All posts tagged: lgbtq

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 …

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 …

FRINGE REVIEW: Tom Ballard’s New Show ‘The World Keeps Happening’

Published by thequeerav

Former Triple J radio presenter and all round funny guy Tom Ballard has been gracing the stage at The Gold Digger in this year’s Perth Fringe with his brand new show; ‘The World Keeps Happening’. In his show, Ballard explores the idea that everything in this world is sinister and confusing and on the verge of collapse, all whilst providing ideas on how he could potentially solve these worldly issues. He talks about feminism, terrorism, online dating and more, all topics that hold great interest and controversy to people all over the world. However, I most enjoyed when Ballard asked the audience of their excitement about Australia Day approaching. The audience replied how any audience member should at a stand up comedy show (with little enthusiasm so as not to draw attention to themselves), at which point Ballard replied “Well you shouldn’t be,” and talked about what Australia Day (ie Invasion Day/Survival Day) really represents. Preach! Ballard’s stand up performance, though controversial at times, captivated the audience from start to finish. His jokes about his …

“ZE”: Queer as Fuck! Perth Fringe World 2016: An Interview

Published by thequeerav

Michelle/Ryan, also known as Ren, is debuting hir show, “Ze”: Queer As Fuck, at Perth Fringe World 2016. Hir show is described as a “one-person, genderqueer, kinky, femmesexual, polyminded, gay-divorcee PRIDE parade through the real life of Michelle/Ryan.” Born in Washington State and raised close to the Canadian border, Ren has been performing for a long time, acting in theatres from the age of eight or nine, and studying theatre and psychology at university. Ren came out after ze moved to Vancouver in British Columbia at age 18, and considers hir identity to be reformed around Canadian values. Having lived in Australia & New Zealand for almost two years though, ze feels this part of the world is as much like home as that part. We had the chance to talk to Ren about what to expect from hir upcoming show in Perth, the importance of pronouns, how identities in the queer community have changed of the past 10 years and MUCH MORE. Take a look! The QA: Firstly, how did the idea for the …

Interviewing Hannah Hart: The #NOFILTER Show, Being a YouTuber, Working with Whoopi and More!

Published by thequeerav

Hannah Hart is a lot of things. She’s an award winning comedian, a professional YouTuber and Internet personality. She’s an actress, producer, philanthropist and New York Times best-selling author. All of this and she hasn’t even reached 30 yet! Most would probably know her best from her My Drunk Kitchen series on YouTube (for which she’s won multiple awards). She’s currently touring Australia as part of the #NOFILTER Live show with friends Grace Helbig and Mamrie Hart. I had the awesome opportunity to talk to the very talented, funny and hardworking Hannah Hart about the show and more! Take a look below. TheQA: So is this going to be your first time in Perth? I remember the first time you announced you were coming to Australia a few years ago and there was no Perth visit. I was so devastated! HH: Yeah well last time we were in Australia it was just me and Mamrie and we were traveling with a group called Contiki, and I was doing it just making videos about each place …

Gayby Baby Review: Families Leading Lives of Diversity and Acceptance

Published by thequeerav

I’m not sure what I expected as the lights came down at Cinema Paradiso on Sunday night for Perth’s Q&A screening of Gayby Baby. A documentary of course, but what kind of documentary? It seems anyone with a camera and something to say can make one these days, but it takes talent, determination and a lot of hard work to make something that has the ability to really inspire and make a difference in peoples lives. So, what kind of documentary is Gayby Baby? Gayby Baby follows the lives of four kids being raised by same sex parents; Gus, Ebony, Matt and Graham. Produced by Charlotte Mars and directed by Maya Newell, someone who also grew up with same sex parents, the film goes into great depth about the struggles, triumphs and day to day experiences of these kids, who’s parents just happen to be gay. Sounds great doesn’t it! The New South Wales government doesn’t think so. Just last week they banned the screening of Gayby Baby during school hours where it was scheduled …

23 BuzzFeed Videos, Lists and Articles That Will Rock Your Queer Socks

Published by thequeerav

BuzzFeed has really grown in popularity over the past few years, largely because of their diverse range of news and entertainment presented in new and fun ways. The queer community is most certainly included in this diversity and so I thought it was time to compile a list, in true BuzzFeed style, of queer BuzzFeed videos, lists and articles that will rock your queer socks. Enjoy! 1.  9 Queer Women in Tech Tell Us What They’ve Learned  2.  Smashing Gender Binaries with the Queer Kids of Today 3.  59 Thoughts Every LGBT Student has Before Mardi Gras 4.  11 Things Everyone Always Assumes About Lesbians 5.  LGBT TV Characters are Whiter, Male-er, And Richer than Real Queer People 6.  Toms: The Complex World of Female Love, a short documentary by Coconuts TV, explores a sexual identity that is unique to Thailand. 7.  17 Times Queer Tumblr Totally Owned 2014 8.   Margaret Cho is Here, Queer, And Taking Questions About Anything 9.  Why Pronouns Matter for Trans People  10.  17 of the Sweetest Ways to Come …

Why News.com.au Misses the Mark on Caitlin Stasey’s New Website

Published by thequeerav

I first heard about Caitlin Stasey’s new feminist website ‘herself.com‘ from news.com.au. The headline read ‘Why Caitlin Stasey’s new website misses the mark.’ Thoughts started racing through my mind as to what she could have possibly published that would make someone  so unimpressed by her actions.  My question was soon answered…nothing. Stasey (Neighbours, Tomorrow When the War Began), released a feminist website reclaiming the female body by posting interviews accompanied by nude photos of herself and other women. I think this is amazing! News.com.au writer Rebecca Sullivan certainly didn’t. In her article she writes: “Stasey’s noble aim — to give women back their bodies — has been lost here. By putting naked photos of yourself on a public platform, you are simply offering your body up to the world for scrutiny and judgment. You are complicity foregoing total ownership of your figure and inviting others to weigh in.” We are taught to be ashamed or embarrassed if our body doesn’t resemble the ideal figure marketed to us by advertisers. Billions of dollars are spent trying to …