Politics and sexuality......

[Long Duck Dong]

For the record, I am apolitical and live in new zealand, even tho I am talking about politics in other countries as well as in new zealand

In new zealand we have two main parties, labour ( centre left ) and national ( centre right ) and a number of minor parties ( religious / conservative, environmental / greens ) , we also have anti discrimination laws, LGBT+ rights, etc, and while we have local councils, NZ is a one law for the whole country place....

Over the last few years, I have been reading a lot of different LGBT+ sites, forums and groups, and there is a lot of anti politician sentiment, but something I noticed, was mention a political leaning and look out.....specially if the person is a republican ( US ) or conservative ( UK ) because people were immediately slammed as supporting anti LGBT+ parties, and expected to only support people and parties that support them based on sexuality and gender rights.......

Now I have a different opinion, also important to people is access to healthcare, employment, benefits, housing and so on....and what good are rights if you can not provide for your family, struggle to put a roof over your head, have to close your business down etc.... and yes that stance put a cross hair on my back because I did not blindly support LGBT+ people but considered the general state of things overall.......

In new zealand the opposition party with the support of other minor parties had the numbers to pass the same sex marriage bill into law, the ruling government party and other minor parties lacked the numbers to prevent it........the same opposition party is now the ruling government party and has failed to deliver on a number of things in regards to housing, businesses, benefits, healthcare etc.......

In my closed group of myself, my partner, another male and two females, we are all over the age of 35, all considered bisexual, 2 are retired, 4 are current / former business owners, 4 are current / former landlords, all of us own homes ( I live in a rental with my partner, by choice ) and are considered wealthy ( income over 100k per year )
Myself, my partner and one other are apolitical, the other two do not support the major two parties, and none of us voted for political parties based around their LGBT+ policies.......

Statistically, we would support a centre left party by way of business and taxes, but centre right based around housing policies and income......and based around our sexuality, support the minor parties ..........

anyways, just out of curiosity, does sexuality / gender rights play a big part in your voting / political party support.....or do people vote more around general policies such as housing, taxes, employment and health care....?

[Jazminedress]

well, first thing you have to realize I think in any discussion is, where do you get the news. I am an immigrant to the USA, so I follow my home country, and my adopted country. The first thing I can tell you in the USA, we have zero news outlets. We only have opinion propoganda outlets, and that doesn't matter if you lean left or right. The other thing to think about, times have changed. In years past, if something happened, it took time for the news to travel, and they didn't release a ton of imformation until they had the facts..........................now, it is fully, if it bleeds report it and apoligize later. We have a worldwide problem of we haven't figured out how to control the internet without infringing on rights

Any time I vote, my first beginning is to assume the media outlets are making up crap as they go, and that the politicians are liars...........and actually research

I have many many stances that are important to me, but, when I vote, I start with thinking about the populace as a whole, not just my needs, then narrow it down from there. This probably comes from growing up Military, and, being a SGt of my own unit, you think about the unit first, single person second.

The other issue we face, people now, if it is repeated enough times, and it fits what they want, it is the truth no matter what, and anyone who disagrees is an asshole. A great example, Bill Clinton led us to a great economy and a surplus after Reaganomics was a failure then Bush blew it................I have intelligent friends that fully believe this, and no matter what you show them they have cognitive dissonance and wont believe anything else.


So, yes, I go with general policy, with some focused policy depending on its importance, gender policy is actually very low on my list. If the economy was better, the direction of the country was better and I could allow myself to be a touch selfish, then it would, but the state of the country right now, it has to be general good for the whole

[Long Duck Dong]

lol I trust the media about as much as I trust politicians, which is about the same amount of trust I have in activists to not have an agenda or bias.....

At times yes I have benefited greatly from US policies, due to investments and assets that are influenced by the US economy, and as much as I have benefited, I also dislike the fact that its been at the expense of businesses and jobs, in the US, with bush and trump actually benefiting me the most.....but my opinion of them as people, is not influenced by how much money I made, lol, its based around policies in the US and how it affects the general public....

