Warren Entsch was turned on.

The Coalition backbencher was then a 20-something stockman in far north Queensland and a girl at the local pub caught his eye.

"I saw this bird pass me in shorts and a boob tube," he says. "I said to the owner of the pub, 'Friggin' hell – who have you got here working for you? That's a good looking sheila. Where did she come from?'"

The stranger, it turned out, was not a stranger at all.

At the time Entsch was dating a local girl from Georgetown, 400 kilometres south-west of Cairns, and they would drink at the pub with her male cousin.

"After a few beers he would become very feminine with the other guys and would end up having a fight."

The cousin disappeared for a few months. Now Entsch discovered why: he had gone to Sydney to have a sex change operation. He returned as a woman and started work as a barmaid.

"That amazed me," Entsch says. "Imagine having the courage to do that."

read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/meet-warren-entsch-queenslands-unlikely-but-vocal-lgbti-champion-20150528-ghbwdc.html

Prime Minister Tony Abbott's sister Christine Forster says gay marriage will be legal in Australia by the end of the year and she thinks her brother knows it is inevitable.

Ms Forster, who is engaged to a woman, told Lateline it is wonderful that the change to marriage laws will come under a conservative, deeply religious Prime Minister.

"That will be for me one of the proudest moments of my life," she said.

"To think that this reform comes under the prime ministership of Tony Abbott ... I think it's entirely appropriate that it would come under the prime ministership of Tony Abbott.

"At the end of the day I'm sure he will understand that this is good and fair for everybody and it will be great for Australia."

The same-sex marriage debate has gained momentum this week on the back of Ireland's hugely successful referendum at the weekend.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-28/tony-abbott-sister-christine-forster-same-sex-marriage-australia/6504994

Cristan Williams, a trans historian and journalist, interviewed Judith Butler about gender and the trans experience for The TransAdvocate. They discussed the problem with TERFs and the work of Sheila Jeffreys and Janice Raymond.

Cristan Williams: You spoke about the surgical intervention many trans people undergo as a “very brave transformation.” Can you talk about that?

Judith Butler: It is always brave to insist on undergoing transformations that feel necessary and right even when there are so many obstructions to doing so, including people and institutions who seek to pathologize or criminalize such important acts of self-definition. I know that for some feels less brave than necessary, but we all have to defend those necessities  that allow us to live and breathe in the way that feels right to us.  Surgical intervention can be precisely what a trans person needs – it is also not always what a trans person needs.  Either way, one should be free to determine the course of one’s gendered life.

...

CW: What, if anything, would you like trans people to take from your work?

JB: Gender Trouble was written about 24 years ago, and at that time I did not think well enough about trans issues. Some trans people thought that in claiming that gender is performative that I was saying that it is all a fiction, and that a person’s felt sense of gender was therefore “unreal.” That was never my intention. I sought to expand our sense of what gender realities could be. But I think I needed to pay more attention to what people feel, how the primary experience of the body is registered, and the quite urgent and legitimate demand to have those aspects of sex recognized and supported. I did not mean to argue that gender is fluid and changeable (mine certainly is not). I only meant to say that we should all have greater freedoms to define and pursue our lives without pathologization, de-realization, harassment, threats of violence, violence, and criminalization. I join in the struggle to realize such a world.

read more: http://www.versobooks.com/blogs/2009-judith-butler-on-gender-and-the-trans-experience

meanwhile the first dog on the moon tells it straight:

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/may/29/the-reasoned-considered-arguments-against-same-sex-marriage

‘And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the Irish referendum’s huge majority for gay marriage, and the dancing: and Moses’ alarm was palpable…

‘And he took a copy of the Pink Paper and, flourishing it, said, “We have to stop and have a reality check, not move into denial of the realities.

‘”I appreciate how these naked revellers feel on this day. That they feel this is something that is enriching the way they live. I think it is a social revolution.

‘”We need to find a new language to connect with a whole generation of young people,” the prophet concluded; then, casting off his garments, Moses said, “Hey, lead me to the coolest gay bar in the camp.”’

Don’t laugh. With a couple of adjustments for updated circumstances, I am quoting the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin, almost verbatim. The archbishop was responding last Sunday to Irish people’s endorsement of gay marriage by a margin of almost two to one.

Even as a (gay) atheist, I wince to see the philosophical mess that religious conservatives are making of their case. Is there nobody of any intellectual stature left in our English church, or the Roman church, to frame the argument against Christianity’s slide into just going with the flow of social and cultural change? Time was — even in my time — when there were quiet, understated, sometimes quite severe men of the cloth, often wearing bifocal spectacles, who could show us moral relativists a decent fight in that eternal debate. Now there’s only the emotional witness of the ranting evangelicals, most of them pretty dim. How I miss the fine minds of bishops like Joseph Butler, who remarked drily to John Wesley: ‘Sir, the pretending to extraordinary revelations, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, is an horrid thing, a very horrid thing.’

read more: http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2015/05/as-a-gay-atheist-i-want-to-see-the-church-oppose-same-sex-marriage/

One can see a job for SuperTurdy coming on...

And Talking of the Holy Ghost, more enlightened bullshit from the Religion and Ethics Department at the ABC...:

To be possessed by the Holy Spirit is surely a frightening prospect. The temptation to domesticate the Spirit is almost irresistible. I cannot pretend to have done justice to the Holy Spirit in what I have written. I am, for example, hesitant to pray as John Henry Newman did when he asked:

I can pray that something I have said or written may have such a "catching force," but if it has, I pray it is not me. Indeed, I pray, with the Holy Spirit, that it is the Spirit's work.

read more http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2015/05/23/4241354.htm

This highly boring dissertation, possible longer than part one of the bible, tells us about ... I don't know really. I suppose it mentions the understanding of doctrine, which is a contradiction of terms. Understanding cannot be doctrinal. It also mentions the holiness of theology which is totology, of course. 

