12 October 2011

The first openly gay leader of Government?

| johnboy
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The ABC is carrying claims by keen RiotACT reader Andrew Barr to be the first openly gay leader of an Australian government.

Mr Barr is acting as Chief Minister for the first time this month while Ms Gallagher is on holiday.

He says his position reflects an evolution of society.

“There perhaps was a time in Australian society when it would’ve been virtually impossible to be openly gay and be in politics,” he said.

“I think we need only reflect back on a number of politicians who held high-profile positions who came out after their time in politics to prove that point.

Congratulations to him.

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Mr Gillespie4:26 am 15 Oct 11

smeeagain said :

Mr Gillespie said :

Oh and also Mr Barr, did you know we already have a gay prime minister.

Yes that’s right! His name is Bob Brown!

Prime Minister? Did I miss an election?

Bob Brown seems to be the one calling the shots, at least where the Carbon Tax is concerned……

dungfungus said :

And do you send your children to a private school Mr. Barr?

If he could, I’m sure he would.

Mr Gillespie said :

Oh and also Mr Barr, did you know we already have a gay prime minister.

Yes that’s right! His name is Bob Brown!

Possibly in his own mind- but he does appear to have some string-pulling ability.
Another one who enjoys a good blowing of his own trumpet..

‘He says his position reflects an evolution of society’

There would be sod all evolution of the human race if we were all tarred with Barr’s brush!

creative_canberran6:18 pm 13 Oct 11

The_TaxMan said :

smeeagain said :

Prime Minister? Did I miss an election?

Get real and keep up, who needs an election to become PM. Julia certainly wasn’t elected

You’re an idiot who has no understanding of the way government works.
Neither the Australian PM, nor the British PM or even the US President and directly elected. People who think they are are simpletons who probably should just stay at home on election day.

The PM is the leader of the party or coalition who has the confidence of the House of Representatives. That’s the Westminster System for you.

The US President isn’t directly elected either, despite popular perceptions. He is elected by an electoral college, whose representatives are elected by the public in the “Presidential Election”. If you bother to check the actual votes lodged in the electoral college, you’ll find examples where one or two of the reps will vote for people outside of the two front runners, or even for people not running for election!

mareva said :

Astounded by the amount of casual gay swipes being taken by people on this thread. I’m going to go ahead and assume majority of you are 40+. If not I’m worried.

I object.

As a registered, card-carrying Old Fart, ignorance and homophobia aren’t restricted to my generation, sonny.

The_TaxMan said :

Get real and keep up, who needs an election to become PM. Julia certainly wasn’t elected

Yes she was – once by the voters in her electorate, and again by the Labor Party caucus. That’s the way it usually works in Oz. Perhaps you were thinking that we have direct elections for the Prime Minister.We don’t.

smeeagain said :

Prime Minister? Did I miss an election?

Get real and keep up, who needs an election to become PM. Julia certainly wasn’t elected

Bob Brown is a homosexual?

I guess that identifies the Illuminati as male….

Mr Gillespie said :

Oh and also Mr Barr, did you know we already have a gay prime minister.

Yes that’s right! His name is Bob Brown!

Prime Minister? Did I miss an election?

I-filed said :

So the ACT Government’s Labor politicians have told us loud and clear that it is perfectly in order to know, and discuss, their sexual preferences.

That means, one would think, that it is in order to ask questions about those politicians’ lives that are actually relevant to their work.

So: Andrew Barr, on how many working days do you catch the bus or cycle to work, and on how many days do you drive or are driven? On weekends, do you bus/cycle to the shops, or do you drive?

And, Andrew Barr, do you live in the kind of medium to high density housing that your government plans to require most Canberrans to live in?

Failure to answer those questions would I think be a strong indication that truthful answers would show you to be a hypocrite.

And given the invitation to discuss your sexuality, you cannot justify not answering.

And do you send your children to a private school Mr. Barr?

Mr Gillespie10:13 am 13 Oct 11

Oh and also Mr Barr, did you know we already have a gay prime minister.

Yes that’s right! His name is Bob Brown!

Mr Gillespie10:12 am 13 Oct 11

Evolution of society MY ARSE

There was “a time”, you mean back in the day of the dinosaur, before anyone of us were born, when this sort of thing was unacceptable, I’d hate to think what will be acceptable in 100 year’s time, if I was alive then……

Don’t get too sure of yourself Andrew Barr……

I would not care in the slightest if my child is gay.

If they become a politician, I’ll disown them.

I don’t care if he’s gay, straight, black, white, green, yellow or a reptoid, well, okay, maybe a tad worried if he’s a reptoid, as long as he does his job.

BWAHAHAHAHA

He doesn’t do his job very well any other time, why would he start now?

