Project’s lewd joke protested: Christians, Muslims and others demonstrate anti-Jesus joke

Dana Pham (pronouns: who/cares)
3 min readJun 16, 2024

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Source: https://weeklycatholicnews.com.au/2023/03/26/15/

“The Universal Church is today, it seems to me, more definitely set against the World than at any time since Pagan Rome. I do not mean that our times are particularly corrupt; all times are corrupt. I mean that Christianity, in spite of certain local appearances, is not, and cannot be within measurable time, ‘official.’ The World is trying the experiment of attempting to form a civilized but non-Christian mentality. The experiment will fail; but we must be very patient in awaiting its collapse; meanwhile redeeming the time: so that the Faith may be preserved alive through the dark ages before us; to renew and rebuild civilization, and save the World from suicide.” — TS Eliot, “Thoughts after Lambeth” (1931)

I recently stumbled across an old Catholic Weekly news clipping (26 March 2023) that had this as the first paragraph:

“A DEMONSTRATION in response to a lewd anti-Christian joke on Channel 10’s The Project drew Christians, Muslims and other protesters to rallies in Hyde Park and outside St Mary’s Cathedral on 18 March.”

To my (be)amusement, the article continues:

“Transgender conservative” Dana Pham, a writer who studies liberal arts at the University of Notre Dame, was also reportedly moved on by police from the counter-protest.

Ms Pham received a mixed reception while speaking from the back of the truck, holding a placard that read, “I’m trans – drag queens are not for kids.”

She said she was on the same side as the protesters, and that LGBT groups wanted to “take the degeneracy to the nth degree.”

“That is not acceptable, and I want to assure everyone in this crowd that not every one in the LGBTI community agrees,” she said, before a protester took away her sign and replaced it with a placard depicting the face of Jesus.”

You can read more about my experience at https://web.archive.org/web/20230510030101/https://www.spectator.com.au/2023/03/the-trans-counter-counter-protest/. Directly below this article is an article titled “Transgender surgeries not moral, US bishops say in new statement”. As you can see, I’m beamused because I was gendered female, only to then be reminded that transgender surgeries are not moral. So where do I draw the line?

In simple, gender theory should not taught at school (three Rs, anyone?), though it would be appropriate to allow trans children to come to school as their gender, where there are checks and balances for managing this situation. As for the issue of parents allowing their trans children to receive puberty blockers, if I’m uncomfortable with NSW health officials winning a court order authorising them to give a blood transfusion to a toddler against the wishes of their heretical Jehovah’s Witness parents, then I’m uncomfortable with attempts to ban puberty blockers.

The only other time I remember making an appearance in The Catholic Weekly is in one of the photos featured in: https://www.catholicweekly.com.au/pro-lifers-attacked-by-fellow-students/. All of this reminded me of that time I regrettably asked The Australian to not disclose my surname: https://www.peaktrans.org/reason-lost-to-suicide-in-trans-debate-weekend-australian-02-11-19/.

RANZCP have indicated via PS #103 that children transitioning is a complex issue: https://www.ranzcp.org/clinical-guidelines-publications/clinical-guidelines-publications-library/role-of-psychiatrists-working-with-trans-gender-diverse-people. I tend to have a simpler view due to Tall Poppy Syndrome: defence of parental rights should be consistent and legal definitions of adulthood should also be consistent.

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Dana Pham (pronouns: who/cares)

CPHR | Trans-inclusionary radical feminist (TIRF) | Liberal Arts phenomenologist from @notredameaus | Anglo-catholic | all opinions expressed here are my own