Hugs to QLD.

I thought Newman was OK with gay marriage ? hope he's not going to turn out to be a religious troll.

Family first seems more gay friendly than the LNP.

Interesting how Liberal supporters are very quiet.

I don't think negative conclusions should automatically be made about the QLD NLP being totally homophobic.

State recognised civil unions are tokenistic nonsense considering that the marriage act is legislated by the federal parliament and for any real benefit and meaningful legal recognition of same sex relationships the federal act needs to be changed.

As for the Queensland Association for Healthy Communities if it's anything like ACON (AIDS Council of NSW) it's probably not that effective and in need of a good overhaul and review.

Yet unlike ACON or the other state government supported AIDS/HIV councils/organisations in Australia. QAHC only supports GLTIQ communities, which I think is ridiculous and does nothing to advance inclusion and acceptance of GLBTIQ people in society and just treats GLBTIQ people as 'special needs'. The other AIDS councils can embrace all sexualities and still have great quality and effective GLBTIQ programs, so why can't QAHC?

I'm wondering why anyone would be surprised by this?

time to migrate south!

fucktards

I think its a little alarmist to assume that shutting down QAHC is necessarily a sign of repression to come. It's pretty normal for a new government to shut down old programs that cost a lot and are ineffective.

I'm interested to see where this civil unions problem goes though because a;though I think civil unions are today's equivalent of having a White and Coloured drinking fountain, they are still better than being told you've gotta drink directly out of the river.

I don't think you could argue that the LNP would repeal civil unions for good reasons though- they are consistent in their anti-homosexual stance.

Quote:

Originally Posted by badtrany

time to migrate south!

to canberra

Quote:

Originally Posted by trina2004

I think its a little alarmist to assume that shutting down QAHC is necessarily a sign of repression to come. It's pretty normal for a new government to shut down old programs that cost a lot and are ineffective.

I'm interested to see where this civil unions problem goes though because a;though I think civil unions are today's equivalent of having a White and Coloured drinking fountain, they are still better than being told you've gotta drink directly out of the river.

I don't think you could argue that the LNP would repeal civil unions for good reasons though- they are consistent in their anti-homosexual stance.

Well it would be different if it was not the only GLBT health organization in QLD, in fact many people believe that the 2.5 million was not enough funds to be effective. 2.5 million might sound a lot but the population of QLD is estimated at 4,599,362 and counting.

@Chad, (I hope you don't mind if I offer some criticism?)

Am I right in assuming this is meant to be a news article and not an opinion piece? because it reads like news except for (the end and) that first line;

Quote:

A dark shadow of oppression is now hanging over our communities, something that is beginning to be reminiscent of the darkest days under former Queensland Premier Sir Joh.

In my opinion that sentence is sensationalist and frankly a bit ridiculous.

P.S. look what you did to google




@Oldie

Newman is in favor of gay marriage and has publicly said so many times.

repealing the civil unions act was one of the LNP's election promises under the proviso that it was legally possible and didn't hurt anyone who had already received one.



@ everyone

Has anyone here been a client of the QAHC or had much interaction with them?

@Ammonite I haven't had any dealings with QAHC yet from looking at their website it's clear that the organisations purpose is solely focused on GLTBIQ communities and not about assisting and educating the whole QLD community on HIV/AIDS, sexuality and sexual health related issues.

If you compare QAHC to an organisation like the Western Australian AIDS Council (WAAC) you'll find that QAHC has a very limited agenda and I can see why they have been targeted for funding cuts and withdrawl.

AIDS/HIV, sexuality and sexual health issues don't just affect GLBTIQ communities, they affect everyone and those services should be provided for everyone, regardless of sexual orientation or gender.

Its Started already now its time to fight for our rights even harder then before

Frankly MrAsh, for once in your life grow a spine.

LGBT Health Councils are the single most important bodies to the welfare of gay people.

The gay community fought hard in the eighties to get support for them, and they directly protect
lives in our community.

All AIDS Councils predominately focus on the welfare of gay men- we are the highest risk group.
They do not just deal with the disease itself, they take a holistic approach that aims to
improve the health of all LGBT people, and thereby reduce the spread of the disease
while simultaneously assisting to improve our quality of life. Sometimes, this requires the organisations
involvement in political activity and confronting advertising.

LGBT Queenslanders contribute exponentially more to the tax system than the 2.5 million required
to have a LGBT health service that follows internationally recognised best practice.
It's ours, it protects our health, and some of us will defend it from the rednecks who
would rather victimise, pathologise, and stigmatise- or prefer to see dead- lgbt positive people.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lordpats

Frankly MrAsh, for once in your life grow a spine.

LGBT Health Councils are the single most important bodies to the welfare of gay people.

The gay community fought hard in the eighties to get support for them, and they directly protect
lives in our community.

All AIDS Councils predominately focus on the welfare of gay men- we are the highest risk group.
They do not just deal with the disease itself, they take a holistic approach that aims to
improve the health of all LGBT people, and thereby reduce the spread of the disease
while simultaneously assisting to improve our quality of life. Sometimes, this requires the organisations
involvement in political activity and confronting advertising.

