All posts tagged: gay

13 Awesome YouTuber Coming Out Videos

Published by thequeerav

Today, October 11, is National Coming Out Day! YouTube is a place where I’m sure many of us have found ourselves at one time or another as we try to understand what it means to be LGBTIQ+ and what coming out might mean for our future. Because of this, we’ve put together a list of YouTuber coming out videos and stories for you to enjoy! 1. Ingrid Nilsen – Something I Want You To Know (Coming Out) 2. Danielle Brianne – I am Transgender 3. Connor Franta – Coming Out 4. Shane Dawson – I’m Bisexual 5. Kat Blaque – My Coming Out Story 6. HeyoDamo – Coming out as Asexual 7. Troye Sivan – Coming Out 8. Lane S – Coming Out to Your Parents as Nonbinary 9. Joey Graceffa – Yes I’m Gay 10. Hannah Hart – So. This is me. 11. AmandasChronicles – My Coming Out Story 12. Jazzberry Rose – Coming Out as Pansexual! 13. Mason Healy

VIDEO: LGBTI+ People Talk About the Plebiscite on Marriage Equality

Published by thequeerav

Talk of marriage equality in Australia has taken centre stage over the past 12 months, even more so since a date for the upcoming plebiscite was announced for February 2017. The plebiscite as it stands, will essentially be a $160 million + popular vote on whether Australians want marriage equality or not. This, despite the many opinion polls that have already taken place and consistently show support for marriage equality, has been labeled by many as a waste of time, money and effort, especially seeing as the result is non-binding. This is a small price to pay though, compared to what the negativity from the plebiscite will do to the mental health and well-being of LGBTI+ Australians. It is therefore time for politicians and the media to take a seat, and for LGBTI+ people to have their voices heard, as it is their lives that will be directly and negatively affected should the plebiscite go ahead. We talked to six LGBTI+ people about how the plebiscite will affect the community, what they have to say …

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 …

Review – The Queen of Ireland

Published by thequeerav

The Queen of Ireland is a documentary film about the life of Rory O’Neill, better known as Irish drag queen Panti Bliss. The film looks at everything from O’Neill’s life growing up gay in the small town of Ballinrobe, County Mayo, to living with HIV and his gay rights activism, particularly in the lead up to the historic marriage equality referendum in Ireland in 2015. The film is beautifully directed by Conor Horgan who, until this point, was most well known for directing the 2009 post-apocalyptic Irish drama One Hundred Mornings, the winner of many awards. After watching The Queen of Ireland though, I can’t help but feel he has reached new levels of artistic achievement, and that this film will go down as a classic in queer cinema. You see, he didn’t just lay out the facts of a story already written, he captured the honest, intelligent and quirky character that is Rory O’Neill/Panti Bliss. He showed us why Panti is a hero and an inspiration for LGBTI activists everywhere, even when, in fact …

Young People Tell us What Makes Them Proud on Wear It Purple Day

Published by thequeerav

Today is Wear It Purple Day! Wear It Purple Day is a day where people can wear purple to support young LGBTIQ+ people and their right to thrive, irrelevant of sex, sexuality or gender identity. To celebrate and commemorate the day, we asked young people what they are proud of. Here’s what they had to say! 1. Kirsty, 23   2. Jordan, 24 (My Kitchen Rules Contestant 2016)   3. Logan, 22   4. Chessca, 22   5. John, 21   6. Maggy, 15   7. Elle, 21   What are you proud of? Write in the comments section below!

10 Talented Queer Musicians You’ll Be Singing Along to in No Time

Published by thequeerav

I’m always excited about listening to music, especially from talented queer artists! And so, I’ve compiled a list of queer musicians who I listen to on the regular, and who I think everyone should be listening to right now. 1. Abbe May – This Western Australian musician’s genre is described as “electronica dance doom pop goth n ‘be sexrockita dirty hip hop beats and vitriol” which, if you listen to any of her songs, you’ll totally understand why! You may have heard her cover of “Pony” on Triple J’s Like A Version Nine a few years ago. The cover is amazing though doesn’t even begin to show just how talented she really is. Check out her song “Are We Flirting” below, from her upcoming 5th LP Bitchcraft. Also be sure to check out the photos we took of Abbe May at the Queers on the Lawn event she performed at last year! To hear May talk about her sexuality, read Out In Perth’s article Abbe May Has Something to Say.   2. Ryan Cassata – He’s …

6 Queer Athletes Who are Totally Winning (Medals) at Rio 2016

Published by thequeerav

So it turns out the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics holds a record number of publicly out LGBTI athletes,  approximately 50, depending on which publication you read. There’s no doubt this number will continue to grow in coming Olympic Games as the stigma of being LGBTI in sports and in life generally continues to decrease. In honour of this record number, we’ve decided to compile a list of all the queer athletes who are winning medals at Rio 2016, so far anyway! We’re sure there’s more to come! 1. Rafaela Silva (Brazil) – She defeated Mongolian Sumiya Dorjsuren to win gold in the judo 57kg weight division. 2. Carl Hester (Great Britain) – Won a silver medal in equestrian team dressage alongside Fiona Bigwood, Charlotte Dujardin and fellow out athlete Spencer Wilton. Germany won gold while the USA took bronze. 3. Spencer Wilton (Great Britain) – Won a silver medal in equestrian team dressage alongside Fiona Bigwood, Charlotte Dujardin and fellow out athlete Carl Hester. Germany won gold while the USA took bronze. 4. Rachele Bruni (Italy) – Won silver in …

Rally for Marriage Equality in Perth, June 2016

Published by thequeerav

Hundreds of Perth people gathered for one final rally for LGBTI rights on June 25 before the upcoming election on July 2. The Rally for Marriage Equality, hosted by Equal Love WA, was one of many happening across Australia on Saturday. The crowd and speakers were particularly angry over the proposed plebiscite from the Liberals which would cost tax payers $160 million despite current public support for marriage equality. With the election less than a week away, opposition leader Bill Shorten has committed to making marriage equality his first act as Prime Minister should Labor win. “The first piece of legislation I introduce into the 45th Parliament will be a bill to amend the marriage act, a simple change,” he said. The words “a man and a woman” are replaced with “two people”, no $160 million plebiscite, no hurtful, hateful government-sponsored advertising campaign for us.” Should this be the case, this will not only be a win for same gender couples, but also trans, non-binary and intersex people. The Greens support for marriage equality hasn’t …

Safe Schools Rally, April 23 2016 [PHOTOS]

Published by thequeerav

On April 23 2016, community members, organisers and activists gathered at Murray Street Mall in Perth for the second time, to rally for Safe Schools in Australia. The event saw protesters from Equal Love and  the Socialist Alternative in attendance, and counter-protesters from Reclaim Australia and the United Patriots Front.  For more details about what happened at the rally, click here. For photos from the event, see below! The next Safe Schools rally will be held at Murray Street Mall on June 4. For more information head to the event page here.

Perth’s Stand Up for Safe Schools! Snap Rally [PHOTOS]

Published by thequeerav

On Monday night, March 21, Murray Street Mall was filled with people ready to show their support for the Safe Schools Coalition at the Stand Up for Safe Schools! Snap Rally. The rally was organised after the Liberal government announced plans to change, and eventually stop funding the program after 2017. Here are some photos of the rally, and of the people speaking up for Safe Schools in WA. To stay updated on issues relating to the LGBTIQ+ community in Australia,  join the LGBTIQ+ Community Action Group on Facebook here. To show your support for Safe Schools and to let the government know what you think of their recent decisions visit ineedsafeschools.org.au. Lastly, remember to look after yourself! You can seek support at Lifeline and/or QLife! .