Ramblings of an Australian Writer

Once upon a time in Australian schools, there was a program called Safe Schools. The program was put into practice in the last days of the Rudd Labor government, approximately six years ago. It was designed to provide teachers and schools with the tools to better understand and help students who were gay, lesbian, intersex, transgender, bisexual or asexual. It was hailed as a great achievement in the movement towards tolerance and equality, but perhaps more importantly, it helped young Australians understand that being non-heteronormative wasn't a bad thing, and that it provided a safe space from bullying and torment any GBLTQI child might experience.



From the Safe Schools website, I quote:

All Australian schools value the health and wellbeing of students and agree that bullying of any kind is harmful and should not be accepted. Across religions and cultures there is a shared belief in the right of all people to be safe, happy and healthy and to be treated with dignity and respect. This is not possible for students and staff in a homophobic or transphobic school environment.

With government and community support, we are assisting hundreds of schools across the country in their efforts to actively promote safety, diversity, inclusion and respect for the whole school community. This includes working in partnership with government and independent schools, schools in diverse geographic locations, and faith-based schools.

It's a good program, and an important program. It was providing a lot of support to kids who needed it, a lot of teaching to those kids who didn't quite understand GBLTQI issues, and assisting teachers, parents and schools as well.



However, with an election and a new, highly conservative government, came some pushback against the program. That pushback turned into outrage which turned into demands from the far right and from various groups who are blatantly homophobic and transphobic to gut the program entirely. Many parts of the right wing conservative media lashed out at the program. I link them here, but I warn you, the contents of these articles can be triggering.

The Australian cried that the Safe Schools program was (gasp!) making kids learn how to say the words "transgender" and "intersex." Honestly, there's a lot of pearl clutching in the above article and I can imagine the author fainting and someone crying for the smelling salts. I personally rolled my eyes so hard at this piece that I'm surprised my eyes didn't get stuck in the back of my head, but I digress. From Sky News comes the piece that former conservative Prime Minister John Howard is "baffled" that the program even exists. The Brisbane Times is glad the program is getting scrutinized because it's "an excuse for brainwashing … a license for depravity." A mother wrote to Senator Cory Bernardi, a far right senator about the program and was told, among other things, that "You clearly haven’t got any idea what is in the program. If you did then you would be worried about your children being exposed to unhealthy ideas at such an early age."

In the end, new Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, called for a review into the Safe Schools Program, giving into the demands of the far right members of his party (Liberal Party) and members of groups who are blatantly homophobic and transphobic and make no apology for it. The review listed a string of recommendations which Turnbull accepted and decided to pare back the program and make it for high schools only. The Conversation goes into more detail about this and the outcomes of it, concluding that:

Much of what the Safe Schools Coalition aims to achieve relates to the whole school culture. While some of this includes lesson plans, this is just one aspect of the program. The remainder includes contextual approaches to reducing homophobia, biphobia and transphobia, and encouraging a school culture that is more inclusive of any difference and diversity.

(Warning: the above is pro the Safe Schools program but may contain material that is triggering.)



The Saturday Paper also has a good article about the history of the program and how it was targeted and its near-demise. (As with all articles linked here, please beware that it may contain triggering material.) Doctors and health professionals came out in support of the program, sending an open letter to the Prime Minister and the government on the subject. More media began to publish pieces in support of the program and detailing what happened to a great support and resource.

Politicians and journalists can talk in grand terms and somber tones about the program and debate until the cows come home whether or not it's a good thing or bad thing. But the ones who really need to be heard are the children themselves, and their families, and those who grew up knowing they were different but didn’t have anything like Safe Schools to turn to. One mother begged the government to reconsider, as her son is transgender. Another woman wrote passionately about growing up the child of lesbian parents and of her own coming out without having the support of something like Safe Schools.



However, these words fell on deaf ears as the lobbying by Christian groups and right-wing MPs had the program downsized and, in the words of one MP, "gutted."

And yet, despite the downsizing, the gutting and the verbal abuse thrown around about the program, some light shone in a dark and ugly tunnel. The states of Victoria and ACT decided that they were going to defy the federal government and fund an unchanged program from their own state budgets. In South Australia, Uniting Communities (Uniting Church) backed the program and teachers rallied in support, urging the SA state government to follow in Victoria and the ACT's footsteps.