SO while I may not like trump as a person, or bush...I have to concede that their policies, well that of the US government did make me rather wealthy, due to economy, market shifts etc, and where I had invested money.....

[NWMichCPL]

I’m a member of the Sasquatch Party. As a former member of the military (medically retired from active duty), I don’t trust politicians, now I’m not saying all politicians are evil and I’m not saying they are all good, but they are a necessity.
I prefer to form my opinion on their political track record (from both parties) and then write in Sasquatch on my ballot. During primaries I vote Sasquatch and the Northern Michigan Dogman as my representatives going to Washington or the state capital.
Any politicians that become millionaires during their terms in office tells me they are not looking after my interests and well being, but their own. If they need money other than the salaries they earn as politicians I understand that fast food restaurants are hiring at $20.00 an hour starting pay.
That’s my opinion on politics and politicians, but opinions are like assholes, everybody has one.

[KDaddy23]

Methinks these are two things that have no business being connected to each other. One's political affiliations are what they are as is one's views and both are as personal as one's sexuality is. Historically, there are three things that are never to be discussed: Religion, sex, and politics and, growing up, I used to wonder why until I would see and hear some pretty violent arguments - and some that actually led to violence - and all because of differing opinions being held in all of those "forbidden" topics. Like, say the word "republican" to any of my grandparents and find out what would happen next. When I got old enough to vote, my family made it a serious point to find out what party I might be affiliated with, and they were fine with whatever decision I made... as long as I chose to be a Democrat. Silly, right? Still, I've seen families turn against each other and longtime friends have become ideological enemies; I've seen relationships get trashed behind this. Let's not talk about it and say we did and more so when most people don't know that it's okay to agree to disagree and cordially so.

Congress seems to have forgotten that they work for us and that it's not their personal fiefdom and a means to become wealthy and at the expense of those they swore to represent and all too willing to knife their constituents in the back for a good backroom deal that'll line their pockets; I've seen well-meaning politicians get elected and wind up corrupted by the system because if you don't play the game, nothing your constituents want is going to happen; the news is so politically biased that it can no longer be trusted as a source of factual information and sexuality has become a political issue for both parties to fight about and... I ain't got time for this shit. I'm more afraid for this country than I was growing up in the Cold War era where the fear of nuclear war was a good possibility, but the greater fear of Mutually Assured Destruction kept itchy fingers off of triggers. The political climate is even scarier, the news even more biased and not about telling the truth and... I ain't got time for this shit. I'd rather line up 20 guys so I can blow all of them than to get all wrapped up in this stuff... at least I know what I'll get out of it.

[darkeyes]

You're right KDaddy, they do have no business being linked, but they are, and as long as there are those opposed to the LGBT, and we do not have the acceptance of the societies in which we live, sadly they will have to be for a long time to come.

Throughout my life I have seen progress towards equal rights, but in the last year or two in the UK at least that progress has hit the buffers, with increased hostility in our society, and a true reluctance to progress, principally by people and parties of the right, although in respect of trans, by increasing numbers on the left. Very disconcerting, indeed distressing. I am as anyone who knows anything about me, and have been a socialist all of my life, partly through up bringing, but mainly because I have left the party to which I belong, far behind in how I see the world generally, and in respect of matters sexual so far behind that even the incredibly loving and liberal raising my parents gave me is in the distance. I have a young daughter I adore, and while for her I provide a living and liberal upbringing, I know my mother has concerns, as do friends and my older siblings.

I am not raising my daughter as a socialist, as my parents raised me, but I am bringing her up to be a free thinker about everything, including sex and sexuality. That I expect her to turn out a socialist goes without saying, but as I have left my parents far behind in politics and sex, I fully expect her to equally grow apart from how I feel. I find it difficult to hate people, and in my daughter I see a similar trait at least in part because of what I try to teach. Those who go through life espousing fascism, capitalism, racism, sexual phobias, war and other philosophies I can hate, as people I do not hate them but the loathsome ideologies they spread around the world.

