All posts filed under: Life

Tackling Biphobia: Why Bisexual Visibility Matters

Published by thequeerav

For a long time, I thought self-acceptance of my bisexuality was enough. No one asked me for a label and I experienced very little overt discrimination. I toyed with the idea of telling my folks early on, but an older lesbian friend of mine advised against it. She knew that coming out to family could be difficult at the best of times, but the limited awareness and stigma associated with bisexuality in the 90s made it even harder. Thanks to the increasing profile of bisexual+ celebrities, such as Evan Rachel Wood and Alan Cumming, bisexuality has become far more visible in recent times. As a result, an increasing number of people feel comfortable coming out as bisexual+ (or as simply neither straight nor gay). But acceptance of bisexuality has been slow, both in mainstream society and the LGBTI communities, despite evidence suggesting that there are more bisexual+ people than lesbians and gay men combined. Bisexuality is simply an attraction to more than one gender / regardless of gender. However, society is most comfortable with binary …

The Importance of Self-Compassion Leading Up to the Australian Marriage Equality Postal Vote

Published by thequeerav

News around the upcoming postal vote on marriage equality in Australia has been very topical on TV, social media and in conversations with family and friends alike. The non-binding vote, which will be mailed out on September 12, will show the Australian government whether Australian people agree with LGBTIQ+ people having the right to marry in Australia. When the general population are given the opportunity to express their opinion/s about someone else’s basic human rights, it can change the direction of the conversation immensely. Currently, despite the very positive voices of love and support across Australia, negative and harmful opinions have been amplified. This can, and is, taking a toll on the mental health and well-being of many LGBTIQ+ people in Australia. Everyone will react to the marriage equality debate differently. For some, it might take a while for things to set in, and time to process that this might actually be happening. In these times, when people may be making a lot of homophobic, biphobic, transphobic or intersex exclusionary comments, it’s important to know …

The Gay Chef: MKR’s Jordan Bruno Releases FREE Cook Book for a Cause

Published by thequeerav

Perth Man Jordan Bruno was a semi finalist with his mum Anna, in the Australian cooking show My Kitchen Rules earlier this year. Not one to take a break, and someone who’s always willing to help the LGBTIQ+ community, Bruno has just released his latest project; a free e-cook book dedicated to raising awareness for mental health issues of all young Australians. Donations for the e-cook book, The Gay Chef, can be made to two organisations in particular; Minus18 and Headspace. Minus18 is Australia’s largest youth led organisation for LGBTIQ+ people offering mental health support, social events and volunteering opportunities all while aiming for a homophobia and transphobia free Australia. Headspace is the National Youth Mental Health Foundation providing early intervention mental health and well being support and counselling for all young Australians. The e-book itself is full of some amazing recipes, info about Bruno, his family and his relationship with food, and dedicated largely to queer youth to which Bruno says, “You are not alone”. “This book is extremely close to my heart as …

The World’s First App for Gender-Non Conforming & Queer People

Published by thequeerav

The admirable thing about people in the queer community is the amount of hard work we are willing to go through to build connections and friendships with people of all types of diversity. To listen to the stories of others and understand or empathise with the hardships, celebrate the successes, and be there for each other. To create safe spaces where we don’t have to justify anything, or feel like the odd one out, but can simply just be ourselves. Enter GENDR, an app that encapsulates all of the above. Released on July 12, 2016, GENDR is the end product of an idea from two friends who realised there were no specific apps available to bring together the people, products and places that connect to the continuum of human sexuality and gender identity. With gender non-conforming and queer members from all over the world, the community chats, private messages and shares photos and stories on topics such as transition tips, makeup tutorials, gender neutral apparel, breaking news, health resources, travel and more. The app itself …

R U OK? 12 Videos of LGBTI People Talking Mental Health & Suicide

Published by thequeerav

R U OK? is a question Gavin Larkin started asking in 2009 due to the loss of his father to suicide in 1995. His aim, to inspire and empower everyone to meaningfully connect with people around them and support anyone struggling with life. Now, R U OK Day is a widely popular day in the year where Australians are encouraged to communicate and check in with their loved ones with the overall aim of preventing suicide. Suicide is a particularly important issue for the LGBTI community given their higher rate of suicidality than any other population in Australia: LGBTI young people aged 16 to 27 are five times more likely to attempt suicide than the general population Transgender people aged 18 and over are nearly eleven times more likely to attempt suicide than the general population People with an Intersex variation aged 16 and over are nearly six times more likely to attempt suicide than the general population LGBT young people who experience abuse and harassment are even more likely to attempt suicide 16% of …

