A FEW WORDS FROM THE EDITOR…

Like many others I have been laid low with illness for the past couple of weeks. This was at the very time I needed to work on the Gazette, so thank you for your patience in waiting for me to get this issue out.
We are still in plenty of time to advertise most of the events in this issue, although the print edition won’t be out in time for this weekend’s events which include the annual Corndale Astronomy night. This is on Saturday 19th August at 4:30 pm at the Corndale Hall. With free admission, a guest speaker, and the opportunity to purchase food and drinks to help with fundraising for the hall, this is a great evening for families or anyone interested in astronomy. Please share this with your friends to get as many people along to the event as possible.
There are a number of events advertised in this issue including September school holiday activities with 2480LiveLearnCreate – see their advertisement on page 3 (below this article). Other events ranging from musical theatre to art to sport are included in this edition, so get out there and get involved.
And of course, the issue of the day is the possibility of a postal vote for marriage equality. In the past with the Dunoon Gazette (and in my life in general) I have carefully stayed away from political issues, but in reading some of the discussions and debate, I realise that my silence does not help, and it can hurt. I realise that part of my apathy with respect to politics is that I come from a background of privilege where I have had no need to fight for my rights. To borrow some words from something I saw on facebook, I realise that “staying out of politics” is privilege in action. Here’s what it said: “Your privilege allows you to live a non-political existence. Your wealth, your race, your abilities or your gender allows you to live a life in which you likely will not be a target of bigotry, attacks, deportation, or genocide. You don’t want to get political, you don’t want to fight because your life and safety are not at stake. … If you find politics annoying and you just want everyone to be nice, please know that people are literally fighting for their lives and safety. You might not see it, but that’s what privilege does.”
These words ring true, and while I am never likely to be an activist, there are small things that even the most ‘non-political” of us can do to try to help others. I have gone ahead and signed a petition for Marriage Equality on Change.Org and even shared it to facebook (something I rarely do!) with the following words. “I am so proud of Malta who has legalised same sex marriage. Malta is my adopted country through my own marriage. It has always demonstrated deep faith and has now matched that by a strong commitment to equality. Please Australia, as my other adopted country, show the same commitment to equality as Malta and my country of origin New Zealand.”
And although I do not agree with using taxpayers’ money for a postal vote on this issue, when it seems to have such an easy and logical resolution following the precedent set by more than 20 other countries in legalising marriage for everyone, I do agree that we cannot afford to stand idly by or boycott the vote. Please make sure that you are enrolled to vote and please vote YES so that we can prove that we are the accepting community that I am proud of.
Until next time,
Bronwen Campbell
Editor