Our world has been shoved into reverse. About sex and sexuality like everything else we see hatred abound, and truly evil philosophies from within religions and other normally decent ideologies which endanger us all. So for a long time to come, sex, sexuality and politics will require to be linked yet.

[Rest85]

You're right KDaddy, they do have no business being linked, but they are, and as long as there are those opposed to the LGBT, and we do not have the acceptance of the societies in which we live, sadly they will have to be for a long time to come.

Throughout my life I have seen progress towards equal rights, but in the last year or two in the UK at least that progress has hit the buffers, with increased hostility in our society, and a true reluctance to progress, principally by people and parties of the right, although in respect of trans, by increasing numbers on the left. Very disconcerting, indeed distressing. I am as anyone who knows anything about me, and have been a socialist all of my life, partly through up bringing, but mainly because I have left the party to which I belong, far behind in how I see the world generally, and in respect of matters sexual so far behind that even the incredibly loving and liberal raising my parents gave me is in the distance. I have a young daughter I adore, and while for her I provide a living and liberal upbringing, I know my mother has concerns, as do friends and my older siblings.

I am not raising my daughter as a socialist, as my parents raised me, but I am bringing her up to be a free thinker about everything, including sex and sexuality. That I expect her to turn out a socialist goes without saying, but as I have left my parents far behind in politics and sex, I fully expect her to equally grow apart from how I feel. I find it difficult to hate people, and in my daughter I see a similar trait at least in part because of what I try to teach. Those who go through life espousing fascism, capitalism, racism, sexual phobias, war and other philosophies I can hate, as people I do not hate them but the loathsome ideologies they spread around the world.

Our world has been shoved into reverse. About sex and sexuality like everything else we see hatred abound, and truly evil philosophies from within religions and other normally decent ideologies which endanger us all. So for a long time to come, sex, sexuality and politics will require to be linked yet.

Excellent comments, darkeyes!

[KDaddy23]

Indeed, darkeyes: I raised my children to be free thinkers and two of the three of them are bisexual and methinks my daughter is a bit of a political animal since I've heard some of her rants about the local politics/politicians where she lives but one of the things I talked to her about when we had a discussion about her bisexuality, is that the only person who can change what she is, is... herself. To keep her own counsel in this. Just a few weeks ago, she was visiting with me and I got to listen to her explaining to my neighbor - and a man she just met - why his daughter was into women and an LGBTQ+ supporter and I felt a great deal of pride when she proudly say, "I am a bisexual woman and no one gets to tell me that I can't be what I know I am - and my father has supported me the whole time and he gets it!" My neighbor had to pick his jaw up and I'm not sure why but he started talking about Trump and, well, she's got a quick and bad temper and said, "Fuck that motherfucker and he ain't got shit to do with what I'm trying to tell you so you can understand your daughter!"

He turned and looked at me and... I just shrugged. What I know is that despite the global political strife that is finding its way into things concerning sexuality, people are still going to be whatever sexuality suits their purpose in life and more so when societies are slow to change but quick to resist change and while social acceptance of bisexuality, immediately if not sooner, would be nice, why wait for the world to change when you can handle your bizness right now?

[darkeyes]

Indeed, darkeyes: I raised my children to be free thinkers and two of the three of them are bisexual and methinks my daughter is a bit of a political animal since I've heard some of her rants about the local politics/politicians where she lives but one of the things I talked to her about when we had a discussion about her bisexuality, is that the only person who can change what she is, is... herself. To keep her own counsel in this. Just a few weeks ago, she was visiting with me and I got to listen to her explaining to my neighbor - and a man she just met - why his daughter was into women and an LGBTQ+ supporter and I felt a great deal of pride when she proudly say, "I am a bisexual woman and no one gets to tell me that I can't be what I know I am - and my father has supported me the whole time and he gets it!" My neighbor had to pick his jaw up and I'm not sure why but he started talking about Trump and, well, she's got a quick and bad temper and said, "Fuck that motherfucker and he ain't got shit to do with what I'm trying to tell you so you can understand your daughter!"

