You may have heard this rumor just as I did: Australia is to ban internet porn. What on earth…? Well, I started looking into this recently and tried to find out more information about this potentially life-shattering edict from the Oz government, if indeed the rumors were true.

I did my usual searching about on the net and found some related articles and info, which I’ve put together for you, to try and explain what exactly is, or isn’t, going on.

It was around August 2007 that news started breaking that Australia was going to ‘clean up internet porn’ but how it was going to do this was another matter. Then Prime Minister, John Howard, announced that a whole heap of cash was going to be made available to assist a new programme, ‘Assisting Australian Families Online’ which would come under the auspices of NetAlert – Australia’s internet safety advisory body. Some say that this was just a ploy to recruit the Christian voters in the upcoming elections, (the announcement was made in a webcast that went out to 770 churches and which was watched by an estimated 100,000 Christians,) so bear that in mind.

The scheme works in two ways: families can opt to have a filtering programme installed on their home PCs or they can requests a ‘clean’ internet connection – one from a service provider that is responsible from blocking porno content at ISP level. (At the main hub.) These options take up most of the budget and the rest goes on publicity, an awareness campaign and ‘internet police’ and prosecutions. The main thrust of this action, of course, is to protect children from unscrupulous website owners and others who provide CP, but there were concerns from legitimate adult webmasters (providing 18+ adult entertainment) that their businesses could also be affected.

There were more concerns about the scheme when, soon after the filter system went public, a teenage hacker managed to find a way around it within half an hour. A second version was released and this took the lad 40 minutes to get through.

The caldron bubbled some more as new legislation was proposed that would make the owning of five or more pornographic movies an offense, (in the Northern Territories) even if they were for ‘home use’ as opposed to distribution. There were, some say, good reasons behind this move, again to do with trying to stamp down on the occurrences of CP in those areas but the ideas were called ‘draconian’ by the New Zealand Herald and slammed by the Australian Christian Lobby as not going far enough, after all, what about other parts of the country?

So it seems, from what I could find out, that the screaming headline of ‘Australia bans porn’ is not as dramatic as it sounds and you don’t need to be too concerned that it is a trend that will start to spread to other countries. There were (and still are as far as I know, though the controversy seems to have died down recently) plans to help parents limit the kind of content that was accessible on their home PCs, via a couple of methods. This can only be good news if you have young children who are adept at using the computer and internet (as more and more are) and you don’t want them to stumble across inappropriate content. The idea that a government can tell you what you, as an adult, can and can’t view totally smacks of censorship and I doubt that it would be stood for by human rights campaigners. Though don’t forget that in some other countries the government have already taken this step. For example, in China a law has existed since 1997 that makes it a criminal offense to produce a piece of work (art, literature etc.) that is deemed a ‘computer crime’ and promotes, among other things, ‘pornography.’

And there is one other thing to remember. The attempt by Howard to woo the Christian vote on the back of a ‘clean up the net campaign’ didn’t help him. A new Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, was elected in December 2007.

Final Point:  Who wants to visit a country that bans porn or takes away basic rights? Not someone who demands freedom.  This is a right every adult should have.  It should be the parents decision to put filters on what their kids view online not the government or internet provider.  What will they ban next?

It is sad that when I was searching for gay resources online I would find a hate site in the top 6 results. Top 4 results if you do not count gay.com and wikipedia.org as being two sites (since they are double listed). The site listed is lovegodsway.org but the title of the site clearly says “God Hates Fags! Love Gods Way!”. The same bozos that brought us godhatesfags.com.

I would expect to find more gay news related resources such as GayWired.com, PlanetOut.com, 365gay.com, etc. The strange thing is that neither MSN nor Yahoo search has the hate group listed in the top 10. So I suppose maybe some googlebombing is taking place? Similar to the tactics websites used to get George Bush to rank high on the term “idiot.”

With the rise of hate crimes lately including the killing of a teenager in gay California and neo-conservative religious radicals going up against gays we need as much love and support as we can get and not expect to be bashed just by searching online. We should all at least try to get google to remove this or lower it down for the term “gay”. I am not trying to tell google how to run their search engine but it is unfair that they are using the same techniques of google bombing to rank high on this highly popular term.

