Australian Conservatives Launch ‘Right to Discriminate’ Bill to Override Marriage Equality Legislation

Australian conservatives have launched a “conscientious objection” bill that would allow business owners to deny service to same-sex couples.

Ministers and celebrants would also be able to refuse to preside over same-sex weddings if it went against their beliefs.

RELATED: The Massive Australian Postal Vote on Same-Sex Marriage Has Ended and Polls Point to a Win for Equality

The bill also includes a Safe Schools clause that would allow parents to “pull their children out of classes that conflicted with their values, introduce freedom of speech protections for people who spoke out against gay marriage, and introduce an ‘anti-detriment clause’ that would prevent government authorities from taking legal action against an individual ‘with a traditional view of marriage,’” reports News.com.au.

It would also override state and territory anti-discrimination laws.

The conservative bill is not a bill about equality – it’s a blatant attempt to punch holes in discrimination law #MarriageEquality #auspol t.co/SR66P6hdXq

— Anna Brown (@AnnaHRLC) November 13, 2017

The Equality Campaign’s Anna Brown said:

“This is not a marriage equality bill. It’s about enshrining discrimination and taking Australia back decades. Australians are voting to make our country a fairer and more equal place, not to take us back to a time where people can be denied service at a shop. We are confident that the majority of parliamentarians are sensible and will see this for what it is and not wind Australia back decades. Australians have voted for equality, not more discrimination. Australians believe in a fair go for all – this Bill goes completely against what people have voted for.”

Law Council of Australia President Fiona McLeod SC added that the bill would take Australia into “uncharted waters”.

“You could potentially see a situation where a hire car company could leave their customers stranded on the way to a marriage ceremony simply because the driver held a thought or belief against it,” she said. “This is even if the belief had nothing to do with religion.”

According to Deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek, the bill is “one more delaying tactic from the people who brought you the $122 million waste-of-money postal survey”.

“Are we really saying in Australia today,” she asked, “that you can refuse to serve someone because they’re gay — that you can refuse to bake them a cake or drive them in your car? That is a bridge too far.”

The post Australian Conservatives Launch ‘Right to Discriminate’ Bill to Override Marriage Equality Legislation appeared first on Towleroad.

Australian Conservatives Launch ‘Right to Discriminate’ Bill to Override Marriage Equality Legislation

Penis Envy Is Killing Your Sex Life

A growing number of men are getting anxious about their penises, and it’s impacting their sex lives.

www.advocate.com/current-issue/2017/11/13/penis-envy-killing-your-sex-life

Persistence Saved My Life. It Could Save Yours Too
Losing weight, diarrhoea and loss of appetite are symptoms associated with a number of common health issues, and may not cause alarm for many but did for me when I suddenly started experiencing them in the summer of 2007. After several visits to the GP, I was told that I had Irritable Bowel Syndrome – but that diagnosis wasn’t good enough for me.

I pestered my GP to refer me to a specialist after I was prescribed painkillers that didn’t ease the mid-back pain that I was experiencing. But when the pain shifted round to my ribcage, I fast-tracked myself, with the help of a locum GP and my husband’s private medical insurance, to a specialist who arranged for me to have a scan.

This saved my life. I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, which was absolutely devastating, but I was very lucky to be diagnosed early enough to have surgery that would increase my chances of surviving the disease. Life-saving treatment may not have been an option if my scan was delayed to the following week but here I am, 10 years on.

Pancreatic cancer is so aggressive that early diagnosis and treatment are essential. Yet very few people are aware of the signs and risks so early detection is extremely uncommon. I was stunned to hear that for nearly my entire lifetime, treatment options and diagnostic tools have remained relatively unchanged.

More than 90% of the population in the UK doesn’t know much about pancreatic cancer and its symptoms. I was one of those people. I hadn’t even heard about it until the consultant surgeon sat me down on August 30, 2007 to tell me I had a tumour in the body of my pancreas, and that I needed surgery as soon as possible. It seemed impossible to all of us. I was 41 and otherwise healthy. I didn’t smoke. I drank in moderation. I was not a candidate for pancreatic cancer and the diagnosis wasn’t even considered by any general practitioner I saw.

