"I’m Not As Okay With Being Gay As I Thought I Was"

Below is an excerpt from a homosexual who reports that he has on many occasions experienced disapproval for being homosexual. I believe him. He had become rather inured to that but has now been shaken by the debate over homosexuality that the same-sex marriage plebiscite has aroused.  The many public comments about same sex marriage being wrong have upset his self-confidence and repose.

But who is to blame for that?  It is the frenetic demand for sexual licence from the Left.  They never shut up about homosexuals and they have kept up the pressure for legal recognition of homosexual marriage for years now.

Conservatives could see the case for giving homosexual couples  legal rights similar to heterosexual couples and in most places enacted civil partnership laws to achieve that.  That should really have been the end of the argument.  Nothing tangible is achieved by going any further. 

The Left were however not satisfied with compromise.  They go for total victory.  It is their intransigence that led to the plebiscite.  They alone are responsible for it.  So they alone should be blamed for the pain caused to the writer below

The ironical thing is that Leftists often warned that moves to allow homosexual marriage would ignite a debate that could upset homosexuals -- but they still went on with their campaign anyhow.  Rather than drop their campaign because it might harm those they were allegedly "helping", they just kept up the pressure.  So that is yet another demonstration that beneath the ostensible Leftist desire to "help" lies a hunger to hurt


For many people of my generation, the same-sex marriage postal survey is our first taste of active state-sanctioned discrimination. We’re dealing with this whilst still coming to terms with our identities, and what it means to be queer.

“If any of you boys came home and told me you were gay, I’d probably disown you,” says Mum casually as we are watching the Sydney Mardi Gras on TV, her brow furrowed in mild disgust.

I am 13 and think I might be gay; her words are like a bomb going off, the ringing in my ears drowning out the TV.

“We love you, no matter what. And who knows? Maybe it’s just a phase.” My grandfather embraced me after I told him I was gay.

“What?” Mum’s eyes widened and her hands jerked the steering wheel of the car, sending us swerving. “I’m never going to have grandchildren…” she later cried.

“Faggot!” someone screamed from a passing car. I pretended I didn’t hear, but thought about it for weeks after. Sometimes I still think about it.

“Since when did you start sounding so gay?” my best friend laughed, having not seen me for a few months.

“I don’t like him – he’s a poof,” quipped my brother about a boy he doesn’t like at school. “What’s wrong with being a poof?” I quipped back.

“Marriage should be between a man and woman! Being gay is unnatural!” reads a comment on an online article. I clicked on the woman’s name, and discover she lives in my hometown.

She’s Facebook friends with members of my family.

I had probably been with Mum down the main street as they smiled at each other in passing.

“You can never be too careful,” said a boy I dated once, after he snatched his hand from mine as we were walking down the street.

“I’m not as okay with being gay as I thought I was,” admitted the boy I like, my shoulder wet with his tears.

He’s been out for less than a year. His mother, for religious reasons, is voting “no” in the marriage survey.

He loves her, and I have no doubt that she loves him. It’s complicated.

Above are a just a few of the words said to me over the course of my life. They hold a prominent place in my history in that ambiguous way certain words said at certain times do.

SOURCE





'I don't think I should have been fired just because I have an opinion'

The woman who was fired over an 'it's OK to vote no' post regarding same-sex marriage has broken her silence, calling her dismissal 'unfair'.

Madeline, who has not revealed her surname, told triple J's Hack that while she believes 'everyone should have equality' she could not vote yes based on her religious views.

The 18-year-old was let go from Canberra businesswoman Madlin Sims' children's party business this month, after her profile photo was updated with a Coalition for Marriage filter.

Ms Sims messaged Madeline after being made aware of the post, writing that the profile photo 'really bothered me'.

She took to Facebook on Sunday to announce she had sacked the contractor, saying she had a responsibility to protect the vulnerable people they work with.

'Voting no is homophobic. Advertising your homophobia is hate speech. As a business owner I can't have somebody who publicly represents my business posting hate speech online,' Ms Sims wrote.

Defending her decision to vote no on Triple J, Madeline said she was a Christian with gay friends and family, but that her religion played a strong part in her choice.

'I have been raised a Christian my whole life and in the bible God clearly states that a man and a man, and a woman and a woman, are not to be together,' she said.

'I love everyone, I'm not a hateful person at all and I do believe everyone should have equality, but to vote yes to me is something I can't do.'

Speaking on The Bolt Report Tuesday, she added that she did not believe her job should be taken away over her opinion. 'This is a democracy and we were given the options and asked as Australians to vote yes or no and it is my opinion to vote no,' she said. 'I don't  think that my job should be taken away from me just because I have an opinion that someone disagrees with. I don't think I should have been fired.'

Madeline told The Australian she was following her Christian upbringing and that she had not discriminated against anyone.

'When it comes to tolerance, I find that people who are religious, we have to tolerate everything and anything thrown at us,' she said. 'But other people don't have to tolerate Christians.'

SOURCE






Abbott threatens to cross floor on energy

Tony Abbott has warned he'll vote against the coalition government if it tries to legislate a clean energy target, with up to six backbenchers tipped to follow him. "He has let the government know his position. He won't vote for a clean energy target," a government source told The Australian on Wednesday.

In an opinion piece, Mr Abbott argues the recommendation by the chief scientist for such a target should be dropped.