He turned and looked at me and... I just shrugged. What I know is that despite the global political strife that is finding its way into things concerning sexuality, people are still going to be whatever sexuality suits their purpose in life and more so when societies are slow to change but quick to resist change and while social acceptance of bisexuality, immediately if not sooner, would be nice, why wait for the world to change when you can handle your bizness right now?

I have an adopted daughter much older than my natural daughter from a previous relationship and marriage. I have known her since she was 7 and is as free thinking as I could hope for. She has not become bisexual or gay, but a decent heterosexual woman, who fights for people like her mum and I in the wider world, and for anyone oppressed for any reason. I am inordinately proud of her for the way she takes shite from no one as is her mother... and she is becoming even more so. As long as the lgbt+ has people in the str8 community like her on its side then we have little to fear in the long term.

[KDaddy23]

"As long as the lgbt+ has people in the str8 community like her on its side then we have little to fear in the long term."

I agree. Kudos to her!

[Long Duck Dong]

"As long as the lgbt+ has people in the str8 community like her on its side then we have little to fear in the long term."....mmmmm

I am not disagreeing with that statement but thinking more in terms of IF a lot of LGBT+ stop trying to make out the str8 community and other LGBT+ to be the * enemy * then there would be a lot less opposition on more than one front......and that also applies to the straight community, more so the ones that are stirring the pot hardcore

The basis for that stance, rests in the fact that straight people also make up a good part of the LGBT+ community, IE straight trans, straight intersex, straight asexual, straight non binary / gender queer.....and also there are factions within the LGBT+ community that are very intolerant and unaccepting of others in the LGBT+ community as well.......

For me, thats because of the universal trait of bias and tribalism in people, regardless of their gender and sexuality...or as my partner puts it, the need to start a fight over fuck all, in order to justify fighting against others, by doing the same thing that they will claim that they are fighting against, bias, intolerance and lack of acceptance.....

I am a vet, I served in the army and I did see action overseas, and yes I know that you lean towards pacifist / opposition to war......and yes I did question what the fuck was I fighting for, cos it was not for peace, queen or country or because it was my duty as a soldier......but it was when I came home, and ended up being screamed at by anti war / pro peace people ( oh the bloody irony, they are fighting for peace by acting aggressively towards me, lol ) that I really understood that people often do are not really fighting for a cause, as much as they are looking for people to fight against


So as much as I respect you and your daughter, your fighting spirit and stances, I have actually distanced myself from the LGBT+ in the past with things like same sex marriage rights in NZ, because I was expected to side with the LGBT+, fighting against the straights, the churches etc......and I stood with the LGBT+, the straights, the churches and others that were fighting for marriage equality for all, regardless of race, gender, sexuality and culture.......ironically I have never married and never wanted to but it was never about my rights or LGBT+ rights, it was about equal rights for all......



LOL I have a pansexual son and a trans son, myself... I would love to say I taught them the same values as I believe, but in fact I did not....I only taught them about what I think and why, so they understand the rules of my house better......IE abuse and insult people, and they know where the door is..... take a side in a fight, and they may need to decide who they really support and oppose when it comes to their own friends.......and lastly if they want to fight for equality, equal rights, equal treatment, then also fight for equal consequences for actions, aka fight for hate speech and hate crime protection for minorities and they will not have my support, specially if they are going to act offensively and abusive towards others......

[Grant_Norman]

Basically, government has no rights to sexual or abortion or marriage issues or intrusion of any kind. Government should only focus on doing the job of supporting a countries infrastructure such as roads, environment, defense, etc. None of this has anything to do with people's personal business. Unfortunately in many places in the world they can't even do that part of the job. From what I've heard, ay least being in New Zealand you do have pretty good legitimate government infrastructure and even a hot prime minister to boot.