It wasn’t until after the surgery – which removed my spleen, part of my pancreas and affected lymph nodes – that I understood that only one in 10 patients with this diagnosis can be operated on at all. Even fewer survive the first five years.

A slow diagnosis delays patients’ referrals to the right specialists, which is crucial. I would advise anyone with symptoms not normal for them to be persistent. The speed of my diagnosis meant it was still possible to remove the tumour followed by chemotherapy.

I have made it my mission to help others survive. I founded Pancreatic Cancer Action to ensure more are diagnosed sooner by raising awareness of the disease, funding research into early diagnosis, and pushing for greater investment into research, to discover more treatment options for those who are diagnosed.

November 16 is World Pancreatic Cancer Day and, on that day, more than 60 organisations from 27 countries on six continents will come together as part of the World Pancreatic Cancer Coalition to raise awareness, inspire action and demand better for patients now and in the future.

For me, World Pancreatic Cancer Day 2017 will be particularly meaningful since I will be celebrating 10 years survival. My story, however, is a rarity among those diagnosed with this dreadful disease. Every day, more than 1,000 worldwide will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and an estimated 985 will die from the disease.

There are many ways you can take action on World Pancreatic Cancer Day, but it starts with learning the symptoms and risks for the world’s toughest cancer. Some warning signs, like yellowing skin or eyes, might immediately cause you to see a doctor. Yet many other symptoms are vague and often disregarded, like the persistent mid-back pain I experienced. That’s why it’s so important to know the signs to look for, and if you experience symptoms, persist in raising them with your doctors until you have an answer. By better understanding how pancreatic cancer impacts our own bodies – or those of our loved ones — we can all become a part of the effort to improve the chances of survival.

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/ali-stunt/pancreatic-cancer_b_18540402.html

The Waugh Zone Monday November 13, 2017

1. PROTECT AND SURVIVE

Boris Johnson’s Iran blunder continues to undermine his reputation, but today he has been thrown a political lifeline by Richard Ratcliffe, the husband of imprisoned British-Iranian national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratciffe. Showing a dignity and understanding that some Tory MPs believe our Foreign Secretary lacks, Ratcliffe told the BBC that he didn’t want Boris to be sacked – because he could do more good by actually now trying to get his wife released. They spoke last night for the first time (which is extraordinary in itself given how long she’s been jailed) and hope to meet face to face this week. In what could be a significant move, Boris told him Zaghari-Ratcliffe could be ‘eligible’ for ‘diplomatic protection’. If she is indeed protected, his political career could survive.

Johnson’s position wasn’t helped yesterday when Michael Gove failed to say that Zaghari-Ratcliffe was in Iran on holiday (the official Government line). Anna Soubry told the BBC: “It’s just bizarre to try and stand up for what Boris has done.”  And few should be in any doubt about the seriousness of the situation. The imprisoned mother is said to be seeking a medical specialist after finding lumps on her breasts and is “on the verge of a nervous breakdown”.

Politically, Johnson is slightly safer after Ratcliffe’s words. Jeremy Corbyn told the Observer yesterday he should be fired for “undermining our country” and “putting our citizens at risk”. But Shadow Brexit Secretary Keir Starmer told the Today programme that while Boris should have been fired a while ago, “we should all reflect on what Richard is saying this morning”.  Professor Mads Andenas, a former UN special rapporteur on arbitrary detention, also told Today that Government ministers should “be consistent in not casting doubt on her story”. “From my point of view it looks like a cock-up. They haven’t taken the briefing notes seriously,” he said.  In Brussels this morning, Boris said: “We are working very, very hard and intensively and impartially on all those cases”. Note the word ‘impartially’.

