WA
Holy blood protects against COVID-19 at Court’s church
Margaret Court’s Victory Life Centre church released a statement Friday telling congregants holy blood would protect them from COVID-19. “We are all protected by the blood of Jesus.” The Victory Life Centre statement suggested ‘readily available hand sanitiser’ and holy blood would provide sufficient protection from the deadly pandemic. “Your health and safety is a …
Record damages for Christian Brothers child abuse
A West Australian judge yesterday awarded the highest payment ever to a victim in a case of Christian Brothers child abuse. Judge Mark Herron ordered the Christian Brothers to pay damages of $1.32 million to 75-year-old John Lawrence. Judge Herron described the abuse of child migrant Mr Lawrence as insulting, humiliating and degrading. He also …
Woman ‘kicked out of music festival for kissing female friend’
A security guard at Perth’s For The Love music festival allegedly kicked out a queer woman from their event because she was kissing her female friend. Asha Couch was told that she and her friend had to leave because they were “too intoxicated”, she claimed in a Facebook post. But Couch said neither of them …
Christian Brothers: pay abuse victim less because poor
A barrister representing the Christian Brothers told a Perth court an abuse victim raped multiple times as a child deserved a lesser payout because he came from a poorer family. The ABC reports Bettina Mangan told Judge Mark Herron it seems ‘illogical and unfair’ but that the man had a lower earning potential because of …
Margaret Court inadvertently donates to LGBTIQ charity
A WA venue that hired out a function room for a Margaret Court event has donated proceeds to a queer youth counselling group. The tennis star turned minister spoke at a private function on Monday at the Esplanade Hotel in Busselton, south of Perth. The event was hosted by the group Tennis Seniors WA, of …
Straight men outnumber gay men in new HIV cases in WA
A larger number of straight-identifying men in Western Australia were diagnosed with HIV than gay men in the last year. Among men who have sex with men in WA, the number of HIV diagnoses (20) was 51 percent lower this year compared to the previous five-year average. However, among straight-identifying men it was 21 percent …
ACL claims Drag Queen Storytime activates gender dysphoria
The Australian Christian Lobby’s Peter Abetz this week called for the City of Perth to cancel a Drag Queen Storytime event scheduled to take place at a library next week. However, the council says the event will go ahead. ACL Western Australian Director Peter Abetz said the events “indoctrinate” and “sexualise” children and “normalise homosexuality …
Serial sex offender sentenced to jail
Perth magistrate Richard Bayly sentenced serial sex offender Brendon Quintin Webb to almost four years jail on Friday after he pleaded guilty to 17 counts of indecent assault. Webb picked up young intoxicated men from Perth nightclub districts. He then assaulted the men sexually and filmed the abuse on his mobile phone. Webb used a …
One Nation Twitter sh-tfight. Oh, the shade!
A great Twitter sh-tfight erupted this week between a former One Nation member of the West Australian Legislative Council and a former colleague. Parliamentarian Charles Smith quit the party over his “frustration” with the leadership. Smith regularly posts about ‘identity politics’ on social media, citing concerns about issues such as youthful drag queens, drag queen …
OPINION: Five ways we still need to progress LGBTIQ rights in Australia
By Liam Elphick, University of Western Australia Wednesday, November 15 2017, Northbridge Plaza, Perth, 7.00am: “Yes responses, 7,817,247, representing 61.6% …” read the chief statistician of the Australian Bureau of Statistics, David Kalisch, on the big screen. The huge crowd erupted. Hugging, crying, comfort, joy. That was one of the happiest moments of my life, …