Andrew M. Potts

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Andrew M. Potts (born July, 1978) is a Sydney based journalist and opinion columnist writing for newspapers and magazines and online publications in Australia. His work has been published both in Australia and abroad.

Potts was first published in 2004 in the left wing Sydney City Hub newspaper and in SX News, a Sydney gay and lesbian newspaper, and has since primarily published in the gay press^[1].

Following a number of articles in SX, Potts was the main features writer for AX National (then SX National) for the final half of 2005^[2].

Potts then went on to become a staff writer for the now defunct The Pink Broad, a short lived attempt at a national broadsheet newspaper serving Australia's gay and lesbian community. When the print edition of the paper ceased production, Potts took over the editorship of it's online incarnation until the paper ceased commercial operations in 2007^[3].

Potts then took the post of lead columnist at the Sydney Star Observer^[4], Australia's largest circulation gay newspaper, where his political column "Stirring The Pot"^[5] appears next to the letters page.

Since 2005, Potts has been one of the most prolific contributors to DNA Magazine, Australia's leading gay men's lifestyle magazine also sold in New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the USA.

During the same period Potts wrote frequent articles for the City News, Bondi View and Sydney City Hub local newspapers and contributed opinion pieces to the Inner West Courier and New Matilda, an Australian online opinion magazine^[6].

In addition to material published in Australia, Potts' work has appeared in the pages of Attitude magazine (UK), on PinkNews.co.uk and Advocate.com- two leading British and American gay news websites, and in Uganda where opinion pieces by Potts in the Ugandan Daily Monitor on scientific research into the causes of homosexuality have added to the debate on the legal status of gay men and lesbians in that country^[7].

Additionally, many of Potts' articles published online are republished elsewhere on the internet through blogs.

Potts' politics are nominally left wing, however he is a critic of moral relativism and has expressed caution on the issue of immigration from countries where homosexuality is illegal, arguing it may lead to conflict between migrant and gay communities, and has argued that migrants should be fully educated on the legal protections covering homosexuals and a range of other rights so that they may understand what they are getting themselves in for when becoming residents of Western democracies. At the same time Potts has called for Western nations to show greater understanding when dealing with gay and lesbian refugees fleeing such countries^[8].

Potts has also argued for the legalization of all currently illegal drugs through a range of articles, with hard drug users put on supervised prescription programs and recreational users licensed to buy quantities of drugs suitable for personal use, with licenses being penalized or revoked for criminal behavior whilst intoxicated.^[9] Controversially he has also suggested such a scheme might also be applied to alcohol.

[edit] References

1. ^ www.sxnews.com.au
2. ^ axnational.e-p.net.au
3. ^ www.thepinkbroad.com.au
4. ^ www.ssonet.com.au/display.asp?ArticleID=6817
5. ^ www.ssonet.com.au/more_LIFE/section.asp?Section=STIRRING%20THE%20POT
6. ^ www.newmatilda.com
7. ^ allAfrica.com: Uganda: Science Explains Why Homosexuals Exist (Page 1 of 1)
8. ^ Tribunal needs reviewing - Sydney Star Observer
9. ^ Legalise It | newmatilda.com