You can be sure of Eddie's supporters when Jeff Kennett and Julie Bishop come out in his support for his latest behaviour.
Racism and sexism are bad enough but this latest bout of misogyny is going over the top.
However, in their haste to excuse his behaviour - the AFL is the prime offender - they all forget that McGuire's homophobia is out there with the worst of the others and he needs to be criticised for all at the same time.
The latest attack by McGuire and his friends on Caroline Wilson shows how correct she must be in hitting the raw spots of their actions and utterances.
It really is time that some of those out there in the big real world did something to curb these people who seem to believe they can get away with saying and doing anything they want to to upset the world at large.
Don't ignore the issue and don't forget about it.
Some items from the past reflecting McGuire's ongoing attacks on various groups he dislikes:
2005:
JOHN LAWS, STEVE
PRICE, SAM NEWMAN - HOMOPHOBIA
ON AIR: There
have been a few arguments about these three people in the gay media. It is
being suggested that they are entertainers and they say what they do in order
to create controversy for their programmes, sponsors, radio and/or television
stations in order to draw in listeners/viewers. These sorts of discussions are
flawed because there are anti-vilification laws in many states in Australia.
The homophobic attacks by Laws, Price and Newman result in abuse, violence and
often worse because the people perpetrating these assaults believe they have
community support for what they have done which is why there are
anti-vilification laws. Often this has proved to be the case when some assaults
and murders have gone to trial, only to have cases dismissed or treated lightly
due to “panic defence” and similar arguments being put forward. Members of the
glt communities must protest and continue protesting, to stop these attacks on
our human rights, attacks which, if carried out on heterosexuals, would lead to
immediate outcries from the community at large!
Apart from John Laws,
Steve Price and Sam Newman, dating back
to last year and early this year, the most recent “on air” manifestations have
come from Eddie Maguire of the Nine Network, and also Network Ten which has a programme called
Big Brother, both programmes of which went to air on Monday 18 July 2005 with
“Nancy Boy”, “Poofta and Poof” expressions being used repeatedly. These programmes
were followed by the 60Minutes Channel 9 programme on 24 July 2005.
2008:
While the AFL is dragging its heels on this issue, other members of the football fraternity are adamant that the sport has a moral obligation to tackle sexuality-based discrimination. One such man is Eddie McGuire, the influential President of the Collingwood Football Club.
“The one thing that we are is the club for anyone who feels disassociated. We don’t care what your race, religion, sex or sexual orientation is - we believe absolutely in tolerance and respect and empathy,” McGuire tells MCV.
“We won’t tolerate – as long as I’m president of the club anyway – we won’t tolerate any form of discrimination.”
In terms of fighting homophobia, the Collingwood President compares the issue to the AFL’s successful battle to eliminate racism from the game.
“I refer it back to the same principles as tackling racial vilification – when we started to tackle racism, I had a lot of people come up to me and say ‘Thank god we’re doing this: I used to shout racial abuse because I thought it was what you were supposed to do, but I didn’t really believe it’. It’s the same classic pack mentality in regards to sexual orientation, and football should be leading the way in that regard,” McGuire concludes.
MCV editor Richard Watts was founder of the Collingwood supporters club the Pink Magpies.
The above items are from: www.red-jos.net/homopho7.htm
2010:
Crikey.com had this gem on 18 February 2010, the day before The Age published the story:
Andrew Crook writes:
Channel Nine has been hit with a blizzard of complaints over its
Winter Olympics coverage, with host Eddie McGuire and Melbourne comedian
Mick Molloy in the firing line this morning over "h-mophobic" comments
targeting figure skating champion Johnny Weir.
johnny Last night, during Nine's primetime "highlights package", Eddie and sidekick Mick decided to whip out the schoolboy sniggering as they gave their considered assessments of Weir's Vancouver routine. The graceful Weir, who has not formally "outed" himself, appeared to be too much for the duo to bear. Let's go to the transcript. (We'd go to the tape, but copyright issues mean we'd be stuck in the courts for decades. You can see footage of Weir skating to Lady Gaga here).
EDDIE MCGUIRE: ...what about the fashion at the ice skating?
... MICK MOLLOY: They don't leave anything in the locker room those blokes.
EDDIE: They leave nothing...
MICK: When they get out there...
EDDIE: They don't leave anything in the closet either do they? [Laughs].
MICK: They [laughs], well they -- careful you'll get yourself into trouble there...
EDDIE: Sorry mate.
But the daring duo weren't finished.
MICK: Look at this guy, it was like one of those fake tuxedos that you -- even Prince saw that and went, oh hang on, you can't go out wearing that. Oh look out, the hay seed look's in this year. What is that?
EDDIE: A bit of broke back?
