On Dit Issue 85.9 - Queer Dit

Queer Dit

Issue 85.9

Best on ground University of Adelaide merchandise available in-store and online now.

Level 4, Union House + The General

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Issue contribution dates

Hearsay: 22nd September Issue 11: 6th October

Feel free to email us with your ideas/work at onditmag@gmail.com

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Editorial

F

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or many queer people, at least in my

entire queer community because it is just as

experience, there is a pressure to be wary

diverse as the larger society it is a part of, and

about how much of your identity you

so I think it’s really crucial to provide a space for

wear on the surface. From both queer people

queer expression. It’s important for other queer

and non queer-identifying people, I have heard

people to have their story told, and, contrary to

many iterations of the complaint; “I hate it when

what many people believe, queer perspectives

LGBTQ+ people make being LGBTQ+ their entire

are entirely relevant to non queer-identifying

identity.” As secretary of the Pride Club of the

people as well, as a means of introducing new

University of Adelaide I have been asked why

ways of thought, and challenging the accepted

there needs to be a social club in which the

norms of our society.

only thing its members have in common is their

This is why I’m so excited to be one of the guest editors for On Dit’s queer edition, and to

sexual/gender identity.

For me, embracing my identity as a lesbian

be able to amplify the many voices of all people

has been so liberating, and involving myself in

in the LGBTQ+ community. In this edition you’ll

the larger queer community has not only been

find writings on being conservative and gay,

incredibly affirming in my experiences as a queer

formative LGBTQ+ pop culture, bisexuality and

person, but has also exposed me to completely

bi-erasure, the science behind homosexuality,

new

relationships,

the importance of queer narratives in media,

feminism, social structures, and so much more.

and much more! It’s been a great experience

ideas

about

sexuality,

The way I consume media and experience

putting this edition together, and on behalf of all

the world will always be coloured by my

`the guest editors of this edition; Dylan, Oliver,

gayness, just as it always will be by my being

Ethan, and myself, I hope you enjoy it!

cisgender. I will never be able to speak for the

Darcy

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On Dit

Contents Editorial

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Guest Editorials

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State of Union

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SRC Column

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What’s On

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Vox Pop

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Left, Right, and Centre

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Editors Darcy Mounkley, Ethan Penglase, Dylan Rowen, and Oliver Lacoon-Williamson Cover Art Jennifer Nguyen Designers Jesse Davidson and Tom Haskell

Articles

Contact

Marriage Equality For Everyone

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No Rice or Curry for Me

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A “Respectful” Debate

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Hays’ed and Confused

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Econ-Dit

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Highsmith’s Homosexual

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Bury Your Gays

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Strange Bedfellows

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How Did Homosexuality Evolve?

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Gay Liberation

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Ngaldu tampinthi Kaurna miyurna

The Tran-social Agenda

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yarta mathanya

Bi The Way

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Wa m a Ta r n t a n y a k u

The Gayze

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Beautiful Freaks

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Black Current Tea

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The Changing Braggadacio

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Team

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ondit@adelaide.edu.au

We r e c o g n i s e t h a t t h e K a u r n a Pe o p l e are the traditional land-owners and custodians of the Adelaide plains

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MEET YOUR GUEST EDITORS OLIVER LACOON-WILLIAMSON It’s a bittersweet time to be a member of the LGBTQIA+ community in this country.

As feared, the marriage equality postal survey has brought with it a tirade of hateful and dangerous messages. What has perhaps surprised me is the degree of acceptance, love, and support that has drowned these messages out across the country. I have never before felt this level of affirmation and belonging as a gay man.

Moreover, the importance of us proudly and unapologetically exuding our queerness has never been so clear to me and that’s why we have worked in this issue; to tell queer stories, to highlight our issues, and to celebrate being really quite gay! Hope you enjoy.

DARCY MOUNKLEY Hi all! My name is Darcy and I am a Very Big Lesbian, a dyke, a ‘carpet-munching gender traitor’ if you will. I love being able to say that, I love having the freedom to talk about my queer identity and to talk about the experiences specific to my being gay. It is so important to me that other people of the LGBTQ+ community get that opportunity as well because we have a lot of stories to tell, and so I think it’s wonderful that we are able to have a queer-specific edition of On Dit, and I hope that we can continue to amplify queer voices in the arts and media as best we can, as, unfortunately, there is a long history of them being silenced.

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DYLAN ROWEN It can be incredibly frustrating to find a voice, a story, a narrative, which mirrors one’s own sexual identity. Growing up in a world full of heteronormative stories, even the hint of anything subversive to the mainstream cishet dichotomy of male / female, “normal” / different, is inspiring. We exist, and that recognition within popular culture is so satisfying and always important. We could only exist in early 20th century fiction through narratives which left us dead – a convenient way for authors to give us space within literature, but to be safe themselves politically and socially. Before the construction of homosexuality and heterosexuality in the late-Victorian era (see Foucault), we more so existed as various subcultures that had a vague inkling to the nature of the “love that dare not speak its name”. We existed within the lines of Sappho’s fragments, hidden deep inside the Bard’s love sonnets, and found ourselves within the metaphorical celluloid closet. But now, it’s time. Queer Dit is a way for us to voice and narrate our own lives, experiences and sexualities. Let’s write our own stories from now on.

