Now this is almost unbelievable. An Australian human rights tribunal has upheld the right of a gay bar owner to ban all women, and heterosexual men.

Human rights group Liberty Victoria supported the decision, vice-president Michael Pearce said.

"There are numerous places where heterosexual people can go," he said.

"I think what (the tribunal) has said is that there aren't that many places where gay people can go and meet without the risk of being harassed or vilified, and that they are entitled to have their own spaces to do that in."

Now that Australia DOES have a place for gays to go without being "harassed or vilified", does that mean that straight bars will be allowed to send gays down the road? Not bloody likely.

One can only imagine the outrage if a bartender were to tell a couple of gay dudes that they weren't welcome in his bar, simply because they were gay. There would be protests, and boycotts, and riots and all those other things that leftists call hobbies.

Update: A Quebec woman by the name of Audrey Vachon is launching a human rights complaint against a Montreal gay bar that refused to serve her because she was a woman (h/t). It should be interesting to see what happens in this case. If Canada truly doesn't discriminate by sexual orientation, she should win easily.

Labels: Audrey Vachon, Australia, Canadian Justice, Human Rights, Quebec

Good news for all NATO allies currently preparing for the "spring offensive" in Afghanistan:

Political attention swung back to the "forgotten war" yesterday as the Federal Government grappled with its difficulties in Iraq.

Defence Minister Brendan Nelson said a reconnaissance team had gone to Afghanistan to assess whether extra Australian forces were needed.

About 550 Australians are based in Afghanistan, with nearly 400 in Oruzgan province. Their job is about to get tougher as temperatures climb.

"All of our intelligence suggests that the Taliban will this year mount a significant do-or-die offensive across Afghanistan, including in Oruzgan," Dr Nelson said. "If we do need to redeploy Australian defence forces to Afghanistan, we will."

Prime Minister John Howard confirmed the Government was looking at bolstering our commitment to Afghanistan.

"We have not made any decision but I don't rule out some increase there," Mr Howard said.

If only more NATO allies could be more like Australia. Actually, I wish more Canadians could be more like Australia.

In a speech to students at the University of Montreal, Dion reiterated today that a Liberal government led by him would not extend Canada's mission in Kandahar beyond February 2009. He also says he would also inform NATO right away how firm that deadline is and that it must find a replacement nation.

Because all good allies should set a time table for defeat, right Stephie?

Labels: Afghanistan, Australia, Stephane Dion