quote:

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(Sydney, Australia) Its a tiny coral island off the coast of Australia but it could become the center of a major battle at the United Nations.

Cato Island is technically part of territorial Australia. But, last year, after the Australian government passed a law banning same-sex marriage (story) a group of gay activists in a bid to embarrass the government, sailed out to Cato and planted the rainbow flag, declaring it to be sovereign territory.

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*snip*

quote:

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Dale and his "subjects" are preparing to ask the UN to declare the island an independent nation, and they are doing it by using the world body's own rules to do it.

The group is preparing to submit a case to the International Court of Justice arguing that under Australian law the "gay Tribe" is an “oppressed people, and the island is ruled by an overseas colonial power. That overseas power is Australia. The submission argues that under the UN charter the Gay Kingdom has the right to self determination.

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*snip*

quote:

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Nevertheless, the International Court of Justice could be forced to deal with the application - embarrassing internationally the Australian government and angering Islamic nations.

The UN Commission on Human Rights has failed on two occasions to add sexuality to the list of categories protected by the world body following intense pressure from the Vatican and Muslim nations.

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Rather impertinent tone 365 is taking in this piece. I think I'll ask HRH Dale to declare the 365 editors apostate!

[sarcasm]It's also very refreshing to see how the Vatican and various Muslim nations can set differences aside when it comes time to conspire against the rights of homosexuals.[/sarcasm]

quote:

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Originally posted by Mr. Magoo:
Why on earth would it be "angering Muslim nations"? What business is it of theirs?

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quote:

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Originally posted by Burns:
Given that some Muslim nations (and the Vatican) are in the business of actively discriminating against gays and lesbians having the UN declare these policies discriminatory, immoral and violations of international law would be very much their business.

Presumably the US would react similarly if the UN was considering adding "class" to the list of categories protected by the world body.

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bbc

CBC

Guardian

The Globe and Mail

ABC News (Australia)

These are all searches of mainstream international news sources using: gay kingdom Cato Island. No quotes or anything to limit the hits. I'm not saying those are the only believable sources. But I do think, that if 100% true and taken seriously, that a mainstream news source would cover it, if only to make fun of it. Hence, a few doubts. But maybe they aren't taking it seriously and it will surprise everyone in a few months. Hope so, it will be interesting!

* If you've found a mainstream news source link, please post it. I only have a hour or two of internet time, so I'm not claiming an exhaustive search, or being an ultimate authority or anything. I just feel this story shakes up the international system so much that it *should* be on the TV when I turn on the Beeb for the news. But it hasn't been.

Edited to tinyurl wonky links.

[ 09 February 2005: Message edited by: dokidoki ]

[ 09 February 2005: Message edited by: N.Beltov ]

quote:

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Originally posted by Kevin_Laddle:
I wonder if it has dawned upon the residents of this new country that the population will drop to 0 within a generation

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Only of the population is made up of homosexuals who oppose reproduction rights, artifical semination, and adoption for gay couples.

quote:

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Originally posted by N.Beltov:
K_L:There's a new technology you might have heard of. Artificial insemination. Reproduction without sex. Still confused?

[ 09 February 2005: Message edited by: N.Beltov ]

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quote:

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Originally posted by Kevin_Laddle:

Oh i see, it hadn't occurred to me that the settlers of this new island had packed a gynocologist, medical clinic, pediatric ward, and nursing staff into their boat, the "Gayflower"

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quote:

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Originally posted by Kevin_Laddle:
I wonder if it has dawned upon the residents of this new country that the population will drop to 0 within a generation

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Ever hear of immigration, Kevin? 'Coz no matter how much you "hets" revile and disparage us, you keep churning out a percentage of gay babies every....single....year. And, as noted above, with surrogacy, AI and adoption, it is perfectly possible for gay parents to have kids as well, who may turn out to be gay OR straight.

There are one million things that need to be answered if this new nation is going to be a functioning, egalitarian member of the international community and not just a playground for a select number of differently orientated Australian activists.

[ 10 February 2005: Message edited by: CMOT Dibbler ]

[ 10 February 2005: Message edited by: CMOT Dibbler ]

quote:

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Originally posted by CMOT Dibbler:
This gay kingdom idea strikes me as a little odd.
Heph, has it ever occurred to you that the gay kingdom will only serve to alienate the gay community in the same way that the existence of Israel has to some extent alienated the Jews?