The program isn't dead yet, despite many wishing it was. The debate continues to rage as children navigate the ever-changing waters of school society and those schools who are involved in the program are doing the best to help them. For myself, I think the program is a great one and it should be embraced by all the states and territories in Australia, and not removed from the curriculum.

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Comment to this entry to go into the draw for an eBook copy of my latest book, Book, Line, and Sinker from Dreamspinner Press.

FOLLOW THIS LINK TO THE REST OF THE HOP.

Via my friends list, comes a new-to-me weekly blog hop, which I'm hoping will get me into blogging a bit more. I've been very absent the last few months for a variety of reasons, most of them personal. It's my hope that by doing this, I'll be able to get back into blogging a bit, and back into writing a bit, as I feel rather flat at the current moment. I have ideas and notes sitting in my notebook de jour, but no energy to write. So, baby steps, I think, and hopefully, all being well, the flatness I'm feeling will be lessened.

The blog hope is a weekly thing, for Wednesdays, and is pretty easy. Information is here, and there are some good examples here. Given that it's Wednesday per US timezones, that makes it Thursday for us in Australia, but I figured I'd post my entries on Australia!Wednesday and then pop the link on the required page when it goes up later in my timezone. Clear as mud? Marvellous!

So later tonight, I'll put up my fist Wednesday post, all being well. :)

May 17th is the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia and you can learn more about that here: http://dayagainsthomophobia.org/ In the meantime, the Hop is going on and there are loads of interesting posts, the masterlist of which you can find here: http://hopagainsthomophobia.blogspot.com

I have contemplated for a while what I would discuss for this year's Hop Against Homophobia and Transphobia. With the political climate here in Australia being, shall we say, turbulent. However, it was clarified for me that what I would discuss would be the current government's stance on same-sex marriage.

This is a topic that—in the hallowed halls of Parliament—is a hot button issue. The Labor Party, who are currently the Opposition, are for same-sex marriage and for a conscious vote within caucus. The Liberal National Coalition (LNP from this point on) are less inclined. Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Penny Wong, a long-time Labor MP, is out and proud, and she and her partner have just celebrated the arrival of their baby daughter… but they cannot be legally married in this country.

It is easy to say that this is due to homophobia within the ranks of the current LNP government. That may, perhaps, be part of it; I can't say either way. What I can say, though, is that it's a topic that our current Prime Minister has dismissed as being "the fashion of the moment." [1] He has also said, "There is no doubt that (homosexuality) challenges, if you like, orthodox notions of the right order of things," [2] and when asked in an interview for 60 Minutes how he feels about homosexuality, Mr. Abbott replied, "I'd probably I feel a bit threatened." [3]

In October 2013, Mr. Abbott said that while he would attend his gay sister's wedding, but that he couldn't support gay marriage, because, "'I am a traditionalist on this,' he said.
"'From time immemorial in every culture that's been known, marriage, or that kind of solemnized relationship, has been between a man and a woman.'" [4]

This all came to a head when the ACT (Australian Capital Territory) where the national and state capital city, Canberra, is and where federal parliament sits, passed a bill to legalize same-sex marriage. The ACT was the first state or territory in Australia to do this and there was a nationwide hope that this was the first step in the entire nation passing similar bills.

Not so. A challenge to the bill was made in the High Court by the LNP Federal Government. The High Court does not make policy, but interprets the law, and it has ruled that only Federal Parliament has the power to make marriage laws. Therefore, by that ruling, the ACT bill to allow same-sex marriage, could not operate concurrently to the law currently in effect, which is the Marriage Act, amended by former Prime Minister John Howard in 2004 to stipulate that marriage is defined as being between a man and a woman.

While some LNP MPs support same-sex marriage and would support an amendment to the Marriage Act, it is becoming very clear that the Prime Minister does not consider this an important issue that needs to be addressed. So those couples who celebrated their weddings in the ACT in that brief period that they were allowed to be married, had their happiness dashed by the ruling of the High Court, which only interpreted the laws, and dashed further by the LNP government's refusal to reconsider.

Many couples are looking forward with a positive attitude and their stories are heartwarming and give hope for the future. The Australian Greens and many Labor MPs are determined to bring same-sex marriage legislation to the table in Parliament again. The full document (and some of the lovely stories—and not so lovely attitudes from bystanders) can be read here. (NB: Warning—may contain material that could be considered triggering for some.)

