Living The Dream Amidst A Non-Binding Postal Survey On Same-Sex Marriage

Australia is currently in the midst of a non-binding postal survey on same-sex marriage and it seems likely that the ‘Yes’ vote will win by a massive majority. Yet the ‘Left’ and supporters of same-sex marriage seem miserable and downcast about this. In this episode Simon Copland (@SimonCopland) helps Jon (@jonpiccini) and Dave (@withsobersenses) make sense of it all. We talk about the role that homophobia and sexuality plays in capitalism, the histories of Queer struggles within neoliberalism, and how certain sections of the Yes campaign have internalised a pessimistic perspective about people and democracy. We finish on a high-note about what the expected resounding Yes vote will mean for Australian society and the possibility of further struggles. This episode starts with Dave mispronouncing Simon’s name.

Writers and articles we mention include:

Wendy Brown – States of Injury

Dennis Altman – Homosexual: Oppression and Liberation

Melinda Cooper – Family Values 

• Interchange – In the Name of the Family: The Moral Uses of Welfare   

Sarah Schulman The Gentrification of the Mind

Queers Podcast

Music by Bob. B Soxx and the Blues Jeans and by Dark Blue