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Not at all... just 'coz Israel exists doesn't mean you can't find Jews in almost every nation around the world, right?

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I'm sure that if the GK is recognized by the United Nations, George Bush and the homophobic fossils who surround him will consider very seriously the possibility of deportating the gay population of the US to the new pink Paradise in the South Pacific.

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They'd never find us all, and there are new ones born every year. It would never work, even if they were stupid enough to try it. (And the abbreviation is more properly "GLK", btw...)

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Who would be allowed in? Would the kingdom's security forces test every refugee to see how gay he or she is? According to many sexperts most people have a little bit of gay in them. Would you have to be 100% homosexual from birth? Would transgendered people be allowed onto the island?

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You don't *have* to be gay — as I pointed out, a lot of our kids are str8s. Details are still being worked out, but if there IS a "certification board" to attest to applicants' gaiety, I wanna be on it!

quote:

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There are one million questions that need to be answered if this new nation is going to be a functioning member of the international community and not just a playground for a select number of differently orientated Australian activists.

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As I said, details are still being ironed out. Give us time. Rome wasn't built in a day, and all that...

[ 10 February 2005: Message edited by: Hephaestion ]

quote:

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Originally posted by Hephaestion:
[QB]Details are still being worked out, but if there IS a "certification board" to attest to applicants' gaiety, I wanna be on it!QB]

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quote:

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Originally posted by Hephaestion:

But I'll tell you one thing, Kev... I'll bet hardly *any* of the straight little boys and girls WE raise will grow up to be narrow-minded, thick-skulled bigots. We're not superior to ALL straights, Kevvie... just people like you.

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Judging by your defensive reaction, my joke has caused you some unintended harm... I was speaking in jest, im well aware that women can be impregnated without sex. Im sorry if any gay people on here felt i was trying to demean them over their sexuality. In actuality i am for equality of gays in every way.

quote:

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Originally posted by Kevin_Laddle:
In actuality i am for equality of gays in every way.

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[ 10 February 2005: Message edited by: CMOT Dibbler ]

quote:

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But I'll tell you one thing, Kev... I'll bet hardly *any* of the straight little boys and girls WE raise will grow up to be narrow-minded, thick-skulled bigots. We're not superior to ALL straights, Kevvie... just people like you.

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WHO were the kids that you heard being mocked, bullied and sneered at as “straights” in school?
WHAT faith-based queer institutions are routinely proselytizing to the LGBT community about the “intrinsic evil” of the straight community?
WHERE is the co-ordinated, well-funded campaign to deprive straights of any of their civil rights?
WHEN is the last time you heard about gay parents throwing their straight children out of the house, to live or die on the streets, simply because they are straight?
WHY do you so often hear about straights doing that to gays, but not the reverse?

and finally,

HOW many “straight-bashings” have you heard about?

Simple fact is, you don’t. And it isn’t that we can’t fight back in nasty, violent and hateful ways, it’s just that in most cases, we don’t, and we won’t. And the reason I hear for that most often is that if we did, it would drag us down to the same level. And in that sense, yes, by not sinking to that level, it makes some of us feel rather superior to the kind of people who engage in that treatment of gays.

Does that mean straights are inferior to gays? Not at all, because not all straights think or act that way, and indeed, many of them are fair-minded, supportive, and even loving. We’re not superior or inferior to those people, we’re equals. But the haters, the bigots, the bullies... we’re superior to them in every way that I think is truly important.

Now I have a question for you. Why is it, do you think, that some people (not *you*, and I won’t point any fingers) feel such animus toward us that they don’t even want us to have our own little place where we can be left alone. even if it’s on a handful of tiny, scattered, unpopulated islands that serve no other purpose?

And, back to the “superiority/inferiority” question, here’s a recent piece by freelance gay journalist, Rex Wockner that looks at the actual facts about kids raised by gay and straight parents (sorry, no link[s]; it was e-mailed to me). Guess whose kids turned out “best”....?

quote:

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You probably heard that George W. Bush told The New York Times on Jan. 29, "Studies have shown that the ideal is where a child is raised in a married family with a man and a woman."

Trouble is, studies haven't. More than 25 studies have compared the social, academic, mental and emotional lives of kids raised by married hetero parents with those of kids raised by gay couples and found a grand, whopping result of ... no difference. On the other hand, kids raised by single parents or by unmarried heterosexual parents living together do sometimes score lower on social scientists' tally sheets.