To which we add that the Bishop of Ballarat denied that there was 14 priests who molested children in his Bishopdom. "Ten or 12 possibly but never 14..."

At least 14 priests in the diocese of Ballarat are the subject of complaints of child sexual abuse, a royal commission hearing in Victoria has been told.

However, that figure was disputed by Bishop Paul Bird who testified on the final day of hearings in Ballarat of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses into Child Sexual Abuse.

Bishop Bird said while he does not know the actual figure, he does not think all of the complaints were substantiated.

"It's less than 14 ... maybe 12, maybe 10," he said.

read more: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-29/bishop-denies-14-priests-involved-in-child-sex-abuse-in-ballarat/6507368

An expert sense of timing is what sets skilled performers apart from the rank amateurs - be they politicians, comedians or magicians - and yet it doesn't take an expert audience to pick the difference.

The Opposition is making a habit of getting the timing wrong on their political tactics, and Australian voters are starting to get impatient. If Labor doesn't become more proficient, or bring in some expert advice, its poor timing could lead to the party being unceremoniously howled off the political stage at the next federal election.

Paula Matthewson is a freelance communications adviser and corporate writer. She was media advisor to John Howard in the early 1990s. She tweets and blogs as @Drag0nista.

read more: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-01/matthewson-labors-same-sex-marriage-ploy/6510734

-----------------------------

Dragonista? Used to work for John Howard? Was Drag0nista the one to influence the master of deception that "never ever was always the best timing" in politics? There is never a good timing in politics for some.

Would tomorrow be better? or in two weeks time? Is Turdy so unprepared after 12 years of humming and arr-ing about the issue and being opposed to the proposition that one extra month, two years or another debacled decade will change his mind? Turdy has been vile on many occasions, accidentally and deliberately that one has stopped counting his political back-flips, front somersaults and lipstick on porkie attempts. Everything he touches turns into bad-willed drama and/or into comedy alla Clockwork Orange. Hu? Clockwork Orange was not a comedy? Well, then you know what I meant...

On the day that parliament was presented with a bill that would encourage EQUALITY of people in this country, the Primal knuckle-dragging Minister chose to go and promote a store that was selling TV sets... May we all remember this callous snub. 

Australia should hold a plebiscite on same sex marriage legislation, former Howard-era minister Peter Reith says as conservative Government MPs step up their campaign to derail momentum.

Yesterday former senior Liberal minister Amanda Vanstone described the Prime Minister's Cabinet process on proposed citizenship changes as lazy, sneaky or both.

But Mr Reith — the former finance minister — said the lesson for Mr Abbott is that good process is an important part of getting good decisions.

A number of right-wing backbenchers have spoken out against the idea of allowing a conscience vote in the Parliament on the issue.

On ABC's Q&A program, Liberal MP Phillip Ruddock flagged an alternative to legalising same sex marriage which could see the state register relationships and churches deal with marriage — the same way France handles the issue.

However, Mr Reith said Australia should follow the Irish lead and hold a plebiscite.

"I think in the end, this is an issue which captures, I think, the interest of a lot of Australians," he said.

"I don't see why politicians are more capable of making this decision than the Australian public.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-09/former-finance-minister-calls-for-plebiscite-on-gay-marriage/6531526

Peter Reith is not my favourite person to comment on anything, but to say "I don't see why politicians are more capable of making this decision than the Australian public" is very advanced and brave of him... What about other decision making?... That would bypass the kindergarten that passes off as "government" at the moment... See toon at top...

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has reminded Coalition MPs it is rare for a private member's bill to even go to a vote in Parliament, as two of his backbenchers prepare to back a bill to legalise same-sex marriage.

Queensland Liberal National Party (LNP) MPs Warren Entsch and Teresa Gambaro will co-sponsor a private member's bill, which will be seconded by Labor backbencher Terri Butler.

Other co-sponsors will include Labor MP Laurie Ferguson, Greens MP Adam Bandt and independents Cathy McGowan and Andrew Wilkie.

However, the MPs appeared to have been caught by surprise when the story broke late this afternoon.

Mr Entsch has been working on a cross-party bill for some time and his office released a statement saying it was his intention for the issue to be debated in Parliament, not through the media. 

"He has said all along that if there is to be any chance of success, this issue needs to be approached in a careful, considered and respectful manner," his office said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-01/coalition-mps-to-co-sponsor-private-members-gay-marriage-bill/6587406

Of course, you watch it... Turdy won't allow a conscience vote on the issue... I will call him Tony for a full day if he does...

Government MP Warren Entsch has delivered a passionate speech in favour of legalising same-sex marriage, predicting the nation will not be united until gay couples have equal rights.

The moderate LNP backbencher has become the first Coalition MP to introduce a bill to legalise same-sex marriage, despite knowing it is highly unlikely to go to a vote before the next election.

"The main purpose of this bill is not a complex one," Mr Entsch told Parliament.

"It is to give same-sex couples in Australia the same right to marry the person they love as that which is currently only granted by law to heterosexual couples.

"This bill is designed to promote an inclusive Australia, not a divided one.

"A divided nation is what we will be if we continue to allow discrimination in relation to marriage on the basis of a person's sexuality."

The private members bill is expected to be put on the backburner by the Government-dominated selection committee that decides which legislation goes to a vote.

Mr Entsch's plans to introduce the bill triggered close to six hours of Coalition debate last week to thrash out the party's position on a free vote.

read more: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-17/warren-entsch-introduces-same-sex-marriage-bill/6701878

See toon at top...