From international news sources we learn:
Germany has formally recognised that there are more than two genders, and is now providing a third descriptor ‘Other’ for those who don’t conform to the binary;
Meanwhile, gay father-singer Ricky Martin has a new husband and a new-born daughter Lucia;
In Canada, a Catholic priest says that Satan designed the rainbow flag!
In Malaysia, a gay male couple are dragged from their car and assaulted in a homophobic attack;
French scientists have announced a potential treatment to destroy hidden HIV cells; &
In the US, gay Ellen DeGeneres is named as the most-admired person.

At this time of the year, we safely observe the rich-men as they tempt Nature sailing from Sydney to Hobart in a yacht race which has seen more than it’s fair share of fatalities over the years, since the race was first held in 1945.

Also at this time of the year, we recall that in 1901 Australia is proclaimed a Commonwealth on 1^st January – a day fit to be our National Day?

On 3 January 1888, the paper drinking straw is patented, and having been displaced by the plastic replacement, is now back in favour as a benign and ecological appropriate option.

Listen to these stories, opinions and more – presented with some merriment (where appropriate) by Chris, Gordon & Phil.

Show #838 – First broadcast on 8 January 2019   

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From our Anniversaries Book, we review the work and life of Gore Vidal – influential gay US social and political commentator, author, playwright, and essayist – born 3/10/1925, and died at 86 years on 31/7/2012.

Other anniversaries include the first broadcast of ABC TV in November 1956, and the desertification of the Asian Aral Sea – drained of its water for irrigation, and declared in 1990 as the worst ecological disaster.
Another sign of impending ecological damage is the expected loss of the world’s largest living organism – a huge underground root system which sends up thousands of clone Aspen trees, but which is unable to sustain itself as the new shoots are being eaten by feral grazing deer and other animals. Natural balance has been disturbed to the point of collapse.

From the international press we tell of a report that Chelsea Manning has undergone elective medical procedures to confirm her selected gender.
This contrasts with US Presidential proposals to re-define gender as birth-gender, ignoring the circumstances that trans and intersex people find themselves – often later in life – when gender-confusion is recognised. This can be distressful when the assigned sex and gender do not match the person’s gender identity or there are variations in sexual characteristics which do not fit the typical definitions for male or female bodies.

We also report on a UK proposal to alter the circumstances in which HIV positive gay men can seek parenthood.

Listen to these stories, opinions and more – presented with some merriment (where appropriate) by Chris, Gordon & Phil.

Show #828 – First broadcast on 30 October 2018

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More importantly, we note that Mathew Shepard’s ashes are to be interred in Washington’s National Cathedral, some 20 years after his death. His place in modern society is being respected and honoured, despite being a graphic example of human behaviour of homophobia and hatred.

Our near-neighbours Malaysia have reviewed their colonial laws and decided to repeal the barbaric death penalty, and we compare this to the recent action by India to repeal the colonial law which criminalised gay sex.

The anniversary at this time of the political reunion of West and East Germany is recalled, and we note that the public are still readjusting their expectations of their society. Locally, we consider the turmoil of our own political parties as they juggle and jostle in throes of self-destruction. Where will it end up, we ask?

It was 45 years ago that the Sydney Opera House was opened by The Queen, and now we have a visit by Prince Harry and his newly pregnant wife. We wonder if the royals are acceptable alternatives compared to some international leaders, despots, demagogues, tyrants or dictators? We are distracted by the recent actions to commercialise the sails of the Opera House for the purposes of promotion of gambling, and we wonder if we in Melbourne are too genteel by comparison.

Listen to these stories, opinions and more – presented with some merriment (where appropriate) by Chris, Gordon & Phil.

Show #826 – First broadcast on 16 October 2018

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We compare the way two gay icons lived their lives by being discrete and non-controversial. The two icons both with birthdays this month are Ian Thorpe – our recent gold-medal winning Olympic swimming sensation. The other is the pop singer Cliff Richards – for over 50 years he has presented a clean image, only blemished by a recent unsubstantiated attack on his ‘niceness’.

