Pauline Pantsdown

Last updated

Simon Hunt, sometimes known as Pauline Pantsdown (born c. 1962 [1] ), is an Australian satirist and Australian Senate candidate who parodied Pauline Hanson, a controversial member of federal parliament, in 1997 and 2016. [2] His birth name was Simon Hunt, but he legally changed his name through Births, Deaths & Marriages so that he would appear on the electoral ballot as "Pauline Pantsdown"; he later changed back to "Simon Hunt". He is the son of the late David Hunt, who was a Chief Judge at Common Law of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. [3]

Contents

As Pantsdown, he is a drag queen whose taste in fashion parodies Hanson's, and is best known for the songs "Backdoor Man" and "I Don't Like It". The song "Backdoor Man" was a huge hit on the youth radio network Triple J after its release in 1997, being played almost hourly due to a massive number of requests, making it into the 1997 Hottest 100 list at number 5. However, less than a week after its release, Hanson obtained a court injunction against the song, claiming it was defamatory. [4] In September 2004, after Hanson launched a campaign for the Australian Senate, the ABC was reported to be planning a challenge to the injunction. However, after public criticism from Hanson, the ABC backed down.

Early life and activism

Born in Sydney, Hunt began playing in bands when he was 12 years old. [5]

Hunt became influenced by arts-activism work around the world as a young adult, particularly the group ACT UP. [6]

Prior to parodying Hanson, Hunt had successfully lobbied the Office of Film and Literature Classification to remove homosexuality from its list of "adult themes", and produced a parody track collage of Fred Nile's voice. [7] As a gay man, Hunt reflected that homosexuality was not legalized in New South Wales until he was 22; until that point, the prison sentence for consensual homosexual sex was longer than it was for heterosexual rape.

As of 2016, Hunt is a head lecturer at the University of New South Wales. [6]

Homebake appearance

The resulting controversy resulted in Pauline Pantsdown making an appearance at the 1998 Homebake live music festival, complete with apparently gay half-naked Asian dancers. He was booed and pelted with objects and later claimed "Homophobia is alive and well in Sydney". [8]

Songs

Gnome-mime-sound-openclipart.svg
Sample of "Backdoor Man"
A 23-second sample of Pauline Pantsdown's "Backdoor Man"
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Senate run

Hunt changed his name by deed poll so that he would appear on the electoral ballot for the 1998 senate elections as "Pauline Pantsdown"; [10] he later changed back to "Simon Hunt". [11] On the night of the federal election, Pantsdown performed at the Mardi Gras Sleaze Ball, and a Pauline Hanson Mardi Gras float was exploded. [12]

2010s

Pantsdown performed a remixed version of "I Don't Like It" at the 2011 Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Party during Bob Downe's 'Retro-Gras' DJ set just days before Hanson announced her candidacy in the 2011 NSW state election.[ citation needed ] Pantsdown also performed a remixed version of "I Don't Like It" on Channel Seven's The Morning Show on 22 May 2012. Nearing the end of the performance, Hunt undid a rainbow-coloured button-up shirt and revealed a T-shirt with the slogan "ABBOTT is INSIDE me" written on it, with a caricature of Tony Abbott's head beneath it. [12] In an interview following his performance, he claimed that he was partly inspired by the "hurt and pain" that, in particular, the communities Hanson targeted at the time felt, and "wanted to give them an opportunity to laugh back". Kylie Gillies also noted that Hunt now lectures at a university (Media Arts, at the University of New South Wales College of Fine Arts, or COFA).[ citation needed ]

Hunt also campaigned against opera singer Tamar Iveri, who was released from a performance of Othello after making homophobic comments on social media.[ citation needed ] After Hanson won a place in the senate in 2016, Hunt considered a return as Pantsdown. [13] In the same year, in a televised clip, Hanson referred to Hunt as "What a joke...he was an absolute idiot ratbag". [14]

Hunt maintains a Facebook page as Pauline Pantsdown. In 2016, he was campaigning against the same-sex marriage plebiscite and the Australian Christian Lobby. [12]

Hunt explained, "I think that stopping the plebiscite has been incredibly important in, at the very least, shutting down funding for those sorts of campaigns. It would have been a really dark stain on our history if we had funded a ‘no’ campaign for this issue, because it wouldn’t have been about marriage equality at all." [15]

Nevertheless, the plebiscite went ahead, and the legality of same-sex marriage was ratified with a 61.6% vote in the affirmative. [16]

During the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey, Pantsdown ran a parody Twitter account spoofing the Coalition for Marriage. [17]

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards are a set of annual ceremonies presented by Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), which recognise excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of the music of Australia. They commenced in 1987.

