Speakers and crowd at the Equal Love National Day of Action
Yesterday I attended the Equal Love National Day of Action in Brisbane. I estimate that around 200-300 people attended, although I’m prone to overestimating when counting people. (For the record, I’m also prone to overestimating when catering for a party, so you’ll never go hungry at my place.) A number of my friends from Twitter were these as well and it was great to be involved in something that is very important and very now.
Something I feel needs to be shouted from the rooftop is that despite some media reports, the protesters were not all gay and lesbian people. Australians everywhere need to realise that straight Australians also support this movement and the right for same sex couples to get married.
Either: marriage is a religious rite, held exclusively by clergy; or: marriage is between two consenting adults. That is all.
I had never really thought about it this way until I read it yesterday. If it is the former, then as an Atheist my marriage is a sham and a fraud. If marriage is a religious rite, as the churches and other interest groups are quick to proclaim, then we shouldn’t have gotten married.
Natalie and I got married because we love each other and we wanted to proclaim that love to the world. We also wanted to officially record that we were committed to each other. We had a civil ceremony held by a marriage celebrant (Natalie’s godmother actually) and it was beautiful. It had nothing to do with God, Allah, Jehovah or any other deity.
If we are allowed to have a wedding and be atheists, then why can’t same sex couples (regardless of their religious beliefs) have this option too. We live in a secular world. Marriage must be between two consenting adults of any sex, any race, and any creed.
It’s a shame Kevin Rudd doesn’t see it that way, but there is something you can to do help.
There is currently a Senate Enquiry into the Marriage Equality Amendment Bill 2009, the bill being recently introduced into the Senate by Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young. (Readers will know that I don’t agree with the Greens on everything, but this is something I can get behind.) Make a submission to the enquiry and make your voice heard. Tell other people you know about this.
Let the rest of Australia know that this isn’t fair and cannot stand the way it is. Let those who think they are alone in their support know that they are not, so that we can all come together as one voice. Together, we can beat this oppression and bring about a monumental change to the rights of all Australians.
Let’s do this now. It’s the 21st century after all!
The event starts at 5pm and goes through to around 8pm, so it’s perfect to drop in on the way home from work. KiLN is located in Paddington (see map below) in one of the old Brisbane Tram substations, and it is a beautiful place with a lovely exhibition space. It isn’t huge and daunting like some galleries can be, but very inviting. The curators (is that the correct term? I’m not the artist in this family!) do a wonderful job to make you feel welcome.
Rather than take my word for it, why don’t you check out this post at definatalie.com (my wife’s blog) where you can get further (and much more informed) information on the exhibition and some examples of the work you will see on the night.
I hope to see some of you there. Come up and introduce yourself if you do come and you don’t know me personally already.
So I’ve been training hard for the Bridge to Brisbane. I’m doing pushups to get some upper body strength. This will allow me to push people out of the way and to support myself when I get to the end and need to lean on something.
However I’m also walking whenever I can. I fit in a bit here and there on the way and back home from work. I’ve also done a couple of walks around the area during my week off work last week.
All in all, it’s all going gangbusters and I’m looking forward to doing the actual walk at the end of August. Don’t forget to dig deep and give! Every dollar helps.
We interrupt your scheduled programming to bring a breaking news story.
This year I’ve decided to enter the 2009 Bridge to Brisbane. I’ll be walking 10km on August 31 30 (thanks, Natalie!) with a team of people to get some fresh air and exercise. I’m really looking forward to it.
I’ve decided that to make it something extra special, I’m going to try and raise some money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. My wife, Natalie, is a Type 1 diabetic and I see each and every day how this affects her. It’s the time it takes to monitor her sugar levels, the sugar lows and highs (both can be dangerous) and anything I can do to help raise funding to assist in the fight against this I will do. Almost anything. If you are serious and have enough cash, ask – you never know.