ETHAN PENGLASE I am incredibly proud to be a member of the LGBT community. Our community is strong and resilient, having fought so many battles throughout history. We are now poised to finally win the right to marry in Australia. But there is still so much more to achieve. Until gay couples can hold hands in public without being harassed, until trans people can walk down the street without being laughed at and until every single LGBT kid feels comfortable with who they are we are not truly free. Queer Dit is a space where we can continue to raise issues facing our community; where we can be unapologetically gay and unapologetically radical! I hope you enjoy this edition.

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SRC QUEER OFFICER Words by Louis Guglietti

The recent student efforts in support of marriage equality have been nothing short of inspiring. Despite the postal survey happening against the will and consent of the queer community, it is truly remarkable how well we have all rallied to support SSM. A massive thank you to the dozens of volunteers who came to help out at the stalls set up in the Hub and the Law School.

Together we were able to get hundreds of students to enrol, update, or change their address with the Australian Electoral Commission so that they are ready to #VoteYes! We were even fortunate enough to have special guests Senator Penny Wong and former High Court of Australia Justice Kirby stop by the stall. Nationally, there was over 98,500 new enrolments, with South Australia comprising 9.55% of this figure.

That’s pretty terrific for a state that accounts for just 7.23% of the nation’s population!

Saturday 16th saw more than 5,000 queer persons and allies marching and rallying on the steps of Parliament. It was a wonderful day, with a massive turnout and an overwhelmingly positive atmosphere.

I would warmly invite anyone and everyone who wants to help out in the marriage equality efforts to please get in touch with me at srcqueer@auu.org.au!

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While many of us remain optimistic about the results of this postal survey, complacency is a luxury we simply can not afford. So if you haven’t already yet, I would like to remind everyone to please remember to vote in the upcoming survey as soon as you receive your ballot!

For those of you that remain undecided, or are otherwise unpersuaded about voting, I beg you to reconsider. I understand that there has been a lot of campaigning from the “NO” camp that has suggested gay marriage will lead on to any number of ridiculous things. You’ll find that none of these things have actually happened in any country that’s legalized SSM, but the truth has never stopped conservatives before.

This style of misleading and fearmongering campaigning would actually be laughable if it weren’t proving so effective.

It’s worth noting that in countries that have already passed SSM, those who campaigned against it on a similar ‘slippery slope’ basis have since admitted that this wasn’t true. The Catholic, conservative Prime Minister of New Zealand has said, “gay marriage is not a threat to anyone else’s marriage.”

Same sex marriage is about recognising the love that two persons share, and

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affording it the same legal protections.

Same sex marriage is about inclusiveness, acceptance and above all, equality. It’s that simple.

In other news, the Pride Club will be running a pub crawl on the 18th of November, jump on over to their facebook page for details! Furthermore, I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Adelaide University Law School Society for recently coming out in support of marriage equality. It’s fantastic to see yet another apolitical organisation coming out swinging in defence of human rights and social equality! Conversely, I would also like to publicly condemn the five AUU Board Directors, including AUU President Brodie Scott, who shot down motions supporting marriage equality. These rogue directors have shamefully abandoned the students

they were elected to represent.

Mr President, the students of the University of Adelaide are no fools. We are not buying it. You are no defender of political communication, you are no defender of religious freedom. You are a protector of your own interests and nothing more. Your failure to stand up for the students who need you most will be entrenched in your legacy as AUU President, surpassed only perhaps by your lack of dedication to the role.

You have flagrantly sought to portray yourself as a warrior of equality. To spend almost the entirety of your column, in Queer Dit of all places, defending your reasons for why you very deliberately failed us only adds insult to injury.

Brodie Scott & AUU Directors - it is not too late. Support equality on campus and support same sex marriage.

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N? O S ’ T A WH 2nd Adelaide Rally: Yes To Marriage Equality After the amazing first rally in Adelaide we need to keep up the campaign for marriage equality and get the largest yes vote possible. Such a great start to the campaign should be followed up by a fantastic end, so join us again for another rally in the closing weeks of the postal survey and make sure our voices are heard!

Where: Parliament Of South Australia When: Sunday, October 22 at 1 PM

#TDKTuesdays Adelaide x October Screen printing tour with Tooth and Nail.

Jake Holmes is a painter, printmaker, screenprinter, drawer, letterer and comicer.

He took part in our TDK Threesome Adelaide show back in 2013 and recently ran the awesome C’MON AUSSIE C’MON rainbow campaign from his workshop, getting massive exposure across Australia.

He’ll be running a studio tour for TDK of the workshop and studio, explaining his painting techniques, processes and showing the students around, with casual drinks afterwards.

Where: Tooth and Nail 22-24 Coromandel Place When: Tuesday, October 3

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Say ‘Yes’ For Equality Picnic!

This picnic is a chance to come together, demonstrate that Aussies overwhelming support equality, and celebrate rainbow families and queer communities. All attendees are encouraged to bring a picnic lunch, non-alcoholic beverages, seatings, rugs, personal entertainments and a warm, friendly attitude.