MICK: A bit of Brokeback Mountain exercise. You can't wear it. They're very flamboyant, they love a bit of colour as we said.
In the minutes after the exchange, Twitter lit up in anger, with a torrent of criticism demanding McGuire be booted, alongside a number of other general gripes over the Footy Show-style jocularity and gratuitous repeats that have dominated Nine's coverage.
* @Shhhannon Just saw Eddie McGuire step in it with an inappropriate comment about a male ice-skater. Watch this space for controversy!
* @henrys_creek If Eddie McGuire wasn't enough of a w-nker, now makes quite a h-mophobic quip with Johnny Weir. Bastard.
* @bottled_love: Oh haha.... let's make jokes about the male figure skaters being gay... groundbreaking televisual wit right there Eddie McGuire
* @linclefevre Go on Eddie McGuire. Make some more gay jokes. Dick.
* @nilesedge Ugggh who let Eddie mcguire near the winter olympics?? He's a f-cking football yob and that's it
* @dominiquelam Eddie McGuire you are such a douche bag. One rich douche bag.
* @abbiemc OMG Eddie McGuire. "they don't leave much in the closet" "brokeback mountain" SHUT UP. I hope there are complaints. Many.
* @Selenadover OMG, did Eddie McGuire just suggest Johnny Weir is less than manly?
* @chicachow Can't decide what he finds more offensive: channel nine's vaguely ho-ophobic figure skating commentating or Eddie mcguire's face.
* @ozreedgal: eddie mcguire has made a number of little digs about competitors' s-xuality since I've been watching 2night. He's obsessed #olympics.
The anger promptly spread to Facebook, with a group "Eddie Mcguire is ruining the 2010 Winter Olympics coverage" bursting this morning with anti-Eddie vitriol. The Facebook page has said that it has submitted several formal complaint letters to the relevent department at Channel Nine.
Twitterers also pointed to "patronising" interviews McGuire has conducted with Winter Olympics superstars, including female figure skater Katarina Witt, where Witt's 1998 Playboy front cover was dredged up again to her visible dismay.
Nine paid about $100 million alongside broadcast partners Foxtel for the TV rights to the 2010 and 2012 games. But the ratings have been disappointing, with the network coming in third last night behind Seven's Gangs of Oz and Ten's So You Think You Can Dance Australia.
There is also talk that the games themselves are also in trouble: this Reuters article ("Vancouver's Games in danger of sinking into meltwater") wraps the bad news so far, with the opening-day death of Nodar Kumaritashvili snowballing into problems over spectator safety concerns, a lack of the white stuff and protests over the millions wasted while Vancouver struggles with the social problems of its Downtown Eastside slum area.
McGuire has continued with his Triple M breakfast radio slot from Vancouver, phoning in the banter each North American afternoon.
Send your tips to boss@crikey.com.au or submit them anonymously here.
And then this letter in The Age on 19 February 2010:
OVER the first five minutes of Vancouver coverage that I saw on
Wednesday night, I listened to Eddie McGuire and Mick Molloy make
numerous offensive comments, most of which linked male ice-skaters and
homosexuality, but also covered matters such as the ''redneck'' sport of
curling. This disgusting display of ''Olympic coverage'' culminated in a
comment about male ice-skaters bringing their own pillows, which, to my
amazement, was delivered immediately after an apology made by Mr Molloy
about an offensive comment he'd made on a previous night.
This was not relevant coverage of the winter Olympics, it wasn't even funny; it was a dialogue between two men lacking intelligence, professionalism and understanding. If these TV personalities can only offer poor journalism littered with homophobia and superiority, then perhaps we need to find new commentators. Perhaps someone who knows a thing or two about winter sports.
Fontaine Dunstan, Ripponlea
The above item is from:
www.red-jos.net/homopho8.htm
2008:
While the AFL is dragging its heels on this issue, other members of the football fraternity are adamant that the sport has a moral obligation to tackle sexuality-based discrimination. One such man is Eddie McGuire, the influential President of the Collingwood Football Club.
“The one thing that we are is the club for anyone who feels disassociated. We don’t care what your race, religion, sex or sexual orientation is - we believe absolutely in tolerance and respect and empathy,” McGuire tells MCV.
“We won’t tolerate – as long as I’m president of the club anyway – we won’t tolerate any form of discrimination.”
In terms of fighting homophobia, the Collingwood President compares the issue to the AFL’s successful battle to eliminate racism from the game.
“I refer it back to the same principles as tackling racial vilification – when we started to tackle racism, I had a lot of people come up to me and say ‘Thank god we’re doing this: I used to shout racial abuse because I thought it was what you were supposed to do, but I didn’t really believe it’. It’s the same classic pack mentality in regards to sexual orientation, and football should be leading the way in that regard,” McGuire concludes.