Gays are infiltrating city councils. Gays are like Terrorists, like Islam, they have more suicides, get diseases more… These are just a few of the comments this old hag made in Oklahoma City. I am originally from Oklahoma and am sickened that there is such hate from such a backwards witch.

No Society that has embraced gays has lasted more than two decades? I would like to know where this so-called Representative got her facts.
“It will destroy our young people and it will destroy this nation.” Yes, you will Representative Sally Kern of District 84, a Republican in Oklahoma City.

You may reach Rep. Sally Kern at 2300 N. Lincoln Blvd. Room 332, Oklahoma City, OK 73105. Her email is sallykern@okhouse.gov. Feel free to send her a piece of your mind. If you live in her district in Oklahoma be sure and get out and vote. This is what happens when you do not get off your hides to vote people like this get into office and spread their hate. Hate is the disease that she already has!!

Rep. Sally Kern’s gets our Worst Person of the World vote for today!

I just do not understand why You tube videos will not play on this site so here is the link.

Big Voting is taking place in Ohio, Texas, and Oklahoma.  While Texas and Oklahoma are duking it out over Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama the people of OKC are fearing the highrollers playing monopoly with tax payers money.  Here is a comment from Floyd Martin of Oklahoma City, a contributer of Hard News Online and Floyd’s Newsletter:

Clay Bennett, the man who owns the Supersonics (or whatever they are called), is a notorious homophobe, and thats part of the reason the good people of Seattle would not let them bully them into paying for a new staduim.

He is also one of the richest men in Oklahoma City, and if he wants to bring an NBA team here, he should, but not on the backs of the poorest people that reside here. The little old lady shopping at Buy For Less, deciding whether she should buy groceries or get her medication this month, will pay a penny sales tax every time she makes a purchase. So will I, the Gay man ,who Bennett and Cornett and thier cronies so passionatly oppose and donated millions to anti-Gay campaigns in the state of Washington. That little old lady at Buy For Less will never attend a game at the Ford Center, nor will I. In
my case, not so much on principle, just not interested in pro basketball. When we pay teachers what we pay athletes, then I might care. Until then, I do not. That same aforementioned senior citizen might like basketball, but she could not afford to go the games. Funny thing is, also as mentioned before, she and everyone else in this city will be paying for it.

I have lived in this city all of my life, and am very interested in city government. I know this town like the back of my hand, (give me an address, I’ll tell you which house it is…)I have lived and worked in all areas of it for almost 42 years., and am probably the only person you know that watches all of the meetings religiously on Channel 20. I would run for office if I thought I could get elected. Of course, I want to see the city progress. Of course, I want to see the merchants and waiters in Bricktown do well, but a sales tax for an NBA team is NOT the answer.

The concerts will still come to The Ford Center. They make money and thats the driving force behind that business. To infer that that won’t happen suddenly because we don’t extend this sales tax is pure bullshit. Yes, they will.

I was opposed to the original MAPS Project. I didn’t trust this city. We had a brand new jail that was flooding and that people could kick bricks out and escape. We had a failed string of pearls project that never went anywhere, and someone stole all of the federal money. I was wrong, and I admit it.

I was all for Maps For Kids, as a lifelong resident and product of the Oklahoma City Public Schools. We got three new high schools out of the deal, and although I haven’t paid much attention to John Marshall, Grant and Douglass are beautiful.

Mick Cornett is correct when he says that your taxes will not increase if you vote yes for this. What he isn’t telling you is that your sales tax will GO DOWN at the end of this month if you vote no. Thats right, Maps for Kids expires at the end of March, 2008.

When MAPS for Kids was about to expire, the city asked on thier website if we should extend the sales tax for MAPS 3, and if so, what for. The response was that yes, we should, and that we needed to improve public transportation. With the rising cost of fuel, and the fact that our bus system pure and simple SUCKS, that was a good idea. That has all been placed on the back burner, as Bennett and McClendon and the ilk approached thier buddy, Cornett, about buying them a basketball team.

