Homophobia, gay marriage and mental illness

Just a couple more thoughts on this gay marriage issue: I remember seeing a profile of Dr Kerryn Phelps on the teev several years ago. Can't recall what current affairs show it was on, or even the channel. But there was one scene that I remember clearly.

In it, Phelps was lecturing to a group of students or activists. She was fired up, passionately condemning discrimination against gays and lesbians. Now, I can't be sure of her exact words. But they were something along these lines: "Make no mistake: Homophobia is a kind of mental illness." (Now, if she's never said anything like that, I'm happy to withdraw, Mr Speaker. But even if she hadn't, the points I'm making in this post still hold.)

That speech from Phelps stood out for me. At the time I thought her sentiments were pretty extreme. Sure, homophobia isn't nice. But how do you define it? And if it is a mental illness how do you diagnose it -- or cure it, for that matter? These are valid questions because the views Phelps expressed seem to be gaining ground in psychiatry.

Sadly, homophobia is just one kind of prejudice. And humans are capable of a whole range of 'em. Is sexism a mental illness? I'm sure that plenty of feminists would say that misogyny is. But if you define misogyny as a mental illness, then surely misandry is as well. And, let's face it, a lot of lesbians do seem to have a deep hatred of men. So, that would make them mentally ill as well, wouldn't it? 

See the problem? If you go down this mental illness route you can pathologize pretty much any group you like.

Right now this is even more problematic. This is because accusations of homophobia are being leveled not just at people who hate gays, but also at those who simply disagree with the idea of gay marriage. Take this column, by Carlos A Ball. The conclusion reads:

Nonetheless, after marriage equality opponents have failed for twenty years to articulate rational arguments for their opposition to gay marriages, it is becoming less plausible to contend that such an opposition is not, at some level, grounded in homophobia.

Now, if this argument gains more ground and starts to have legal force it will have huge ramifications for society, won't it? Even if the most optimistic claims by gay marriage advocates are correct, and most people are okay with the idea, that still leaves a sizeable minority who are not. Even in Australia, that would mean several million people would be classified as mentally ill. 

Now, that's gotta be the biggest, most spectacular example of "political correctness gone mad!" we've seen so far. Or it's the grandest, most audacious act of disease mongering ever attempted. (There's a new one for the conspiracy lovers: Maybe the big drug companies have hijacked the gay rights movement in order to quadruple their profits?)

Well, whichever way you look at it, it's a doozy.

Billie Jean King defends Margaret Court in Melbourne Park stoush

The reaction from gay rights activists to Margaret Court's comments about homosexuality is way over the top. I find her theories about how gays can be "cured" balmy and deserving of condemnation. I also don't agree with her description of homosexuality as involving "abominable sexual practices".

But her attitude to gay marriage is not exactly a fringe position. The idea that marriage can only be between a man and a woman has been pretty much standard across all cultures for thousands of years, and remains so. She seems extreme because petulant, shrieking gay rights zealots have done such a good job of intimidating those who don't toe their PC line. Almost everyone in Australia is terrified to defend what the majority of people privately believe and have done so for yonks! Margaret Court isn't and good on her for that.

Clearly, ideological bullies like Dr Kerryn Phelps would be happy if Ms Court never uttered another word on the matter. But they should be careful what they wish for. What would they have to bitch about then, eh? That's always a problem for the intolerant ideologue. When their demands are met they have to ratchet them up even more.

Which has happened with this issue already, come to think of it. This is primarily about gay marriage, remember. Not so long ago, it wasn't that big an issue even in the gay community -- let alone the rest of society. But now you're viciously denounced as homophobic if you don't approve of it. This makes no sense at all. What about out and proud gays who don't support the idea (they do exist, you know). Are they homophobic, too?

Hearteningly, Court has a defender from the, er, other side of the net. Proud lesbian and former tennis champ Billie Jean King has eloquently aced Court's detractors with a blistering serve (sorry readers, they were there, I had to take them). 

King rejects Court's views on homosexuality and gay marriage. However, she is equally angered at the suggestion made by Kerryn Phelps that Tennis Australia should consider renaming Margaret Court Arena.

"Get rid of her for that? Because you don't agree with her? Are you kidding?" King told the Desert Sun newspaper in Palm Springs, California. "Just because you don't agree with someone? Please. She deserves it.

Spot on.

Court was one of the greatest athletes this country has produced. Doesn't matter what her views are. Her record stands.

Hell, if you're gonna demand that any prominent citizen with non-PC views should not be publicly remembered then you'd have to rename half the buildings and streets in every city, as well as tear down a whole mess o' bloody great statues. While Phelps' demands are hardly, er, Pol Pot-esque, you can't help being a little alarmed at the ferocity of her desire to erase some of the evidence of this great sportswoman's achievements.

Greens weep for trees in Charles Riley Memorial Reserve

Here's another case of ferndamentalist quarterwits getting all bolshie about trees being felled within the Perth city boundaries. Just a week and a half after playing silly buggers in Manning, they're now all asquitter about plans to give 47 trees the chop at Charles Riley Memorial Reserve in North Beach.

When you think just how huge this state is, and also how much forest there is down south and even up in the hills outside this city, this activism seems very silly indeed. Anyway, Perth itself is hardly lacking in pleasant wooded areas.