I don’t care if he’s gay, straight, black, white, green, yellow or a reptoid, well, okay, maybe a tad worried if he’s a reptoid, as long as he does his job.

+1000 to the underlying sentiment and i look forward to the day when everyone thinks this way. doubt it’ll happen in our lifetime though :/

Be worried, but not really, it’s the younger ones who can’t see why it’s a big deal.

Astounded by the amount of casual gay swipes being taken by people on this thread. I’m going to go ahead and assume majority of you are 40+. If not I’m worried.

breda said :

That is a step forward, I guess.

It certainly is.

I’m old enough to remember a time when it would have been unthinkable to have an unmarried atheist woman living in sin as PM. Barr’s situation is similar.

Of course if I lived in the US, that would be today.

Kayellar said :

Jethro said :

Kayellar said :

I think the fact is is a non-event is a good thing. It means homosexuality has become relatively normalised . It’s not a huge issue any more.

While it might be boring or hum drum for some, for others, this is a big deal. Just look at the way some politicians have been treated because of their sexuality, Penny Wong not being considered a ‘real’ parent to her female partners child, David Campbell being outted for using gay saunas, and even the image of the placard from the Convoy of no Confidence that referred to Bob Brown as a faggot, and some of the childish comments about Andrew Barr in this feed just demonstrate how this is still an ‘issue’.

+1

do none of you remember the celebration in and marking of the occasion of the first african-american president?such social progress (and yes, it IS actually an indication of that) actually does mean something to a lot of people and is a valid news item, although it clearly ‘bores’ some on this thread. i dare say that the GLBTI community welcomes boredom over bashing though!

Really, who really cares? The government he temporarilly heads is still useless.

May we address him as Priscilla, Queen of the Desert now?

Jethro said :

Kayellar said :

I think the fact is is a non-event is a good thing. It means homosexuality has become relatively normalised . It’s not a huge issue any more.

While it might be boring or hum drum for some, for others, this is a big deal. Just look at the way some politicians have been treated because of their sexuality, Penny Wong not being considered a ‘real’ parent to her female partners child, David Campbell being outted for using gay saunas, and even the image of the placard from the Convoy of no Confidence that referred to Bob Brown as a faggot, and some of the childish comments about Andrew Barr in this feed just demonstrate how this is still an ‘issue’.

Kayellar said :

Oh yes, because the appropriate response here is to dismiss this – because there are SO many openly same sex attracted role models out there who are not retired from their professional field that this is such a non event… Oh wait…

I think the fact is is a non-event is a good thing. It means homosexuality has become relatively normalised . It’s not a huge issue any more.

Oh yes, because the appropriate response here is to dismiss this – because there are SO many openly same sex attracted role models out there who are not retired from their professional field that this is such a non event… Oh wait…

So the ACT Government’s Labor politicians have told us loud and clear that it is perfectly in order to know, and discuss, their sexual preferences.

That means, one would think, that it is in order to ask questions about those politicians’ lives that are actually relevant to their work.

So: Andrew Barr, on how many working days do you catch the bus or cycle to work, and on how many days do you drive or are driven? On weekends, do you bus/cycle to the shops, or do you drive?

And, Andrew Barr, do you live in the kind of medium to high density housing that your government plans to require most Canberrans to live in?

Failure to answer those questions would I think be a strong indication that truthful answers would show you to be a hypocrite.

And given the invitation to discuss your sexuality, you cannot justify not answering.

creative_canberran9:10 pm 12 Oct 11

No doubt Westboro Baptist Church will be issuing a statement on this shortly.

Days later and they’re still sending out Tweets explaining why Shirley Phelps tweeted on her iPhone that Steve Jobs was evil and supporting the idolatry and gay loving America.
For those wondering, Apple products are fine so long as you don’t use them to sin is what they meant.

Classified said :

Spykler said :

Blow his own trumpet much?

It’s not his trumpet that he’s blowing.

Maybe he has had a go at a few French horns as well?

Spykler said :

Blow his own trumpet much?

It’s not his trumpet that he’s blowing.

He should follow the example of those who came more modestly before, and wear pink hot pants.

‘Openly’ being the operative word.

As for the two previous government leaders that I can think of who were gay, it was hardly a secret to the political cognoscenti, and to many others as well. But it was never mentioned in public or in the media.

That is a step forward, I guess.

Blow his own trumpet much?

snooooooooooooooooore

Who cares?

Oh… the ABC, right. Next!

I don’t think anyone cares. Plus, getting a position while someone is on holiday is exactly a claim to fame.

Waiting For Godot5:27 pm 12 Oct 11

“The ABC is carrying claims blah blah . . . “

Gee, how surprising!

Andrew “Hates Gardens, Hates History” Barr is certainly an outlier then. Why doesn’t he want us to grow flowers?

whoopty do

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

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