Comments on: Same-sex couples are not all just like you /opinion/soapbox-opinion/same-sex-couples-are-not-all-just-like-you/116944 Setting Australia’s LGBTI agenda since 1979 Sat, 01 Feb 2014 10:22:01 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.3 By: Piero /opinion/soapbox-opinion/same-sex-couples-are-not-all-just-like-you/116944#comment-135559 Sat, 01 Feb 2014 10:22:01 +0000 https://starobserver.com.au/?p=116944#comment-135559 Hi guys, my name is Piero – I am the person that designed and started Just Like You in 2013.

This campaign is a celebration of what makes people so similar. It is not a non celebration of the beautiful differences that makes us all unique. The two things are not mutually exclusive and surely it is worth exploring both avenues towards marriage equality, in the attempt of reaching the hearts of those that oppose or are indifferent to this important topic.

Having grown up in a very conservative context where gays and lesbians where seen as ‘out of this world’ characters, I thought that it is important to highlight that being gay is not different from being human, I feel this is a powerful message that might resonate to those people who have not had a lot of exposure to the GLBTIQ world and that might find it hard to understand what it feels like being discriminated against on the grounds of your sexual orientation .

I respect the point of view expressed by this article, but I do feel it does not fully represent the aim of this initiative. As for the price of the calendar – all funds go towards the marriage equality campaign. People like myself that have bought it are not doing it to bag a bargain, they are doing it because it is a meaningful way to support this cause.

Thank you. Follow more Just Like You news @justlikeyouAU

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By: Sean Mulcahy /opinion/soapbox-opinion/same-sex-couples-are-not-all-just-like-you/116944#comment-135554 Sat, 01 Feb 2014 06:41:30 +0000 https://starobserver.com.au/?p=116944#comment-135554 In reply to Brutal Truths.

Thanks for reading, BT.

I obviously disagree that this is a good campaign. Pretending that gay sex doesn’t exist and that same-sex couples are “just like you” won’t advance the interests of same-sex couples one little bit.

Gaining acceptance by pretending we are “just like” everyone else isn’t true equality. Why not seek equality by embracing – not in spite of – our differences? Is that too much to ask?

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By: Brutal Truths /opinion/soapbox-opinion/same-sex-couples-are-not-all-just-like-you/116944#comment-135553 Sat, 01 Feb 2014 06:15:31 +0000 https://starobserver.com.au/?p=116944#comment-135553 In reply to Sean Mulcahy.

It’s a good campaign – from our perspective, but from a marketing point of view – it might be a little alienating to a majority who first need to warm to the idea away from the initial thought of sex. I honestly believe that means shifting the focus from the people in the relationship (which sets up a visual cue of how they love and mate) to a more general relationship issues that all genders, races, religions can relate to.

Saying it without saying it is the way of the future. Protests and aggression took us only so far by a generation who needed to use this tact, but in the internet world, a more subtle and creative approach needs to be inspired. The only people the current tactics are working on is everyone inside the LGBT support circle with no invitation to grow beyond that. Sorry, but its true.

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By: Sean Mulcahy /opinion/soapbox-opinion/same-sex-couples-are-not-all-just-like-you/116944#comment-135414 Wed, 29 Jan 2014 02:31:40 +0000 https://starobserver.com.au/?p=116944#comment-135414 In reply to KazD.

Thanks for reading, Kzad.

AME’s “Just Like You” campaign is about changing the general public’s perception of same-sex relationships. But the problem is: it wants the general public to think of same-sex couples as ‘just like you’ when, in many cases, we aren’t.

Our sexuality defines as as much our income, our skin colour, our gender, our parental status, why should we hide away from that? Why not embrace the fact that we are different and seek equality on terms of difference rather than sameness?

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By: KazD /opinion/soapbox-opinion/same-sex-couples-are-not-all-just-like-you/116944#comment-135387 Tue, 28 Jan 2014 03:53:03 +0000 https://starobserver.com.au/?p=116944#comment-135387 I believe the “Just like you” campaign is more about changing the “general public’s” perception of same sex relationships – even though we have sex with people of the same sex as us, we still go to bars, do our grocery shopping, go to work, listen to live music, etc etc. There is more to the LGBTIQ community than who we sleep with, and that should not be the thing that defines us ahead of anything else. Heterosexual people don’t define themselves as such unless called upon, they are mothers, fathers, schoolteachers, sound recordists, artists, swimmers, athletes, scrapbookers well ahead of being heterosexual.
I look forward to the day when a “news” article does not describe someone as “openly gay footballer” or “openly gay/lesbian” anything.

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By: Haden /opinion/soapbox-opinion/same-sex-couples-are-not-all-just-like-you/116944#comment-135364 Mon, 27 Jan 2014 07:45:26 +0000 https://starobserver.com.au/?p=116944#comment-135364 These have been my thoughts the entire time. Thankyou Sean!!

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