Book Review: Colouring the Rainbow

Colouring the Rainbow

Blak Queer and Trans Perspectives

Life Stories and Essays by First Nations People of Australia

Editor:                          Dino Hodge

Publisher:                     Wakefield Press

Type:                              Soft Cover

Pages:                             252

Genre:                            non-fiction

Published:                      2015

ISBN:                              9781743053935

 This book is exactly as described on the cover, we have stories and essays about being both Aboriginal and Queer. 
 While some of the essays delve a little too deeply into "UNI-speak" for me personally, i still found them interesting reads. 

 The real gems here though are the true life stories, we see Australians fighting for basic human rights in our modern world while struggling to keep their inherent spirituality. 
We hear of people who survived horrific accounts of homophobia / transphobia, in isolated outback town. 
We hear gut wrenching stories of bullying, violence, discrimination and the depression and suicide that this can cause. Reading this it reminds me jut how important the Safe Schools program is, and how instead of being scraped it should become mandatory in all schools. Surely the fact that the vocal opponents of Safe Schools  do not want LGBTQ children to survive until adulthood, is a perfect example of why Safe Schools is so needed. Sorry i digress.

 We also find within tales of acceptance, and did you know that before invasion/colonisation at least some tribes accepted LGBTQ people as they recognised the natural diversity of human sexuality. If you want to talk about traditional marriage in Australia you would have to start here.

 We hear how at least one contributor is trying to make amends for their own homophobic behavior, which they adopted at school as a way to protect themselves, yet another example of the need for Safe Schools.

 One poor soul even drew the reportedly malicious attentions of the, (legally confirmed) racist and  homophobic (by his own words) Andrew Bolt. you may remember Andrew Bolt from his recent major hussy-fit after he (by his own admission) violently "assaulted" someone for merely playing a prank on him. Andrew Bolt's defenders are saying that Bolt should escape charges because Bolt's homophobia runs so deep that the mere physical contact with glitter enrages him into hysterical violent attacks.
I should note that as of this writing charges of assault have yet to be applied to him, and i believe he is trying to play the victim in this encounter, it seems apparent that the mainstream media are quite willing to side with him.
 But that event was only recent and is not related to the matter in this book, it would appear Andrew Bolt has a long history of seemingly attacking minority's while being a very sensitive snowflake himself. 

 Please for your own safety do not try and enlighten Andrew Bolt by sprinkling glitter about him or his person. In fact its best not to glitter anyone against their wishes, no matter how disgusting they are.

 

 The book has an extensive notes section, glossary, bibliography and index. I would highly recommend this book if your interested in Australian history, LGBTQ issue, or Aboriginal Australians.
 Every commentator on Aboriginal, or LGBTQ issues in Australia should read this book before next opening their mouths, or putting finger to keys.

 Why does the media consult homophobes about LGBT issues and racists about Aboriginal issues? It just seems ass-backwards to me, why don't we instead see the opinions of scholars and the people these issues actually effect. It would be like the media getting the opinion of the Nazi groups every time a local Jewish school held a fete, no one wants or needs their opinion!

                                         Helpful Links:

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community Website. 

NAIDOC Week

ACON Aids council of NSW

QuAC QLD Aids council

Open Doors Youth Service

Beyond Blue 

Australian Pride Network

Book Review: Burrunjor

 BURRUNJOR

 The Search For Australia's Living Tyrannosaurus 

Author:                           Rex & Heather Gilroy

Publisher:                         URU Publications

Type:                                 Soft Cover

Pages:                                336

Genre:                               non-fiction

Published:                        2011

ISBN:                              9780987226204
                                         9781326839390 

 This book explores the fascinating fact that people, often through no fault of their own, continue to encounter large reptilian beasts in the outback and rugged bush of Australia.

 The book itself is well made, it is resplendent with black and white photos and drawing thorough. One criticism i have of some of the photos is that rock art and foot prints seem to have been outlined. While i understand this is so they appear easier in print, i can also see some "skeptics" scoffing that the evidence was just drawn on in chalk. While i am sure this is not the case, it is a shame that maybe two pictures couldn't be included for some of them, one with outlines and one with out for comparison.

 Speaking of evidence we have examples of whiteness testimony, and remember one witness claiming you did a crime in court is enough to get you killed even in some democracy's. I don't think any of these witnesses had any benefit in coming forward, in fact most were ridiculed by friends and family when they told of their harrowing encounters.
 We are shown tracks many of them have been measured, photographed, sketched and even cast in plaster. I should note that these tracks match no accepted extant animal species in Australia, or the world for that matter. And it should also be noted that these tracks are not fossilized! Meaning they are from recent footfall of some unknown animal. 
 Evidence of kills that could only have been from a large carnivore have been discovered, in some cases witnesses have caught the culprit in the act. Some of the poor animals have been prize winning cattle, not something any farmer is going to kill on a lark.
 In a similar vein the beast has been seen destroying property, I can attest to the difficulty in dealing with an insurance claim for a natural disaster, i cant imagine the insurer being any less helpful, but i recon blaming property damage on a creature thought to be extinct might get you there.

 Now for those who, due to a woeful misunderstanding of scientific method, believe that such a creature can not exist because it has not been declared extant by established science, a common theme will emerge upon reading any Cryptozoology book. When witnesses go to establishment scientists they are often ridiculed, scientific institutions in Australia have a long history of "losing" evidence, and so called "skeptics" professional or not, have a bad habit of making unfounded claims without looking at or considering the available evidence. The witness only "obligation" is to provide whatever evidence they have, then it is up to "the scientist" to investigate that evidence.

 So enough of my ranting lets get back to this book. The forward entices the reader into exploring the subject of tyrannosaur like beasts that have been sighted within Australia (and New Guinea) from way back in the Aboriginal Dreamtime to at least the publish date of this book.

 The book looks at what the beast could be and how it might have come to still be roaming the Australian bush. It should be noted that this book appears on some whack-a-doodle young earth websites. These donkeys seem to think, by some fantastic leaps of acrobatic style logic,  that any existing prehistoric creature somehow proves their particular brand of religion. For the record this book does not in any way support a "young earth" fallacy, the book even shows some fossilized prints and skeletons. It also does not support any unscientific anti-evolutionary nonsense. 
 Rex Gilroy has been an avid explorer of Australian mysteries since 1957, he is known as the father of Australian Cryptozoology and associating him and his work with such anti-science does a disservice to him and to the whole scientific field.

 I can recommend this book to anyone interested in Australia, history, Aboriginal culture, dinosaurs, and Cryptozoology.

Also