MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA — It’s all about the politics, but the newly formed Australian Sex Party isn’t above adopting a moniker designed to attract controversy if that will make its message stand out.With the slogan “We’re serious about sex,” the ASP plans to launch itself onto the political landscape during Melbourne’s Sexpo on November 20th. Members intend to lobby for the “normalization” of diverse sexuality and the discussions surrounding it.
According to founder Fiona Patten, who also serves as the chief executive of the Australian adult entertainment trade group Eros Association, the Australian government’s proposed internet filter was a major impetus for the party’s formation. ASP has been in the works for a long time, though, she noted.
“When we started talking about the Australian Sex Party, we realized that sex is a lot broader than just censorship and a lot of the policies are a lot broader,” Patten told News.com.au. “This really came out of 20 years of lobbying on sex and censorship and then … the latest being the compulsory internet filter, which will … prohibit and blacklist adult material that is currently legal in magazines, books and film.”
Among the party’s objectives is the rationalization of sex education in public schools.
“With the internet and the fear that children are being sexualized at an early age, the first key action on that will be sex education,” Patten said. “Other countries such as the UK are introducing a national curriculum, and we think we should follow that.”
She also said the party will attempt to overturn anti-abortion rules in the country’s foreign aid policies.
As for the organization’s provocative name, Patten said the choice wasn’t easy, but it was logical.
“It’s half the problem with politicians, because they still giggle when they say the word sex, and that’s why we have such idiotic policies at state and federal levels,” Patten told News.com.au. “Let’s try and own that word on most government forms. Hopefully we’ll get their attention with the word, but then we may be able to help influence some reasonable sensible policies.”
Party membership is open to anyone with progressive views, she noted, pointing out that “We’ll probably have 500 members by the time we launch on Thursday, but there’s four million customers of adult shops in Australia.”