YearNominee / workAwardResultRef.
1999 "I Don't Like It" Best Independent Release Nominated [18]
Best Comedy Release Nominated

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pauline Hanson</span> Australian politician (born 1954)

Pauline Lee Hanson is an Australian politician who is the founder and leader of One Nation, a right-wing populist political party. Hanson has represented Queensland in the Australian Senate since the 2016 Federal Election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pauline Hanson's One Nation</span> Australian political party

Pauline Hanson's One Nation, also known as One Nation or One Nation Party, is a right-wing populist political party in Australia. It is led by Pauline Hanson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras</span> LGBT pride event

The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras or Sydney Mardi Gras is an event in Sydney, New South Wales attended by hundreds of thousands of people from around Australia and overseas. One of the largest LGBT festivals in the world, Mardi Gras is the largest Pride event in Oceania. It includes a variety of events such as the Sydney Mardi Gras Parade and Party, Bondi Beach Drag Races, Harbour Party, the academic discussion panel Queer Thinking, Mardi Gras Film Festival, as well as Fair Day, which attracts 70,000 people to Victoria Park, Sydney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darren Hayes</span> Australian musician and producer (born 1972)

Darren Stanley Hayes is an Australian singer, songwriter, music producer and composer. He was the frontman and singer of the pop duo Savage Garden until their disbandment. Their 1997 album Savage Garden peaked at number 1 in Australia, number 2 in the United Kingdom and number 3 in the United States. It spawned the singles "I Want You", "To the Moon and Back", and Australian and US number 1 "Truly Madly Deeply". The duo followed the success of their debut album with Affirmation (1999), which provided additional hits such as Australian and US number 1 "I Knew I Loved You", and Australian number 3 "The Animal Song". Savage Garden parted ways in 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Triple J Hottest 100, 1997</span> Most popular songs of the year in Australia

The 1997 Triple J Hottest 100, was a countdown of the most popular songs of the year, according to listeners of the Australian radio station Triple J, and was broadcast on Australia Day 1998. A CD featuring 31 of the songs was released. A countdown of the videos of most of the songs was also shown on the ABC music series Rage. The announcement of "No Aphrodisiac" as the year's most popular song was announced by former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, the namesake of the winning group.

Huey Pierce "Piano" Smith was an American R&B pianist and session musician whose sound was influential in the development of rock and roll.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBTQ rights in Australia</span>

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) rights in Australia rank among the highest in the world; having significantly advanced over the latter half of the 20th century and early 21st century. Opinion polls and the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey indicate widespread popular support for same-sex marriage within the nation. Australia in 2018, in fact was the last of the Five Eyes set of countries - that consisted of namely Canada (2005), New Zealand (2013), United Kingdom (2014) and the United States (2015) to legalize same-sex marriage. A 2013 Pew Research poll found that 79% of Australians agreed that homosexuality should be accepted by society, making it the fifth-most supportive country surveyed in the world. With its long history of LGBTQ activism and annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras festival, Sydney has been named one of the most gay-friendly cities in the world.

The 13th Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards was held on 12 October 1999 at the Sydney Entertainment Centre. Hosted by Paul McDermott and Bob Downe, and presenters, including Melanie C of the Spice Girls, Tina Cousins, Fiona Horne and Molly Meldrum, distributed 33 awards. The big winner for the year was Powderfinger with four awards.

Polygamy is not legally recognised in Australia. Legally recognised polygamous marriages may not be performed in Australia, and a person who marries another person, knowing that the previous marriage is still subsisting, commits an offence of bigamy under section 94 of the Marriage Act 1961, which carries a maximum penalty of 5 years imprisonment. However, the offence of bigamy only applies to attempts to contract a legally recognised marriage; it does not apply to polygamous marriages where there is no attempt to gain recognition for the marriage under Australian law. Whether or not either or both partners were aware of the previous subsisting marriage, the second marriage is void. Foreign polygamous marriages are not recognized in Australia. However, a foreign marriage that is not polygamous but could potentially become polygamous at a later date under the law of the country where the marriage took place is recognized in Australia while any subsequent polygamous marriage is not. While under Australian law a person can be in at most one legally valid marriage at a time, Australian law does recognise that a person can be in multiple de facto relationships concurrently, and as such entitled to the legal rights extended to members of de facto relationships.

Australia is one of the most LGBTQ-friendly countries in the world. In a 2013 Pew Research poll, 79% of Australians agreed that homosexuality should be accepted by society, making it the fifth most supportive country in the survey behind Spain (88%), Germany (87%), and Canada and the Czech Republic. With a long history of LGBTQ rights activism and an annual three-week-long Mardi Gras festival, Sydney is considered one of the most gay-friendly cities in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBTQ history in Australia</span>

This article details the history of the LGBTQ rights movement in Australia, from the colonial era to the present day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Don't Like It</span> 1998 single by Pauline Pantsdown

"I Don't Like It" is a song by Australian artist Pauline Pantsdown released on 1 August 1998. The song features unauthorised vocals from Pauline Hanson, a former independent MP and later founder of One Nation, sampled from interviews and media clips. It peaked at number 10 on the Australian ARIA Charts and was ranked number 58 in the 1998 Triple J Hottest 100 countdown.