2. BREX TRADE

Parliament is back and so too is the EU (Withdrawal) Bill (from tomorrow). Theresa May meets business leaders from across the EU in No10 today and everyone’s talking about transitional deals and trade deals and the clock running down to Brexit. The Times has a senior Downing Street aide now saying they expect Britain to be able to strike only a “heads of agreement” of a trade deal in time for March 2019. The paper rightly links this to May’s own political longevity, as Tory MPs may want another leader to hammer out the details of post-Brexit trade.

And the political jockeying around May continues, with the Mail on Sunday’s leaked “menacing” memo from Johnson and Gove to the PM – urging a hard Brexit – the latest focus of in-fighting. The Daily Mail’s Andrew Pierce has a nice read on how the two Brexiteers have patched up relations since Gove knifed Boris in 2016 (a key intermediary has been Johnson’s new special adviser Lee Cain, who worked for Gove’s leadership campaign and for No10). The memo was drafted at one of their secret monthly meetings in September over a bottle of merlot. The Guardian has Cabinet ministers saying the memo was “Orwellian”. Another minister says May “will have to dress them down or look weak.”

One Government insider told me this week that No10 have been struck by just how much Labour had been getting its act together under Corbyn. From PMQs to UQs, from timing of calls for resignations to just better reaction times, the Opposition is sharper. Yet the more immediate problem for the PM is the claim (first reported in the Standard last week) that more than 40 Tory MPs have signed letters asking for a vote of confidence in the PM. Those MPs will remain anonymous and are from various wings of the party. As she walks the EU summit tightrope in coming weeks, that’s why May’s stance on the Brexit transition is effectively also the key driver of the real transition: from her Tory leadership to her successor.

3. SEXED UP?

It goes without saying that Theresa May can hardly afford to lose another Cabinet minister, not least one as important to cross-Government working as Damian Green. As I pointed out last week, the outcome of the inquiry by ‘Propriety and Ethics’ chief Sue Gray (who reports to Jeremy Heywood) could well be timed to avoid conflict with the Budget.

Yesterday, former Met Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson revealed he too had been told pornography had been found on a computer seized from Green’s office nine years ago. But Green’s response yesterday was very different from his original reaction a week ago. Then he said the claims were false, yesterday he said simply they hadn’t been put to him at the time. One senior Tory tells the Times the latest revelations were “not good” and Green’s response should have been more circumspect. Still, it may well be difficult to prove who exactly was responsible for downloading the porn. Green’s bigger problem will be if other women have come forward and repeated claims similar to those of Kate Maltby, a party activist who says he touched her inappropriately.

As for Parliament’s wider sex harassment problem, the SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford told Radio 4’s Westminster Hour that “MPs need to be trained on how they should behave..on an annual basis. There has to be a refresher course”. Meanwhile, speaking of sex and sexuality, there are several tabloid splashes today on the Church of England’s (eminently sensible) guidance that primary schools should combat bullying of children who try different gender roles when dressing up. It’s that kind of hysteria that is a reminder that wilful distortion and bile in our newspapers long predate the ‘alt Left’ or ‘alt Right’ online news sites.

BECAUSE YOU’VE READ THIS FAR…

Before the election, new Labour types could barely say Jeremy Corbyn’s name without wanting to punch a wall. Watch Gordon Brown barely say his party leader’s name…as he calls him ‘Jeffrey’.  (key bit is 1m 10secs)

4. HOUSE ROOM

Britain’s housing crisis is one of the many factors that has helped fuel unease among public that the system is working against them, and can partly explain both Brexit and the last general election.  Theresa May rightly recognised the political imperative in her party conference speech this year, promising “I will dedicate my premiership to fixing this problem”. Even Chancellor Philip Hammond wanted in on the action (housing is part of the key to our productivity and social mobility problems).

But the FT reports today that the Budget is not now expected to deliver radical change to either building on the Green Belt or giving the public sector a bigger housebuilding role. This may stem from Treasury frustration with No.10 (Hammond wants to tear up some Green Belt, the PM doesn’t, Sajid Javid is somewhere in the middle). Yet in the Sun, former housing minister Nick Boles floats his mini-manifesto including forcing developers to sell greenfield land.

