![\"Gay](\"\/blogpics\/gaymarriage.jpg\")
Well folks, I’m back from my excellent adventure in Europe, both exhausted and inspired by the things I’ve seen and the people I’ve met. I hardly know where to begin with this first post, especially considering I’ve returned to numerous interesting issues, both here and abroad.<\/p>\n
On Saturday morning, when I was still jetlagged and addled, my cousin rang to ask me to be a bridesmaid at her same-sex union at Easter. I’m overjoyed because this is the first time I’ve ever been asked to wear the pretty dress and stand up the front at someone else’s wedding. Always the bride, never the bridesmaid, that’s me. In any case, I’m really looking forward to it and so happy for her.<\/p>\n
And then Saturday evening I discovered that California is about to vote on banning same-sex marriages<\/a>. What is it with these religious nutbags who blindly oppose freedom and love based on their dusty old book? To hear this news on the very day I’m congratulating my cousin on her upcoming wedding is just depressing. Because her wedding isn’t legally on an equal footing with heterosexual ones, and it doesn’t look like changing any time soon.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the Australian government has confirmed that their proposed ISP filter will be mandatory for everyone and will block “illegal” sites, although it’s yet to define what might actually be illegal. The plan has finally made the headlines in the big newspapers<\/a> and thankfully a lot of people are finally speaking out about it. Aussies are a lazy bunch, but I suspect they won’t take this lying down, because there is a real threat that someone will actually take away their net porn. No way mate, fuck off!<\/p>\n My husband and I are barely settled back into the house and already we’re talking about moving to New Zealand or the Netherlands to get away from this shit. If pushed we can easily get around the filtering via a VPN but I suspect I won’t want to continue giving my taxes to a country that has just made my websites “illegal” and put its censorship on a par with China.<\/p>\n One of the best things about visiting Europe was enjoying the liberal attitudes those people have, especially when it comes to drinking and sex. Yes, in Europe, you can buy a beer in McDonalds. Ads on buses happily display uncovered breasts and bums. In the Netherlands you can legally drink at 16 and it’s your own business if you choose to smoke dope. I saw families feeding the ducks in the canal of the red light district, unfazed by the neon signs and the ladies in the windows. I saw kids walking past sex shop windows and they were miraculously unharmed. And there are very few warning signs on things in Europe; if you trip over or fall, it’s your own fault. <\/p>\n It’s like Europeans understand the idea of “personal responsibility” a hell of a lot better than other countries.<\/p>\n And meanwhile, we come back to a storm of censorship and religious hysteria.<\/p>\n At least the weather is warmer.<\/p>\n Tomorrow the US votes for its president. You probably won’t be surprised to hear that, if I was allowed to vote (and I should be, dammit… the US election affects EVERYBODY), I’d be voting for Obama. I’m a leftie, no surprises there. And yet I suspect that, given the chance, he’d be filtering the internet too.<\/p>\n It’s nearly a year since we changed our government here in Australia and it feels as if all we did was rearrange the deckchairs. I really hope it’s not the same in the US.<\/p>\n OK, enough doom and gloom. I have heaps to write about, especially all the fun of the Berlin Porn Film Festival, plus some travel pics and stories. And then I need to write about all the up-and-coming talent emerging in the field of feminist porn.<\/p>\n Yep, back to the grindstone, folks.<\/p>\n Pic is from here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Well folks, I’m back from my excellent adventure in Europe, both exhausted and inspired by the things I’ve seen and the people I’ve met. I hardly know where to begin with this first post, especially considering I’ve returned to numerous interesting issues, both here and abroad. On Saturday morning, when I was still jetlagged and addled, my cousin rang to ask me to be a bridesmaid at her same-sex union Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,19],"tags":[285,362,647],"class_list":["post-970","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-censorship","category-ramblings","tag-europe","tag-gay-marriage","tag-proposition-8"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t