The Piercing Truth issue #5

Written by young people for young people.

Editorial

Well everyone, it’s that time of year again. The Piercing Truth is BACK! We’re here to showcase the talents of Geelong’s youth, and share their views on a myriad of issues. To create this new, fantastic issue, we’ve worked closely with GASP, and this issue is packed with their ideas and creations, so be sure to check them out! The Piercing Truth team would like to thank GASP for their help in writing and coordinating the magazine’s launch and also thank Cr. Jan Farrell for her continued support. If you would like to contribute articles, photos or ideas for the magazine, you can contact us at or find us on Facebook!

Happy reading!

The Piercing Truth team

Editorial Committe: Alastair McGibbon, Van Nguyen,Kim Sinnott, Clancy Holtz, Jen Robertson.

Proof Reading - Helen Grogan

Design/Art –Gillian Brew

Production Services- Adcell Media

Privacy Notice if you choose to enter or partake in any competitions, surveys, or offers in this featured issue of Piercing Truth, then you are required to provide some personal details about yourself to us.In case you do, they will not be used or given to third parties, unless contacting you in regard to said promotions.

A RANT...

One thing that annoys me no end are these, so called, religious people who really seem to have no idea what it is exactly that they’re consigning their faith to. In particular Catholicism & Christianity’s ubiquitous, and almost trademark, ‘Homosexuality Is A Sin’. For those of you, yet to read the babble... Bible, either by way of personal choice, or simply not having better things to do with your time, I’ll take this opportunity to share with you something little known, or simply ignored, by our religious friends.

NOWHERE in the Bible, nor any other religious doctrine for that matter, is it mentioned - implied or otherwise - that ‘Jesus’ ever spoke out against homosexuality.So where, if not from the infallible ‘Word of God’, didthis belief come from? And equally important, whendid it arise?

Though to myself the most important question is why is it enforced with such hostility, hate, and reckless disregard for the mental and physical wellbeing of those they persecute? Why are we defamed as sinners merely for the gender of those whom we love?

Because, Dear Reader, if I may be frank, it has never been incongruous for these institutions to disregard when it suits them, the teachings of their creator. Take for example The 10 Commandments, specifically Thou Shalt Not Kill. And let us remember, these are COMMANDMENTS direct from the incorporeal mouth of God to the pages of the bible held in such high regard by billions of people around the world. Why is it then that more people have been brutally murdered in the name of this God, that commanded not to kill, than for any other reason in the history of our species?

And yet, with an irrevocable touch of bathos, we are but abominations - according to the MEN that wrote this book - in the eyes of the Lord, not unlike shrimp, lobsters, chickens, anything with scales, fins or hooves really. Celebrities, divorce, wearing the clothes of the opposite sex, oppression... Hold up, oppression is an abomination, who knew!? It would seem, according to the ‘logic’ of the church, all those who oppress homosexuals will be going to Hell just as soon as those they so reprehensibly tried to ’help’.

Because its not really help, is it? But rather degradation of one’s self, wrought by ill-conceived sincerity and religious stupidity. I’m talking, of course, of Ex-Gay Camps, those that promise to ‘cure’ you... us... of our despicable and perverted nature. But then, how many of these ‘saved’ and ‘cured’ live their lives in gilded cages behind masks of deceit, but a shell of their former selves? Though, I imagine they do not masquerade for the masses but rather for themselves, for they are not saved, they are broken, more often than not depressed and suicidal, and lying to themselves, their last desperate act at survival. And if they do happen to commit suicide? It is most certainly not the ‘cure’ that is to be blamed! Not unlike the days of old, when the cure for insanity in women was a sharp spike beaten through their skull with a mallet. If this act happened to kill them, it was not the spike protruding from their brain that was deemed to be the cause, but rather that the ‘cure’ – and yes, this was called a cure for insanity – came too late to save them. And I’m quite sure this would still be the case, the ‘cure’ that destroyed them did not kill them, but simply, came too late.

Though it is unfortunate that while religion has realised that the one beating spikes through girl’s skulls was, in fact, the insane one, they have not realised that the ones extinguishing these people’s contentment with their sexuality, and themselves, is actually the one that needs help. And as for when the whole ‘being gay is sin’ thing started, it has come to my attention that Yale historians believe it was added – By which they mean it was not originally part of Christian/Catholic beliefs – somewhere around the 15th-17th century. This, ofcourse, means being gay is a sin on the say so of people who also thought that if you float in water you’re a witch. This religion is certainly not without its perplexities.