And so we come to New Zealand. A year ago, in April 2013, the law was passed allowing same-sex marriages to take place and be celebrated and legally recognized as lawful marriages. There was a great deal of joy and jubilation. The bill that was passed in New Zealand defined marriage as a union between two people rather than between a man and a woman. The figures in the year since the passing of this bill are very interesting.

"Figures released by New Zealand’s Department of Internal Affairs show that from August 19, 2013, when the law became operational, to March 31, 2014, there was a total of 385 female couples and 285 male couples.

"Of these, nearly a third of the couples were Australian citizens." [5]

This illustrates so clearly why the marriage laws here in Australia need to be changed and why the Marriage Act needs to be amended. It also illustrates how unequal the treatment of same-sex couples is here and that there needs to be additional amendments to make same-sex marriages performed overseas legally recognized as being marriages here in Australia, just as marriages between a man and a woman are. At the end of April, 2014, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young of the Australian Greens plans to bring a bill before the parliament to at least recognize those marriages performed overseas as being legal here in Australia. I, for one, hope it passes.

Meanwhile, Mr. Abbott and those who agree with him, have not discussed the issue since the ACT bill was struck down and repealed. That is, until a group of high school students in Year Nine (ages 14-15) from Newtown, New South Wales, on a field trip to Canberra, had a surprise visit from the PM. I rather suspect that Mr. Abbott got a LOT more than he bargained for with these awesome, brilliant kids.

Those teachers and parents should be damn proud of those kids, as indeed, are the majority of Australians. Not only did they ask Mr. Abbott tough questions about asylum seekers, why the Minister for Women (Mr. Abbott himself holds this portfolio as well as being Prime Minister) is a man, but they asked him repeatedly about same-sex marriage.

Happily, one of the students filmed it and it is on YouTube for all to see. I share with you now the video of a group of high school kids asking the Australian Prime Minister tough questions and his fumbling and bumbling for answers.

References:
1. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/14/tony-abbott-gay-marriage-fashion
2. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/tony-abbott-gay-remarks-dangerous/story-e6frf7jo-1225838436495
3. http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=1020354
4. http://www.news.com.au/national/prime-minister-tony-abbott-says-he-will-attend-sisters-wedding-but-not-support-the-marriage/story-fncynjr2-1226745544432
5. http://gaynewsnetwork.com.au/news/a-year-on-one-third-of-nz-gay-marriages-are-of-aussie-couples-13623.html



Further Reading:
http://gaynewsnetwork.com.au/viewpoint/tony-at-the-wedding-12281.html
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/tony-abbott-quick-to-kill-samesex-marriage-20131214-2zdvq.html
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-12/high-court-decision-on-act-same-sex-marriage-laws/5152168
http://gaynewsnetwork.com.au/viewpoint/what-a-croc-12170.html
http://www.samesame.com.au/news/10688/Student-asks-Abbott-Why-are-you-so-against-legalising-gay-marriage

Notes:
All emphasis are my own, not the original author's.

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As part of the Hop, I am giving two lucky readers an eBook copy each of The Wind-up Forest and The Crystal Lake. Leave a comment to go in the drawing to win one of these bundles!

The Wind-up Forest: Archangels Book Four.
Blurb: Archangel Gabriel is hoping for a quiet period in his life to enjoy his relationship with Archangel Michael, but someone has other ideas.

New dangers arise when the Holy Grail is stolen. Gabriel, Michael, and the rest of the Brotherhood of Archangels and their allies must somehow thwart the twisted desires of the thief.

Their search for the Grail takes them all over the world, calling on old friends like Uriel and Raziel, and forging powerful new alliances. Though they face a fresh set of perils in pursuit of the thief, the enduring comfort Gabriel needs so much, that of his beloved Michael, never abandons him.

The Crystal Lake: Archangels Book Five.

Blurb: The thief of the Grail has been identified and the Brotherhood of Archangels is moving to counter her evil machinations. But as demons flock to the side of the thief and betray Hell, monsters are enslaved and shifters and an angel turn traitor. The love between Gabriel and Michael is tested as they join the rest of the Brotherhood on the trail of Naamah. Danger makes strange bedfellows in the form of Lucifer, the Archdemons, and Lilith.

