Bent TV Special

Bent TV did an extended interview with Ken on Saturday for a one-hour special to be aired on Channel 31 and YouTube. The team plan to travel to Mansfield and interview some of the other people involved. No date has yet been fixed for transmission.
In other news, Anne Mitchell of Gay & Lesbian Health Victoria, Nick Tollhurst of Beyond Blue, Rob Mitchell and Doug Pollard of the RJM Trust met with the board of the Victorian Country Football League at the MCG Friday.
Ann gave an impressive presentation outlining the research on the impact of homophobia on young people, especially in rural areas.
The board reacted very positively and are keen to work with the gay community on developing programs within country football to tackle the issue. Further contacts are planned in the near future. Expect to hear more on this soon.
Of course, while all very positive for the future, this doesn't help Ken's current situation, and that still needs urgent improvement.
As mentioned elsewhere, Kens next hearing regarding his cases against the Department of Sustainbility and Environment has been postponed to September. This is disappointing but unavoidable, as the DSE case is the main game and the sooner we can reach a resolution the better.
Meanwhile thanks to all of you who have donated to help Ken: for those of you who haven't, the details of the bank account are at the top left of this page. And if anyone can help with accommodation and work for Ken, preferably but not necessarily in the Mansfield area, please get in touch.

MCV today

There's an update today in MCV and in bnews, following the weekend piece in the Herald Sun and Mondays excellent piece in the Age.
With the AFL now staryting tio swing into line, the focus needs to shift to busting the entrenched homophobia that appears to hold sway in certain parts of high country DSE.

Good News Week

Well, Ken is certainly making the news this week - not just in MCV and bnews, but also in the Sunday Herald Sun and today in the Age. His case has also caught US interest, making the news bulletins of US gay satellite radio station Sirius OutQ 149. Today sees a conciliation hearing at VEOHRC with representatives of the AFL attending.
It seems like we're on track to get all levels of footy to take sexual orientation discrimination seriously at last.
The main problem, however, remains the DSE, with all the pollies siting on their hands, and a hearing date now postponed to September. This is due to the illness of the conciliator, not any sinister motive, but as you can imagine, it has Ken pretty depressed.
But we're heartened by the win Gary Burns has had against John Laws and Steve Price up in Sydney, although a bit dismayed that it took five years to get it.
We hope the DSE will start to see some sense long before September, come down off their high horse, and start volunteering to resolve this issue. We'll certainly be encouraging them to do so.
Thanks for your donations (see bank a/c details at the top of the page) - they will help us pay some of Kens bills (mobile phone to stay in touch, petrol to get to hearings in Melbourne etc.) which are eally difficult on Centrelink benefit alone.

AFL rattled

The AFL is trying to duck responsibility for discrimination in the VCFL and keep out of Ken's case.

It's told the human rights commission that it's anti-discrimination policies only apply to AFL players and administrators - but the policy says it also applies to "affiliated state bodies" such as the VCFL.

The Sunday Herald Sun reports that "Next week there is a meeting, which will be attended by AFL representatives, to discuss the issues Ken Campagnolo had with this country football club and his complaint.

"The CEO of the organisation is not required to attend."

Donate for Ken!

Ken Campagnolo Fund Launched

Many people have asked what they can do to help Ken while he battles to win his rights. In response the RJM Trust has now set up a special fund where you can deposit money to help and support Ken.

Donations will only be used to help Ken practically and directly, not for campaigning. Make your donation to:

R J M Trust Ken Campagnolo Fund
St George Bank South Melbourne
BSB 113-879
A/c No.: 429044701

And please email me with your details so we can keep our records in order, and also say thank you!!

Thanks you all for your help, support and above all the encouragement, which Ken really appreciates. He has already has a win with the Victorian Country Football League, and negotiations are now beginning with the VFL and AFL. We will win through but in the meantime Ken needs all the help he can get.