Avoiding BURNOUT: Trans Perspectives

Published by thequeerav

Avoiding burnout can be a difficult thing to do, particularly when you are so passionate about what it is you are doing. As someone who lives, works and breathes advocacy and equality for the LGBTI community, more specifically trans and non-binary communities, it can be difficult to stop the thought process of “how can I help someone else” and turn it into “how can I help myself”. As advocates, we try to help those who may not be able to help themselves. To put it simply, we care, sometimes too much and we don’t want to let others down. To add to this, we’re not just advocating for other people, but also for ourselves and our right to exist freely and equally; it’s all very personal and that can have a huge effect, even on the most positive minded person. For a long time I only ever helped myself by helping other people. I volunteer at various youth, mental health and/or LGBTI organisations, attend events and rallies to stay up to date with LGBTI issues, …

How Can I Help Safe Schools Coalition Australia?

Published by thequeerav

As news today hit of the changes to be made to the Safe Schools anti-bullying program, people were enraged, and rightly so. Today is National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence, ironic really, considering the Australian government just hit LGBTI youth with a major form of bullying themselves. Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham announced changes to the program which include amending some lesson plans, restricting all program produced resources to secondary students, and resources such as “OMG I’m Queer”, “OMG My Friend’s Queer” and “Stand Out” to one-on-one counselling sessions between students and “qualified staff” (Buzzfeed). It was also indicated that Safe Schools would not continue to receive funding after 2017. In light of this information, a lot of people are probably asking themselves, “What can I do?” I know I found myself asking the same question. To put it simply, the best form of support in this kind of situation is being vocal! Talk to your communities, educate yourself on LGBTI issues, participate in rallies and protests, and most importantly, let the government …

In My Shoes – The Gender Centre Project

Published by thequeerav

‘In My Shoes’ is a documentary short looking into the lives of five transgender people – the good times, the struggles and how they’ve got through them. It’s an initiative of the Transgender Anti-Violence Project at The Gender Centre Inc., NSW. “We hope that this film will serve as a resource for the wider community to better understand the issues facing young transgender and gender diverse people,” says the Gender Centre. “We also hope that it encourages transgender and gender diverse people of all ages to come forward and access support if they need it. “Thank you to these extraordinary young people for sharing their stories and to the incredible co-directors Monique Schafter and Mat Govoni.”

Ian Thorpe: "I’m comfortable saying I’m a gay man"

Published by thequeerav

Ian Thorpe, former Australian Olympic swimmer, has come out as gay in an interview with Michael Parkinson. If you haven’t heard already, you’ve probably been living under a BIG GAY rock. “I’m comfortable saying I’m a gay man and I don’t want young people to feel the same way that I did,” said Thorpe, who also discussed his battle with depression and suicidal ideation. “You can grow up, you can be comfortable, and you can be gay.” Thorpe has been in the spot light from a young age, and has been asked about his sexuality right from the get go. “I concealed this and I think that I’ve held this as such a weight and there’s so much pain in this,” he said. “I had anger around this because I felt like I shouldn’t have been asked about it. If I wasn’t asked I feel as though I would have been much younger when I came out as being comfortable about this.” I think a lot of people would agree, coming out shouldn’t be this …

Living Proud – A Perth Suicide Prevention Initiative

Published by thequeerav

(As published on the Living Proud Website) By Stephanie Lane Living Proud is a new suicide prevention initiative for the LGBTI* community in Perth with a number of successful community involvement opportunities already completed for 2012. From community picnics and gender diversity forums to a large presence in this year’s Pride events, Living Proud is definitely becoming a well known name within the Perth community. Coordinated by Gay and Lesbian Community Services (GLCS), it is part of the One Life WA Suicide Prevention Strategy which has community action plans in place across the state. According to Living Proud community coordinator Tamara Bézu, the community approach the One Life Suicide Prevention Strategy has used is a useful way to look at suicide prevention. “Suicide prevention is everyone’s issue, it affects everyone in the community,” she said. “It’s important to be able to bring people together to discuss this, and to create safe environments where people are comfortable talking about how they feel.” According to Ms Bézu, homophobia is still prevalent in society despite popular belief. Suicide within the …