Success! Adshel to put posters back

Adshel, the ad company which removed Brisbane’s HIV-awareness same-sex couple ad (pictured) from bus shelters after a clearly orchestrated campaign by the Australian Christian Lobby, has just announced it has reversed its decision and will immediately reinstate the campaign.

The decision follows widespread condemnation of the advertising promotion company, including a 36,000-member strong protest Facebook page and an impromptu protest outside its Brisbane office this lunchtime.

 

Read this article at http://www.samesame.com.au/news/local/6870/Success-Adshel-to-put-posters-back.htm

Billboards preach gay love to Christians

Queensland media company Goa Billboards fought back against religious intolerance last night, posting a series of pro-gay signs on their digital billboards throughout Brisbane.

The billboards read: ‘Our God loves everyone gay & straight’ and the company plans to follow up the move with more signs of support to be posted on the digital screens until the end of the week.

 

Read this article at http://www.starobserver.com.au/news/2011/06/02/billboards-preach-gay-love-to-christians/53654

Victorian Baillieu Govt strips rights protections

Less than a week after a tardy MP denied the Baillieu Liberal Government the numbers to pass a bill stripping back protections in the Victorian Equal Opportunities Act, the Government has brought the bill back for a second vote and passed it.

Under the rules of the Victorian Parliament a bill cannot be voted on more than once in a session of Parliament.

However the Government set procedure aside and brought the bill up for another vote despite outcry from the Victorian Opposition.

Victorian Attorney General Robert Clark pointed to the different rules used in the Federal Parliament regarding missed votes.

“It’s clearly recognised by the commonwealth parliament that in cases where there is a misadventure, where there is a missed vote, it is appropriate for the question to be again put.”

GLBT activists had appealed to government MPs to vote with their conscience but in the end the bill was passed unanimously by Coalition members in a vote of 43-42.

It is unclear at this stage whether putting the bill up for a vote in this manner could be subject to court challenge.

 

Read this article at http://www.starobserver.com.au/news/2011/06/02/baillieu-government-strips-equal-opportunities-protections/53633

Christians force removal of safe sex ads

The leading provider of street furniture mounted advertising in Australia and New Zealand, Adshel, has removed posters for a Queensland Association of Healthy Communities (QAHC) campaign encouraging safe sex after a campaign of complaints about the ad from conservative Christians.

The posters show two fully clothed men, one nuzzling the neck of the other, with one of the men holding a condom packet in his hand.

Less than 50 complaints were made against the ad and were clearly variations on a form letter.

All were sent to Adshel in the space of a week.

A condom packet that forms part of a small logo on the posters is described in many of the complaints as being “huge”, implying many complainants had not even seen the posters, while the phrase “The only reason for homosexual men to need condoms is because their sexual intercourse carries with it a very high risk of serious disease” and “any condom ad in public spaces to children [sic] is unacceptable!” are common to many of the complaints.

Descriptions of the ad made by complainants included “Homosexual men are necking and cuddling each other,” and “the advertisement is promoting a type of condom to be used by homosexuals – for safe sex.”

Many of the posters that were complained about were situated in Brisbane’s pink Fortitude Valley precinct.

The posters were removed by Adshel without the consent of QAHC.

The Star Observer understands that the complaint campaign was orchestrated by Wendy Francis of the Australian Christian Lobby Queensland.

 

Read this article at http://www.starobserver.com.au/news/2011/06/01/safe-sex-ads-removed-after-christian-complaints/53563