I meant to add above that there are a few male politician's wives that I'm sure journalists want to ask about their husbands true sexual orientation.

Marrying a woman would be a sure way of deflecting homophobic suspicions re a male politicians' sexual orientation, wouldn't it?

Would the journalists dare ask this same question of a male politician's girlfriend or wife?
If not, why not?

Suseonline, "after she had already said no"

Can you quote where she said no?

Too right most would have said no right off, but as is typical for Julia Gillard she went around the question by replying that the question was 'absurd'. That is obviously why the journalist kept going, which was foolish of him of course, because he could never expect a straight answer (pun intended) from this lawyer and politician.

It is a lie that other politicians have not been asked questions about partners in the past, or been subjected to allegations about sexuality. There are examples, usually from travel claims submitted (because both politicians and journalists have a code where neither reflects on the other's nocturnal pursuits), of politicians and bureaucrats who have been confused about the status of their squeezes. Other politicians have been subjected to all manner of personal allegations, ready examples being drinking or sexuality, an example of the former might be Gorton (the Gorton Back) and for the latter, Billie McMahon.

Julia Gillard herself used a gay slur in Parliament against a happily married male with children. She referred to him as a mincing poodle. Her Attorney General at the time, Nicola Roxon, proudly relates how she held two golf balls up in Parliament slurring Tony Abbott for being a eunuch, "Grow a pair" she demanded. Abbott is a married man with children.

Suseonline, I did give some of those examples (eg McMahon) in another thread where I recall you were making the same allegations as you did now, but obviously you forget quickly.

>>Julia Gillard herself used a gay slur in Parliament against a happily married male with children. She referred to him as a mincing poodle.<<

Apparently it is time a for a lesson in remedial mammalian biology. This is a gay human male:

http://www.davidhigham.co.uk/sitecontent/images/1266584975Stephen_Fry.JPG

This is a poodle:

http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/myl/Poodle.jpg

If I ever see Christopher Pyne working as hard as a working dog I'll give him half my kidneys and half my liver.

Poodles are good solid working breed but they are frequently confused with a closely related breed, the toy poodle:

http://www.dennishanna.com/toy_poodle.jpg

The analogy 'twixt Christopher Pyne and toy poodles is closer to home - they're both extremely effeminate, shrill, yappy little pains in the neck. Pathetic little toy breeds pretending to be real dogs - what they need is good kick across the room. I can't stand toy breeds or even most terriers but Pyne is no worse than the average Chihuahua. Did you have a point you were trying to make?

Even if I could train a (toy)poodle to mince, would that actually constitute a gay slur? I don't follow your logic (if it exists): the poodle is gay regardless of how it walks or finely ground it likes its steak, and the ability to feed a mincing machine does't say a whole lot about the feeders sexuality. I suspect a yag rechtub could make just as nice a sausage as the next man even if he minces a little coarser.

Cheers,

Tony

Suse, do you ever actually read what others have written?

OTB, whether more competent politicians have had to face innuendo or rumour is neither here nor there. Gillard is busy building herself an excuse for the future and setting the ALP up to become a party of, by and for middle-class, "progressive" women, mostly employed on the public purse. The working class base has already deserted in the face of the Gillard debacle. When she has lead the Party to its worst defeat ever there will be an inrush of women candidates and members from the white collar sector, many of whom will not be unionists. This will force the Party to reform its rules relating to union representation and that will be the final nail in the coffin of the party of the worker.

I'm almost swung to the view that Gillard is deliberately self-sacrificing, confident that if she pushes the gender issue all she can that she will be welcomed as a heroine by the women who inherit the party after the bloodletting is finished. After all, half a million a year and over $200k a year in pension isn't that much of a sacrifice and losing the vote of people you despise isn't either. It would be very interesting to be a fly on the wall at the Shorten's place. Bill is determined to be a tame male, it seems.

I still think that Bill Ludwig and Gillard have some sort of handshake deal not to dob each other in to the cops when they come calling, though.

Tony, I think you missed the most salient point: surely mincing poodle is an Asian preparation method?

Suseonline: <If you are a straight woman living with a gay man, then he must be her 'room-mate', not her lover or partner in life.>
Are you unaware that thousands of men are married, have children, are wonderful fathers, love their wives, make excellent partners for life, yet now and again stray and enjoy same-sex-coupling with other men?
This duality has been for most of human history the norm. Only in recent times have the PC brigade decided that men and women have to choose to be exclusive in their sexual relations. It is a nonsense that everyone is either totally het or 100% homo. Like all animals, humans are sexual beings and the way individuals express this varies widely.
OTB... you appear to suffer from the delusion that gays are all effeminate handbag swingers. That's as silly as Suseonline's assumption.

Tony Lavis,

Here you go,

<A woman with a hairdresser for a boyfriend should have a fair idea how people will read her comments when she goes around calling an opposition spokesperson a ‘poodle’, or describes him as ‘mincing’ rather than ‘macho’.

Julia Gillard isn’t normally one to use those kind of anti-gay put-downs, so what’s going on here?

Why is she trying to pop Christopher Pyne into the 'gay' box?>

Source, http://www.rainbowreporter.com/gillards-gay-smear/