With the money they have, that team will come to OKC. No one has said that it wouldn’t, and as far as I know, they arn’t even looking anywhere else. Thats fine, I just don’t want to pay for it.

People I have lots of love and respect for feel very different then I about this issue. I am glad that they are passionate, and I am probably going to be on the losing end of this stick, but I will vote No, and it it passes, its certainly not the end of the world, not for me, not for you, and damn sure not for the snake oil salesmen who promise economic development in this city because of an NBA team. (You know, one of the tribes wants to build a mega-casino at Hefner and I-35 that would hire 1,900 people. Cornett is very much against that. I realize cities do not get sales tax or much of anything else from tribal ventures, but 1,900 of your citizens employed and paying sales tax on everything they purchase has got to be an economic boon, compared to maybe 50 full-time employees and maybe 100 temporary employees during basketball season).

One more point and I will shut up. This whole staduim to lure pro sports teams things is a dangerous road for municipalities to go down. There is always going to be another city, facing a resurgence, willing to pay for a new staduim or whatever to snag them away. Businessmen like Bennett know this. We are a temporary stop on this journey. Three years from now, they will be asking you again to pay for thier arena, because Wichita or Omaha, or whoever is building a new one.

Vote how you like. So will I.
Thank you for reading.

Floyd D. Martin, Jr.
Oklahoma City, OK

I always thought Oxnard was a nice, quiet town just south of Santa Barbara and north of L.A.  I never dreamed there was such hate and predujudice in this part of California.  Today changes my mind.

A gay student that is only 15-years-old was shot in a California middle school (junior high) and some say he is “clinically dead” but other reports say he could make a recovery.  The boy was known for being femanine and wore women’s jewelry (these days some jewelry was unisex I would have thought) and makeup.

Teachers say he did not deserve this and who would.  It is beyond me that a kid cannot goto school without being worried of being beaten up, bullied, or shot to death or until you are handicapped the rest of your life.

Thank you for sharing…we as a lesbian couple have a 7yr old son who enjoys wearing his older sister clothes and lil clips in his hair he wanted to wear it to school but we had to explain that somethings other people just arent ready for and people can be really mean so when hes older he can make that choice for himself but now as his moms we let him dress up for lack of a better term at home and school time is just time to learn. Its hard and wrong that we have to shelter our youth in such a way. Thanks for caring and may peace be with you. -the Lesbo Mommies (taken from myspace bulletion)

We here at Dailydoseofqueer.com are in support of Hillary Clinton. It seems she is the only person who can run and win against the Neo-conservative republican party of John McCain or Mitt Romney. Do you want four more years of the Bush Administration? I know I do not. I think its time to make history and get a woman in the whitehouse and really shake things up.

Obama is in the lead in many places and Hillary needs help now more than ever. I am just too scared that if Obama wins the nomination that he will not win in the general election. They are both great people but Hillary is the best candidate and has the most experience for President of the United States.

Madonna endorsed Hillary while she was in NYC this weekend. I am glad to know Madonna is on board for the Hillary camp.

https://contribute.hillaryclinton.com/form.html

Hillary Clinton, Barrack Obama, Ron Paul, and Mike Huckabee all came on live today to speak to students on a special MTV pre-Super Tuesday program. I enjoyed watching Ron Paul speak especially about the fact that Hemp can be used more effectively than Ethanol for energy. I also liked the fact that Hillary mentioned HIV, since it is rare of any of the candidates to say that word.

Here is the video from MTV if you would like to watch:

This all comes on the heals of the big Super Tuesday decision this week where things will come closer to the final decision in November. There has also been lots of HIV news this week including research that from Swiss AIDS experts saying that “some people with HIV who are on stable treatment can safely have unprotected sex with non-infected partners.”

The Swiss National AIDS Commission said patients who meet strict conditions, including successful antiretroviral treatment to suppress the virus and who do not have any other sexually transmitted diseases, do not pose a danger to others.