Where: Adelaide Botanic Garden When: Sunday, October 29

Pride of the South fundraising sausage sizzle Support Pride of the South at their fundraising sausage sizzle outside Coles Christies Beach, 101 Beach Road.

Where: Coles (Christies Beach) When: Saturday, October 7

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Labels! 2017 at Feast Festival A multi-arts, multicultural show exploring the theme of labels! Featuring, Damien Ralphs, Charlotte Coulthard Dare, Blazin Baden, Jolie Mystique and special guest Ellie Lovegrove Where: OZ Night Club, 120 Gouger Street When: Thursday, November 23

I Love the Nightlife: an LGBTQ community history project You’re invited to bring along photos, publicity, costumes, memorabilia, and memories about LGBTQ+ nightlife in Adelaide from pre-decriminalization to now. Share a drink and a yarn with friends as guest speakers share their memories of events and venues.

A program of speakers will be announced as the date approaches.

Where: Raj House, 54 Hyde Street When: Friday, November 3

2017 Vegan Festival Adelaide The Adelaide Vegan Festival is a massive 2-day community event that will feature, stalls with amazing food and products, inspiring keynote speakers, empowering cooking demonstrations, workshops, and more. This is one not to miss!

Where: Victoria Square When: 28-29 October

Timon of Athens With the support of Splash Adelaide, Symposium Productions has created an immersive and interactive Shakespeare experience taking place in and around the Victoria Park Grandstand. This production will see a rarely-performed Shakespearean play brought into the modern day. For further details see the Splash Adelaide website.

Where: Victoria Park When: 28 September - October 2

March to Post This is a Amnesty International Marriage Equality march to encourage the public in Adelaide to vote in the upcoming national postal survey. All attendees will march from the corner of North Terrace and King William at 2pm on 6th October 2017 to the Adelaide GPO post shop and submit their supportive vote for Marriage Equality in Australia.

Where: Prince Henry Gardens When: Friday, October 6

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Vox Pop

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BRI

AIDAN

Honours in Health and Medical Science

Bachelor of Ar ts

1. Rosa Diaz, She Is A Lesbian.

1. Captain Holt, of Brooklyn 99.

2. Wouldn’t you like to know. đ&#x;˜Ž

2. “Yes, I have been in romantic relationships.�

3. Yes, visibility is important. sadly rallies always clash with sport so I can never attend.

3. Yeah, it’s important for other people to see the support.

4. The sun! I miss her so much in winter time.

4. I don’t have to wear so many bulky layers anymore

5. Give us repatriations for the constantly locked rainbow room.

5. Make sure rainbow room is open, I wanna nap!

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1. Who is your favourite LGBTQ identifying character on tv?

2. Are you the big spoon or the little spoon?

3. Do you think it’s important/useful to publicly demonstrate in support of marriage equality?

4. What is your favourite thing about spring?

5. What do you think the University of Adelaide can do to be more accommodating of LGBTQ+ students?

GEORGIA

GRACE

Bachelor of Nursing

Law & Ar ts (International Development)

1. Bex Taylor-Klause.

2. Big spoon.

1. I guess here aren’t that many because I’m struggling to think of one. I think Janet king from Crownies is pretty cool but I think her partner ends up dying in an explosion anyway.

3. Yes.

2. Big spoon but not out of choice.

4. Everything becoming green again.

3. Yeah definitely, though I couldn’t attend the recent rally.

I feel a bit weird about the concept of marriage for myself but I think having marriage equality is a greater sign of the progress society is making in terms of recognising LGBTQ people generally.

5. Make sure the rainbow room isn’t locked all the time.

4. My plants start blooming! And I get to wear skirts again.

5. Perhaps increase mental services, I think it’s quite difficult to get an ad hoc appointment now. Though, that would definitely help students who aren’t LGBTQ also.

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Left, Right & Centre Where we ask three hacks across the political spectrum what their take is on the hot issues around campus

Left

Centre

Patrick Stewart

Steven Nguyen

Labor Left

Adelaide University Labor Club

1 I would have voted for the motions.

Fundamentally, our Union should be taking positions on issues as important as this, which students feel so deeply and are strongly affected by. The campaign over the past month has shown how motivated students are for marriage equality, and how strong the support across campus is for it.

While I respect the AUU President’s arguments around neutrality on this issue, I believe they misinterpret the role of our student Union. This is an issue of student welfare, with the national campaign reminding queer people that discrimination against us is, unfortunately, still too common. A visible display of support from our peak student organisation would be a powerful sign of inclusivity and diversity. It’s also important that we work together on these important issues. The Board this year has spent too much time at loggerheads - I hope that in future, these discussions can be had in a more collaborative way.

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2 Unfortunately, this survey has shown that we haven’t come as far as we thought we had. Queer people, in every sense of that term, have been subject to some awful attacks throughout this process.

We’re seeing news coverage of actual gay bashings, and hearing stories from those close to us about experiences we thought had moved to the fringes. We’re also seeing it within the queer community too. We’ve disgracefully seen Yes campaigners failing to stand up against attacks on trans and non-binary people. When the No campaign ad complained about boys being allowed to wear dresses, we as a community laughed that aside in the name of marriage equality, ignoring the bigotry at the heart of that complaint. We need to do more to end bigotry, both within and without.