"There is not a single legitimate scholar out there who argues that growing up with gay parents is somehow bad for children," New York University professor Judith Stacey confirmed in an interview with the Times.

One of the newest studies, published in the journal Child Development in December, looked at 44 randomly selected adolescents being raised by lesbian moms. Researchers from the universities of Virginia and Arizona found not only that the kids are as normal as any other kids but that they are "more involved at school, in clubs, [and in] after-school activities."

"I have no idea what that means, but we sure didn't expect it," University of Virginia researcher Charlotte Patterson told the Times.

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[ 11 February 2005: Message edited by: Hephaestion ]

quote:

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Originally posted by Kevin_Laddle:
I never claimed straight couples raise better children, although i would suspect that they do.

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Try not to look stupider than necessary, Kevin. You can "suspect" all you want, but the quote above notes that over 25 studies say you're full of shit, just like G.W. Bush.

quote:

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Anyways, the research done on this issue by a gay freelance journalist who predictably concludes that the gays raise better children has about as much credibility in my mind as Ford doing research on Chevy and concluding that Ford has better cars.

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Well, obviously your problem is that you never learned how to READ. The quote says (and please note the emphasized section):

quote:

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More than 25 studies have compared the social, academic, mental and emotional lives of kids raised by married hetero parents with those of kids raised by gay couples and found a grand, whopping result of ... no difference.

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Get that? "NO DIFFERENCE". Where did you get this "predictably concludes that the gays raise better children" bullshit from? Probably from the same place that you got "research done on this issue by a gay freelance journalist", eh?

[ 11 February 2005: Message edited by: Kevin_Laddle ]

Here's the breakdown:

quote:

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Originally posted by Kevin_Laddle:
I never claimed straight couples raise better children, although i would suspect that they do.

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I'm glad we've clearly established you're a bigot.

You might try reading these 43 studies before you apologize for your bigoted statement. And I do STRONGLY suggest an apology at this stage, lest people start writing to Audra suggesting a banning.

quote:

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Originally posted by Hephaestion:
Get that? "NO DIFFERENCE". Where did you get this "predictably concludes that the gays raise better children" bullshit from?

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There was a survey of studies that came to that conclusion, but it was done for the federal government.

quote:

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There was a survey of studies that came to that conclusion, but it was done for the federal government.

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Does our government have an anti-gay bias? Haven't they commissioned studies that are supportive of Rex W.'s point of view as well?
If they didn't, they certainly aren't doing a very good job of representing the people they govern.

quote:

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HOW many “straight-bashings” have you heard about?

Simple fact is, you don’t. And it isn’t that we can’t fight back in nasty, violent and hateful ways, it’s just that in most cases, we don’t, and we won’t. And the reason I hear for that most often is that if we did, it would drag us down to the same level. And in that sense, yes, by not sinking to that level, it makes some of us feel rather superior to the kind of people who engage in that treatment of gays.

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Maybe gays should fight back. Maybe after these phobic shits have the stuffing knocked out of him by the queer community they'll stop bashing gays.

quote:

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WHO were the kids that you heard being mocked, bullied and sneered at as “straights” in school?
WHAT faith-based queer institutions are routinely proselytizing to the LGBT community about the “intrinsic evil” of the straight community?
WHERE is the co-ordinated, well-funded campaign to deprive straights of any of their civil rights?
WHEN is the last time you heard about gay parents throwing their straight children out of the house, to live or die on the streets, simply because they are straight?
WHY do you so often hear about straights doing that to gays, but not the reverse?

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We live in a very Homophobic culture.
In ancient greece, it was quite different. I think, (although I can't be absolutey sure whether this is true or not,)
straight men were actually mocked and derided because of their sexual orientation. Gay men were worshiped.
A man could boink a woman, but that was just one step above boinking a goat.

quote:

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heDoes that mean straights are inferior to gays? Not at all, because not all straights think or act that way, and indeed, many of them are fair-minded, supportive, and even loving. We’re not superior or inferior to those people, we’re equals. But the haters, the bigots, the bullies... we’re superior to them in every way that I think is truly important.

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There have been Gay bigots though. What about Alexander the great? Roy Cohen? Richard the Lionhearted? Pym Fortune? (did I spell his name correctly?)

[ 11 February 2005: Message edited by: CMOT Dibbler ]