5. GRENFELL DIVIDE

Boles, whose enthusiasm for building on Green Belt is not shared by Tory MPs in the shires (enough to wipe the PM’s wafer thin majority), also suggests a ‘Grenfell Housing Commission’ to build half a million new homes as a lasting legacy of the tragedy. And five months on from the awful fire, Labour’s new MP for Kensington and Chelsea Emma Dent Coad today publishes her own report on the deep inequalities that tell the wider story of the area.

Among the most shocking examples of deprivation in this wealthiest of boroughs are: children hospitalised with hypocalceamic shock caused by a lack of calcium; one child diagnosed with rickets; adults with TB; a man in the wealthy Hans Town area has a life expectancy of 94, 22 years longer than his counterpart in the deprived Golborne wards, where the average age of a man is 72. “If trickle down economics worked, we would not have four food banks in K&C,” she says.

SUNDAY SHOWS ROUND-UP

Had a lie-in? Got a life? Catch up on yesterday’s Sunday politics shows with our easy round-up HERE.

 

If you’re reading this on the web, sign-up HERE to get The Waugh Zone delivered to your inbox.

Got something you want to share? Please send any stories/tips/quotes/pix/plugs/gossip to Paul Waugh, Ned Simons, Kate Forrester,  Rachel Wearmouth and Owen Bennett.

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/the-waugh-zone-monday-november-13-2017_uk_5a095c12e4b01d21c83f8678

HIV/AIDS인권활동가네트워크: 프렙(PrEP)에 대해 우리가 알아야 할 다섯 가지
이제 데이팅앱에서 ‘PrEP(Pre-exposure prophylaxis: 프렙, 노출 전 예방법)’이라는 표시를 심심치 않게 볼 수 있습니다. 2012년 미국에서 프렙이 처음 허가되었고 많은 나라가 그 흐름에 동참하는 가운데 2017년 6월 세계보건기구(WHO)는 트루바다를 세계 첫 HIV 예방약으로 지정하였습니다. 그리고 한국에서도 대한에이즈학회가 PrEP 도입과 관련한 가이드라인을 마련하였습니다.

기사 보기: Aids, 동성애, 게이, 보이스, Hiv, 사회, 에이즈, Kr-Gay Voices, Korea News

www.huffingtonpost.kr/hivaids-activists-network-korea/story_b_18521648.html

Bullying At Work: Signs You’re Being Bullied And Tips On Taking Action

Bullying might seem like a playground issue, but the reality is it’s a major problem in UK workplaces too.

There are many types of bullying – from bosses unfairly dismissing employees via email to line managers making decisions without following proper procedure (according to the National Bullying Helpline, the latter is more common than you’d think).

While most people consider workplace bullying to be verbal, that’s not to say physical bullying is unheard of either. 

“We have known about cases where physical assaults have taken place,” Christine Pratt, founder of The National Bullying Helpline, tells HuffPost UK. “One factory foreman recently beat a member of his team up just because he feared that employee would ‘whistle-blow’ on his operational practices.”

To coincide with Anti-Bullying Week, beginning on 13 November, we spoke to experts about how to spot the signs of bullying and tips on taking action.

What is workplace bullying?

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) defines workplace bullying as “offensive, intimidating, malicious, insulting or humiliating behaviour, abuse of power or authority which attempts to undermine an individual or group of employees and which may cause them to suffer stress”.

Bullying can occur face-to-face, by letter, email or phone. Examples of bullying behaviour include: 

:: criticising competent staff, taking their responsibilities away or giving them trivial tasks to do

:: shouting at staff

:: spreading malicious rumours about another member of staff

:: persistently picking on people, or undermining them, in front of others or in private

:: blocking promotion

:: regularly and deliberately ignoring or excluding individuals from work activities

:: setting a person up to fail by overloading them with work or setting impossible deadlines

:: consistently attacking a member of staff in terms of their professional or personal standing

:: regularly making the same member of staff the butt of jokes.