LGBT Queenslanders contribute exponentially more to the tax system than the 2.5 million required
to have a LGBT health service that follows internationally recognised best practice.
It's ours, it protects our health, and some of us will defend it from the rednecks who
would rather victimise, pathologise, and stigmatise- or prefer to see dead- lgbt positive people.

Lord Patsy, I am aware that a holistic approach to HIV/AIDS is essential for the care of those affected by the virus and also assists in prevention. I am also aware that gay men are one of the highest risk groups for infection. Yet the example I have given above (WAAC) has excellent programs for GLBTIQ people, in particular gay men, as well as heterosexuals. So why can't QLD have an inclusive 'holistic' service as well? It would more than likely receive more govt. funding and financial support from the general community.

Also those folk you describe as 'rednecks' will certainly have gay/bi/questioning men (and women) amongst them and many probably are engaging in barebacking and other high risk sexual and drug related activities. Don't let a cowboy hat and a presence on the front pew of the protestant church on Sunday morning fool you. People get up to devlish things they would other wise deny and these folk need access to education and sexual health services as well and these are the kind who would not even think of idenitfying themselves as part of the GLBTIQ spectrum. So an inclusive and non-sexuality specific sexual health organisation is essential.

If it duplicates existing services, it probably is a candidate for the chop. ie: if those services are provided in the general community health service.

Quote:

Springborg says he’ll immediately re-direct over $2.5 million in government grants that had previously been channelled through Queensland Association for Healthier Communities to conduct AIDS/HIV awareness and prevention strategies.

“Instead of this funding being administered by QAHC, which has published its intention to move the core of its activity away from AIDS/HIV to more general, political issues, it will be moved into the control of an expert panel a Ministerial Advisory Committee on HIV/AIDS.”

If this is true, that money has been diverted away from AIDS awareness & prevention and into things like same sex marriage campaigns, then it's fair enough, if that was the intent of the original funding. The $2.5 mill is still going to be used where originally intended.

Just a couple of comments responding to some of the trolling in this thread...

1. QuAHC was funded to only work with GLBTIQ communities. There are other organisations that receive funding for other groups. (This is not the case in WA where 50% of new infection are in heterosexuals - mostly miners acquiring HIV on overseas trips)

2. It was a condition of their funding that they do advocacy and work on broader glbtiq health issues. This was actually requested by the Qld Dept of Health many years ago as a single focus on HIV was becoming less effective and there was a belief that it was more effective to put HIV education in a broader context.

3. I'm sure QuAHC expected policy to change and what they were funded for to change - but they were never approached - instead their funding was cut off by announcement in the Murdoch press on a Sunday with no negotiation.

4. The great fear of a conservative approach to HIV is that they will reintroduce compulsory partner notification and involve the law in transmission cases which will drive gay men away from testing. Conservative governments did these things in the 1990s which drove up seroconversion rates. In modern HIV prevention where HIV is no longer a death sentence what is needed is easier access to testing and rapid testing and appropriate access to technologies like PeP and PrEP. The source of many new infections is people who themselves were recently infected and don't know they have become HIV-positive. What's important is more testing of those most at risk - not less. To achieve this we need to change the fear around HIV - sadly conservative governments typically act to increase it.

I wish we had some facts in this discussion.

(I do remember Sydney's Acon people proclaiming a few years ago that they would no longer be dealing with unpleasant things like yucky diseases and in the future they would be MOVING FORWARD to deal with the wellbeing and happiness of middle-class burgeois Sydney gay men)

Quote:

Originally Posted by IRDSyd

Just a couple of comments responding to some of the trolling in this thread...

It's a little rude imo, in your first post to the forum to accuse people of 'trolling' merely because you disagree with them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Irene

It's a little rude imo, in your first post to the forum to accuse people of 'trolling' merely because you disagree with them.

I agree Irene.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mark_

I wish we had some facts in this discussion.

(I do remember Sydney's Acon people proclaiming a few years ago that they would no longer be dealing with unpleasant things like yucky diseases and in the future they would be MOVING FORWARD to deal with the wellbeing and happiness of middle-class burgeois Sydney gay men)

That's what I remember as well. I'd like to see the annual report of this QAHC and see how much is spent on entertainment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Irene

If it duplicates existing services, it probably is a candidate for the chop. ie: if those services are provided in the general community health service.

QAHC was unique in it's services, there is no other service in QLD that provides the same service as what QAHC did for us gays. We gays in QLD don't have nearly as many services that are currently available to gays in the likes of NSW or Victoria.

Memories of Jo era are flooding back - I leave my state for a short few years and look what happens!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frostydog007

Memories of Jo era are flooding back - I leave my state for a short few years and look what happens!

Notice how lots of gays and lesbians who are defending the LNP, but don't actually live in Queensland, hence are not affected by the LNP. It's like if the NSW govt axed GLBT services and us Queenslanders sided with the NSW government. Very ironic.