<i>Reset</i> (Tina Arena album) 2013 studio album by Tina Arena

Reset is the tenth studio album released by Australian singer and songwriter Tina Arena on 18 October 2013. The first single, "You Set Fire to My Life" was released on 26 September 2013. Despite not being released as a single, "Only Lonely" charted in the top 50 in late November due to being used in an advertisement for the Australian soap opera Home and Away. "Reset All" was released as the second official single on 18 December. Reset is Arena's sixth top 10 album in Australia. Reset was released in the United Kingdom on 3 November 2014.

The suicide of Tyrone Unsworth occurred on 22 November 2016, in Brisbane, Australia. Unsworth, a 13-year-old boy, died by suicide after years of bullying motivated by his homosexuality. His death garnered considerable national attention in Australia, as well as international attention.

A Muslim immigration ban is a ban, either absolute or from specific nations, on the immigration of Muslims to a specific nation.

Peter "Bon" Bonsall-Boone was an Australian LGBT rights activist. He was a foundation member of the Campaign Against Moral Persecution (CAMP) and participated in the first Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.

Rodney Scott Bower is an Australian Anglican priest and social activist. He was formerly the Rector of Gosford, on the New South Wales Central Coast, and Archdeacon for Justice Ministries and Chaplaincy in the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle, and is now their Director of Mission. He is most known for his church signs that advocate progressive causes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBTQ culture in Sydney</span>

The LGBT community of Sydney, in New South Wales, is the largest in Australia and has a firm place as one of the iconic gay cities of the contemporary world. In a 2013 Pew Research poll, 79% of Australians agreed that homosexuality should be accepted by society, making it the fifth most supportive country in the survey behind Spain (88%), Germany (87%), Canada and the Czech Republic. With a long history of LGBT rights activism and the annual three-week-long Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras festival, Sydney is one of the most gay-friendly cities in Australia and in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Let's Try Being in Love</span> 2022 single by Darren Hayes

"Let's Try Being in Love" is a song by Australian singer-songwriter Darren Hayes, released on 27 January 2022 as the lead single from his fifth studio album, Homosexual. It is his first solo single since 2012's "Stupid Mistake".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian Wilkins (model)</span> Australian model

Christian Wilkins is an Australian model and actor, best known for his clothing style which challenges gender stereotypes and norms.

References

  1. ↑ I Don't Like It: The Pauline Pantsdown Story, 16 March 2019, retrieved 12 February 2022
  2. ↑ Marr, David (12 May 2003). "Defamation joke". Media Watch . Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Retrieved 5 February 2010.
  3. ↑ Hanson stung by the peril of Pauline, by Robert Milliken, at the Independent; published 3 October 1998. Retrieved 11 July 2014
  4. ↑ "Supreme Court Library Queensland". sclqld.org.au.
  5. ↑ http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2016/08/30/i-dont-like-it-the-pauline-pantsdown-story/%5B%5D (~1.00 timestamp in the video)
  6. 1 2 Wade, Matthew R. (June 2018). "The other Pauline". Star Observer: 23. ISSN   0819-5129.
  7. 1 2 Johnson, Bruce (January 2003). "Two Paulines, Two Nations: An Australian Case Study in the Intersection of Popular Music and Politics". Popular Music and Society. 26 (1): 53–72. doi:10.1080/0300776032000076397. S2CID   144202972.
  8. ↑ "Albums by Pauline Pantsdown: Discography, songs, biography, and listening guide – Rate Your Music". rateyourmusic.com.
  9. ↑ "Australian Web Archive". Archived from the original on 6 September 2001.
  10. ↑ The Independent
  11. ↑ http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2016/08/30/i-dont-like-it-the-pauline-pantsdown-story/%5B%5D (~9.10 timestamp in the video)
  12. 1 2 3 "Pauline Pantsdown on making a comeback and the value of political satire". Green Left Weekly . 15 September 2016. Archived from the original on 26 January 2018.
  13. ↑ "Could 'Pauline Pantsdown' be making a return?". ABC News. 3 July 2016.
  14. ↑ "I Don't Like It: The Pauline Pantsdown Story". YouTube . 16 March 2019.
  15. ↑ "Could 'Pauline Pantsdown' be making a return?". ABC News. 3 July 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  16. ↑ "Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey". 17 November 2017. Archived from the original on 17 November 2017. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  17. ↑ "'I don't like it': why Pauline Pantsdown is still a queer icon of social justice today - Star Observer". www.starobserver.com.au. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  18. ↑ "ARIA Awards Best Independent Release". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Archived from the original on 28 August 2018. Retrieved 9 June 2021.

Pauline Pantsdown on Facebook OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.