Rhrosty

'It must be difficult to live a normal healthy life, with so much unrequited hate coursing through your veins?'

It appears that all the hate is emanating from you. You savagely attack me over and over in thread after thread. Your intense personal hatred of me is your prerogative. However, does everyone else here have to read all about it in just about every thread I participate in?

For the record, I live in Ireland. Almost everyone I speak to here mirrors the same observations as made in my supposed 'hate-filled' comment. The general consensus is that, while they were happy to vote, and to vote Yes, there is enormous scepticism about why Ireland needed an expensive referendum in these harshest of economic times for the whole country.

So ... most of the Irish population must also have lots of 'unrequited hate' running through their veins. But don't worry about them. Just keep on beating me up every chance you get.

Killarney, I didn't realise you live in Ireland, I guess it explains the handle pretty well!

I'm not sure what your objection to the referendum and its outcome is though. It seems to me to be a piece of unalloyed good news that deserves to be celebrated in and of itself regardless of other aspects of Irish historico-cultural life.

You seem to be of a different view. Do you think you could expand on why in a reasonably dispassionate manner? Your posting style tends to be abrasive and confrontationist, which sometimes makes it hard to grasp serious points that you're trying to make.

I pretty much agree with the points raised in this article.

In particular, I agree with the doctor that Australia won't will be soon blindly following the Irish lead. Australians aren't like sheep who follow a political trend just because its trendy.

@Old Man

Sorry, my opening line should have been “Why should an atheist be expected to support gay marriage?”

@Killarney

Ireland is not the first country to legalise same sex marriage, just the first to hold a referendum on whether to do so. My understanding is that Ireland could only change its marriage laws by referendum because of the way they are they are enshrined in its constitution. In Australia, we could do it by act of Parliament.

At around €5 per head of population, I reckon it was a pretty good deal.

"At around €5 per head of population, I reckon it was a pretty good deal."

Wasn't it even less than that, Rhian?

As there were two referendum questions presented - with that on whether to reduce the minimum age of presidential candidates from 35 to 21 years being defeated with 73.1% voting No and 26.9% voting Yes - the 'pretty good deal' was €2.50.

o sung wu, I think you have done a classic pseudo-rebuttal of my post by pretending I said something different and far easier for you to dismiss with: "Your allegation(s) of police apathy is erroneous".

I said: "Your portrayal of police is no longer acceptable behaviour and they now work within anti-discrimination legislation...". But you make no reference to this cosmic shift in policing in Australia and instead of the big picture of the police force, you bang on about how good you were. The story of 'the good olden days'. You are in denial of the stigma and discrimination police forces now openly admit from recruit training through to the Chief Commissioner. Sorry but you have been out-ranked.

I have been part of this restructure of police culture in VIC as a community rep at recruit training for people with HIV, gay men and mental illness. When I talked to the recruits about my experiences, they had already been taught about the homophobic Tasty Nightclub raid where I and several hundred others sued police and won. Assistant Commissioner Cartwright has been a great support and does not play down past discrimination nor his continuing need to change police culture. The Police made a video about it and so here it is Police not me whose "commentary must be accurate,": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwDLi7WDDmA

The point is, if there is a culture of stigma and discrimination then you don't feel like you are being apathetic.

Secondly, you are essentially saying that in your extensive police experience LGBTI people were unremarkable - and you have seen the worst. But this doesn't fit with your previous posts which claim LGBTI marriage would create new and intractable problems. You are simply of the privileged bullying class and in denial because you can't put yourself in our shoes but insist you should decide for us based on barely hidden hate and an absence of logic. We need to change that culture.