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| Photo credit: @redskymusic IG, edit by Marti |
Thanks to that, we will remember today what the case was moving in Australia at that time.
๐ธ⭐๐ธ
๐While in Australia for their recent 20 year anniversary tour, Placebo bassist Stefan Olsdal spoke to Double J's Myf Warhurst about the band's career, and why he's standing up for equal rights.
Music and politics have always been intertwined with Placebo, particularly around the themes of gender and sexuality.
When asked how the band felt about playing the Margaret Court Arena, a venue whose namesake is openly against same sex marriage, Oldsal reflected on how that fits into the band's stance on LGBTQI rights.
“We play a lot of countries and we wouldn't play in these countries if we agreed with the government's policies,” he said. “A lot of places haven't moved as far as I would like in terms of justice and equality. Australia has come a long way but I wish it would come further. I think humankind will look back and think, ‘Why didn't we treat everyone equally? Why didn't we have the same rights?'”
When asked if he will be getting out his rainbow bass for the Australian shows Olsdal confirmed that this was his preferred form of protest, despite the accompanying feeling of being targeted.
“It's my weapon,” he said. “That's the one that I wield around the world because there's work to be done everywhere.
I stand up there and sometimes think I'm going to see a red dot circled around my chest but it's something that I'm willing to stand up for so I stick my neck out, but it's worth it.”
(๐ท๐๐ข๐๐๐ ๐ฝ ๐๐๐๐๐, ๐ด๐ข๐ ๐ก๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐. 2017)
๐ธ⭐๐ธ
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| Photo credit: Ollie Milligan |
This multi-purpose sports and entertainment venue in Melbourne, Australia is named after one of the world's most famous tennis players, ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ญ.
However, in the name of Christianity, this woman is fighting against the human rights of LGBT communities and especially against the adoption of a law for same-sex marriage.
According to many celebrities, Margaret Court has damaged Australia's name as an open and respectful country. Her statements were often really over the edge:
⭐ For example her 1990 comment about Martina Navratilova - “a great player but I’d like someone at the top who the younger players can look up to. It’s very sad for children to be exposed to homosexuality. Martina is a nice person. Her life has just gone astray” and her comment for a Christian radio station - „transgenderism was the work of the devil and compared a global plot to promote equal sexual rights to Hitler“.
(๐โ๐ ๐บ๐ข๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ผ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ก, ๐ฝ๐ข๐๐ 2017)
Many well-known bands of Brian's and Stefan's friends, such as Sigur Rรณs and LCD Soundsystem, then stood up to protest against the famous tennis player's statements during the 2017 concert season, and Placebo, of course, watched the situation closely.
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| Photo credit: Greetsia Tent |
"I know perfectly well that we're playing a venue with her name to it - and she was an amazing tennis player, there's no taking away from that - but I'm still thinking about exactly what we're going to do about it." /.../
"I'm still working on the best way to send out our response to playing at that venue in Melbourne."
(๐๐ข๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ , ๐๐๐. 2017)
๐ธ⭐๐ธ
And how did it turn out in the end?
Stefan solved this situation in exactly his way:
⭐ "I need your participation for this, I need something from you guys," said Olsdal, holding his bass above his head. "I'm gonna say a name, and I want you guys to say 'fork you'. Can you guys do that for me?" Soon enough, once Olsdal uttered the name 'Margaret Court', the entire crowd joined in chanting 'fork you'."
๐ธ You can watch Stefan's very touching video with 'Fork you' here and you will definitely notice Brian's admiring applause for Stefan:
https://bit.ly/3gb0XUh
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| Photo credit: Mikka Skaffari |
The end of this post will be dedicated to Stefan's words from the introductory interview and for your beautiful evening, I will share a few amazing videos from Melbourne.
⭐Stefan Olsdal: “I still remember the first few days Brian and I jammed and it just felt right,” he said. “That's what carried me through to today.
He is my musical husband, I spend more time with him than friends and family. It's a relationship that works and it's based on shared values and morals and the music that we both completely agree on.”⭐
(๐ท๐๐ข๐๐๐ ๐ฝ ๐๐๐๐๐, ๐ด๐ข๐ ๐ก๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐. 2017)
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง๐, ๐๐๐ฉ๐ญ๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ซ ๐๐๐๐
"Special K"
https://bit.ly/2W0lBzc
"Running Up That Hill"
https://bit.ly/3mk4128
"The Bitter End"
https://bit.ly/3ASKI5R
Pist by Marti