And to finish my thoughts, and this “Rant”, would somebody please explain to me, for I am at a complete loss to figure this out; if God did, in fact, create Adam and Eve and we, all 7 billion people currently living on Earth, are indeed descendant of them, are we not ALL the product of an abominable act? I’m afraid, despite your convictions or level of devoutness, according to your book, we will all be subject to Hell just as quick as the next. But hey, at least they have central heating.

And on a final note, for anyone reading this article I would like to state the following; This is me, a boy who likes boys. I am happy with who I am and even more so with whom I love. I DO NOT require your help in saving my soul, for it is quite safe in my custody. I DO NOT need to be ‘cured’ for there is NOTHING wrong

with me. And I DO NOT need to believe as you believe to live my life for, as I am, I am free! EVERY. LAST. INCH. OF. ME

Sincerely 7.13 OMEGA, an avid existent of reality,

from which religion is far removed.

A democratic right to happiness

It’s four o’clock in the morning on a Friday. UsuallyI’d be crawling into bed after a fantastic night but nottonight. I’m afraid not this weekend.

My mother, my father and I are driving six hours tothe small and presumably freezing cold Dinner Plain.Of course, this has just reminded me of food, and Irealise how hungry I actually am.

We are going to see my younger brother who is at an alpine school camp. It will be the first time I’ve seen him in four weeks.

Me and my family could be described as youraverage family; we support each other, get alongrelatively well and, most importantly, we love eachother, even if it’s not always shown. Why do I lovemy parents? They accept me. When I told them I wasgay, there wasn’t even a flicker of an eyelid before my mum asked me if I was going to wear comfy shoes all my life. This little piece of humour is my family’s way of telling me that it’s okay for me to be gay.

And I suppose you would say I am an ordinary girl, (maybe slightly rough around the edges) but still just an everyday person.When I was a little girl I hung out with my best friendplaying mummy and daddy (I was always the daddy)and dreaming of getting married one day. As I flickedthrough mum’s old bridal catalogues I dreamt ofhuge puffy white wedding dresses and deliciouslysugary wedding cakes. Even now with the acceptance of my homosexuality, these dreams of my six year old self have not changed, and why should they? I want more than most things to fall in love with a wonderful woman, declared to the world through marriage. I think I should have this right. After all, I do my bit as an Australian citizen. I pay taxes, I work, I go to school.

Since coming out when I was 13, I have dedicatedmuch of my time to supporting Homosexual rights.At the beginning, it was in small ways, like helpingsomeone at school come out, or even just talking tothem. Now, as I rapidly approach my 18th birthday,I am taking on much bigger projects such as the organisation and execution of the world’s first same sex debutante ball for the G.A.S.P group that I haverecently and thankfully come into contact with.

One of my most favourite of things to do in terms of being a homosexual rights advocate is attending same-sex marriage rights rallies. Not only are the rallies amazing, with the yelling, stopping of traffic and hanging out with my mates, but the thought that I am helping change the world and make being gay an accepted part of society gives me a bigger rush than any drug ever could.

Gay marriage is exceptionally important to me. After all, why should the government be able to tell me I am different to anyone else? How can they tell me that the love I feel is nonexistent, illegitimate and wrong?

How can the government treat me and a huge number of people held together under the umbrella of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people as second class citizens and get away with it?

I mean, I don’t know about you, but I was under the impression that I was born into a free and democratic country that accepted all. Apparently this is not so.

Of course, the government states it has its reasons for not allowing us to marry. Reasons such as samesex unions devalue marriage; that they will cripple the already failing marriage economy; and the kicker, if gays are married, we will have children without having to jump through hoops. Of course, we couldn’t have that. The argument that it would damage an already damaged institution is ridiculous. Sorry Julia, your excuses for not allowing gay marriage won’t cut it with me.

Let’s just look at some of the arguments against gay marriage; for example, that it devalues straight marriages. So, let’s just look at the divorce statistics; Relationships Australia released research that states that in 2006 therewere 51, 375 divorcesin one year alone.On average, straight marriages don’t appear to last more than nine years. In 2007, 32.3% of people who registered for marriage had already been previously married. It seems that without the gays, straight people are already doing a great job at devaluing marriage all by themselves. So, gay marriage might actually improve the stats! Allowing same sex marriage would open this ceremony up to a largely significant portion of people wanting to get married, making the marriage rates go up.

