“I am going to declare my gender today, to be a woman, and then you’ll no longer be able to attack me.” Barry O’Sullivan, LNP Senator for Queensland.
Strangely, I’ve never realised that being a woman somehow protected one from attack. I guess that’s why Kelly O’Dwyer was reluctant to agree that domestic violence was a bigger threat than terrorism.
Yes, I’m being flippant, and these are serious matters that Bazza O’Sullivan was raising. Apparently, people have mocked him for his views on abortion, and, by mocked him, I mean that they’ve pointed out that he’s a wee bit out of touch with the twenty-first century. Actually, he’s probably out of touch with most centuries, but let’s not let a little thing called reality stand in our way here.
No, Baz has the answer: “I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar!” he declares. And that’s even before Barnaby has offered to buy him a drink…
Now, for those of you who don’t know much about Senator O’Sullivan, here are a few details:
So as not to be politically incorrect I’ve used both pronouns to refer to him/her.
- His/her current Wikipedia entry reads as follows:
“Barry James O’Sullivan (born 24 March 1957) is a transgender Australian politician who was appointed a member of the Australian Senate for the state of Queensland on 11 February 2014, representing the Liberal National Party (LNP). A former police detective, grazier, property developer and LNP executive treasurer, O’Sullivan was appointed by the Queensland Parliament to the Senate seat vacated by Barnaby Joyce, who had resigned to contest the House of Representatives seat of New England at the 2013 federal election.”
(I don’t know if this will last, but it was actually what I read when I checked it out a few minutes ago! Update: Since modified, I should have taken a screenshot)
- He/she is a widower, which is fortunate, given his views on same sex marriages.
- He/she began work as a member of the Queensland Police Force in 1979.
- He/she now owns 49 investment properties. (No link between the two.)
- He left school well before the Safe Schools initiative, so he/she can’t blame those gender-whispering teachers for his/her change.
Yes, I know that some of you will be angry at me and feel that I’m trivialising the whole transgender experience. No, I’m not. For anyone who’s actually going through difficult times, you have my respect and I salute you. It’s the offhand way, he suggested that he could simply declare himself a woman as though such a thing has no consequences that I find appalling…
Actually, he’s already lost his spot on the Senate ticket, and he never looked like being a minister, so maybe he thought that the party already considered him…
Oh, I better stop before I say something really offensive and get offered a National Party preselection…
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