Review: Closets are for Clothes

Closets are for Clothes

A history of queer Australia 

 

Author:                               Rachel Cook

Publisher:                           Black Dog Books

Type:                                    Soft Cover

Pages:                                   147

Genre:                                  non-fiction

Published:                            2010

ISBN:                                   9781742031040

 The book itself is well made. I did notice a few (only two) errors however these were seen in extracts from letters and diary, so they may have been included to retain authenticity. As mentioned the book has many accounts of the history of Australia from those who lived it, sadly there are only a few black and white photos within the book.

 Pages from book

 This book is an exploration of LGBT life in Australia from "colonization" onward. It is a pity that there is no information within about LGBT life before invasion. Though i have a feeling that this is because such information is difficult to access if it even still exists at all, and not necessarily a whim of the author. Lets take a quick look thorough with some commentary on what i thought were some of the highlights.

 The book begins with some praise by notables including The Honorable Michael Kirby and nice introduction
 Chapter One deals with the first non-native Australians, the convicts. We see lesbian marriages taking place way back in 1792, now that's traditional. We learn that sodomy (oral or anal sex) was punishable by death or transportation (to Australia), though it is noted that only gay men were prosecuted for sodomy. This must mean that a considerable number of early white Australians were indeed gay, indeed there is much evidence of homosexual couples living as married in the colony's. The homosexuality was so prevalent (and distasteful to snobbish British eyes) that it brought about the first calls for an end to transportation.

 Chapter Two we learn that gay men also came to Australia as free settlers seeking a better life away from the prying eyes of family and harsh judgement of the law. We take a look at some gay bushrangers, as well as early works on the fact homosexuality was a natural part of human sexuality.

 Chapter Three We hear a lot of the 1950's fear of the other, and it is sad how much these sentiments mimic the hate spewed forth by racists and homophobes today. You may be forgiven if you think the author was in error and accidentally published pages from the One Nation website in the wrong section, but no 1950's bigots and 2016 bigots are just playing to the same darker aspects of humanity.

 Chapter Four looks at life after World War Two.

 Chapter Five examines the sham that is aversion therapy as well as the treatment of homosexuality as an illness and its failure. Because even then they knew the problem wasn't homosexuality it was homophobia.

 Chapter Six shines a light on a dark era of Australian history with the targeted harassment, and entrapment of Gay men by government forces. It is also incredible to think that we were once so barbaric as to have made it illegal to have been born a 
homosexual male. It is amazing how humans thought they were above the laws of nature.

 Chapter Seven deals with the 60's and 70's with topics ranging from the white Australia policy, the Kinsey report, the burgeoning gay rights movement, and the forming of what would become the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.

 Chapter Eight takes a look at feminism, and AIDS. It is interesting to note that despite the vilification and hate of the disgusting Fred Niles (and his ilk) the LGBT community helped Australia become a world leader in dealing with the AIDS crisis.

 Chapter Nine shows us some gay people becoming famous and some LGBT characters appearing on television. It looks at inclusiveness, transgender issues, adoption, IVF, and the fight for equal rights. As well as the horrible act of John Howard changing the marriage act, in order to nullify existing LGBT marriages and prevent more, he did this disgusting thing without a plebiscite mind you. We also see that about 70% of homophobic bullying experienced by young Australians happens at school, which shows again how important initiatives like the Safe Schools anti-bullying program really are and how immoral it would be to oppose them.


The book ends with an extensive glossary, timeline, index and ample references. 

I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in Australian history, law, civil rights and LGBT issues. It is easy to read and should be in every school library history section. The book really needs an updated edition but is still a good reference from 2010 and back.

Also check out The Sex Lives of Australians for more on this topic.

 
 

Bigot Point: "homosexuality is a choice."

Bigot Point: 

"homosexuality is a choice."

Sore eyes? Hard of reading? Try out the video version of this post.

                                    Or read on brave soul.  
  Scientific Study's have proven that homosexuality is not a choice. Better yet all it should take to end this "argument" is one homosexual person, if only i had access to a homosexual, where does one find such a beast?...

 Wait i do, i am one of those, so i ask myself if being gay is a choice and the answer is flat out no. Being homosexual is not a choice for me. No gay person i have spoken to has ever said it was a choice. And that's all it takes, one homosexual telling you it wasn't/ isn't a choice for them, that is enough to make your "argument" invalid.
 If you don't believe me ask yourself. Was your sexuality a choice? Did you choose which gender you are capable of being attracted to or falling in love with? 