"It would be unconscionable for a government that was elected promising to scrap the carbon tax and to end Labor's climate change obsessions to go down this path," he writes.

Mr Abbott claims it is bordering on absurd for a country with the world's largest readily available reserves of coal, gas and uranium it should have some of the world's highest power prices.   "But that's what happens when policy is driven by wishful thinking and green religion."

On Tuesday, Mr Abbott told 2GB the Turnbull government could send a strong signal to AGL by dumping all subsidies for renewable energy and encouraging coal-fired power.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull wants to keep the company's NSW Hunter Valley power station Liddell open beyond its planned 2022 closure.

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AGL may turn to gas, as power units fail

AGL may consider converting its Liddell power station to gas as its coal-fired generation units fail in future years.

The potential of the re-purposing of the existing plant was highlighted during a media site visit on Tuesday to a plant that has become a focal point for the increasing toxic energy policy debate.

AGL chief economist Tim Nelson said "repowering'' was an option for the site, due to its access to transmission services, adding that this could include gas or biomass.

Kate Coates, AGL Macquarie general manager, also said the best option for Liddell was to consider how to repurpose the site.

The AGL board had previously said it would consider installing gas-fired turbines to replace coal at the plant and, in its recent power generation infrastructure rehabilitation document, the company did outline plans for potentially repowering Liddell.

It cited the example of using coal to gas as an example of how it might change the nature of power generation at the site.

Ms Coates said the cost of converting to gas would be high but could not say if it would be greater than the cost of rehabilitation.

She added that a number of similar projects had been carried out in Britain.

During the tour, AGL Macquarie head of operations Kevin Taylor outlined the importance of the site's existing transmission infrastructure as one reason that repurposing or repowering was a strong potential option.

Energy industry pundits are split on the likely future of Liddell beyond 2022. Most believe the company is unlikely to relent to the government's request to extend the operation beyond its closure, but many are forecasting a shift to repurposing the site.

"A gas installation at Liddell is a real alternative," an unnamed energy industry insider told Fairfax Media. "These conversions have happened in a few places around the world. We've seen it happen before with the Tallawarra Power Station."

Tallawarra operated as a coal-fired plant from 1961 to 1989 in Shellharbour, in NSW.  A new gas-fired plant was rebuilt on the site to ensure energy reliability to the region.

The move came as Opposition leader Bill Shorten slammed the government's position on Liddell and gas. "The energy crisis we're facing right now is bigger than one power plant – it's a national problem that demands a national solution," Mr Shorten said.

He called on Turnbull to "pull the trigger" on gas export control, and to improve the Australian Energy Market Organisation's gas pricing information, as recommended under the Finkel Review.

Doing so will help ensure more Australian gas, above and beyond Santos' dedicated 30 petajoules, stays in Australia both to solve the growing energy crisis, and improve market conditions for Australian manufacturers looking to secure long-term energy contracts. "What on earth are they waiting for?" Mr Shorten said.

"They have had the power in their hands for months now and has done nothing.  We need Australian gas for Australian jobs - and the Turnbull government is letting it go overseas."

AGL operates the 50 megawatt Hunter Valley gas-fired power station and the Newcastle Gas Storage Facility (NGSF), about 120 kilometres south-east of Liddell. Tallawarra is capable of processing up to 66,5000 tonnes of LNG a year. AGL also operates the Torrens facility, the largest gas-fired power station in Australia.

The energy insider said, if Liddell became gas powered, it would mean AGL would retain control of the entire chain, which could also create a headache for regulators.

"They'll produce the gas, send it to themselves, then generate power for the end consumer," he said. "Only week ago – after meeting with Andy Vesey – the Commonwealth Government announced it had directed the AER to 'make sure electricity generators are playing by the rules'.

"If there is a suspicion that AGL is currently gaming the system, then having it gain control of another part of the supply chain, such as the gas supply to a large, AGL-owned gas-fired plant at Liddell, would seem to invite more opportunities for price manipulation."

This was dismissed by the ACCC, which did not believe AGL closing its upstream and downstream supply for power generation and retail would be anti-competitive under the Competition and Consumer Act.

AGL has previously tried to expand its gas operations in the regions surrounding Liddell through its coal seam gas assets in Gloucester, as well as in Camden, south of Sydney. But the group announced a decision to halt all coal seam gas exploration and production in the face of sustained political and community opposition.

Gas has been targeted by the government as a potential resource to bridge the expected shortfall in energy supply.

The Turnbull government has already arranged deals with oil and gas companies such as Santos to divert up to 30 petajoules of LNG next year to ensure the reliability of supply.

During the visit, half of the station's four units were offline and the two remaining units were running at a reduced capacity.

One unit was offline for maintenance while the other was out of service due to an unknown failure.

An AGL spokesman said the two functioning units were only providing power to the nearby Tomago smelter, which usually accounted for a large percentage of energy generated at the site.

"The demand of Tomago on the system is essentially the sum of our output today," the spokesman told Fairfax Media.

It is understood the smelter alone accounts for more than 10 per cent of NSW's entire energy demand.

SOURCE

Posted by John J. Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).    For a daily critique of Leftist activities,  see DISSECTING LEFTISM.  To keep up with attacks on free speech see Tongue Tied. Also, don't forget your daily roundup  of pro-environment but anti-Greenie  news and commentary at GREENIE WATCH .  Email me  here