(Author disclaimer and full disclosure: I am a friend of the subject of this piece, and I was a co-author of the document in question. So string me up already.) It is now clear that the Australian government thinks that homosexuality is the norm and it must be fully embraced by all Australians. And it also seems convinced that men’s issues are not that important, nor is the well-being of children and of families.
That is the strong message being sent out by the Rudd Government after one of the most dedicated champions of the men’s movement and one of the most passionate pro-family advocates was threatened with the sack as a men’s health ambassador by Health Minister Nicola Roxon yesterday. The implication is clear: tolerance of the homosexual lifestyle will now be coerced, if need be. And any opposition to the homosexual agenda will be swiftly dealt with by the Government.
Here is the story: Two men’s advocates, Warwick Marsh of the Fatherhood Foundation, and Barry Williams, of the Lone Fathers’ Association, were appointed two days ago to serve as men’s health ambassadors. So too was Tim Mathieson, Julia Gillard’s boyfriend, along with some others. But then Roxon learned about a booklet Marsh co-authored some 14 months ago, 21 Reasons Why Gender Matters.
This booklet is in fact a well-researched and well-documented look at the importance of gender differences, heterosexuality, and the overwhelming importance of biological two-parent families to children and society. The booklet has 178 endnotes and was produced by a team of academics, scholars, family experts, counsellors, and even former homosexuals.
It affirms that males and females are fundamentally different, and that heterosexual families are in the best interests of our children. But because it does not embrace the homosexual lobby’s claims of moral equivalence, the forces of PC have gone ballistic about the document.
Marsh and Williams were threatened with dismissal, but when Williams said he disowned the booklet, he was reinstated. Marsh refused to back down, so now he has lost this position, and is the subject of some of the most vicious and ugly lies and smear campaigns around.
For example, crikey.com was absolutely foaming at the mouth over the booklet. Crikey Canberra correspondent Bernard Keane entitled his piece, “Anti-gay bigots on Roxon’s mens’ health taskforce”. It was full of such gems as: “Marsh and Williams seem to have rather peculiar views on some male health issues. Worse than peculiar, actually. Downright evil is a term that springs to mind. Because they appear to have a problem with gay men.”
In the view of crikey, the booklet seems to be on a par with The Satanic Verses, and I await crikey issuing a fatwa against its authors: “This 23-page screed is mostly notable merely for promulgating tediously stereotypical views of people and their relationships. . . . On and on it goes, page after page, ‘supported’ by nonsensical and misinterpreted studies, ranting against gays and lesbians.”
The article continues, “Warwick Marsh and Barry Williams are listed as ‘authors and contributors’ to this vile, bigoted garbage. These men should have nothing to do with any cause associated with men’s health. . . . The [booklet’s view] encourages violence toward gays and lesbians.”
There you have it: the authors are “downright evil” and the booklet is “vile, bigoted garbage”. And of course anyone reading it will immediately go out and shoot a homosexual. Never mind how much the booklet talks about the need to love, support and help homosexuals. Never mind that the whole booklet is about the well-being of children and the importance of two-parent biological families. Never mind that some of the authors are former-homosexuals themselves.
Another crikey piece said this: “But it shouldn’t have been difficult to see that the appointment of an extremist ‘fatherhood’ advocate who has for years peddled wholly objectionable views about gays and lesbians was wrong. Warwick Marsh has now rightly been sent packing by Roxon, but he should never have been appointed. The simplest background check would have revealed his record of homophobia. And there remain concerns, too, about Barry Williams’s views on same-sex couples and violence against women.”
Of course the Government’s response was just as irrational and incendiary. Roxon said the comments about homosexuality were “unacceptable and repugnant”. In an interview she said, “Well, look I think that these comments, particularly about homosexuality, are quite abhorrent. I don’t share those views. I have asked both Mr Marsh and Mr Williams to give me an explanation and Mr Marsh has not repudiated those offensive comments and I don’t think that his position as a men’s health ambassador is tenable.”
She continues, “I would have preferred to talk to him before I did this interview but it is very clear to me that he has not repudiated these comments. That they are very offensive and it is not appropriate for him to continue in this role.” So telling the truth about homosexuality is simply “unacceptable and repugnant,” “abhorrent,” and “offensive”.
Of course the homosexual lobby went livid as well. Homosexual senator Bob Brown accused Marsh and the booklet of “hate-mongering”. Homosexual activist Rodney Croome said much the same: “If the federal Government is sincere about an inclusive and effective men’s health agenda it must remove these hate mongers immediately”.
And the pro-homosexual academics were up in arms as well. For example, associate Professor Anne Mitchell, from Gay and Lesbian Health Victoria at La Trobe University, said the document amounted to gay-hate literature and its authors should not be associated with the promotion of men’s health issues.
Uber-feminist Eva Cox of the Women’s Electoral Lobby said Roxon had “stuffed it” when selecting the two men: “I think she’s probably had bad advice. [Mr Williams and Mr Marsh] were very popular with the last government and I think maybe she doesn’t realise how toxic that kind of appointment would be”.
Today Kevin Rudd defended Roxon, both for appointing Labor deputy leader Julia Gillard’s de facto as one of the ambassadors, and for dumping Warwick Marsh. Referring to the appointment of Marsh, Rudd said, “Mistakes happen, let’s just be upfront about it and she’s taken it on the chin, good on her – she’s doing a fantastic job”.
