Homosexuality vs. The Australian Way of Life

Aaron: We’re a land of hot wind from the desert, black soil from the plains, mountains and valleys and something something rains. Australia is among the most multi-cultural nations on Earth, and it is one of our greatest selling points as a place to live. We accept pizza and pasta, kebabs and felafel, curry and rice as much as we appreciate steak and bread. We’re  growing to accept, learn and teach other cultures and their significance in this nation, and becoming a better whole because of it. Religion barely seperates us, and in general, we accept our acquaintances and colleagues no matter whether they are atheist, Muslim or Christian. The only thing that seperates our fine country into ‘us’ and ‘them’? Gays.

That’s right, gays.

Hello. I’m a straight, white, male living in the most straight, white, male country in the world (citation needed). And the narrow mindedness of the country in which I live makes me sick. To demonstrate this, I’m going to introduce you to Barry.

Barry is 23 years old. Barry is Caucasian. Barry has browny-blond-y hair and green eyes. Barry works as an electrician. (from here on known as a ‘sparky’) Barry left high school in year 12 to go to TAFE and learn his trade. His parents are also Australian, and he likes to tell his colleagues (from here on known as ‘mates’) that his great-great-great-grandad was a convict. Kudos, Barry. Barry is agnostic, as he doesn’t ‘really think about that sort of thing that much’, while his parents go to church. Barry spends his weekends watching the footy, DIY-ing shit and having drinks with mates. Once or twice a year he gets some mates (and posibly ladies) to go to Bali and they sit around there for a week or two before headin’ home.

Barry knows what he likes, and doesn’t make that many changes to the routine he’s been in for the past few years. What does Barry hate? The sporting team that the majority of his fellow supporters also dislike. Why? Because they’re not like him. He doesn’t understand why they choose that team over his, it just doesn’t make sense. It just seems natural to support the team that he does, and why would someone purposefully choose otherwise?

This is mirrored when anyone brings up gay people. Barry sees ‘them’ on television, sometimes at clubs, sometimes in the street, and they wonder ‘Why?’. A majority of people like Barry and older generations won’t voice a problem with the homosexual population of Australia because they wouldn’t usually encounter it. They don’t have to be around people that conform to those practices, so why should they hold judgement? But when they are confronted with this, the reaction is large enough to think that you were shoving a penis (or vagina) down their throat.

Why is the average population so adverse to a lifestyle choice so similar to religion or team membership? Nobody holding a rainbow flag is protesting ‘No Straights’ and beating their children into becoming like them. They want equal rights to others in committed relationships, not complete dominance over the populace of the world. And the justification for the Straights’ barrage of hatred towards innocent people? It’s not natural.

What is natural? For the ‘average Australian’, being straight is natural. Liking beer and sports is natural. Liking a bit of T’n'A is natural. Can anyone say otherwise? The Australian way of life is counteractive to living outside of the box, and this is impressed on each generation from a young age.

If a kid in a primary school class likes playing fantasy cards and computer games instead of playing sports at lunchtime, what do the other kids call him? Nerd, geek, lame? What else fits in there? ‘Gay’. Why has a trait completely unrelated to homosexuality (liking computer games) become synonymous with liking people of the same sex? This desemanticization of the word ‘gay’ is half the problem. I am a user of ‘gay’ as a synonym for ‘bad’, but it’s really not my fault! It’s those primary school kids that thought that video games really weren’t as cool as sports (even though I played them too). It’s at the point where the youth of the Western world use it so often that it doesn’t even mean ‘homosexual’ any more, it just means ‘bad’. But when describing something girly or even un-masculine, it becomes ‘gay’ with a different inflection. Gay. Ugh, s/he’s gay. There’s barely a harsher insult that you can give to someone.

Australia is an accepting country. We accept people of other races, creeds and religions. But as soon as you start messing with the Bible-given truth of Man and Woman, it pinches a nerve in the average Australian that not much else does. The problem lies in the children, and the parents of those children. Stop making it acceptable to call people gay as an insult. Stop brainwashing your children with religious bullshit about what’s natural and what’s not. Live your own lives and leave everyone else to live theirs in peace.

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This is about to be submitted as my first article for my University’s magazine, The Pelican. Hope you enjoyed it. You can see Tom’s submission here.