People Who Don't Get It

Western Australia Opposition leader Colin Barnett says he did not mean to offend anyone when he jokingly said he was not courting the gay vote.

Mr Barnett made the comment before a media conference yesterday, when he declined a reporter’s offer of hairspray to keep his hair in place in the windy conditions.

The gay lobby has described Mr Barnett’s comments as insensitive, however Mr Barnett said he was only joking.

“It’s Australia Day - one of the great things about Australia as a country is that we can laugh at ourselves, we can be a bit good humoured,” he said.

“I made a joke actually about myself in an aside comment to a journalist.”

“I can’t see that that would be offensive to anyone but if anyone is offended out there, I just simply say I didn’t mean to cause offence.” (source)

Whether this was said in Australia or the United States, there is a concept of what is appropriate to joke about. Jokes are difficult to pull off. You really need to ask yourself, “Am I making a funny joke at the expense of someone else or some group of people?” If you are, you shouldn’t assume that you have permission to do that.

That is what Colin Barnett did when he made the off-hand comment about making a connection between gay people and hairspray. It was a stupid thing to do for a public official. But the real point is that a joke often shows how someone really thinks about something. It’s a way to read someone’s attitude on something that they wouldn’t necessarily say for the record.

Or, as someone else pointed out:

“It’s an indication he has a prejudiced view. It would not be acceptable if he had made similar derogatory remarks about an ethnic minority or people with disabilities.” (Source)