Loree Rudd; join in the laughter with me!

WARNING: loaded with sarcasm!

Do you know what, sometimes you just have to laugh! There are times that something is just so ridiculous that you have to laugh or the alternative, to take it seriously, would result in anger management issues. Laugh or punch the wall? Today I choose to laugh.

Loree and Kevin Rudd

My case in point today is the delightful sister of our Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd. Before yesterday I’d never heard of this charming senior citizen who is so obviously intimately connected with her community. Her name is Loree Rudd and she is just a sensitive, caring woman who has beauty in her heart. She believes, and has now stated very publicly, that gays lobbying for equal rights are akin to the Gestapo who slaughtered millions of innocent people.

Of course we are darling, just like the Gestapo!

See what I mean? Some things are just so ridiculous you just have to laugh.

Normally I turn a weird shade of purple and verbally abuse whenever I come across such ignorance in thinking. Possibly I’m getting old or my medication has finally kicked in, because today I choose to laugh. Even the great intellect and insight of Loree could not anger me. I do feel though that we need to discuss in more detail the comments of Loree, she deserves our attention.

Oh Loree, you look so sweet, but yet...

She first came to my attention in a story on The Australian website. The whole story is a lesson in true humanity, but particularly the last three paragraphs excite me…

Ms Rudd said she did not want to demonise gay people, but was bound by her faith that marriage is only between a man and woman.

She said there was a worldwide gay movement that "fed propaganda" to lobby for the changes.

"I call them the global gay Gestapo: it is the lobbying movement that is brainwashing people, particularly the young in the community that this (homosexuality) is an optional extra in life," she said.

Now I’m going to turn off my Sarcasm Switch that I have so obviously had on ON during the first half of this post, lets get down to seriousness. I need to make a number of points, just in reference to these final 3 paragraphs…

1.    The fact that she says that ‘she did not want to demonise gay people’ means that she already knows that she has. That is distinctly un-Christian behaviour Loree.

2.    Using ‘faith’ as an excuse to get away with saying and believing whatever suits your needs revolts me. Christianity is not an excuse to discriminate, alienate and force your beliefs on others.

3.   ‘fed propaganda’, I can’t even begin to understand what she means? Propaganda such as loving adult relationships, lifelong partnerships and a fundamental human desire for equality? Yes, I can see how someone as narrow-minded and as selfish as Loree could see that as propaganda.

4.    I’m resisting her Gestapo reference for the moment. Skipping along to the apparent ‘brainwashing’ that equality lobbyists are undertaking, as if being homosexual is like joining a cult or the Stockholm Syndrome. Fuck, if all it took was some brainwashing to turn someone gay don’t you think Brad Pitt would be batting for the better team by now?

5.    This was the absolute hardest opinion of Loree to ignore when deciding to laugh rather than be angry. She infers that this ‘brainwashing’ teaches the young that being gay is ‘an optional life extra’. I beg of you Loree, please speak with any gay or lesbian, ask them if they chose being gay or if they were lucky enough for it to choose them? Now I’m quietly confident that you have never associated yourself with an out, proud, confident, comfortable homosexual so call me and I’ll introduce you to some. Ask them if being gay is at the core of who they are, if it’s something they intuitively and fundamentally know about themselves and they will all have the same answer – YES! No one taught us, no one trained us, no one brainwashed us to be gay. We are gay because that is how we were born.

Loree, you deserve absolutely not a second more of my time, my anger or my frustration. What you get is laughter! I laugh at you! Someone as ignorant, as narrow-minded and as disrespectful as you does not deserve anything more. Actually, what you do deserve is my pity. I pity you because your ignorance of diversity will result in a sheltered, boring, little life.

Gay sermon over.

The Power Gays (artists formerly known as Gaystapo)

Truth be known, time to come clean: A group of fabulous friends and I recently started calling ourselves the Gaystapo. We’ve found this mildly amusing. Now to be very clear, we coined this name not because we aim to discriminate, vilify and ultimately kill millions of people but more because we are militant in our homosexuality and overt campness. See, we are as gay as Christmas and if a bar fight at Stonewall broke out we’d run like the wind. The term Gaystapo is truly ironic when applied to us. But after hearing Loree use this reference with the tone that she has I think we’ll return to calling ourselves the Power-Gays. Equally appropriate I think.