Grant

[darkeyes]

Basically, government has no rights to sexual or abortion or marriage issues or intrusion of any kind. Government should only focus on doing the job of supporting a countries infrastructure such as roads, environment, defense etc..

Grant

And health.. There is little more important to a people's well being than having free at point of use good health care paid for by all out of some form of taxation.. It's a pity in my country that the present government is fucking it up and has been for over a decade.. Often by the most corrupt means...

[darkeyes]

"As long as the lgbt+ has people in the str8 community like her on its side then we have little to fear in the long term."....mmmmm

I am not disagreeing with that statement but thinking more in terms of IF a lot of LGBT+ stop trying to make out the str8 community and other LGBT+ to be the * enemy * then there would be a lot less opposition on more than one front......and that also applies to the straight community, more so the ones that are stirring the pot hardcore

The basis for that stance, rests in the fact that straight people also make up a good part of the LGBT+ community, IE straight trans, straight intersex, straight asexual, straight non binary / gender queer.....and also there are factions within the LGBT+ community that are very intolerant and unaccepting of others in the LGBT+ community as well.......

For me, thats because of the universal trait of bias and tribalism in people, regardless of their gender and sexuality...or as my partner puts it, the need to start a fight over fuck all, in order to justify fighting against others, by doing the same thing that they will claim that they are fighting against, bias, intolerance and lack of acceptance.....

I am a vet, I served in the army and I did see action overseas, and yes I know that you lean towards pacifist / opposition to war......and yes I did question what the fuck was I fighting for, cos it was not for peace, queen or country or because it was my duty as a soldier......but it was when I came home, and ended up being screamed at by anti war / pro peace people ( oh the bloody irony, they are fighting for peace by acting aggressively towards me, lol ) that I really understood that people often do are not really fighting for a cause, as much as they are looking for people to fight against


So as much as I respect you and your daughter, your fighting spirit and stances, I have actually distanced myself from the LGBT+ in the past with things like same sex marriage rights in NZ, because I was expected to side with the LGBT+, fighting against the straights, the churches etc......and I stood with the LGBT+, the straights, the churches and others that were fighting for marriage equality for all, regardless of race, gender, sexuality and culture.......ironically I have never married and never wanted to but it was never about my rights or LGBT+ rights, it was about equal rights for all......



LOL I have a pansexual son and a trans son, myself... I would love to say I taught them the same values as I believe, but in fact I did not....I only taught them about what I think and why, so they understand the rules of my house better......IE abuse and insult people, and they know where the door is..... take a side in a fight, and they may need to decide who they really support and oppose when it comes to their own friends.......and lastly if they want to fight for equality, equal rights, equal treatment, then also fight for equal consequences for actions, aka fight for hate speech and hate crime protection for minorities and they will not have my support, specially if they are going to act offensively and abusive towards others......
I do not lean towards.. I am an absolute pacifist make no mistake. As for cutting myself off from the lgbt+, I may loathe the attitudes of many within its scope, but just as I fight within the Labour Party and society for the socialism I would like to see, I remain and am committed to the lgbt+ and struggle to do the same within its umbrella. I will not desert the people who have given me so much over the last near 3 decades and in great part made me who I am even if many differ from my opinions. I enjoy the barney with whomsoever to try and improve the world, be they str8, gay, bi, warmonger, pacifist or anything else.

It's a funny old world, Duckie, that even when kicked out of organisations which has happened, I will still take issue with them, but in general there remains enough substance for me to retain some loyalty and commitment to them even as has happened more than once, they show little or no loyalty to me or often the reason for their existence.

[Long Duck Dong]

I do not lean towards.. I am an absolute pacifist make no mistake. As for cutting myself off from the lgbt+, I may loathe the attitudes of many within its scope, but just as I fight within the Labour Party and society for the socialism I would like to see, I remain and am committed to the lgbt+ and struggle to do the same within its umbrella. I will not desert the people who have given me so much over the last near 3 decades and in great part made me who I am even if many differ from my opinions. I enjoy the barney with whomsoever to try and improve the world, be they str8, gay, bi, warmonger, pacifist or anything else.