A survey by the TUC revealed that nearly a third of people have been bullied at work – with women experiencing it more than men. The highest prevalence of workplace bullying is among 40 to 59-year-olds, where 34% of people are affected. And, rather shockingly, in nearly three-quarters (72%) of cases, bullying is carried out by a manager.

How to know if you’re being bullied

“If you think you are being bullied, you probably are,” says Christine Pratt.

Experts agree that if your health is suffering as a result of being bullied, or if you are a bystander of bullying, you have a duty to report it to your employer.

Sometimes bullying can result in stress and ill-health. People who are being bullied might experience anxiety, headaches, nausea, ulcers, sleeplessness, skin rashes, irritable bowel syndrome, high blood pressure, tearfulness, loss of self-confidence and, in extreme cases, thoughts of suicide.

Employers have a duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 to ensure the health, safety and welfare of their employees. If a victim’s pleas go unheard, employers and bullies risk facing fines, compensation and in some cases even a jail sentence.

What to do if you’re being bullied at work

If you’re being bullied at work, you should try to sort out the problem informally first, according to gov.uk. Advice from mental health charity Mind is that you should calmly explain the situation and your feelings to the person.

The TUC has published official guidance on what to do if you feel you are being bullied at work. It suggests that you:

:: Talk to someone and get some support

:: Keep a diary of the bullying – Christine Pratt, from the National Bullying Helpline, advises people to make reference to times, dates and circumstances. “Your diary will constitute evidence at the end of the day and will help your employer investigate matters,” she explains.

:: If you can, tell the bully that you find their behaviour unacceptable and ask them to stop

:: Tell your manager (or more senior manager) and show your evidence

:: Join a union, so you’re better protected at work

:: Always take a union rep or a friend with you to any meetings about a formal complaint.

If your employer fails to tackle workplace bullying, you can make a formal complaint via the company’s grievance procedure. If that doesn’t work, and you’re still being harassed, you can take things further to an employment tribunal.

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady tells HuffPost UK: “Employers must do all they can to support victims coming forward. This means having a zero-tolerance policy and ensuring people don’t suffer in silence.

“Bullying can be hugely damaging to staff and creates a toxic working environment. Anyone worried about it should join a union, to get their voice heard and their interests represented.”

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/how-to-report-bullying-at-work_uk_5a056cf7e4b05673aa58aaef

George Takei Talked to Howard Stern About Groping ‘Skittish’ Men to ‘Persuade’ Them into Having Sex

George Takei recently denied claims of sexual assault by former model Scott Brunton but a recent interview with Howard Stern makes it sound as if Takei was very familiar with the kind of assault Brunton described.

RELATED: George Takei Denies Claims of Sexual Assault by Former Model

Brunton said he fell unconscious at Takei’s apartment after having a couple drinks and when he woke up his pants were around his ankles, Takei was groping him and trying to get his underwear off.

In an interview with Stern just last month, Takei was discussing the Harvey Weinstein sexual assault allegations when he was asked by Stern if he ever grabbed a man’s genitals against his will.

“You never sexually assaulted anyone,” Stern asked.

Takei paused, and then said, “hey, boner” before laughing uncomfortably.

Takei then explained: “Some people are kind of skittish, or maybe, um, uh, afraid, and you’re trying to persuade.”

When Stern’s co-host Robin Quivers asked, “But you didn’t do this grabbing at work?”, Takei replied. “It was either in my home. They came to my home.”

Said Stern: “So what do you mean, there’d be some guy who was hesitating to have sex with you and then you gave em a gentle squeeze on the balls or something?”

Replied Takei: “More than a gentle…. [but] it didn’t involve power over the other.”

The post George Takei Talked to Howard Stern About Groping ‘Skittish’ Men to ‘Persuade’ Them into Having Sex appeared first on Towleroad.