For some reason I could not find the Swiss National AIDS Commission website because all the newsstories came up in search instead of their site. I would like to see their full report on this subject instead of reading the blogs and various news gossip. Also in the news this week was the talk of HIV Funding and too much money being appropriated to abstinence instead of prevention or helping us battle the virus.

The folks over at the Oklahoma City Pride this year have done something I think is crazy they have moved the pride from a Sunday to a Friday. What on earth are these people thinking? The reasoning was so people who had to work on Monday could come on a Friday? But wait… Friday is also a work day. And last time I checked its a horrible day to get around in rush hour traffic.

I am in disbelief that the OKC Pride board would do such a thing and put the entire parade in jeopardy. I can understand them wanting to sell alcohol to make some extra money from the parade but why not on Sunday? This is during the summer time which helps out on it being Monday the next day for some. Am I just being too closed minded to change?

I thought these comments from Sarah Evans (I assume not the Country singer?) were a nice read on Hard News Online:

My apologies to Kelly Ogle, but lesbians have money too…..In my humble opinion, with input from several of my friends, here is what the board should look at doing……

Friday night, a nice fun Street Party down on 39th Street, local performers, not just drag queens, but musicians like IRIS, Peggy Johnson, Heath Fitzgerald, etc. We have so much real talent in this state, let’s show it off.. Block off 39th by the Bars and let’s have a great dance in the streets…… Have your vendors, have some charity type games for local organizations…. kissing booth, dunk the drag queen…. etc…..

Saturday, have the party in the park…. vendors, music… beer if you must… then kick off the parade that evening winding down on 39th Street for a Saturday night of fun, maybe another street party or just have all the bars have special promotions..Drag Shows, Drag King Shows, Live Music..Real Entertainment, how about bringing in a top notch performer or a DJ..

As for the parade, please let’s not have the new car/truck showcase again.. Parades are for floats with paper flowers and decorations, not a poster board announcing who is riding in the new car provided by the local car dealer…Plus, do we have any marching bands or cheerleaders??? I know there were gay and lesbian members of college bands and high school bands in Oklahoma..How about a marching band??? A kazoo band…. anything that would liven up the parade.

Sunday, let the Churches and other groups have their outreach. Local clubs can have a recovery dance and such. Trim it down to one day in the park, one night on the strip with the parade on Saturday……

I thought Sarah had some interesting comments that should generate some ideas about what to do with some pride festivities that they should use. I do not agree with what she is saying on doing away with the entire parade though. That is kind of like giving up on one of the backbones of pride itself. It tooks years of hard work to get where we are today and we should have a celebration in the streets and be proud of who we are. I just think doing it on Friday at 7pm is a horrible time. Also take into account that the highly popular Angles T-Dance will not be able to happen without the help of the Parade going on and that is sooo much fun.

The debate may cause quite some drama in Oklahoma City where many are against this time change. A poll on HNOKC.com recently showed more were against the change last week. The sites contributing writer Floyd Martin (myspace.com/itzfloyd) chimed in with some interesting points to take in to account …

I also think that Pride for many is the one chance all year that they get to be themselves, especially in repressed Oklahoma. If that means donning a wig, leather chaps, holding hands with your spouse, or dancing to The Pet Shop Boys, go for it. It’s Gay Pride, we’re Gay, why not celebrate who we are? We could go be boring straight people anytime. Some even live their life like that.

I, of course, think serving alcohol is fine at the park. It’s a celebration. Many people, the world over, imbibe when they celebrate. Ever heard of New Years Eve, or Mardi Gras? AA has conventions all year long, if you have that big of a problem with it.

It just amazes me the people that, rightfully so, feel that the government has no business on what they do with their bodies or whom they marry, are so judgmental of other people that believe in the same thing, basic human rights. It is not us against us, it is us against the world. Sometimes that’s easy to lose sight of when dealing with Gays and Lesbians, many of whom have strong personalities and opinions. Accomodating everyone shouldn’t be hard. When you go to a buffet, if you don’t eat meat, you skip it, and go to what you like. Why should pride be anything but a buffet of happiness, for all GLBT people and their supporters. Take what you like, avoid what you don’t. Of course, life should be that way as well.

