Government Should Be Viewpoint Neutral

Hey, I said "please"! I posted in the hope of a pleasant, informative, and respectful conversation on this sensitive topic. My requests were intended to give some guidance that previous experience has taught me is often beneficial in these anonymous public forums. For example, I think that it is unrealistic and counterproductive to try to debate a sensitive topic when we don't know each other and most participants are hiding behind anonymous pseudonyms. The most we can probably accomplish is to develop awareness of opposing opinions and respect for those who embrace them.

Now, let's get on with it. I want to read what you think about my ideas, not what you think about me or the way that I communicate.

Except your opposing opinion is based on a faulty premise. The government painted the road in what was a major event held on a yearly basis that draws thousands of people to the area, including bringing in international and interstate tourists. If you are taking the neutral point of view: Painting over the road erodes community good will with the government, costs money to paint over and results in a loss of local tax revenue, and poses no safety concerns. This is not really a GLBT issue. Which part of that do you find particularly sensitive?

I don't have an issue with the expenditure. This is civic speech promoting the queer viewpoint, and civic speech is the most important kind of speech in a free society. What bothers me is that government is participating in civic speech in a nonneutral way. Worse, it is implicitly forcing taxpayers who oppose the queer viewpoint to pay for its expression. There are multiple reasons why government should NOT participate in the expression of viewpoints on the issues of the day, but should instead merely facilitate the conversation in a viewpoint neutral way.

This topic is not about the money. It is not about which viewpoint is better. It is only about whether you agree with me that there is something fundamentally wrong about government money and coercive power being used to promote a viewpoint.

I still want to know what the locals who oppose the queer viewpoint have said about it and whether the local press has covered their opposition. Is the Australian press just about mobbing, the way that the press in the United States is? When you open a newspaper in Australia, do you only see the politically correct viewpoint being covered, with competing viewpoints ridiculed, defamed, and silenced?

Er. The government paid for this to promote tourism in the area. If the government is implicitly supporting any viewpoint, it is one that encourages locals to run events that bring in outside money to the region. You really need to take your militant heterosexual agenda at the expense of the local tax base and goodwill towards the local police force and re-evaluate it. You are implicitly non-neutral because you are taking an issue that has little to do with any sort of political agenda, taking an economic issue, and turning it into a militantly heterosexual position. Try again. And yeah, I guess this piece is implicitly promoting an anti-communist/anarchist viewpoint by implicitly supporting a pro-business position. Why do you hate functional capitalism?

Oh, and just so you know: Equal time does not need to be given to be neutral. In fact, giving equal time to certain positions is in many cases patently non-neutral. You do not give equal time to holocaust deniers every time there is a conversation about the holocaust. You do not give equal time to Birthers every time Obama is mentioned. You do not give equal time to climate change denialists each to climate change is mentioned. You do not give equal time to people who believe the earth is flat every time some one talks about NASA. You do not give equal time to conspiracy nuts thinking vaccines are unsafe anytime a vaccine is not safe. The suggestion that giving equal time is implicitly neutral seems to be strange and an implicitly non-neutral way of giving crackpots equal footing in rational discussions. That you want to take a story that is fundamentally an economic one and community relations (for a community located in the heart of the gay neighborhood of Sydney) at its heart and pervert it to marginalize a group and present your marginalized minority viewpoint as a rational one IS an implicitly non-neutral effort on your part. Do try again at neutrality.

The rainbow flag is recognized the world over as the primary symbol of "Gay Pride". It is, AFAIK, the ONLY symbol used to represent and convey the queer viewpoint. But you seem to be asserting that painting what must be the world's largest rendition of this symbol across a major street, and then making it the basis for a tourist advertising campaign sophisticated and well funded enough to attract international tourists, is viewpoint neutral. You seem to be denying the obvious fact that this is brilliantly (pun intended) conceived and executed civic speech to promoting the queer viewpoint.

Your assertion that painting a giant rainbow flag has nothing to do with promoting the queer viewpoint seems like equivalent to an assertion that painting a giant swastika on the pavement of an intersection in a neighborhood populated by Aryan Race White Supremicists would have nothing to do with promoting racism.

How would you feel if your tax money was used to paint a giant swastika on the road and to use that as the basis for a major advertising campaign?

This is definitely speech. It is definitely not viewpoint neutral. And it is definitely funded by government, over the objections of the minority of voterss who oppose the viewpoint.