There it is folks. Appointing one of the most dedicated and committed workers on behalf of the interests of men, who also happens to not hold the PC line on homosexuality, was a “mistake”. Rudd, who tried to woo the Christian vote prior to last year’s election, thinks pro-family stalwarts like Marsh who have worked with men for years are not acceptable, and only those who endorse the homosexual lifestyle need apply.
Is he really that bad?
In his defence, Warwick Marsh issued a press release. I offer some of it here: “It is a wonderful thing when people vilify you and tell lies about you. Certain journalists have claimed that I am Homophobic. You be the judge.”
“Tell me, is being homophobic bringing a young man into your home with your young family who has the death sentence of AIDS? That same young man needed shelter from the storm. He came from a broken home. He had a father wound. He had been sexually abused by other older men. That same young man ended up working the wall in Sydney. This is not a good place for any young man to have to work. He needed someone to tell him that he was loved and appreciated not for the sex he could give to his paying customers who abused him but because of who he was on the inside a wonderful young man with a future and a destiny however short.”
“Tell me, is being homophobic giving an award at a public function in Parliament House Canberra in August 2005 to a wonderful Lesbian woman from Melbourne who had the guts to set up an organization to help Trafficked women caught in the exploitative web of male driven Prostitution. Unfortunately some men still are bastards. Certainly not all, but some. The white ribbon day tells the stories.”
“Tell me, is being homophobic when I invite a Mayor of a local council in Sydney to give Awards to the Men who have completed our Fatherhood course. That mayor was a homosexual man but as a Lord Mayor he deserves our respect and honour. After all we are all someone’s daughter or someone’s son and as such we all deserve that same honour and respect.”
“If I am attacked it is because I believe that our children matter. If I am attacked it is because I believe that we should give our children the very best we can give them. If I am attacked it is because I believe every child has the right to a mother and a father. Children need a mother and a father not two mummies or two daddies. The document in question is public information and is available for free download at http://www.gendermatters.org.au/Home.html 21 Reasons Why Gender Matters has 34 different authors and contributors. Some contributed a lot and some a little. Ten are doctors while many are practitioners and counsellors. Several had experienced the gender wound first hand so they are well able to write with both authority and compassion.”
“21 Reasons Why Gender Matters shows from thousands of studies the world over that the natural way is the best way and when we break that natural order the statistics show things just start to go wrong. People get hurt. Children are abused. Father wounds are created. Families break up. Relationships break down. Maybe we should rename the father wound the gender wound? The pain of the Gender wound is a nondiscriminatory pain. This pain is felt by heterosexuals and this pain is felt by homosexuals. The story of this pain is well told in the ground breaking Australian movie called the Men’s Group.”
“21 Reasons Why Gender Matters was released some time ago in terms of the news cycle. This document is old news. Every Member of Parliament received a copy in the lead up to the last election. So did the media in the Canberra press gallery. Why all the fuss now? I don’t know where this story came from? I have not said anything about this subject for quite some time. This sort of heterophobia baffles me.”
“I applaud Nicola Roxon for her initiative in getting this policy off the ground. She is a great woman and mother and she is doing a great job. I congratulate the Rudd Labor Government for their courage to tackle the shocking epidemic of male suicide and I am willing to continue as an advocate for Aussie men as an ambassador on their behalf as well as the government. We desperately need a national discourse on a national men’s health policy. I am honoured to work alongside such great Aussie men as Professor John MacDonald, Barry Williams, Tim Mathieson and others. All have a story to tell. They need to be heard. It is sad that these vicious unprovoked personal attacks are obfuscating the real message of Men’s Health and the many slurs that men still have to endure because of their sex.”
Conclusion
Warwick Marsh is one of the most dedicated, compassionate and tireless workers on behalf of men and families that I know of. He has worked for years to help struggling men and families. He has put in countless hours – tens of thousands of hours – in volunteer work on their behalf. But those qualifications mean nothing to our Politically Correct Government. They are only interested in one thing: promoting the PC party line, and above all, doing nothing that will in any way offend the sensibilities of the homosexual activists.
In Muslim-majority nations, one dare not speak against the Koran or Allah’s prophet, Muhammad. To do so places your life at risk. These totalitarian societies do not allow for any dissenting points of view, and those who dare question the established wisdom will be dealt with harshly.
It seems that democratic Australia is not far from such fascism. Our Labor government has declared war on anyone who dares to challenge the powerful homosexual lobby – or pink mafia – that are now calling all the shots. Today someone who dares to speak the truth about homosexuality will lose his job. Tomorrow he will likely see prison, fines and other draconian penalties imposed. Such things are already happening in other Western nations, and we can expect to see them happening here as well.
And the bizarre thing is all this coercive denunciation and weeding out of politically incorrect viewpoints is being done in the name of tolerance. But such tolerance is all one-way traffic. It is all about tolerating, embracing and celebrating the homosexual lifestyle. But it is not about allowing any dissenting views to even be heard. So much for tolerance, acceptance and democracy.
This is really about shutting down debate, silencing differing opinions, and forcing the Australian public to embrace the homosexual agenda. The war against faith and family has certainly hotted up. This is simply one battle in a protracted war. Which side prevails is a moot point. But if those concerned about children, families, faith, freedom and democracy do not start to speak up, and speak up soon, this whole conflict may very quickly be decided.
[2222 words]