 Now homophobes have been told being gay isn't a choice for years, and yet they still lie, i hope no one who says that is a christian because there is that "little" commandment about committing falsehoods.

 Manny years ago i was watching a talk show, i think it was the Ricki Lake Show. Stop judging me! Anyway, so this episode was the homophobes Vs the gays. They had a lot of "religious" people on the pro-bigotry side. One guy on the pro-homophobia side, stands up and says;

"Being gay is a choice! We all are attracted to the same sex, but we are strong enough to fight those urges." (or words to that effect).

 One of the panelists pointed out rightly that feeling that way meant the guy was probably bisexual and not actually straight. 
 Now i have seen this repeated a few times over the years. It seems that a lot of homophobes are fighting their own internal battles, ether they are bisexual and only "choose" to act on feeling for the opposite sex. Or they are gay and "choose" not to act on their natural urges. 
 Know i have noting against anyone who doesn't want to love who nature designed them to, but i do have a problem if they feel they need to act this way due to indoctrination or ignorance. I have a greater problem if they demand that i should act that way too.

 I think they muddy the water, they claim that homosexuality is a choice because they are "choosing" not to physically act upon their natural impulses. Or that somehow not acting upon ones natural sexuality means they have changed who they are. But they fail to realize that it is the fact that they have these impulses that make them homosexual. 

 As an example, i haven't had sex in months, (since my breakup), but that doesn't make me straight. Hell, i could force myself to have sex with a woman, (shudder) and that still wouldn't make me any straighter.

 Also if being gay is a choice then i challenge any bigot to honestly change their sexual orientation. Whats the problem, they can always just change back right?

 I am writing this to address some of the catch phrases and fallacies that bigots use to oppose equality. I intend to link to these instead of having to rehash the same BS every time. Also i hope that those searching might read it and choose to further educate themselves by doing their own research.
This post also applies when bigots use language such as "lifestyle", and "sexual preference". As terms like this are used to imply our sexuality is a choice.

The "argument" that homosexuality is a choice gets used as some kind of " trump card". I don't really understand why though, if homosexuality was a choice, that wouldn't mean we should make homosexuality illegal or remove rights from homosexuals. 
Why would we punish something that does no harm, homosexuality is simply the ability to romantically love a member of the same sex. And homosexual love making between two consenting adults doesn't seem like a problem. The acts performed in homosexual sex are performed by straight couples all the time and there is no campaigning against that. 
Though i am sure that homosexuals are just the tip of the iceberg for the bigots.

Children need both a biological Mother and Father.

"Same sex marriage isn't biblical marriage."

"Same-Sex marriage isn't Traditional Marriage"

"Homosexuality is Unnatural"

 "Marriage Equality threatens religious freedom"


Further Reading:

Being Gay Not a Choice:

 Sexual orientation and gender identity

Sexuality is not a choice

 

 

Bigot Point: "Homosexuality is Unnatural"

Bigot point: 

"Homosexuality is Unnatural"

I am writing this to address some of the catch phrases and fallacies that bigots use to oppose equality. I intend to link to these instead of having to rehash the same BS every time. Also i hope that those searching might read it and choose to further educate themselves.

Short answer no. While for many years, those studying animal behavior refused to accurately document homosexual behavior in the animal kingdom, due to observer bias possibly due to societal or religious prejudices or simple ignorance. Since the 1990's researchers have slowly admitted to and even started studying homosexuality exhibited by animals.

 "No species has been found in which homosexual behaviour has not been shown to exist.-"
1,500 animal species practice homosexuality.

Let that sink in a little, contrary to being unnatural, there is no known animal species  (excluding those that don't have male/female reproduction) that homosexuality hasn't been witnessed in.