I still feel the most insulting reason we cannot get married is because of the children. The government and some of society are scared to death of gays raising children. Why? I couldn’t tell you. It is the most illogical of fears. LGBTIQ are more than capable of raising perfectly healthy and socially accepted children, and there has never been a study to prove they can’t and I doubt there ever will be. There have, however, been studies that support homosexuals being able to raise children. The American Academy of Paediatrics’ Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health issued a report in 2002 that stated that there was no significant difference in children raised by homosexual parents compared to those raised by heterosexual ones in areas of gender and sexual identity, attitudes, behaviour and adjustment, or their psychological or social adjustment.

In fact, those children raised by lesbian parents were found to be “more tolerant of diversity and more nurturing toward younger children than children whose parents are heterosexual.” It’s because of this overpowering evidence that I feel that there is no reason to keep delaying the inevitability of gay marriage. Now there is no reason for us to not be allowed the same rights as everybody else.

It is also important to keep in mind that this issue is not just a concern for LGBT people of Australia; it is a problem for all Australian citizens. It is about making a statement about what sort of society we want to live in. After all, if the government can deny rights to this portion of the community, who is to say it can’t turn around any time and do it to anyone else. Given that one in ten people are same sex attracted, I have no doubt in my mind that anyone who is reading this knows someone who is gay, lesbian or bisexual. Everybody has a relative, a teacher, a workmate, classmate or friend that is gay, so think of this person, and ask yourself is it fair for them to be treated like this? As different and strange? Is it fair for them not to be able to love freely and have that love publicly acknowledged and validated as any straight person can? And is it fair for them to be ignored and let down by the government; the very people they elected to help ensure theirrights?

Homophobia

Well, welcome to 2010. Although many of us may find our sub-conscious still demanding that we date things in the past, it most certainly is the year 2010 (Only five years from seeing if Back to the Future is going to be right or not. I, sadly, doubt it will be; but hey, come on science, prove me wrong!)

2010 has allowed us to acknowledge many of our achievements as a nation and as a world, but it also has allowed us to reflect on many of our mistakes, and wrong-doings. Sadly, we can’t always talk about the positives of human nature and that brings us to explore just one of the issues facing men and women inside and outside of schools and workplaces Australia wide. Unfortunately this issue is homophobia.

Homophobia is generally used as a word to identify attitudes or behaviours of a negative nature, projected at homosexuality or persons who identify with homosexuality. Within Australia these attitudes have been directed at what is commonly called the G.L.B.T.I.Q community. G.L.B.T.I.Q is an abbreviation for “Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transsexual, Intersex and Queer”. However, many variations of the name exist. Regardless, the nature of homophobia remains the same. Homophobia is very visible within schools as of late, and doesn’t seem to be making a quick U-turn anytime soon.

Homophobia within schools actually seems to be more sub-conscious than it once was, and entrenched in language. For an example of this all you need to do is sit in a classroom of high school students. Chances are that within the space of a session you will hear the term “gay”. “Gay” is very common, but like many words in the average teenage vocabulary it is used incorrectly. The term has recently been used to mean “Stupid”. For example a common sentence that may be heard in classrooms is “That homework was so gay”.

This word may seem harmless, especially when considering the meaning of words in the English language is constantly changing, and their use seems to be acceptable. But what people forget is “gay’s” deeper meaning, and the community it belongs to.

The gay community is a very proud one, one which is about security and safety, caring, friendship and not to mention fun! By simply using the term ‘gay’ to insult your friend or to make a comment about how silly you thought an assignment was, you’re insulting a community of people and statistically, at least one or two people within your own class.

Sadly, the term ‘gay’ is used incorrectly, loosely and unfairly. If you think for a moment about what insults you or your friends are most likely to use when fighting with someone, or insulting them, it wouldn’t be surprising to find answers such as lesbian, faggot (fag), dyke or poof. This raises the question of why. Why are thesethe first things to be used against someone? Is it because of a personal and internal fear of being gay yourself? Perhaps it’s a cultural or generational inheritance?

Regardless of the cause, it’s wrong. What many people, teens in particular, forget is that their choice of words goes further than themselves. An egocentric attitude means they forget that there is a whole other world out there, a world which identifies with the core meaning of these words. People eitherforget this or simply use their words to hurt. When someone simply uses a word to hurt, unnecessarily and without thinking, in place of other more suitable words; it really says something about the personat hand, doesn’t it? The other aspect of using the word ‘gay’ to describe many things is that the vocabulary of a person is lowered. This is a sad sight to see in a language such as English, which providessuch an overwhelming amount of available synonyms. In fact it is arguable that using the term “gay” so frequently actually promotes a lower level of intelligence. Limiting our vocabularies is the first step to limiting many other things in our lives.

If the culture among students, one which subconsciously insults their friends, families, peers and teachers is allowed to continue, what does this mean the future holds?