"Peace builds bridges, whereas hatred is the builder of walls. You must decide, in life: either I will make bridges or I will make walls." Pope Francis

 

I am writing this watching Eurovision, early Sunday morning here. There are many barely veiled social commentaries, from an Equality tshirt to the need for music to unite us. 

The Rainbow Map was released this week, and I was quite shocked at how badly Italy and Monaco did on LBGTQI rights and protections, and of course the massive fall by the UK.

I know Australia is not perfect. In recent data, in Australia 68% of LBGTIQA+ employees are not out to everyone at work. As someone form the Inner West in Sydney (righteous, rainbow heartland), I find this incomprehensible the figure is so high! However, I'm guessing I'm blinded by my privilege. No one would query me talking about my husband and no one would yell abuse at us if we walked down the street holding hands. It would never occur to either of us that we needed to pretend we were 'just friends' for safety - in fact as a woman, it's probably safer for me to talk about my husband and sadly more so to walk with him!  This contrasts with the 35% of LBGTIQA+ Australians that have experienced verbal abuse in the last 12 months.

While we have made progress in recent years, with our referendum on Marriage Equality, we can do better. The City of Sydney put out this graphic.

We can all be the stones that build the bridges to unity and equality. 

Back to Eurovision. The voting was crazy! But it is a joyous fun way to forget the troubles of the world and see how much we share with the people of the world, regardless of nationality and our differences.

"Songs are here to help us: they build bridges from heart to heart". Mary Gauthier

My vote went to Estonia...possibly because I was drinking espresso at the time ;)

Linking with #MySundaySnapshot #TheRandom #WaterThursday #WordlessWednesday   #GardenAffair 

(At Rachel, your badge is still flagging as Suspicious Content. Sorry)