Super Tuesday is now just days away. A few states’ primaries have already passed. Have you made your decision yet? Sadly, I haven’t.  I have pondered, considered, mused and fumed. I simply do not like the available options, particularly in terms of the issues that matter most in my daily life. I will try, over the next days in my own head, to balance out the candidates’ views and choose the best of the available options as far as the Democratic primaries go.  With that, here is my breakdown on the issues that matter to the gay community. The best source for information I’ve found? The candidates themselves, in the Human Rights Campaign survey they each filled out earlier this year. These responses have been conveniently broken down here (which basically tells you the current Democratic frontrunners Obama and Hillary agree with most the gay issues).

Obviously, we all know which issue is getting the press. Marriage rights are big news in our community, and rightly so. None of the forerunners for the Democratic nomination support marriage rights; however, both have voiced support for civil unions in clear and broad terms. Edwards, too, has voiced wide ranging support for civil unions. In all cases, they include medical rights, health insurance, employer benefits and the rights and responsibilities that go along with marriage in their definition of civil unions. Edwards and Obama have publicly stated that they would support the full repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, while Clinton supports only a partial repeal.

Other family-focused issues are also important within our community. Adoption rights, immigration rights and more affect the daily lives of many gay Americans. Clinton, Obama and Edwards have all voiced support for these issues as they impact our community. All three candidates have reached out to the gay community in a way we have not seen before. While it may not be adequate or enough, it is an improvement.

While the family-centered issues may be in the news, many other issues also impact our lives, sometimes in far more difficult ways. All of the candidates in the Democratic primary support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), the repeal of the don’t ask, don’t tell policy in the US military and strongly worded hate crime legislation. All three candidates actively support HIV funding, prevention and research

It quickly becomes clear that the differences may be fairly minimal for our community. We are left to make our choice on details, emotion, and personality. We are left to consider who is the most likely to win the general election, and who fits all the other criteria we each deem important. I think I’ve made my choice. Have you made your decision for Super Tuesday?

HIV funding, both on a national and international scale, is a significant issue to many of us within the queer community. Sadly, far too many of us have been personally touched by this. While even the current administration has increased the budget for funding health care, housing and cash assistance, and prevention, there are many problems with the current funding strategies, both within the US and outside its borders.How does funding play out in your neighborhood and your community? First, the good news: funding has increased from 2006 to 2007, in nearly every budget area, from providing for health care to housing and cash assistance.  Unfortunately, there is somewhat more bad news than good. Funding is not adequate to provide for even the basic needs created by this epidemic, with long waitlists for medications, struggles with Medicaid payments for health care providers and more. Moreover, again the current administration’s emphasis on abstinence only sex education, which fails both straight and queer young people,  has left some youth without the prevention information that they critically need. Some 50% of new infections are diagnosed in people under 25, and new CDC testing recommendations for routine HIV testing are likely to stretch an already tight budget even further.

The US is responsible for a significant portion of the international funding, under the heading of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). US funding, currently in the amount of 3.9 billion dollars earmarked for international HIV funding, comes with some strings attached. The most worrisome of these is a requirement that some 33% of funding go to abstinence only resources. This is, without a doubt, one of the most significant flaws in the overall plan for international funding a response to this crisis, as well as one of the major problems with funding for prevention programs in the US as well.

Need more information?

• Kff.org/hivaids/7029.cfm offers breakdowns of US budget funding for HIV in 2007 and prior years.
• Gmhc.org/policy/federal/pres_report.pdf will give you a look at where the current presidential candidates stand on funding issues.
• Whitehouse.gov/infocus/hivaids offers more information on PEPFAR.
• Avert.org/aidsmoney.htm provides a practical breakdown of funding for the international HIV crisis.
• Apa.org/releases/sexeducation.html details the flaws in abstinence only sex education with regard to prevention efforts.

If you want to help, consider consulting your local organizations that assist those in your community with HIV or AIDS. Many of the community based grassroots organizations in our communities need help, not only in terms of funding, but also are on the lookout for willing volunteers. While no one of us can end the crisis on an international scale, we can work locally in prevention and advocacy.