The word 'gender' has been manipulated by gay activists and feminists, says a Christian lobby group in its latest word to the masses. The Maxim Institute in a press release this week quote subjective Australian historian Keith Windschuttle and his thoughts on 'gender' being a term that "reeks of the sexual politics of the 70s” making its first appearance only when “gay activists began to demand that homosexuality not merely be tolerated but given equal standing with heterosexuality in all things”. Windschuttle also believes that Aboriginal rural communities should be dismantled and their inhabitants forced to move to urban areas. He has been criticised by peers previously on the grounds of hypocrisy, of not holding himself up to the same level of academic scrutiny as he demands of his opponents, and not holding himself up to the same standards of political neutrality as he demands of his opponents. “Despite the seeming 'politeness' of using gender, most people are not aware of the issues at stake, nor sense any evidence of a concerted campaign to change societal thinking towards sexual activity using language. Neither are they aware of how successful the strategy has been in shaping three decades of rapid social change,” the Maxim release muses. UC Berkeley professor George Lakoff pointed out last year that conservative think tanks like Maxim are past masters as language manipulation, particularly in the US where they have a strong hold. “Conservatives, especially conservative think tanks, have framed virtually every issue from their perspective. They have put a huge amount of money into creating the language for their worldview and getting it out there,” he says. “Over the last 30 years their think tanks have made a heavy investment in ideas and in language."