At this time, we remember the horrific hate crime committed in 1998 on Mathew Shepard – killed at the age of 22 years for ‘being gay’. And we also remember that at this time in October 1944, when 800 innocent gypsy children were murdered in the Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz.
In contrast, Switzerland has just outlawed expressions of homophobia and transphobia, including terms of imprisonment for breaches of this new law. We trust that the world is becoming more considerate and enlightened.

We chat about the innocent creatures in our Melbourne city zoo, and express our gratitude for the efforts in preserving species and respecting the dignity and living conditions of captive animals in open zoos.

Listen to these stories, opinions and more – presented with some merriment (where appropriate) by Chris, Gordon & Phil.

Show #825 – First broadcast on 9 October 2018

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We discuss the forthcoming celebrations for NAIDOC Week 8 -15 July 2018, with the theme ‘Because of her, we can’, and the focus upon the contribution of indigenous women.

We connect the concurrent activities of Lieutenant James Cook and his initial exploration of the east coast of Australia, the Queensland settlement of 1770, and the substitution of Botany Bay as the destination for Britain’s convicts following the separation and independence of the developing colonial settlements of the North American continent after 1776.

We recognise the contribution of David Hockney, OM, CH, RA, born 9/7/1937 – a gay English painter, draftsman, print-maker, stage designer and photographer. He is an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, and considered to be one of the most influential British artists of the 20th century (see pic).

We also recognise the life and work of (George) Percy Grainger (8 July 1882 to 20 February 1961) – an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist, who had a long and innovative career and played a prominent role in the revival of interest in British folk music in the early years of the 20th century. Much of his work was experimental and unusual, and he is remembered also for the Museum of Music and Granger Museum located within the University of Melbourne. He had a well-documented sex life that was so violent that he came to fear it might kill him.

Listen to these stories, opinions and more – presented with some merriment by Chris, Gordon & Phil.

Show #811 – First broadcast on 3 July 2018

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We enlist the assistance of Phil and TV’s Myth Busters to unravel the cause of the disaster some 80 years ago, when the airship Hindenburg caught fire and crashed when landing 6/05/1937.

We note the roles of TV authors, producers and actors in the normalisation of gay characters and story-lines in ‘soapies’, as we celebrate the birthday of gay writer, director and producer Alan Bell (of “6 Feet Under” fame) for his strong voice for the GLBT community.

A gay icon from the sporting arena was Mark Bingham (born 22/5/1970), who on ‘9/11’ died in his failed attempt to thwart the crash of a hijacked passenger aircraft, initially aimed at the Pentagon, and after whom the international gay Rugby competition ‘Bingham Cup‘ is named.

On the eve of IDAHOBIT 17/5/2018, we remember that it was on that day 25 years ago in 1992 that the (UN) World Health Organisation removed homosexuality from the list of Diseases, and thereby declared war on ignorance and homophobia. IDAHOBIT shows the extent now of intentions to identify the other sections of our rainbow community which still are also pilloried and denigrated. We decry the stand being taken by Australian professional rugby union footballer Israel Folau and his religious message.

Birthdays are celebrated at this time for luminaries in our extended family – Miriam Margolyes (gay English/Australian – character actor on stage, TV & screen – Prof Sprout in Harry Potter films, and Aunt Prudence in Miss Fisher TV and her one-woman show “Dickens’ Women” in which she played 23 characters from Dickens’ novels; – and for gender-identity-buster Marlene Dietrich, German and US movie and stage star from the 1930s; and Cher (Bono / Sarkisian) the everlasting US singer and actress, icon for many gay performers, and mother of trans Chas Bono.

Listen to these stories, opinions and more, presented with some merriment by Chris, Gordon & Phil.

Show #803 – First broadcast on 15 May 2018

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We note that some major catastrophes are made by natural causes; others by human error, as we discuss the great fire of 1906 which devastated San Francisco, and the nuclear explosion at Chernobyl in 1986 which will haunt the world for eons to come.