It's a funny old world, Duckie, that even when kicked out of organisations which has happened, I will still take issue with them, but in general there remains enough substance for me to retain some loyalty and commitment to them even as has happened more than once, they show little or no loyalty to me or often the reason for their existence.

I agree with you......its attitudes of many that I have issues with, but not the LGBT+ themselves.....and often the biggest fights are because I will not take sides in the LGBT+ vs Straight crusade or join in things like trump bashing or posting insults and abuse at JK rowling tho I do not support or agree with them both......

For me, the end goal would be a society that has equality but also consideration for individual aspects and needs.... but it will never be a world at peace because that is not in some peoples nature, they will always be looking for a reason to start a fight or a fight to join......and with me, its why I often avoid a lot of fights because its not about a goal, its more about an agenda and bias.......

[Long Duck Dong]

Basically, government has no rights to sexual or abortion or marriage issues or intrusion of any kind. Government should only focus on doing the job of supporting a countries infrastructure such as roads, environment, defense, etc. None of this has anything to do with people's personal business. Unfortunately in many places in the world they can't even do that part of the job. From what I've heard, ay least being in New Zealand you do have pretty good legitimate government infrastructure and even a hot prime minister to boot.

Grant

lol a hot PM ??? ok....lol....

Yeah we do have a good government infrastructure, and the biggest flaw is many in the government, but I would not change that to be honest.......as the more opinionated and outspoken people are in the minority, where their voice is heard but they lack the numbers to be any serious threat ......

I agree with both you and darkeyes.....the government needs to stay out of sexual aspects, abortion, marriage etc... tho with health, providing funding and the ability of the health system to be more effective and not hamstrung by lack of health, is something the government needs some input in.......

We are lucky in that the government here did change laws giving marriage rights to all, decriminalizing anti homosexual / sodomy laws, banning conversion therapy.....and is not considering reversing those changes.......but they have failed badly in terms of housing, employment, healthcare, benefits, child poverty / child protection, justice and legal rights, because of a throw money at the problem stance and passing laws tying the hands of people trying to reduce the problems, is simply not working.......however much of that is not recent, its been a growing problem over the last few decades ..... and also impacted by events overseas, as well as covid etc......

We do have things like committees that are often made up of experts and professionals who advise the government on policies, and more often than not, they are saying create those policies or do not create those ones... and the government just ignores them.....the end result is often a complete fuck up, such as kiwi build was designed to create low priced housing for new home buyers, it failed so badly they only created 1/10 of the houses that they claimed, would be built and the cost of them was often much higher than other new builds......the problem mostly was they used developers to build the homes, rather than create a fund for builders to build the homes that people wanted and had the funding ready to buy the house as soon as it was built......

SO they changed the law, now people that are landlords and new home buyers can no longer claim their interest payments on mortgages against their end of year taxes, offsetting the cost of maintenance and insurance, keeping rents low and mortgage payments within budgets, so mum and dad landlords have to increase rents and new home buyers are priced out of the housing market.... but the government then exempted businesses and developers from the same thing, allowing them to buy up more older houses and land, building modern new houses, and totally ignoring the NZ public who do not want cookie cutter style expensive houses but to build their own style of house at a cheaper cost.......all while claiming they are working to help landlords and new home buyers......

[Long Duck Dong]

Darkeyes, I actually need your help.....scotland has a new period dignity officer and while there is a shit storm brewing over the fact he is a male and a lot of stupid comments flying, such as he has never had a period etc so hes the wrong person for the job

The thing is WHAT the hell is the duties and requirements of a period dignity officer because I am struggling to find that information online cos of all the negative headlines about him in that role......

