I WRITE in response to Margaret Ryan’s letter to the editor (The Border Mail, July 22).
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I have never in my 34 years made a choice to ‘be gay’. I did not wake up one day and think ‘oh today seems a nice day to be gay’. I did from a very early age hide and struggle with the feeling that I was different from those around me. Like many other young people questioning their sexuality, I struggled immensely during this time and became suicidal. It was through the support of friends that I came to accept all the parts that made up who I was – including my sexuality.
I did not choose to be gay anymore than others choose to be heterosexual.
I did choose to live; to be the best person I could be, to be honest, caring, respectful, and accepting of all, to hold the principles of justice and equity to a high standard. I did choose to be an active member of my community.
I did not choose to fall in love with a woman, but i did. I did choose to share my life with this person, to love her unconditionally, to care for her in good times and bad, in sickness and in health and to start a family with her. We have a beautiful 10-month-old daughter who is the love of our lives. We are a family.
I am not a minority. I am a human being. I am a mother, a lover, an employee, a friend, a customer, a taxpayer, a voter. I am a member of this community and of our society. Marriage Equality is not about impinging on your rights, it is about ensuring we all have the same rights.
So I do choose – I choose to Stand Up for Marriage Equality
Cathy Prior
Barunduda
800KM TRIP HARDLY EFFICIENT
I WONDER how this fits in with the efficiency mantra being put out by Australia Post and where this scenario fits into their greater efficiency scheme of things.
On July 21 I had a letter posted to me from Walla Walla. It arrived in Jindera on July 23. It took two days to travel 17 kilometres.
But on closer inspection the post mark shows that the letter has been to Canberra then to Jindera, over 800 kilometres. One must wonder how the cost of transporting this letter over 800 kilometres instead of 17 kilometres between towns is justified.
If this is Australia Post’s idea of efficiency, it is no wonder they are in trouble.
Greg Finster
Jindera
GOT THE PLANNING WRONG
I REALISE that competition is good and that survival of the fittest is the law of nature but I have to wonder at the thought process that is going on in relation to town planning (possibly I have the wrong department) in Moira Shire.
The business centre in Yarrawonga is being inundated by shops that provide and sell the same wares. With a normal of population 7050 with an average income of $435 (information available on Moira Website), how will it be possible for businesses to survive.
Empty shops may be filled but when you fill them with the same style of shop that already exists how long will it be before a different shop will be empty. What does the local planning policy have to say on this matter? What measures are in the Overlay where a level of control should be in place to determine the type of development occurring for Moira?
In a paper written on the Regional Institute website it makes mention of restructuring to slow the economic plight of small towns, they mention limiting and selecting variety in the hope of providing more interest and keep all businesses functioning.
With businesses in the main strip doing it hard through the colder months – we only have a small window as a tourist town per annum – I just cannot comprehend why we have more of the same coming in to the area.
How many places (cafes/bakeries/restaurants/pubs etc) in a town this size can survive if more of the same open up? Shouldn’t the council’s main priority be to provide a duty of care to the businesses in existence (this town’s second highest industry at 13.7 per cent is accommodation/food, retail is 12.7 per cent).
I would like to ask that a little more thought be put into the ‘long term’ benefits for the town. Don’t become like the standard political person where the long term means nothing because their nests are and always shall be quite comfortable.
We have a wonderful town and wise leadership can expand on this. Fools can take it all away