3 Unnecessarily gendered toothbrushes.

1 The rejection of the motion to support marriage equality was a poor move on the Union’s behalf. The purpose of the Union is to represent fellow students, and they have proven time and time again that they’re unable to do so. This isn’t a time to allow your own political views or conservative upbringing to interfere with the overall picture; LGBT+ students must know that the people they have elected are looking out for them, protecting them from the blatant homophobia that is going on right now. By blocking the motion, they’re not just saying ‘No, we don’t support it.’ No, it’s deeper than that.

The AUU is sending a message loud and clear to the LGBT+ students ‘We simply don’t give a damn, and will continue to passively watch from the sidelines.’

2 The fight for equality has just began!

There are many issues regarding the LGBT+ community that’s equally as important as marriage equality but they do not get enough attention.

Around the world there are still families that would kick out their

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1.

Do you believe the AUU Board’s decision to reject the motion to support marriage equality was right?

2.

After same-sex marriage is legalised, what should the LGBT+ community’s next battle be?

3.

What is the weirdest thing about straight people?

Right Andrew Velickovic

Adelaide Uni Liberal Club child if they came out as gay.

Adolescents whom identify as ‘queer’ are statistically more susceptible to violence and verbal harassment.

We may lobby to change the law for marriage equality but certain people’s homophobic views of us will not change overnight.

We could also start addressing problems within our own community. Transphobia, racial discrimination, wearing clashing patterns etc… If we can’t even accept members within our own community, how can we expect society to tolerate us? All these issues must be addressed as we continue our fight for equality.

3 I’ve always found the way they have sex is pretty weird, even my straight friends agree with me on this. Like how does it even work? What goes where? Who tops and who bottoms?

So many questions.

1 I fully 100% wholeheartedly support the AUU’s decision not to support the ‘Yes’ vote. Whilst I support a Yes vote personally, I don’t think it is the AUU’s purpose to take part in activism. I believe it is the role of the SRC and other student groups as well as the wider student body to take up the fight with these kinds of issues. Personally, I believe the role of the union should be concerned with governance and budgeting. It is not the job and never has been the job of the AUU to virtue signal for issues.

As we have seen in the past the SRC and other student groups/clubs have been more than capable of holding successful events for such issues.

There is no reason as to why the AUU should jump on board too. We should also note that only 22 of the clubs asked supported a ‘yes’ vote – there are 138 clubs on campus.

2 Probably learning to tolerate freedom of speech and opposing ideas. It feels like that we see too much hate for freedom of speech, not only with younger generations but specifically

within the LGBT community. Too many people let opposing opinions get them down and instead of fighting back they demand that the person with the opposing opinion is shut down and not listened to because they’re ‘wrong’. Take the SSM debate, again I’m a supporter of the Yes vote and have voted Yes but there’s already been too many examples of people in the LGBT community getting upset over someone expressing their opinion from the opposing side. Instead of having a whinge about someone thinking differently, fight back and tell them why they’re wrong. Dispute and engage with them. Simply yelling at them/being a general nuisance won’t change anything. If we act maturely, dispute and bring up credible and factual points more people will be willing to listen to us.

3 Sigh.

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Marriage Equality For Everyone Words by Rose Gillespie

O

ne sunny Thursday morning, I realised that I could marry a woman. Not at that exact moment, of course, but in the future, I would be able to marry a woman. And I was completely surprised by how much that appealed to me.

For as long as I can remember I didn’t like the thought of marriage. I didn’t understand it: why would you legally bind yourself to someone, promise to love them, make it very complicated to break up with them when you could get the same benefits by being a de facto couple? (It turns out that you don’t, actually; if one of you dies, your name may not be listed as spouse on their death certificate depending on where you live, and you have to prove your relationship to receive life insurance or bereavement payments, and you may not

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be next of kin). Of course, this was compulsory heterosexuality Rose talking, but even when I realised that I was seriously Not Straight, I continued along this line of thought.

It had become part of how I felt about things, an identity: I didn’t want to get married. But at the heart of it all, there was the simple fact that I didn’t want to get married to a man. It wasn’t that it was disgusting to me: just completely unwanted.

I couldn’t imagine liking a man enough to marry them, and honestly just being with a guy on a permanent basis felt ridiculously unlikely. At that point, marrying a woman wasn’t an option, and was so far outside possibilities that I didn’t consider it at all.

Even when I realised that I probably wasn’t interested in men at all I didn’t think about marriage in a new way - too

unsure of myself, of anyone loving me, too stuck in that ‘ n o t - eve r - g o i n g - to - m a r r y ’ mindset that I didn’t think about what it would be like to marry a woman.

So fast forward a few years to when I’m cool with not being dtf with anyone at all.

I was still very romantically interested in women, and marriage was still an ‘I already know how I feel about it’ kind of topic’. Although, of course, I’m hoping for the government to legalise same-sex marriage so that my friends can get married if they want to.

I still have not considered the fact that one day I could marry a woman. Not until that morning: it is sunny, and I’m walking to the train, and jamming to my ‘Combat Homophobia with Disco’ playlist. And one of my favourite songs comes on: I Like Love, by Norma

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“All I have to do is imagine being able to call a woman my wife and I smile. Think about how much you need to love someone to be able to stand up in front of all your friends and family and say “I love you, and I want to spend my life making you happy.”