His home has now been repossessed and will shortly be put up for auction to meet his debts. As a distress sale it’s unlikely to make full market value, which only adds to the injustice. We’ll keep you posted.

Doug Pollard
RJM Trust

VCFL Update - press

Both bnews and MCV carry the news of Ken's win over the Victorian Country Football League this week.

The next step will be a presentation to the VCFL board by community representatives from the RJM Trust, Gay & Lesbian Health Victoria and others.

“It is a substantial step forward,” said Rob Mitchell of the RJM Trust, who is assisting Campagnolo. “This will have a huge impact on same-sex attracted youth in country areas; something like 85% of the abuse that occurs happens in a sporting or a school context, and in a country area the two are very much intertwined.”

"There needs to be a clear and consistent message by the administration that it [homophobia] is not ok," Mr Mitchell says.

"The issue needs to raised front and centre and dealt with in the same way as racial vilification. Players need to be looked after and kept safe."

The VCFL covers around 80 leagues, with approximately 100,000 players across Victoria.

Bisexual man evicted

Bisexual man evicted

Wednesday, 04 June 2008

Rachel Cook - MCV Mansfield football trainer, Ken Campagnolo, who has been unable to gain employment since being outed, has now been evicted from his family home. “I am not able to go to my home and I can be charged with trespass,” Campagnolo told MCV. “I asked the local shire for help but they have no emergency housing in Mansfield.” Campagnolo was outed as bisexual by a work colleague while working as a forest contractor for the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE). He has consequently suffered homophobic harassment, including being stood down as a volunteer trainer with the Bonnie Doon Football Club due to fears of a backlash from the parents of children playing at the club, despite there being no suggestion he was a sexual predator. Campagnolo claims he has suffered years of verbal abuse from fellow DSE workers. He also alleges a DSE Manager told him: “You can fight the fires for free but you will never get a job with DSE because you are a poof.” His case of discrimination on the basis of sexuality against the DSE has been dismissed twice by the Victorian Civil Administrate Tribunal (VCAT), but is now due to be heard a third time. “DSE have launched another strike out application, their third,” said Rob Mitchell, of the RJM Trust, a philanthropic organisation set up assist people who have suffered sexuality-motivated discrimination. “Why keep trying to strike the case out? Because they can. When you are a government department with, to all intents and purposes, unlimited financial power and legal resources why wouldn’t you?”

Ken Needs a Job Urgently

From: Bi-Victoria@... On Behalf Of James Dominguez

Heya all

For those who haven't been following Ken Campagnolo's story, he lived
happily as a seasonal firefighter and football trainer in rural Victoria for
years with people thinking he was gay. He was outed as bisexual by a DSE
manager, and then told he would not be re-hired for the seasonal firefighter
work. When he challenged this, the legal proceedings became public
knowledge and he was sacked from his footy training job specifically for
being bisexual - the intimation is that being bisexual he is obviously a
potential paedophile and should not be allowed to work with teenage boys.

He has been fighting these sackings in the courts and through the Equal
Opportunity Commission, but things aren't going as hoped and the bank
foreclosed on his mortgage. Last weekend the sheriff's officers turned up,
threw him out of his home, changed the locks, and told him he would be
traspassing if he returned without permission.

I had a chat with Ken on the phone this morning, and he's struggling,
currently sleeping in a tent beside his ute. He tells me, though, that
things would be a lot better if he could just get some work, refinance his
mortgage, and get back into his home. All he needs is some modest regular
income and he can have his home back.

So, this is a general call-out, especially to rural Victoria around the
Mansfield and Bonnie Doon areas. Do you know of some work going in the
area? Ken is a formally trained sports trainer with sports medicine
training, as well as an experience in firefighting. That said, he tells me
he isn't too proud to put in some manual labour. Obviously a queer-friendly
or at least queer-tolerant environment would be essential.

Please rack your brains and suggest anything at all that might be suitable.
Ken really is desperate, and with winter setting in he needs to get back
into his home.

If you can suggest anything at all, please get in touch.