A traitor lurks among the angels and humans, and the Venatores are discovering vital new information. Lovers Liam, a Necromancer, and Baxter, a shifter working for Michael's Venatores unit, must face not just the living but the dead. Archangels Raziel and Uriel contend with demands on Raziel's power that wear him to the brink of exhaustion. The Brotherhood will need all their strength to prevail against the threats surrounding them.

Congratulations to all the winners, you can see the full list over here.

Now for the giveaway of "City of Jade." I put the names into The Hat and it drew a winner. That winner is whitestar! Congratulations, you've won yourself an ebook copy of my latest release. I've sent you an email. :)

The Hat has spoken! Congratulations, dragon5174. I'll be emailing you directly to ask which of the "Archangel Chronicles" books you'd like.

"City of Jade" is now available for preorder! Ebook is here and paperback is here.

The book will be out on the 7th June 2013.

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Congratulations to aidannwn, who won the give away of "The Body on The Beach" at the Hop Against Homophobia and Transphobia. Your ebook has been emailed.

I'll be talking about the mythology in the Archangel series of books. :)

The cool change FINALLY came through last night, so it's actually pleasant today. Yay!

Release day! Yay! "The Body on The Beach" and its companion novellas and anthology, "Under the Southern Cross" are out today! You can grab your copies here:



The Body on The Beach by L. J. LaBarthe.
Coming Home by Robyn Walker.
Jasper and the Dead by RJ Astruc.
Whitewater by Meredith Shayne.
The Red Heart by Isabelle Rowan.
Under the Southern Cross paperback anthology of all the titles listed above.



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"Rocking Hard" volume two will be out soon, and contains my story, "Capsicum Head." This is a novella length story about punk rock in Australia in the 80s, the band, Capsicum Head are the focus. I had a lot of fun writing this story, and I do hope that people who sign up for serial enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

And isn't that cover awesome? I really love it. "Capsicum Head" goes into serial in late August, so you have a while yet.

"Rocking Hard" volume 1 is already running, you can sign up for that one here. (It's half way down the page.) At the bottom of that page are the details of volume 2, which begins serialisation in April.


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I have also been contracted for my vampire story, "Ice," which will be serialised on its own with Less Than Three Press. I'm very excited to be working with LT3 again, and look forward to seeing "Ice" available on site. I'll keep you up to date on that one.

Last but not least, a blog hop, to celebrate Less Than Three's fourth anniversary.

For this blog hop, I decided to write about how the main characters in "The Archangel Chronicles" would celebrate Christmas. Most of them are angels, so what could angels possibly do for Christmas that didn't involve going to church? Well, my angels are a quirky lot, so there's quite a few things they would do.

Each year, two Archangels decide what the rest of them will do to celebrate the season. In 2011, it was Raphael and Samael, and in 2010, it was Uriel and Raziel. That was a year that will never be spoken of again, although Uriel still thinks a giant, out of control flaming barbeque is a great idea.

2012 is Michael and Gabriel's year to decide what to do.

Christmas eve is when the plans of the two Archangels get underway. Michael takes Samael, Remiel, Haniel, Raphael and Tzadkiel with him, Israfel, Agrat, Ishtahar, Sophiel and Brieus joining them. Michael's plans for the day are to buy toys – as many toys as they can in the shopping hours of the day, and then wrap them and deliver them to orphanages and needy children charities.

Gabriel, on the other hand, takes Uriel, Raziel, Metatron, Shateiel and the boys and goes on a different sort of shopping spree. They hit the stores to buy all kinds of gifts to put in care packages to send to soldiers and their staff on active duty in the various active war zones around the world. Once they've bought everything and boxed it up – with only a little bickering between Raziel and Uriel – they take the boxes to groups that arrange distribution for care packages to the military.

In the evening, the two groups meet up again at a chapel, usually choosing a small, out of the way parish, and take part in the services as members of the congregation. Israfel sings, and the voice of the Angel of Music added to those of the choir reduce many to tears. After the services, they go their separate ways for a private celebration, planning to meet up in the morning at Tzadkiel's apartment.

Christmas morning, they meet for a quick breakfast at Tzadkiel's. After eating, the group goes to visit an orphanage, the one Michael chooses being in South Africa. After a morning helping with food, gifts, singing carols and telling stories, the angels depart, and follow Gabriel to their afternoon's venue, a veteran's hospice, to visit with the wounded and permanent patients there.

