Wagga Wagga newspaper The Daily Advertiser has printed an opinion piece written by regular local columnist Keith Wheeler who has suggested that marriage equality legislation will encourage homosexuality, and by extension an increase in the transmission of HIV/AIDS.
Mr Wheeler opens his article with a paragraph or so dedicated to condemning the accuracy of marriage equality polling, insisting that “polls taken months before [a vote] can tell us more about a knee-jerk reaction than voting intentions.”
Mr Wheeler then takes the time to identify reasons not to follow Ireland’s lead on moving towards equality, citing Ireland as “a country of very low morale, with high public debt, drastic budget cuts, unemployment and a GFC-crippled economy”.
Mr Wheeler also states his belief the decision to legislate for marriage equality in Ireland was not the choice of the Irish people, but rather that “opinion on same-sex marriage was manipulated by an American philanthropist named Chuck Feeney who bankrolled an $11.5 million “Yes” campaign over several years.”
The article also covered ground already trodden when Mr Wheeler warns of polyamorous relationships and calls for somebody to please think of the children.
“Australians should consider the plight of adopted children, and those needing foster care, being sent to a homosexual home,” Wheeler writes, “Polyamory, ‘marriage’ involving several people, is also awaiting recognition. It is legal in The Netherlands.”
What has caused the most alarm though is when Mr Wheeler argues that marriage equality will encourage people to become homosexuals, and this will lead to an increase in HIV transmissions. A claim that has been widely condemned on social media.
“A ‘no’ campaign would proceed any referendum. It would remind Australians that gay marriage would be encouraging homosexuality.”
Keith Wheeler
Mr Wheeler notes that “AIDS and HIV are at a 20-year high”, suggesting that “perhaps the ‘grim reaper’ advertisements need revival as a reminder of the consequences of homosexual sex.”
The ‘grim reaper’ ads, which ran in Australia during the late 1980s, were part of a notorious scare campaign which attempted to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS. While successful in drawing attention to the presence of HIV/AIDS in Australia, there were numerous criticisms of the campaign.
“It certainly scared a lot of straight people into avoiding anything to do with gay people, sex workers or drug users”, UNSW Associate Professor Garrett Prestage wrote in his 2009 paper on the topic, “it scared many gay men into thinking sex could kill them”. Many condemned the campaign as they considered the reaper character to be a crude and misinformed allegory for those living with HIV.
The Queensland government also attempted a quasi-revival of the ‘grim reaper’ campaign in 2012, which attracted further criticism. Then Executive Director of the Queensland Association for Healthy Communities, Paul Martin, stressed that the campaign does not highlight any strategies for education, testing or treatment.
“While we welcome increased public attention to HIV, this is a missed opportunity to update people on the reality of living with HIV today”
“It is also a missed opportunity to encourage people who may be at risk to come forward for testing and treatment and to inform and remind people how to prevent transmission of HIV.”
Mr Wheeler’s opinion highlights that the need to educate the wider Australian community on HIV/AIDS related issues is certainly relevant today.
“I think it’s the same old fearmongering that we’ve seen peddled in the last 10 years or so since the ban on equal marriage was enacted and I think over those 10 years we’ve seen the pull of those kinds of divisive arguments really lose any kind of legitimacy that it might once have had”, Miranda Wood of Equal Love WA told OUTinPerth.
“I think on a scientific basis, (Wheeler’s argument is) completely ridiculous… and on a social basis it’s ludicrous. Support levels for marriage equality are sky high and that is evidenced by the growing number of people who want to see a bill passed in federal Parliament in the next month and so I think we can look at these kinds of tired, homophobic, hate-filled arguments and see them for what they really are – which is a last ditch attempt by conservatives, a tiny minority of people, to stop us having our equal rights granted.” Ms Wood said.
Watch the original 1987 ‘Grim Reaper’ advertisement.
Leigh Hill
Note: The editor for The Daily Advertiser and ACON – the AIDS Council of NSW were contacted for comment.
The Equal Love Rally for Marriage Equality in on 9 August in the Murray Street Mall.
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29-08-2012 New Grim Reaper campaign criticised