Personally I am in two minds, they would have been better to have both a male and female in the role, as a compromise for people that have no issues talking about periods with a male, and for those that do not feel comfortable talking with a male.... something that has already got me abused and insulted, cos * how dare I continue to suggest a male can talk about something they know nothing about *....to which my response was to say will you say the same thing to a trans woman / MtF, or to a woman that has never had a period for what ever reason......

PS I do have a trans son FtM and also friends that will openly talk about their periods, the problems they have etc......and I have friends that have issues with that but can not come up with any reasonable stance other than an opinion that its wrong

[darkeyes]

Darkeyes, I actually need your help.....scotland has a new period dignity officer and while there is a shit storm brewing over the fact he is a male and a lot of stupid comments flying, such as he has never had a period etc so hes the wrong person for the job

The thing is WHAT the hell is the duties and requirements of a period dignity officer because I am struggling to find that information online cos of all the negative headlines about him in that role......


There has long been and continues to be stigma regarding women, girls and periods. The appointment of Period Dignity Officers is an attempt to remove the stigma. Scotland is the first country in the world to issue free menstrual products to women and girls. There are those who think this wrong headed, but in my opinion can only be a good thing.. Women, girls and periods go together, and menstrual products aren't cheap. Even in this day and age many women and girls have been unable to afford the high cost of such products.. In the last decade living standards have collapsed and something like 2/3 of the country has moved into or is moving into poverty. The Scottish parliament support by government and opposition alike sees the issue of free products to women and girls in part as a matter of right and as a poverty alleviation measure. Period dignity officers exist to provide education and ensure schools, colleges and workplaces provide access to such products for women and girls. Projects will be run at the local level by working groups and a local Period Dignity Officer who will administer the project.

I am in two minds. My heart tells me a woman should run the projects, yet if we believe in equal rights in our society should we insist on it? My head tells me that run properly the administration of these projects, gender shouldn't matter, yet I know it does to many women and I think for good reason historically. Trust men? For many of us it is unthinkable. Men in charge of female oriented projects have a very mixed record. The appointment of a man on Tayside could threaten the project there because of that mistrust. Before u ask, I am not entirely a person who mistrusts all men in such circumstances. As yet Tayside causes me some concern but not as yet serious concern. I do on balance think the job should be occupied by a woman, but I will wait and see before passing judgement. It is early days, and I may yet need to scream and screech a bit if things go belly up.

[Long Duck Dong]

Thank you very much... a lot of articles give the impression that its a single position and they are the only person in that role.... the fact that it will be multiple positions doing basically the same role in different locations by different people, throws a whole new light on things

I do support the scheme, they are pushing for the same thing here in NZ, and I support it, there are times that a person can be caught out and not have items on hand, at school......we also occasionally have the pink drive which is a donation drive for sanitary items... last time they did that, I got $1000 of supermarket vouchers and said buy the products that are most needed / used, because buying the products and donating them may mean you end up with a shit load of products that are not used that much......

I also respect the fact that you are in two minds, I am the same.....( checks around to make sure there is no political correctness lynch mob near by, ready to lynch me for saying female / woman instead of person )...there will be a number of females that do not feel comfortable talking with a male about periods, specially their own...while others may be fine with it......so yeah a dual role of male and female would be a compromise, tho the lynch mob would be in my face so fast for * excluding * non binary, gender queer and trans FtM, and how as a male, its not my right to have a opinion anyway.......

While I believe that equality is a good thing in society, I honestly think its just a word that people use, cos it sounds good when they say it......rather than make it a gender based thing tho, I would rather say that having the wrong person in the wrong role, can turn any project into a cluster fuck.....but gender bias in NZ is like a national sport, jacinda ardern was paraded as a vibrant, attractive young female PM by a number of feminist opinion piece writers but now that things are going south, and people are saying hugs and smiles from a eye candy PM has not done much good for NZ, the reaction is * typical sexist, misgynistic males focusing on her gender and looks * by the same opinion piece writers......

SO I dare say if the guy fails at his job, there will be a number of vocal people .... but if a female fails in the same role, will they also be as fast to tear her down as well.....