All posts filed under: News

Art Speaks Louder than Words

Anna Goodson, CEO & Founder of the Anna Goodson Illustration Agency, called for illustrations from the group recently after being disturbed by sexuality based discrimination in Russia. President Vladimir Putin signed a law at the end of June, banning the distribution of “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations” to minors. With Russia hosting the Winter Olympics,  major concerns have been raised for the safety of athletes and tourists alike. “We are often asked to create images for clients but here was an opportunity for them to create something meaningful, personal and from the heart,” said Goodson. “We believe that Art Speaks Louder Than Words and we wanted to show the world that our agency and illustrators don’t support discrimination and violence of any kind, regardless of Religion, Race or Sexual Orientation.” Check out some of the amazing submissions!

Jodie Foster's Golden Globe Speech

Jodie Foster’s sexuality is a trending topic after her recent Golden Globe coming out speech. Her sexuality has been assumed for years, though on Sunday January 13 when accepting her Cecil B. De Mille Award at the 70th Golden Globe Awards, it was confirmed. “So while I’m here being all confessional and I guess I just have a sudden urge to say something that I’ve never really been able to air in public, so a declaration that I’m a little nervous about,” said Foster “I’m just going to put it out there, right? Loud and proud, right? So I’m going to need your support on this. I am single. I hope that you’re not disappointed that there won’t be a big coming out speech tonight because I already did my coming out about a thousand years ago back in the Stone Age in those very quaint days when a fragile young girl would open up to trusted friends and family, co workers and then gradually, proudly to everyone who knew her, to everyone she actually met.” She …

Living Proud – A Perth Suicide Prevention Initiative

(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 …

Perth Rally for Marriage Equality

Crowds gathered at Stirling Gardens in Perth on Saturday August 11 for the eighth annual Marriage Equality Rally. That’s right! It’s been eight years since the ban on marriage equality in Australia. The event, organised by Equal Love WA included speakers Lynn Maclaren (Greens), Louise Pratt (Labor), Bec Leighton (National Union of Students), Owen Bandura (regional high school student speaking out against homophobia in schools), Amber Maxwell (Equal Love WA) and Sam Cavallaro (Curtin University Queer Officer). For further information about Equal Love WA click here. But for now, check out these photos!

Obama, First to Come Out

President Obama is the first acting president to come out in support of marriage equality! He made his opinion known in an interview today, which he explained stemmed from his experience with gay staff in committed relationships and discrimination against gay service members. “I’ve stood on the side of broader equality I hesitated on gay marriage in part because I thought civil unions would be sufficient. But I have to tell you that over the course of several years, as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead …

Bully – A Documentary with an R Rating

I think it’s safe to say everyone has experienced bullying in one way or another. Whether you were being bullied, you were the bully or you were someone on the sidelines.  In the past and even in present times we’ve seen this being attributed to maturity, child’s play or that ‘boys will be boys’ sentiment, but why? Is it really ok for a kid/s to taunt, tease and bully another kid simply because of their age or their maturity level? And what about the effects of bullying? Does the name Tyler Clementi sound familiar to you? What about Seth Walsh or Rafael Morelos? The list could go on and on, and it’s a list of teens who have committed suicide because of bullying. The idea that bullying is just a part of life has to be stopped. It shouldn’t be the deaths of our youths that work as a wake up to us all. We should all be doing something before it gets to this stage. I was watching a clip from the Ellen Degeneres …

Gillard Says Gay Marriage is Inevitable

Three same-sex couples dined with Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard at the Lodge last night to talk about same-sex marriage.  Gillard spoke of the increasing pressure on politicians to legalize same-sex marriage world wide. Sandy Miller and Louise Bucke brought their sons Matthew Miller, 12, and Dylan Miller, 9, to the dinner, who  expressed their concern as to why their mothers and other same-sex couples can’t get married. “I don’t know really why I am here,” Matthew said. “To me, it is simple and this argument should have been settled long ago. People should be allowed to marry the person they love and to be accepted by all society.” Dylan had previously written to the Prime Minister on the issue but was glad to be able to express his feelings in person. “I just want her to have a think how much it would hurt her if she couldn’t marry the person she loves most in the whole world,” he said Ms Miller added that although Gillard is still against same-sex marriage, the meeting itself was a positive …

Young Gay Man Wins WA Beginning Teacher of the Year Award

The LGBTI community has come a long way in recent years in terms of acceptance. Even so, we still hear stories of inequality worldwide which makes stories like this one all that more important to tell. Scott Sullivan is a young teacher originally from Perth, Western Australia. He’s passionate about his work, he’s committed to his students and because of this was awarded WA Beginning Teacher of the Year Award 2011. He also identifies as an openly gay man. I asked Scott some questions about his teaching career, his experiences and winning this award in the hope of inspiring not just LGBTI youth, but all youth worldwide. How do you identify yourself to the people around you in terms of your sexual orientation? I consider myself as gay. I came out to my family when I was 16 and have been quite comfortable in acknowledging my sexual orientation since then. In terms of school, I am out to all of my co-workers, however my students do not know. Are there any learning experiences you had …