shiraz; it’s lauded as one of the most popular in the country. Known especially for its food and wine, Barossa Valley effortlessly entrances its visitors with rolling valleys and beautiful vineyards. The landscape is so mesmerizing, visitors best experience the view from the air, whether floating in a hot-air balloon or taking a short helicopter ride.

Adelaide Hills

Still thirsty? Head over to Adelaide Hills for some more wineries, but make sure you get lost: some of the best views can be seen from driving the long, windy streets. Make sure you stop at Mount Lofty Summit. At 710 meters, it’s the highest point in South Australia, providing sublime views of the city of Adelaide and its coastline. Just a short drive is the Mount Lofty House Country Estate, a beautifully restored, gracious former mansion (now converted into a 29-suite hotel) with some panoramic views of the hills and conveniently adjacent to the Mount Lofty Botanic Garden.

Kangaroo Island

Kangaroo Island is to South Australia as safaris are to South Africa. There’s no shortage of koalas, kangaroos and wallabies and— if you’re lucky— you may encounter the exotic achidna.