Australia Day: inclusive or exclusive?

Australia Day: inclusive or exclusive?

 Meat and Livestock Australia (MaLA) have a long history of releasing a pro-meat consumption advertisement leading up to Australia day. These advertisements  have proclaimed anything non-mainstream to be "un-australian". 

 Some common threads include, anti vegetarian, anti-health, claims of un-australianism, anti-vegan, pro-nuclear, anti-environment, anti-fruit producers, anti-animal ethics, pro-racist, pro-sexist, anti-freedom to protest, pro-excessive force, anti-refugee, pro-assault, anti-democracy, anti-trans, anti-constitution, anti-freedom of religion, anti-science, anti-LGBT, pro-climate change, the list goes on.

 Some of the worst instances being:

* Sam Kekovich secretly feeding an obviously vegan child meat.

* Sam Kekovich directing the military to break into a home, and when the victim identify as vegan they proceed to burn him and his home with flamethrowers.

* Calling the military action in the advertisement "operation boomerang" as a slap in the fact to Aboriginal Australians.

 However after years divisiveness MaLA have released an advert that is inclusive, it tries to unite Australians in a celebration of being Australian.

 Yes, not all Australians have equal rights, we know Australians treatment of refugees is a disgrace, and Australia was invaded, but there are some things to celebrate. 

 I feel we need to encourage the Australian traits of a fair go for everyone, and sticking up for the underdog. This advertisements inclusiveness is a step in the right direction, or should that be a step from the right into the middle ground.

 Of course some like One Nation*s Pauline Hanson have spoken out against the advertisement as it undermines their reliance on the politics of derision and fear of the other. She rambled on about how allowing other Australians to feel good somehow damaged what it was to be Australian or something...

 Personally i still think its a good day to try vegetarianism, and it would be a great day for the government to grant LGBT Australians their constitutional rights, to free the refugees and bring them home, and to recognize the traditional inhabitants of Australia. 

 Please take the time on Australia day to help make Australia a better place for all Australians. 

Sources and links:

 http://www.adnews.com.au/news/a-look-through-10-years-of-mla-s-australia-day

http://www.unleashed.org.au/change_the_world/go_veg/how_to_tips.php 

http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/media/australia-day-lamb-ad-outrages-vegans/news-story/17fce56190808536afeefaa12d67a1c3

 http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/media/it-really-is-pretty-sad-pauline-hanson-slams-politically-correct-australia-day-lamb-ad/news-story/c4313cd6326d129d45acd4cd9a510f8d

 

Bigot Point: "Gay marriage leads to bestiality."

Bigot Point: 

"Gay marriage leads to bestiality."

 Some creepy people have tried to link homosexuality with bestiality, when there is in reality no link between the two. 

 With homosexuality being naturally exhibited in about 10% of humanity, we can extrapolate that the number of homosexuals who exhibit Zoophilia

would be far less then the number of heterosexuals that do. 

 So if those arguing against allowing marriage equality (due to a fear of animal-human marriage) were serious they would be arguing for same sex marriage and trying to outlaw heterosexual marriage as heterosexuals would be more likely to suffer from zoophilia.

 But they are not because its clear those saying this kind of hate speech are only interested in spreading homophobia.

Definitions:

Zoophilia: Sexual fixation on  animals. 

Bestiality: Sexual acts with animals.

For this post when i write animals i am referring to non-human animals.

 But this argument is even worse as none of the marriage equality legislation has even hinted at allowing human-animal marriage. Of course none of the bills have even mentioned decriminalizing bestiality. The reason for this is that allowing same sex couples equal rights is a completely different issue.  

 Again this point is made to simply vilify gay people, to try to associate their desire to have equal rights with something that is seen as wrong by our society. As those seeking to deny marriage equality have to stretch this far , it shows that there really are no valid arguments against marriage equality.

 I see nothing wrong with the legal definition of marriage being the union of two* consenting adults.  

 As soon as anyone tries to argue that we don't need the participants to be consenting (and adult) i (and i hope most Australians) would have a serious problem with that. 

  * The number of consenting adults allowed in any given marriage is a completely different point.

 If the government ever tries to make human-animal marriage legal i will oppose that, as the animal can not consent. But there is no reason why we should oppose equal rights to gay people, lets address one issue at a time, lets not try to muddy the waters with fear-mongering nonsense. 

 If someone is trying to use this argument against marriage equality, you would be better served finding someone who is more honest and actually knows what they are talking about.

 Remember hate speech and vilification of gays is homophobia and homophobia leads to hate crimes.

----

Bigot Points Debunked:
 

"Children need both a biological Mother and Father."

"Same sex marriage isn't biblical marriage."

"homosexuality is a choice."

"Same-Sex marriage isn't Traditional Marriage"

"Homosexuality is Unnatural"

 "Marriage Equality threatens religious freedom"

"Same-sex marriage isn't natural marriage."

 "Marriage equality will destroy free speech"

 "Same-sex marriage will be forced on everyone."

"Marriage is about procreation."

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.

Ban Animal Cruelty

The Melbourne Cup

The Race That Shocks A Nation

 

If you think horse racing isn't animal cruelty you have not been paying attention, and i would expect you would want to properly educate yourself on the issue. That is what this post is about, i am simply going to provide links to resources so that you can educate yourself or a misguided race enthusiast.

 

Animals Australia has great accurate information and has links to hep you take action against the cruelty of horse racing. 

Animals Australia Unleashed has some great alternative to cup day activities. 

 The Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses has a lot of information on their site. No one should go to, watch, bet on or endorse any horse racing without checking it out.

Of course PETA and PETA Australia are as always a valuable resource when it comes to standing up against animal cruelty.

A time to admire and appreciate horses not be cruel to them.