MCV editor Richard Watts was founder of the Collingwood supporters club the Pink Magpies.
The above items are from: www.red-jos.net/homopho7.htm
2010:
Crikey.com had this gem on 18 February 2010, the day before The Age published the story:
Eddie and Mick feel the heat in Vancouver gay row
EDDIE MCGUIRE, MICK MOLLOY, NINE NETWORK
johnny Last night, during Nine's primetime "highlights package", Eddie and sidekick Mick decided to whip out the schoolboy sniggering as they gave their considered assessments of Weir's Vancouver routine. The graceful Weir, who has not formally "outed" himself, appeared to be too much for the duo to bear. Let's go to the transcript. (We'd go to the tape, but copyright issues mean we'd be stuck in the courts for decades. You can see footage of Weir skating to Lady Gaga here).
EDDIE MCGUIRE: ...what about the fashion at the ice skating?
... MICK MOLLOY: They don't leave anything in the locker room those blokes.
EDDIE: They leave nothing...
MICK: When they get out there...
EDDIE: They don't leave anything in the closet either do they? [Laughs].
MICK: They [laughs], well they -- careful you'll get yourself into trouble there...
EDDIE: Sorry mate.
But the daring duo weren't finished.
MICK: Look at this guy, it was like one of those fake tuxedos that you -- even Prince saw that and went, oh hang on, you can't go out wearing that. Oh look out, the hay seed look's in this year. What is that?
EDDIE: A bit of broke back?
MICK: A bit of Brokeback Mountain exercise. You can't wear it. They're very flamboyant, they love a bit of colour as we said.
In the minutes after the exchange, Twitter lit up in anger, with a torrent of criticism demanding McGuire be booted, alongside a number of other general gripes over the Footy Show-style jocularity and gratuitous repeats that have dominated Nine's coverage.
* @Shhhannon Just saw Eddie McGuire step in it with an inappropriate comment about a male ice-skater. Watch this space for controversy!
* @henrys_creek If Eddie McGuire wasn't enough of a w-nker, now makes quite a h-mophobic quip with Johnny Weir. Bastard.
* @bottled_love: Oh haha.... let's make jokes about the male figure skaters being gay... groundbreaking televisual wit right there Eddie McGuire
* @linclefevre Go on Eddie McGuire. Make some more gay jokes. Dick.
* @nilesedge Ugggh who let Eddie mcguire near the winter olympics?? He's a f-cking football yob and that's it
* @dominiquelam Eddie McGuire you are such a douche bag. One rich douche bag.
* @abbiemc OMG Eddie McGuire. "they don't leave much in the closet" "brokeback mountain" SHUT UP. I hope there are complaints. Many.
* @Selenadover OMG, did Eddie McGuire just suggest Johnny Weir is less than manly?
* @chicachow Can't decide what he finds more offensive: channel nine's vaguely ho-ophobic figure skating commentating or Eddie mcguire's face.
* @ozreedgal: eddie mcguire has made a number of little digs about competitors' s-xuality since I've been watching 2night. He's obsessed #olympics.
The anger promptly spread to Facebook, with a group "Eddie Mcguire is ruining the 2010 Winter Olympics coverage" bursting this morning with anti-Eddie vitriol. The Facebook page has said that it has submitted several formal complaint letters to the relevent department at Channel Nine.
Twitterers also pointed to "patronising" interviews McGuire has conducted with Winter Olympics superstars, including female figure skater Katarina Witt, where Witt's 1998 Playboy front cover was dredged up again to her visible dismay.
Nine paid about $100 million alongside broadcast partners Foxtel for the TV rights to the 2010 and 2012 games. But the ratings have been disappointing, with the network coming in third last night behind Seven's Gangs of Oz and Ten's So You Think You Can Dance Australia.
There is also talk that the games themselves are also in trouble: this Reuters article ("Vancouver's Games in danger of sinking into meltwater") wraps the bad news so far, with the opening-day death of Nodar Kumaritashvili snowballing into problems over spectator safety concerns, a lack of the white stuff and protests over the millions wasted while Vancouver struggles with the social problems of its Downtown Eastside slum area.
McGuire has continued with his Triple M breakfast radio slot from Vancouver, phoning in the banter each North American afternoon.
Send your tips to boss@crikey.com.au or submit them anonymously here.
And then this letter in The Age on 19 February 2010:
Homophobic slurs
This was not relevant coverage of the winter Olympics, it wasn't even funny; it was a dialogue between two men lacking intelligence, professionalism and understanding. If these TV personalities can only offer poor journalism littered with homophobia and superiority, then perhaps we need to find new commentators. Perhaps someone who knows a thing or two about winter sports.
Fontaine Dunstan, Ripponlea
The above item is from:
www.red-jos.net/homopho8.htm
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