Jean Wright, and it’s just so gorgeous and so easy to get into, and I feel like it applies to this whole situation so much. I think, ‘wow, if I ever got married I’d like to walk down the aisle to this song’.

And then I think, ‘wow, I could marry a woman I love while this song is playing’, and I have an epiphany right there on the footpath. I realise that the thought of marrying a woman, someone I love with all my heart, makes me so ridiculously hopeful and happy.

All I have to do is imagine being able to call a woman my wife and I smile. Think about how much you need to love someone, to be able to stand up in front of all your friends and family and say “I love you, and I want to spend my life making you happy.” I mean, that’s still terrifying to me in a way, loving someone so much. But it’s a happy and

excited kind of terrified.

Some of my arguments against getting married still apply, for example, why are they so expensive? And I still have a problem with the origin of what marriage has become today; the transfer of a woman as property from father to husband. But costs can be lowered by not having any friends (check), having a party that is not described to the venue as a wedding (or in your backyard or a park), baking your own cake, and finding a pretty dress, or shirt and trousers, or even overalls instead of very expensive wedding clothes. If I seem like a cheapskate, it’s because I am. As an unemployed student, even my hypothetical wedding is planned to decrease costs. And I would do my best to crush the ideas behind the historical concept of marriage no matter who I was marrying, so that’s not so

much of a barrier anymore.

Obviously, I still support anyone who decides that they don’t want to be married. It doesn’t mean they love their partner(s) any less.

Maybe they don’t believe that the government has any part in their relationship (which is fair enough). Maybe they have more than one person that they love and to only marry one would feel like their relationship with the other(s) is made to be worth less.

Maybe they just don’t like the idea of marriage.

But I’m coming around to the idea. And if in the future, someone comes along who is miraculously attracted to my trash personality and willing to put up with all my shit, I might even one day be able to check the ‘married’ box on my many medical forms.

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“No Rice and Curry Thanks, I’ll Stick to White Bread” Words by Steven Nguyen

O

When people think of the LGBT community, what is the first thing that comes to mind for them?

Rainbows and unicorns?

Sunshine and glitter? Lady Gaga? I’d say that a majority of them think of the LGBT community as a happy place, where people are allowed to honestly express who they are. No discrimination, no hatred, just L-O-V-E. Now in some respects this is true, our community is a wonderful accepting place, however, this isn’t always the case.

A major issue that often gets overshadowed by the picturesque façade of the “Most Accepting” community is the bigotry, and racism that goes on in the background.

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For hoping for the government to legalise same-sex marriage so that my friends can get married if they want to.

I think the main reason the LGBT community doesn’t address this issue and avoids talking about the ongoing discrimination is because we don’t want the rest of society to see the bad parts of our community. We have fought for so long to be treated normally by society, that when we notice bad things happening that give our community a negative reputation, we brush it under the carpet and shine the spotlight on other, less confronting things. But how can we possibly preach

the message of love, when members within the LGBT community are constantly attacking each other with vile comments of pure hate?

If you want a good example of what I am talking about look no further than Jack’d or Grindr, these mobile apps are the perfect example of the kinds of toxic, racist comments that get tossed around within our very own community.

My friends often tell me I should initiate the conversation with people I’m interested in.

“Just message them.

What’s the worst that can happen?” I am told.

“They’ll say no?”

A statement often uttered by

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people oblivious to the racism that happens on gay “dating” apps.

I wish it was as simple as a “No!” I’ll tell you what can happen, I get attacked by a string of insulting comments such as: “I’m not interested in Asian”, “no offence but I’m not into Asians”, or sometimes they can be as blunt as “fuck off!”

These people are often “straight-passing”, “masc4masc”, white twentysomething year old men who are completely oblivious of the privileges afforded to them because of their race and gender. They label themselves as gay/bi and believe they can say whatever they want because of their sexual orientation.

“I belong in an oppressed group; therefore, I can’t possibly be discriminatory.”

However, because they’re “straight-acting” they blend in very well with the rest

of society and are able to reap the rewards that a predominantly white, male society has to offer them without ever having to deal with real discrimination.

I’m not the only person to have experienced these comments. You just need to scroll through a few profiles and you’ll be confronted with account descriptions such as “Asians leave me alone”, “No blacks, Arabs, or Asians”, “WHITES ONLY”. You get the point.

People assume that with the anonymity of being online, hiding behind their phones, they are able to say whatever they want. Then when these users get called out for racism, they justify themselves and rebut with “nothing personal, it’s just a preference.”

No buddy, excluding an entire continent’s worth of people isn’t just a preference, it’s blatant racism. A preference would be preferring someone with a wicked beard, or liking blue eyes over brown ones.

The reason why it’s racist is because you’re generalising an entire group of people as unattractive - wonderful, unique human beings who you would never give a chance to, simply because of their race. There could be an Asian or black guy out there who has your ideal personality, shares all your interests, and is perfectly compatible with you, but just because of their race, you will never give them a chance.