George Takei Talked to Howard Stern About Groping ‘Skittish’ Men to ‘Persuade’ Them into Having Sex

Victorian Ailments Like Rickets And TB In Wealthy London Borough Hit By Grenfell Fire
People have been diagnosed with Victorian ailments like rickets and TB in one of the wealthiest parts of London, a shocking new report on inequality has revealed.

The gap between rich and poor in health, housing, education and income in the Grenfell fire-hit borough of Kensington and Chelsea has been laid bare in the report, compiled by Labour’s Emma Dent Coad.

The Kensington MP has compiled the report in the wake of the fatal tower block blaze to unmask the yawning gap between rich and poor in the area.

The ‘After Grenfell’ report details how, in one of the country’s richest boroughs:

Dent Coad said: “In ‘the richest borough in the universe’ this situation is indefensible. If trickle-down (economics) worked, we would not have four food banks in K&C.”

She went on: “The entirely preventable atrocity at Grenfell Tower has revealed the extent of inequality in Kensington and Chelsea, and the years of poor political decision-making and financial mismanagement.”

In the report, she says: “I have often stated that Kensington and Chelsea, where I was born and bred, is a microcosm of everything that has gone wrong in our country in the past few years.

“The proximity of huge wealth attracted by an over-heated international property market unencumbered by taxes, alongside poverty so extreme that children and older people are suffering malnutrition is a scandal that brings shame on our society in 21st Century London.”

Dent Coad used the report to lay into Kensington and Chelsea Council for failing to provide social housing.

K&C became part of a “tri-borough” cost-cutting project with Hammersmith & Fulham and Westminster councils, sharing services and outsourcing work.

It initially saved the council money, and was praised by the then-Communities Secretary Eric Pickles, but many of the outsourcing contracts which ensued actually meant the project lost 10m.

The council has built just ten social homes since 1990 but spent £30m on loss-making Holland Opera Park and another £5m on releasing the council from the deal.

The council also opted not to pay the London Living Wage, £1m a year.

Dent Coad wants the legacy of the Grenfell Tower fire to be reducing inequality.

She said: “A refusal to invest in improving educational attainment and life chances, by cutting local services and youth provision, is a form of social determinism which we must resist at all costs.

“As in many urban areas where housing costs are high, overcrowding is rife. In some areas this is just 17%, whereas in Golborne ward 68% of children live in overcrowded homes.”

Low educational achievement ran parallel with low income and lack of employment opportunities, she said. While the borough average for A* to C GCSE grades is 72%, in some wards it was just 30%.

Dent Coad said a total of 376 (857 people) were made homelessness by the Grenfell Tower fire, in the building itself and the surrounding areas. Just a handful have been housed.

And young people living in temporary accommodation or overcrowded housing struggled to focus on their studies.

She said: “I have seen many cases in K&C where up to four children share a bedroom, even teenagers of opposite genders.

“No-one thrives in such a situation, and the embarrassment of how they live means that many young people will be reluctant to socialise at home with their friends, and will either stay at home isolated or head out to commune on the stairways and streets, which can lead to all kinds of challenges and problems.”

In K&C more than 6,000 homes are owned by companies registered in tax havens.

Dent Coad said these companies “do not contribute to our communities, support our shops, cafes and restaurants, or pay UK tax.”

She added: “K&C is in danger of becoming an elephant’s graveyard of overpriced, oversized and overseas-owned properties that no one lives in, while Kensington’s grafters and public sector workers are priced out of the area.”

Shadow Fire Minister Chris Williamson, who will launch the report with Dent Coad at Westminster today, said: “Kensington and Chelsea is a microcosm of society at large. It is a place where inequality has become a gross spectacle. Where childhood poverty, overcrowding and homelessness live check by jowl with opulent second homes, palatial apartments for the mega rich and vast outflows of rent to corporate landlords.

“The devastating Grenfell inferno is a tragedy derived from these unequal times.” 

HuffPost UK has contacted K&C council for comment.

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/rickets-kensington-grenfell_uk_5a088895e4b0e37d2f382205