If you visit this fundraising page you not will be helping me, you’ll be helping my wife and others like her. So if any of my blog posts have ever spoken to you, or if you just want to help a good cause and feel warm and fuzzy for a moment, please give whatever you can.
I have decided to aim for Target 1000 – $1000.00 from you, me and others will help the foundation fund research into cures and treatments for this disease. I’ll be bringing you regular updates on my training progress between now and August 30, with regular reminders of the fundraising drive. I’ll also bring you how we are progressing towards Target 1000.
There has been a fair bit of talk this week within the Twitterverse about the concept of having sponsorship for #btub events. For those who don’t follow Twitter, #btub is the Brisbane Twitter Underground Brigade. It’s not particularly underground at this stage but really it is a chance for Brisbane Twitter users to get together, have a few drinks and network. Anyone can organise and hold a #btub event. All you need do is tweet an event with the hashtag #btub and see if people are interested. So talk this week of sponsorship for #btub events worries me.
Some people might think that sponsorship is unlikely to get off the ground. Without thinking too hard, here are some ideas that companies may be willing to consider for a large organised gathering of people.
Free gifts/Knickknacks/Branded Items- a company might throw in some free shirts or coasters or movie passes. Small gifts.
Food or Drinks – perhaps a venue will supply nibbles and soft drink. It might even be a bar tab or a free beer on arrival.
Product Giveaways – distinct from gifts, a company may want to give away a prize or some of their product to people. Telstra might give away a 3G internet package. A computer company some free wireless routers.
Money – never put it past a company to offer money for sponsorship, which really just ends up being advertising. This could be $50 for a quick plug during a speech, a logo on name tags or a whole lot more for naming rights, “the Helstra #btub spectacular”. (Ok, I am pushing the boundaries – but surely you’ve heard of scope creep, right?)
So there is definitely scope for sponsorship, whether in dollars, product or services.
For those who don’t know much about how to organise a #btub event, it is really simple. Anyone can do it. Lets say @definatalie and I are headed to the State Library and tweet “Meet us at the State Library at 2pm. Lets catch up for a chat. Maybe coffee/drinks afterwards? #btub” Now that’s enough to start a #btub event. No sponsorship involved and a very nice day out. Note to self: organise this some day.
Another person might organise a movie night at one of the major movie chains. They’ve arranged to have a 20% discount and a free popcorn for those who come along. Perhaps they’ve agreed to tweet this message, complete with company name until the movie night. Maybe part of the deal was to tweet from the event and hope other people will tweet the company name.
Sponsors always expect something for their money. Even if it is free food and drink, they still spend real cash dollars to provide it. They are in business and they spend money to make money. It doesn’t make sense to sponsor something if they don’t make something out of it in return. Is it ethical to organise a social gathering in the name of profit making for a sponsor?
Now since #btubs can be organised by anyone, imagine for a second if you received an offer too good to refuse. Company A will pay sponsor a #btub event. Food, drink or product – it doesn’t matter. Then they offer you $500 to get their word around. You can’t tell anyone you are getting paid to spruik their wares, and since you are bringing the sponsorship gifts you certainly expect a large amount of goodwill to come from attendees. So you figure, “Hey, I’ve spent ages organising this. Why shouldn’t I get something out of it?”
This is where it all falls apart. People will find out because they always do. Something doesn’t feel right and then all of a sudden it’s out in the open. All of that wonderful feeling and community spirit of #btub is ripped out from under everyone and it dies.
I don’t doubt that the current #btub community are in it for the right reasons. I’m totally sure that no one in their right mind would attempt something like this. But the number of people attending is huge now and each time the number grows and grows. Who knows who are going to be the organisers in the next six months.
(Sidebar: Don’t tell me there are no organisers. There are a few driven and committed people who make this stuff happen each month. We’d be lost without them.)
#btub has grown because it is organic. It grows through word of mouth and people meeting up with people and then bringing more people with them. It’s a social event that also involves networking, having a few drinks and a laugh and enjoying one another.
Let’s not let money get in the way of a good thing.