In gay news, we report on the Men-on-Men art show – part of Southern Hibernation in Melbourne in June; the birthday of gay artist Keith Haring (died 16/02/1990); and the gay-idols Barbra Streisand and Leslie Gore – 2 singers with anniversaries around this time.  We also report that Indonesia is getting tough on queer comics entering the country, while Thailand is introducing same-sex civil partnership – a positive step towards marriage equality.

From the US, we report that Armistead Maupin’s famous literary series “Tales of the City” is to be given a TV revival with a fresh cast and additional material, and is slated for release on cable TV.

Listen to these stories, opinions and more, presented with some merriment by Chris, Gordon & Phil.

Show #801- First broadcast on 1 May 2018

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We are being urged to take collective action during World Immunisation Week to ensure we are protected from vaccine-preventable diseases, and we recall the death in 20 April 1862 of Louis Pasteur, the creator of vaccines for diseases like diphtheria, rabies, tuberculosis – which are ever present in our modern world.

An horrific event occurred in beautiful and quiet Port Arthur in Tasmania on 28 April 1996, when a deranged gunman massacred innocent men, women and children at the Broad Arrow cafe. This event prompted the federal government to call for the tightening of gun-ownership laws in a national gun amnesty, which saw over 700,000 firearms handed in for destruction. This action is often cited as a positive example of addressing the gun menace.

On 30 April 1999, a nail-bomb was exploded in a gay pub in Soho, London in which 3 patrons were killed and about 70 injured.  The bomb was planted in an attempt to stir up ethnic and homophobic tensions. The bomber was caught and sentenced to 6 life sentences; an example for other trouble-makers.

We also remember the events and loss of our young innocent troops at Gallipoli in 1915 – examples of bravery and sacrifice in the face of overwhelming odds.

In a lighter vein, we relate the examples of humans’ taming of the world with the construction of the Suez Canal and the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

Listen to these stories, opinions and more, presented with some merriment by Chris, Gordon & Phil.

Show #800- First broadcast on 24 April 2018

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The modern-era Olympic games returned in 1896 after a 1500 year absence, having been banned by religious zealots, (and the fear of naked flesh?), while the not-so-innocent Maypole celebrations were allowed to continue, except in England where Parliament banned them!

Our recent Queer Film Festival featured a coming-out film, Love, Simon.  Some critics have called this film one of the more important LGBTI film ever. Although it is now on general release here in Australia, we learn it is banned for Singaporeans under 21 years of age – a very sad state of affairs, especially as public education seems necessary.

Anniversaries around this time include the birthday of Graham Norton – the popular yet irreverent gay TV talk-show host. On a more serious note, it was in early April 1990 that teenage haemophiliac Ryan White died from receiving HIV-tainted blood.

Listen to these stories, opinions and more, presented with some merriment by Chris, Gordon & Phil.

Show #797- First broadcast on 3 April 2018

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In today’s show, we honour Ita Buttrose – a wonderful ally for our community; a great mouth-piece who, at the height of the 80’s AIDS crisis, was able with passion to respectfully and calmly ease the fears and mystery of AIDS to her extensive and wide female audience and readers.

Birthday gay–guys around this time include UK pop-singer Gary Barlow (of Take That fame), and Will Young also UK pop singer, and GB-born gay actor and film star Cary Grant – handsome and debonair.

In technology, we chat about the advancement of alternative sources of power for our daily drive – from the first solar-car race in Australia in 1983, to current hybrid and battery electric cars. What will the future hold?

We note the 15^th anniversary of JOY going to air with our full-time broadcast licence 15/01/2002.

And finally, we acknowledge the inspirational poetry of Dorothy McKellar (b 21/1/1827) whose works include the iconic “My Country” … “I love a sunburnt country….”.

Listen to these stories and more, with some merriment – presented by Chris, Gordon & Phil.

First broadcast on 16 January 2018

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