A petition on change.org has been started by Italian Australian comedian Gabriel Rossi to revoke the trademark on the word “wogs”.
The petition to Trademark Australia had gathered almost 1,800 signatures by 1pm Wednesday.
READ MORE: Letters and readers’ reactions on Nick Giannopoulos and the trademarking of wogs
The organiser of the petition writes:
The word “wogs” belongs to all of us to whom the term applies, not a single person. A certain individual who holds the trademark on the word “wogs” has been threatening legal action towards a troupe of ethnic comedians that wish to use the word in the title of their shows. Some of the targeted comedians have used this word without intervention for 20 years or more. We feel the trademark should never have been granted as this word is something that a large segment of society uses to identify itself. It would almost be like trademarking the word “Aussie” and not allowing Australian-themed shows or entities to refer to themselves as Aussie. What was once considered a hurtful racist slur has been adopted by many, and in the entertainment world particularly, we feel we should be able to promote our diversity in this way as the word is all-encompassing and very much accepted as who we are. At the time the trademark was granted, we feel none of this was considered by the courts. Please sign this petition if you believe this trademark should be overturned, and that these ethnic comedians should be free to promote their shows in this way.
READ MORE: View the petition