So maybe the next time you’re picking up your phone to reject someone because of their background, maybe actually give them the benefit of the doubt, and get to know them. If that’s too hard for you to do then a simple “I’m not interested, thank you” will suffice. That way the other person’s feelings won’t get hurt and you’ll have the benefit of knowing you weren’t acting like a racist dick.

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A “Respectful” Debate Words by Anonymous

I

had hoped that the Yes-supporters and Nosupporters of marriage equality would be able to maintain a respectful debate.

But the debate has become nasty, vilifying and filled with misinformation. I am usually a reserved guy and I avoid confrontation, but the amount of hatred in this debate has forced me to speak out. I am speaking out for the sake of my mental health, advocacy of my rights and to try and bring some empathy to this debate.

The upcoming same sex marriage postal survey is more than just the marking of boxes and posting of letters filled with glitter. It is more than civil rights. It is more than love.

It’s about how we, as a society, view a substantial proportion of our population, how we evaluate how important our brothers, sisters, cousins, friends and parents are to us.

It is likely that someone you know, maybe even someone close to you, is a member of the LGBT+ community. Voting in the postal survey is a small thing to do but it will have a lasting impact on the lives of all LGBT+ people.

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Both sides of the debate may have attempted to listen to one another and may have tried to respect each other’s views. Unfortunately, they have rarely tried to truly empathise with each other.

Most no-supporters cannot imagine what it is like to be gay in a heteronormative society, to feel like they do not belong. Most yes-supporters do not understand what it is like to be a devout Christian in a declining religious population. Christianity is losing its influence over law and the devout view of marriage is the last bastion of this influence.

I now offer my view as a gay ex-catholic, who only recently came to feel comfortable in being myself. Saying that, I am still horribly anxious and I feel deeply vulnerable in public, but I feel that this may begin to be healed by a yes result.

I grew up attending a Catholic school due to my parents’ religious beliefs. I was a well-behaved, devout, church-attending kid and a fully confirmed member of the Church. I thought it was simply the right thing to do and honestly, I was

genuinely faithful at first. But as adolescence approached, I realised something was wrong. I waited anxiously for feelings of attraction to girls but of course they never came.

I freaked out. I was certain that my life was over.

I believed that my dream of having a happy and normal life was now impossible. I tried to rationalise my same-sex attraction and I convinced myself that it was just a phase, that I hadn’t met the right girl yet, that it would pass. It did not pass.

I figured my attraction wasn’t going to fade, so I did everything I could to hide it.

I was terrified. The all-male school I attended would have torn apart anyone who, even by the slightest rumour, was slightly different, let alone gay! Coming out in this environment was unthinkable. Sure I heard stories of accepting families and friends, but it was all a fairy tale to me.

Keeping this part of myself locked in a crammed section of my mind took its toll and I became anxious and depressed. I started getting bullied and physically

~ On Di t ~

assaulted on a daily basis for whatever reasons my tormentors could find. This continued until one day I decided I wanted to end it all.

I later moved to an Anglican school and received counselling, this school was physically safer but with a higher likelihood of becoming a social outcast.

These conditions allowed me to survive, but never to thrive.

When high school ended, I felt a massive load lift off my shoulders and I began to explore my thoughts and feelings. Within a few months, I met a guy that would become my first boyfriend.

During the course of our relationship I struggled to show any affection in public for fear of hate speech or violent repercussions. Simple dates like lying together in the park or holding hands down the street were impossible for me.

I couldn’t bear keeping all of this to myself any longer and decided to come out to my sister. On Christmas Day, I walked into my sister’s room tearful and told her, barely articulately that I had something to tell her. I made her swear not to tell anyone and to judge me kindly. She agreed and after I told her I was gay she supported me fully.

My relationship came to an end soon after and I thought my life would be easier and I wouldn’t have to deal with a judgemental and hateful society, if I was straight. I turned to religion at university by joining the evangelical students group on campus.

I tried fitting in, but my anxieties heightened during

this time, I thought they’d never accept me and even openly denounce me. I sought help online and found Liberty Australia who conducted ‘pray the gay away’ treatments. I began to meet a minister at their recommendation regularly. He assured me that my feelings were okay but to act on them would be wrong in God’s eyes. I tried to believe in these teachings but I just couldn’t. Eventually I left ES because I knew I couldn’t change and that staying there would have been detrimental to my health and happiness.

Things started looking up when I began dating more and some of my friends eventually found out I was gay. Most accepted me and it was a massive relief. However outside of my friends I still was anxious and closed off.

I was actively involved in a number of sports and was highly athletic. Some ‘elite’ members in the clubs expressed conservative and sometimes hostile views.

While I loved my sport, I never felt truly at home and welcome in this environment and feared the consequences of being ‘found out’. During this time my parents also began to inquire after my personal life and repeatedly asked my sister if I was gay.

It was kept a secret for fear of being ostracized from the family and resulting homelessness.

The following year I attempted suicide. I was hospitalised and then detained under the Mental Health Act. I felt like a caged animal, and was a horrific experience. To make things worse, the doctors told my

parents I was gay without my consent or knowledge. After I recovered and I was released, I learned that my parents were somewhat okay with it, but it was not spoken of. Over time I think they’ve become comfortable with the idea, but it remains strictly within the immediate family for fear of other family members actions.