So what animals have been scientifically documented, you want a list lets make a list. Take a deep breath;

Amazon molly, Anole (lizard), Ant (various),  Appalachian woodland salamander, Barn owl, Bearded dragon, Bee (various), Beetle (various), Bison, Black-spotted frog, Blackstripe topminnow, Bluegill sunfish, Blue-tailed gecko,Broad-headed skink,Brown bear, Brown rat, Box crab,Butterfly (various), Cavy (guinea pig), Caribou, Cat, Cattle, Char (fish), Checkered whiptail lizard, Chicken, Chihuahuan spotted whiptail lizard, Chimpanzee (various),  Common Ameiva (lizard), Common garter snake, Cuban green anole, Desert grassland whiptail lizard, Desert tortoise, Dog,  Dolphin, Dove, Dragonfly (various),Elephant, Emu, European bitterling (fish), Fence lizard, Five-lined skink, Flea (various), Fly (various), Fox, Grayling (fish), Gull, Giraffe, Goat, 
Gold dust day gecko, Gopher snake, Green anole, Green swordtail (fish), Guiana leaffish, Horse, Houting whitefish, Inagua curlytail lizard, Jewel fish, Jamaican giant anole, Kestrel, Koala, Laredo striped whiptail lizard, Largehead anole, Least darter (fish), Lion, Mallard (duck), Marmoset,  Moth (various),  Mountain dusky salamander,Mouthbreeding fish, Mourning gecko, Octopus, Orca, Ostrich, Plateau striped whiptail lizard, Penguin, Raccoon, Raven, Red diamond rattlesnake, Red-tailed skink, Salmon, Seagull, Side-blotched lizard, Southern platyfish, Spider (various), Speckled rattlesnake, Stickleback (fish), Tengger desert toad, Wasp, Weevil,  Water moccasin, Western rattlesnake, Western banded gecko, Whiptail lizard, and Wood turtle. 

 Please keep in mind that this is not an list off all species, there are many more. Oh and one species of animal i forgot to place on the list is Human.

For anyone to claim that homosexuality is unnatural is clearly ridiculous. 
A lot of these bigots hide behind religion (particularly Christianity) to try to justify their personal prejudices. It should be noted that this information wasn't difficult to find, and that Christianity strictly forbids lies. 
I believe if your going to speak out against something you have a responsibility to do at least a quick bit of research, just to check your not completely wrong.

How some people can think they are above the laws of nature truly amazes me. 

 

 READ-

1999- Biological Exuberance - Bruce Bagemihl
2009- Evolution's Rainbow - Joan Roughgarden 
Homosexuality is Natural 
Top 7 claims for why homosexuality is “unnatural” refuted

WATCH-

Out in Nature documentary
Animals Like Us  Animal Homosexuality documentary series 
(I was unable to watch this due to nasty region blocking)
Bill Nye Explains Why Homosexuality Is Perfectly Natural

If you would rather watch this blog, you can.

Book Review; A Little Gay History

A Little Gay History: 

Desire and Diversity Across the World

 

 

Authors:                                R. B Parkinson

Contributors:                                   Kate Smith
                                               Max Carocci
Design:                                  Will Webb Design               

Publisher:                             The British Museum Press           

Type:                                     TPB

Pages:                                   128

Genre:                                  Non fiction

Published:                            2013

ISBN:                                    978-0-7141-5100-7

Source:                                 Independently purchased 

How old is the oldest chat-up line between men? Who was the first lesbian? Were ancient Greek men who had sex together necessarily gay? And what did Shakespeare think about cross-dressing?


These questions start of the book and the readers journey into a history that has been hidden from the mainstream world for far too long. 

The book itself is a smallish thing about 7" by 7 1/2 ". It has an odd double cover, that is to say that the cover is folded over to make the cover thicker. The effect is nice and might add to the durability of the book. The pages are high quality and glossy pictures are lavishly portrayed on almost every page, in full vivid colour, where that is appropriate.

The book is an cautious introductory evaluation of some historic artifacts and what they may imply about the history of same sex love and attraction. It is the perfect starting place for any avid historian or curious person. The book is careful not no go out on any limbs and only state the facts, if an object is open to even the smallest interpretation this is clearly stated in the text.

I found this book to be an interesting read and a copy should be found in every high school library and counselors bookshelf. It is highly important that we put a stop to the straightening of history. And give support to homosexual youth.

I myself have noticed just recently that Wikipedia has had almost every reference to gay marriage deleted or replaced with the term 'civil union', despite in a lot of cases marriage being the correct term.
We also have the movies rewriting history making the heroes of old straight and dishonouring their memory. 

I feel books like this one are important so that we do not allow bigotry to foster ignorance.

This book itself is not as heavy as all that and is easily approachable and readable by the average person.

 

* A version of this review originally appeared on Monkeys Book Reviews.