Australian Senator for South Australia and Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Penny Wong, last week gave a pointed Senate speech against homophobia in sports, schools, and elsewhere.
Wong, who has a daughter with partner Sophie Allouache, gave the speech after a week in which Australian Olympic gold medalist Ian Thorpe came out as gay and an Australian sports commentator made a homophobic slur about another athlete.
I like that she balanced her remarks about the harm of homophobia, especially to youth, with a positive story of taking action to make things better. She tells of some high school students in Adelaide who launched an annual “Think Before You Speak Week,” to raise awareness of the impact of homophobic remarks. The actions of people like these students and Thorpe, she says, “demonstrate that for every unthinking, ignorant, cruel bigot in this country, there are hundreds of thoughtful, tolerant, decent, and ethical people. . . . For every homophobe, there are hundreds of people, gay and straight, with the courage to stand up for what is right.”
Wong is no stranger to speaking up for equality. In fact, I thought her 2012 speech in support of same-sex parents was even more impassioned, and is still well worth watching or rewatching.
(H/t Same Same.)