Things have improved over time. I’m surrounded by a group of accepting friends and a wonderful boyfriend.

But I am still not comfortable expressing my love for my partner in public. Last month two girls were verbally and physically assaulted on a bus in Adelaide for holding hands.

Closer to home, my partners step mum has said that “gays are animals and will rot in hell”.

These are experiences straight people will never have to suffer, They do not need to justify who they are to the public. They are free to express their love for one another openly and feel safe.

And they certainly do not need to get 24 million people to vote to decide if their love is valid.

So I urge you, beg you, to please vote ‘yes’ in this survey.

Vote Yes so that the LGBT+ community can begin healing.

Vote Yes so that no one has to go through what I went through. Vote Yes to reassure every LGBT kid out there that they are valid and that there is nothing wrong with them.

Vote Yes for equality, Vote Yes for love.

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~ On Di t ~

HAYS’ED AND CONFUSED Words: Darcy Mounkley

W

e are inside the kitchen of

your hair flying.” Audrey, moving about

a

school,

the kitchen, replies easily “At the time, I

Audrey Hepburn and Shirley

was running from a chemistry professor.”

MacLaine are drying dishes together,

Shirley laughs and suddenly becomes

their conversation accompanied by the

softer “I remember thinking, “What a

clatter of glasses and cupboard doors.

pretty girl.” She looks down, blinking, and

It’s one of those black and white films,

everything stays silent for a little longer

in which there is that special, pure white

than it should until they are interrupted

light that singles out the objects and

by the bell for lights out.

girl’s

boarding

people it falls on and makes them into

This particular scene is from The

a revelation. Shirley, pageboy haircut,

Children’s

collared shirt with sleeves rolled up,

1961, during the enforcement of the

speaks with the intimate frankness of

Motion Picture Production Code, more

a close friend; “The first time I ever saw

commonly known as the Hays Code,

you, running across the quadrangle,

nicknamed after the president at the

22

Hour,

a

film

released

in

~ On Di t ~

time of the Motion Picture Association of

an character in a film made in the 60s

America (MPAA), Will H. Hays. This code

was something I never thought was pos-

was a set of industry moral guidelines

sible. For the longest time I’d thought all

for the creation of films that heavily

LQBTQ+ stories and characters had been

censored, among many other things,

barred from a media as mainstream as

depictions of homosexuality. The silence,

film back in a time when homosexuality

the brief, wistful look Shirley MacLaine’s

was much more taboo than it is now. Af-

character gives, that was the extent to

ter realising this was not the case, I went

which homosexuality was allowed on

out of my way to find as many Hays Code

screen for over 30 years. Gay people lived

era queer-themed films as I could. There

in the silences, the quick glances, the soft

was something I really identified with in

touch on the arm, we lived between the

the cautious perseverance of queer char-

lines.

acters to exist against the adversity of

When I first saw The Children’s Hour

the MPAA. These characters occasionally

I was thrilled. Being able to see a lesbi-

even had to be snuck past the actors play-

23

~ On Di t ~

“As long as we remain critical of problematic media, and make efforts to support media that represents and treats its queer characters with care and respect, there is nothing wrong ing them. Famously, Gore Vidal revealed with enjoying some years after the film was made, that the relationship between Judah and Messala good Old Hollywood in the 1959 epic, Ben Hur, was intended melodrama, especially to be of a romantic nature. Vidal speaks if it involves a gay of informing Boyd, who played Messala of this history between the characters, but Shirley MacLaine and the actor and writer agreed not to tell Audrey Hepburn”.

Charles Heston, who played Judah, as he would “fall apart” if he were to know.

My love for these characters is not to say that the portrayal of queer characters in film during the Hays Code was kind, or a fair representation of LGBTQ+ experiences, however. For one, gay characters were often identified through stereotypes, Addison DeWitt of All About Eve is the witty, drama-eliciting gossip columnist who admires the women of the theatre but is incapable of loving them, or anyone else. He recognises Eve as a kindred spirit almost immediately, in one scene hinting at the secret they share in common, “You’re an improbable person, Eve, and so am I. We have that in common.” In Rebecca, housekeeper Mrs. Danvers, who is clearly still infatuated

with the late Mrs. De Winter, is portrayed as harsh and predatory, and resents the new Mrs. De Winter for trying to take the place of the woman she loved.

It is also, unfortunately, a common theme in these films for coded homosexual characters to eventually be punished in some way for their sexuality. Messala is killed in the famous chariot race of Ben Hur, and Brandon and Phillip’s murder of their friend, an obvious metaphor for the homosexuality of the two lovers, is found out by their professor in the final scene of Hitchcock’s Rope and the audience leaves them awaiting the police, their fates sealed. Tragically, Martha of The Children’s Hour meets a similar fate, taking her life for the sole reason that she is unable to stand the guilt she feels in believing her love for her friend ruined both of their lives. In the 1996 documentary The Celluloid Closet, a film about queer representation on film, MacLaine talks about her regrets regarding this film; “We

