Australian Armenian same-sex marriage supporter Gladys Berejiklian appointed Premier of Australia’s most populous state

*picture - via FAIRFAX/Huffington Post

Australian Armenian Gladys Berejiklian was appointed Premier of Australia’s most populous New South Wales state (with capital Sydney). What makes this appointment a particularly good news for me is her support for marriage equality and LGBT community.

According to ABC, “She is a private woman who supports same-sex marriage, is compassionate towards the plight of refugees and helped sign off on the Government's signature infrastructure projects.”

Interestingly, Australian media specifically mentions that her support for same-sex marriage is “at odds with her Armenian Orthodox Church”.

In an interview with local media in 2015, Gladys Berejiklian said people had strong views about marriage equality but believed most people on the north shore would support a change in the law.

“I get a sense that as far as my electorate’s concerned that the majority — while I do know there are people who don’t support it and I want to acknowledge they’ve got a right to express those views — I would think the silent majority would support it, I personally do,” she said.

Australian Marriage Equality (AME) and Australians for Equality (A4E) today welcomed the support of the new NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian for marriage equality.

“We congratulate Gladys Berejiklian on becoming Premier of NSW and thank her for her support for marriage equality and the LGBT community,” Australian Marriage Equality Co-Chair, Alex Greenwich said. 

“Premier Berejiklian joins a growing number of Liberal Party leaders who support marriage equality, including Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Tasmanian Premier Will Hodgeman.”

From her bio on Wikipedia: “Berejiklian was born in Sydney, the eldest of three daughters born to Armenian immigrant parents, Krikor and Arsha. Her grandparents were orphaned in the Armenian Genocide in 1915. Berejiklian spoke only Armenian until she was five years old, when she began learning English.”

“Berejiklian became the second woman to hold the office of Premier, after Labor's Kristina Keneally, who served in the position from 2009 to 2011, and the first female Liberal Premier in Australia.”

Opera Australia drops Georgian singer Tamar Iveri following virulent homophobia exposé

I devote this post to Armenian pop stars or other personalities, especially the ones in or around showbiz. I did hope that after Eurovision homophobia fiasco, they would learn the lesson. Well, some probably did. But definitely not all. I will come back to the latest example from Armenia in an upcoming post.

In an era of online communications, words have no expiry date and may hunt you down at any time. Of course, anyone can make mistakes, do or say something totally unacceptable, hurtful, and then genuinely apologise for the wrongs and try making amends. I am all for giving a second chance but only if I believe you are genuine in your actions and intentions, or at least I see some real efforts. If this is the case, people will forgive you. But at times the ‘apology’ is so fake that makes things even worse.

Just weeks ahead of her Opera Australia performance, Georgian opera singer Tamar Iveri was exposed as a homophobe. And it was particularly virulent type of homophobia, disgusting beyond words.

Georgian soprano causes outrage for describing LGBT people as "faecal matter”Georgian soprano Tamar Iveri, scheduled to sing Desdemona in Otello for Opera Australia in July and Tosca later this year in Melbourne, has been roundly condemned for an open letter she wrote to the Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili in May last year. In the lengthy diatribe, originally posted on her Facebook page, she describes LGBT people as “deviants” and suggests that homosexuality is part of the “faecal mass” being foisted on Georgia by the West. 

Iveri’s outburst came on the back of a rally organised by LGBT activists and other Georgian citzens to mark International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO) in the city of Tbilisi. According to reports, tens of thousands of Orthodox Christian activists attacked the participants some of whom, it is claimed, narrowly escaped death. Iveri, however, lambasted the Georgian President for condemning the violence writing that she was “proud of the fact how Georgian society spat at the parade”.

The letter, which contains frequent references to bodily waste, sexual practices and Western moral corruption makes for difficult reading. Backing those who attacked the parade, Iveri says that “often, in certain cases, it is necessary to break jaws in order to be appreciated as a nation” and maintaining that the perpetrators of the violence were “Georgian youth of pure blood, still unspoiled by you [President Mikheil Saakashvili]”.