In the evening, they retire once again to Tzadkiel's apartment and have Christmas dinner together. With the exception of Michael, they all drink too much, sing too loudly, eat until they are near to bursting, and laugh and joke. For one night, the Brotherhood of Archangels and their nearest and dearest are able to set aside their worries and cares, and celebrate together. And isn't that what Christmas should be about? Coming together with our loved ones to celebrate and be happy, and try not to focus on the worries and cares of regular life.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays.

As part of the Hop, I am giving away two pdf copies of my current release, No Shadows Fall. Leave a comment to go in the draw to win!

No Shadows Fall. Newly bonded Archangels Michael and Gabriel are torn from their idyllic island retreat by the singing of hymns heralding stunning news: Gabriel’s ancient foe, Semjaza, has escaped from his prison in the stars and now seeks revenge and utter conquest. With the wisdom of Archangel Raziel to guide them and help coming from the most unlikely of quarters, Gabriel and Michael join with the Brotherhood of Archangels to hunt Semjaza down and finish him once and for all. Because Semjaza's return to Earth doesn't threaten just Gabriel and his loved ones—it threatens the whole of humanity. But even more danger lurks in the shadows, threatening the Brotherhood from within. If Gabriel and Semjaza finally face each other in single combat, will Gabriel survive the contest, or will Michael lose his one true love? Sequel to No Surrender, No Retreat: Book Three of The Archangel Chronicles.

GLBT MADNESS HOP


Click the banner to be taken to the next blog on the hop! When you click on the button, you're taken to the next random blog that you haven’t gone to visit yet. The system takes care of “remembering” which blog you have gone to or not, and will forward you to a blog you haven’t visited yet.

So today, I'm going to talk about "No Surrender, No Retreat," and why I enjoyed writing and crafting the book and the overreaching universe that is the Archangel Chronicles.

"No Surrender, No Retreat," picks up seventy years after the end of "No Quarter." In those seventy years, there has been a war, a war unlike any seen before on Earth, involving angels and demons and all kinds of paranormal elements. Humanity is now well aware of angels and demons and all the monsters that live in the world, but after the war, there is little in the way of energy, money or resources for any major government to make a big deal out of it. After all, if you've been through a war of attrition that has lasted that long and survived to the end of it, licking ones wounds and rebuilding is a little more important than witch hunting. Generally speaking, anyway.

Archangels Michael and Gabriel have been apart for most of the war, so the book opens with them reuniting. It's a very emotional time for them, and I loved writing how they connected to each other and, after that first flush of romantic happiness, when reality sets in, how they adjust to each other and each other's foibles and prejudices. Their relationship is still very young – they have known each other forever, but being involved romantically adds a whole new dimension to their relationship and they are learning how to accept each other and love each other. Writing a fledging relationship like this, where the two characters do know each other very well in all other areas outside of sex and romance is a lot of fun. Exploring the dynamics between them as the conservative, shy, introverted Michael and outgoing, gregarious, irreverent Gabriel jostle to find a common ground is one of the things I really loved writing in this book.

I also gave the reader a more in-depth look at the relationship between Archangels Uriel and Raziel. Uriel is cranky, hates humans, has a bad temper, but is absolutely devoted to Raziel. Raziel is a genius but he's also impatient when people don't understand what he's talking about. He is as devoted to Uriel as Uriel is to him, and their relationship includes a lot of sarcasm, teasing, laughter and jokes. They have been together for nearly as long as forever, so they know each other very well, both romantically and not.

Then there's Archangel Raphael, who has a more prominent role in this book. His lover is Israfel, the angel of music, and Israfel is an impetuous, youthful minded angel, who enjoys all kinds of music and cooking. Israfel is devoted to Raphael and Raphael loves Israfel completely, finding his impetuousness and his tendency to babble to be utterly endearing. There are other relationships in the book, Agrat and her husband Shateiel, Archangel Remiel and his lover, the immortal woman, Ishtahar. The Archdemons return and this book reveals that Ondrass is involved in a relationship with his personal assistant, Markus.

I enjoyed writing the variety of relationships that are featured in this book and in the series as a whole. I liked writing the different dynamics of the couples and how they interact with others as individuals. There is a plot that involves more than just the romance and sex scenes, and I hope that all the elements combined make the book as enjoyable for readers as it was for me to write.

As part of the hop, I'll be giving away a pdf copy of "No Surrender, No Retreat." More information on this book and the series as a whole can be found at the series page on the Dreamspinner Press site, over here.