^What about the larger group of people who are criticising them yet don't live here either?

I think I've worked it out:

Quote:

Lawrence Springborg delivering the bad news in a blunt press release: “When it comes to health, unlike Labor, I refuse to throw good money after bad and I refuse to turn a blind eye to what are obviously ineffective campaigns at reducing HIV diagnosis rates.

“This clearly indicates that the campaigns and strategies, and the way those campaigns and strategies have been provided, is in need of urgent review and redirection.”

Springborg says he’ll immediately re-direct over $2.5 million in government grants that had previously been channelled through Queensland Association for Healthier Communities to conduct AIDS/HIV awareness and prevention strategies.

“Instead of this funding being administered by QAHC, which has published its intention to move the core of its activity away from AIDS/HIV to more general, political issues, it will be moved into the control of an expert panel a Ministerial Advisory Committee on HIV/AIDS.”

Plans & Funding - Strategic Plan 2012-2015 - http://www.qahc.org.au/plans
http://www.qahc.org.au/files/shared/..._web-email.pdf

Quote:

GOAL 3
Leading Voice on LGBT Issues
Be the lead voice on LGBT issues in Queensland and
effectively represent the needs of LGBT Queenslanders on
LGBT health, wellbeing and related human rights issues

Advocacy & Lobbying
n Consult widely with LGBT people through a range of mechanisms in the
development of advocacy positions.
n Encourage the Queensland government to establish a whole-ofgovernment
LGBT advisory group and commitment statement.
n Work with the Queensland government to ensure that LGBT people and
communities are appropriately prioritised, resourced and serviced.
n Advocate for full equality before the law for LGBT people, including age
of consent, relationships recognition/marriage, anti-discrimination,
adoption, transgender identity documentation.
n Explore the viability of a cross-party LGBT Queensland parliamentary
friends group.
n Develop effective relationships with local bodies including local
government, Medicare Locals, Local Health & Hospital Networks and
Public Health Units
n Speak out against homophobia/transphobia in the media and public
sphere.
n Develop and support a network of people across the state who can act
as champions for Healthy Communities and LGBT health.
n Advocate for full access to required health services for transgender
people, through the public health system.
n Advocate for sex & relationships education as part of the core school
curriculum in Queensland, which is inclusive of LGBT young people.
Research & Policy
n Develop partnerships with researchers and mainstream research
institutions in Queensland and nationally, to increase inclusion of LGBT
people and issues and develop Queensland based research.
n Encourage and support staff to undertake research projects and present
findings to conferences and in professional journals.
n Develop formal Healthy Communities position statements on a variety of
priority issues in consultation with LGBT people and organisations.
n Make submissions to relevant reviews, inquiries and consultations.
Profile & Reputation
n Strengthen the Healthy Communities brand and increase its recognition
by more people in the LGBT and wider communities.
n Develop effective relationships with LGBT and mainstream media outlets
and journalists to increase appropriate coverage of LGBT issues and
Healthy Communities.
n Make better use of online and social media to reach our communities
and engage in discussion.
n Redesign the Healthy Communities website and increase its
functionality.
n Produce a bi-annual magazine promoting the work and services of
Healthy Communities.
n Celebrate Healthy Communities’ good work and successes through
‘Statewide News’, LGBT media and other means.

I'm guessing the LNP has decided they don't want to fund media campaigns against themselves.



It's a shame because the plan looks useful. - I don't know how effective QAHC has been in the past in implementing their plans - good?

and I liked the sound of this:

Quote:

Explore the viability of a cross-party LGBT Queensland parliamentary friends group.

how ironic!


I guess this is what can happen when a publicly funded health organisation decides to expand into politics and activism. especially right before a landslide election.



Is there much information yet about where the money will be redirected?

and what chance does the campaign to stop it have do you think?

^ That makes sense to me Ammonite.

I don't know these particular Queenslanders but some public servants forget who they're supposed to be serving. They create their own little empires at taxpayers' expense

Quote:

Originally Posted by mark_

^ That makes sense to me Ammonite.

I don't know these particular Queenslanders but some public servants forget who they're supposed to be serving. They create their own little empires at taxpayers' expense

This lot seem to have turned a public health service into a lobby group.

BTW Mark have you ever been to one of those ACON parties?

@ammonite from what I understand the money will still be directed in HIV related activites, but this will be administered by QLD Health (alarm bells) rather than an "independent" organisation.

In terms of questions about their services - ripnroll is clearly the biggest example of what they have done recently, but they also do a plethora of other activities, from safe sex packs provided to LGBTIQ events, running workshops on sex and relationships, help fund and support the Gay and Lesbian Welfare phone line, provide regional services to gays throughout Qld... these are just the things I know off the top of my head, I'm sure the website would prove more illuminating.

This slash and burn style of Newman's is disturbing, it is reminiscent of the 90's corporate takeover culture, where a company is bought all assets are stripped and the husk of the organisation is left and it either withers or blooms. Someone makes a lot of money, but a lot more people suffer!