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showAuth({"version":"1.0","encoding":"UTF-8","entry":{"xmlns":"http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom","xmlns$blogger":"http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008","xmlns$georss":"http://www.georss.org/georss","xmlns$gd":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005","xmlns$thr":"http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0","id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-708938817000327103.post-380891627825912395"},"published":{"$t":"2015-06-25T11:21:00.000+09:30"},"updated":{"$t":"2015-08-16T11:26:20.568+09:30"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Columns"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Hysteria over rainbow flags is pathetic homophobia"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\n\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-YmsYzM59Gy0\/Vc_s5nc5VEI\/AAAAAAAACIY\/p5BOJ8WtL0E\/s1600\/Capture.JPG\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"274\" src=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-YmsYzM59Gy0\/Vc_s5nc5VEI\/AAAAAAAACIY\/p5BOJ8WtL0E\/s400\/Capture.JPG\" width=\"400\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nTUCKED away in the western suburbs on Findon Rd is a little corner shop marked “Christian Supplies”.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nI’ve never been inside so I can only guess what they sell there — Bibles, probably. Bookmarks with the Lord’s Prayer on them. Loaves and fishes, that sort of thing.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nI’m also guessing they’ve probably never had any complaints that the giant rainbow painted on the side of their building “promotes homosexuality to children”.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThis despite the fact that there’s a primary school just 500 metres up the road and, well — there it is. A big, beautiful rainbow, sparkling away in brightly coloured paint for all to see.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nLucky that shop isn’t in the Marion Council area, or the anti-gay brigade might have already trooped in and painted over it with something less overtly sexual, like a half naked man nailed to a cross or something.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nBecause we all know what a rainbow means, right? GAY SEX.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nYes, I’m sure that Christian supplies shop would say the rainbow is a symbol of God’s everlasting covenant with Noah and all living creatures on Earth, but actually it means dirty, sleazy gay sex.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nWell, according to Marion councillor Jerome Appleby and his supporters it does.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThis week Cr Appleby got all upset at the idea that the Marion Council might hang a rainbow flag — the international symbol of gay pride and equality — off its council chambers, complaining it was all too sexual.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n“I don’t think it’s appropriate for the council to be promoting homosexuality when there’s a primary school up the road. Society is highly sexualised enough without council getting involved as well,” he told The Guardian Messenger.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nI can only assume from this that Cr Appleby is the sort of person who sees a rainbow flag and feels compelled to explain gay sex to children, because I fail to see how else a sheet of fabric with coloured stripes on it could “sexualise” them.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nHere’s an idea: if your child sees a rainbow flag and asks what it is, you don’t actually have to launch into a graphic explanation of homosexuality. You could just say it’s a symbol of love. You could just say it’s a symbol of equality. You could just say it’s a bloody rainbow flag.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nBut to me protecting children isn’t really the issue at all. To me people’s cries of “think of the children” are just a mask for what the real problem is: latent homophobia.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThe same sort of babbling could be heard earlier this week when it was suggested that gay Olympic diver Matthew Mitcham might dance with a male partner in the upcoming season of Dancing with the Stars.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nOnline comment boards were full of people calling for a boycott of the show, frothing at the mouth over the idea they would have to “explain all this” to their poor, innocent kids.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nPresumably these same people explain all the ins and outs (pun most definitely intended) of heterosexual sex when any of the other couples takes a spin on the dancefloor.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nIf you don’t want to “confront homosexuality” with your kids by two men dancing together on the telly, you could just say they’re, like, I dunno ... dancing?\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThe point is this: the idea that a rainbow flag or two men waltzing somehow sexualises children is nothing but hysteria concocted by those who fear, dislike and distrust homosexuals, but are too gutless to admit it.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nHomophobes, your attempts to hide your prejudices behind faux concern for children is and always will be pathetic. I, and I’m sure many others, can see you.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nFirst published in The Advertiser, June 25, 2015. \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.adelaidenow.com.au\/news\/opinion\/petra-starke-the-idea-that-a-rainbow-flag-or-two-men-waltzing-somehow-sexualises-kids-is-nothing-but-hysteria\/story-fni6unxq-1227413288029\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EClick here\u003C\/a\u003E to read the original article.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/708938817000327103\/posts\/default\/380891627825912395"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/708938817000327103\/posts\/default\/380891627825912395"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.petrastarke.com\/2015\/06\/hysteria-over-rainbow-flags-is-pathetic.html","title":"Hysteria over rainbow flags is pathetic homophobia"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"petstarr"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/09455921983611787867"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEjHw-A2jLGqT8RwSHGuBf3ee9SG0jkW-khCmY1n6f0EUdd0-cbukkcvO5uOooFYedyM5gR901vE6a7S2ImLskBGhjI7p9cN9J79yr-RXwmpB9DIMWlEqAYCRE0D0z8hKw\/s220\/headshot-sm.JPG"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-YmsYzM59Gy0\/Vc_s5nc5VEI\/AAAAAAAACIY\/p5BOJ8WtL0E\/s72-c\/Capture.JPG","height":"72","width":"72"}}});