But nup. They've just got to bitch about every little thing, don't they? I suspect they're quite relieved that they can moan and sulk about tree felling in the "urban forest" because they all live close to the CBD anyway. They have much less further to travel to demos, and can get back to their creature comforts quickly. Roughing it in tents out in the boondocks loses its allure very quickly. 

In typically crazy fashion, Greens MP Lynn McLaren said that "birds don't recognize local government boundaries".

What? Does she think they're, like, Australian citizens or something? Is she gonna start agitating for their right to vote?

Anyhow, invoking the welfare of birds is not such a hot idea considering that purportedly planet saving wind turbines so beloved by McLaren and her ilk have been killing the poor critters en masse.

What a tragically deluded fool she is. 

Gillard right. Anti-whaling activists irresponsible, not heroic

Gawd but the deep green, anti-whaling Left are a tragically infantile bunch. The poor little poppets are so utterly lost they believe that if you do something both stupid and politically pointless that puts good diplomatic relations at risk and requires the redirection over many miles of a large vessel at considerable cost to the taxpayer then you're not just cool -- you're a dinkum hero! (Check out the photo in this story.)

Heroes? No way. Spoiled brats, more like.

Please kids, you're middle aged. Grow up before it's too late. Sure, there may well have been a time when extreme acts against rogue whalers were justified. And there's no denying that zooming in front of bloody great loaded harpoons in little rubber dinghies certainly took some balls. But boarding a boat illegally under the cover of darkness was not nearly so risky. Risking a few scratches from razor wire? Piss-weak as! No guys, your glory days are well behind you. Now you're just annoying. Even Julia Gillard knows that.

While there is widespread revulsion at the activities of the Japanese whalers, more and more people are tiring of these silly anti-whaling antics. Hell, this sentiment may well even be spreading into the activist community itself, if this quote from the significant other of one of the recently returned moonbats is any guide:

"You never know what is going to happen when they do something like this," Mr Peterffy's partner Panda Broad said. "People are saying you've got to give him a kick up the backside when he gets home but I am so proud of him."

Who are these people? If they share Peterffy's views but abhor his actions then that is a very good sign indeed.

But Panda? She really shouldn't encourage Special Boy so. He'll just go and do it all over again.

(Sister, if you wanna wield some real feminine power, remember this: The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. If you spare the rod you spoil the child. Still applies even if the child in question is pushin' fifty!)

Anti-whaling idiots unpunished; their group's racism not condemned

The three stooges from Forest Rescue Australia who illegally boarded the Shonan Maru 2 have been released. This completely discredits these nasty insinuations, made when the morons were first captured:

"We assume they have been taken prisoner by the Japanese and historically this has not been a good situation to be in," a spokesman for Forest Rescue told The West Australian this morning.

I doubt very much he was referring specifically to that nation's prior treatment of anti-whaling activists. Kiwi lunatic Pete Bethune, for example, got off very lightly. It seems very likely that he was slyly alluding to Japan's record of wartime atrocities. Just goes to show that you can be racist if you are greenie and never be condemned for it by the compassionistas of the mainstream meeja. Imagine the reaction if a spokesman for, say, the IPA had said such a thing.

So once again the ferndies pull off another utterly ridiculous and completely pointless publicity stunt and get away with it entirely. And the long suffering Aussie taxpayer has to foot the bill.

Tuxworth, Pendlebury, Peterffy should pay back the money they wasted

Geoffrey Tuxworth, Glen Pendlebury, and Simon Peterffy have gotta be the biggest bunch o' bozos since Larry, Curly and Moe. And at least those guys were funny!

By invading the Japanese vessel the Shonan Maru 2 the three stooges have done absolutely no good whatsoever for their purported cause of saving the whales. On the contrary, they've almost certainly set it back quite a bit.

Hell, even Julia Gillard could see the folly in it:

"The conduct of these three Australians in my view is unacceptable - engaging in illegal activity," she said.

"I feel very strongly about whaling... I know many Australians rightly do.

"But we are taking the most effective action we can against whaling through the International Court of Justice."

Now when the most gutless, aimless and shameless PM in the nation's history actually starts making sense and articulating the public mood, well, you've really hit a new low.

Not only did the stupidly provocative act further annoy the Japanese and make them more likely to remain defiant, the long suffering Aussie taxpayer now has to foot the hefty bill for the retrieval of this trio of meatheads. At the very least they should be made to cough it up themselves.

Fools from Forest Rescue Australia deserve their Japanese punishment

One favourite tactic of extreme left-wing and deep green activists is to keep provoking their enemies relentlessly until they have to react somehow, then squealing with indignation when it happens. This so-called "hostage" situation on the Shonan Maru No 2 is a good example.

Three idiots from the group Forest Rescue Australia boarded the Japanese whaling vessel in the night and were captured by the crew. Obviously they were going to be held as a result. What did they expect -- some sushi and sake and a warm farewell the next morning?

Paul Watson showed amazing gall in interpreting the quite understandable reaction of the Japanese as something way out of line: 

Captain Watson said the activists had showed incredible daring to clamber aboard the Japanese vessel, as it was brimming with barbed wire and other devices designed to deter unwelcome boarders.

These people are behaving like spoiled brats. I don't give a tinker's what happens to them. And I think a lot of people who were sympathetic to their cause are rapidly becoming less so because of antics like this.