After outrage that the letter had caused, Tamar deleted it from her FB page, but it had already been translated by LGBT activists in Tbilisi and distributed online. Back then, this incident did not reach world headlines, with only Paris Opera cancelling her performance, formally due to “health condition” but many believe the real reason was the letter that was passed to the Director of the Paris Opera.

A year on, this exposé caused online storm in social networks and media headlines in The Guardian and The Independent with an instant demand to Opera Australia to fire her.

To make things worse, Tamar Iveri released a statement where she alleged that the letter was in fact written by her husband.

“My husband was using my Facebook account at that time and he is a very religious man with a tough attitude towards gay people. He copied my text, changed it considerably and posted it under my name.”

This was the most ridiculous and unbelievable attempt at damage control I have seen. And when she claimed: "He copied my text, changed it considerably and posted it under my name." - what was in her original text, I wonder? I do not expect anything positive.

Opera Australia has since been under mounting pressure and demands from LGBT rights activists, Twitter and FB users, opera lovers and financial sponsors to drop Tamar Iveri. After initial hesitation, Opera Australia released a statement announcing termination of the contract with Georgian opera singer describing views attributed to the singer towards gay people as “unconscionable”. Earlier Brussels Opera dropped her from upcoming production too.

The only right decision. And lesson to others.

It's time. Best gay marriage themed video I've seen to date

I know, this video is now all over the web, shared, re-blogged thousands of times. But it is so good, that I have to post it on my blog too. This is perhaps the best gay marriage-themed video I have seen to date. No sensationalism. Shows exactly what it is.



*video is made by Get Up marriage equality campaign in Australia: 
Remove discrimination from your heart. Remove it from law.

State homophobia in Georgia: The Bridge (short film)

Considering current troubling developments in Tbilisi, Georgia, this film seems even more relevant. Many thanks to Dear Kitty. Some blog for the link.



A gay couple from Tbilisi, Georgia (former USSR) escapes homophobia in their home country by immigrating to Australia. One has his application for permanent residency in Australia approved but their future together hangs in the balance awaiting the arrival of the second letter from immigration.

Director: George Barbakadze
Writers: George Barbakadze, Fleurtasha Cooper

Watch this film.

Heath Ledger portrait wins Australian art prize

Dreamy Australian artist Vincent Fantauzzo took home the Archibald People’s Choice Prize today for his eerie portrait of Heath Ledger, who died less than a month later. (source: Queerty)

Reuters reports:

A portrait of a brooding Heath Ledger, painted shortly before the Australian actor died in January, was voted the most popular painting in Australia's top art prize for portraiture on Thursday.

Ledger, 28, best known for his role as a conflicted gay cowboy in the 2005 movie "Brokeback Mountain," died of an accidental overdose of prescription drugs in New York on January 22.

Artist Vincent Fantauzzo, 29, had been friends with Ledger for many years and painted his work in Ledger's hometown of Perth late last year.

"I wanted it to be dealing with self, your own consciousness and your thoughts," said Fantauzzo.

The painting features a bare-chested Ledger against a black background, looking straight out of the canvas with two other images of the actor at the sides whispering into his ears.

Fantauzzo's painting was a finalist in the 2008 Archibald Prize, Australia's top prize for portraiture, but he missed out on the top award, which went to a self-portrait of an artist with her two children.

But the Art Gallery of New South Wales on Thursday announced that the Ledger portrait had won the people's choice award, which is decided by votes from people who view the Gallery's Archibald exhibition.

More than 32,000 people voted, and the painting drew record crowds to the exhibition.

Fantauzzo has refused offers to buy the painting, and said he had spoken to Ledger's family, who decided the painting would be donated to the New South Wales Gallery in Sydney.

Ledger starred in 18 movies in Australia and Hollywood. He will appear as the Joker in the latest "Batman" movie, "Dark Knight," set for release in July.