24

~ On Di t ~

didn’t do the picture right,” she laments,

these films is often problematic. For me

“These days, there would be a tremen-

they will always have been a formative

dous outcry, as well there should be. Why

part of my childhood and my personal

would Martha break down and say, ‘Oh

self-discovery, and there will always be

my god, what’s wrong with me, I’m so

something I like about the carefully curat-

polluted, I’ve ruined you.’ She would fight!

ed moments in which these queer char-

She would fight for her budding prefer-

acters betray their true selves to others in

ence.” Personally, while I love the film

the film and to the audience, even as I

with all my heart, I would have to agree.

acknowledge that these are not the best

I have a complex relationship with

examples of representation available. As

these films, I believe there is a merit in

long as we remain critical of problematic

these portrayals of homosexual characters

media, and make efforts to support me-

as a positive affirmation of queer identity

dia that represents and treats its queer

throughout history, and Old Hollywood’s

characters with care and respect, there is

flair for the dramatic is even more joy-

nothing wrong with enjoying some good

ously sensational when flamboyantly gay

Old Hollywood melodrama, especially if

personalities and the taboos of homosex-

it involves a gay Shirley MacLaine and Au-

uality are added to the mix. However, it’s

drey Hepburn.

impossible to deny that the portrayal of queer characters and their treatment in

25

~ On Di t ~

Homo Economicus, Meet Homosexual Words by Ethan Penglase

H

omo

Economicus,

a

Statistics asking you one simple

term used to describe

yes-or-no

the

Should

human-

the law be changed to allow

being assumed to exist by many

same-sex couples to marry? Many

economists. Homo economicus

of you will not have voted yet and

is characterised by their infinite

many of you do not even plan to

ability

to

rational

question:

perfectly

vote. I’ve heard a lot of reasons

rational decisions, i.e. decisions

make

for abstaining from voting over

that maximise their utility for

the past few weeks: ‘It doesn’t

monetary

non-monetary

affect me, I don’t care either way’

gains. Many economic models

and ‘it’s just a social issue, there

rely on the assumption that

are more important matters’. So,

we are all homo economicus

I decided to write this article for

but the concept has caused

you guys, to convince you that

contention

among

same-sex marriage isn’t solely

behavioural

economists

and

modern and

neuro-economists.

a social issue but an economic issue as well. If I can’t convince

The purpose of this article

you that I deserve equal rights,

isn’t to compare the arguments

perhaps I can convince you that

for or against the existence the

I’ll contribute to GDP growth.

of homo economicus but simply

The

most

because, whether or not homo

marriage

economicus exists, we all know

Australian economy is through

someone who thinks they are

additional weddings. Economists

figures are based on the fact that

homo

this

at ANZ Bank, Cherelle Murphy

the average spend per wedding

man (it’s definitely a man) views

and Mandeep Kaura, calculated

is $51,000 and that there are

every political issue through an

that this boost would be worth at

approximately 38,000 same sex

economic lens. If a policy has an

least $500 million in just the first

couples in Australia. Their report

economic benefit, it’s good. If it

year of marriage equality, with

finds

doesn’t, it’s bad. Simple really.

Now

will

of

way

the

economicus.

legalisation

obvious

to introduce you to the concept

same-sex

boost

the

that

the

beneficiaries

the total economic benefited

of this fresh demand would

By the time you read this

being as much as $1 billion if half

be small businesses and the

you will have received a letter

of same-sex couples choose to

services sector. Other immediate

from the Australian Bureau of

marry within the first year! These

economic

26

benefits

include

~ On Di t ~

and

lead

to

an

increase

in

labour productivity. For the fiscal conservatives reading this you will be happy to know that marriage also functions as an effective welfare safety net. Studies show that married couples are less likely to seek government assistance in times of personal crises such as sickness or job loss.

I hope, Mr Homo Economicus, I

have

convinced

you

that

same-sex marriage is a worthy investment and that you are on your way to vote YES. I will leave you now with a word of advice for the future if you are ever again

wedding-related

expenditure

(hospitality,

recreation

professional

services),

exports

foreign

as

and service

same-sex

couples come to Australia to get

married,

government

increased

state

revenue

from

license fees and a small boost to consumer confidence.

Beyond this, there will be

some flow on effects from legal-

confronted

ising SSM that will benefit the

task of taking a side on a social

economy. Research shows that

issue. Discrimination, in all forms,

legal discrimination and social

is bad for business. People are

exclusion cause above-average

more innovative when they are

levels of stress and mental health

comfortable exchanging ideas

problems for gay and lesbian

among each other and more

people.

Paul

productive when they feel safe

Donovan believes that legalising

and respected at work. So fight

SSM would combat homophobia

institutional homophobia, fight

in the workplace, or what he

discrimination and let’s all make

calls

some money.

UBS

‘irrational

economist

discrimination’,

with

the

arduous

27

~ On Di t ~

Highsmith’s Homosexual

Queer Identity in The Talented Mr Ripley and its adaptations Words by Luke Reichstein

P

atricia Highsmith claimed that her aim when writing The Talented Mr Ripley, was to show “the unequivocal triumph of evil over good, and rejoicing in it. I shall make my readers rejoice in it, too” (qtd. in Schenkar). On the surface, 1950s America had one simple narrative: compliance and conformity. Enter Tom Ripley; a sociopathic, murderous homosexual with intense socialclimbing aspirations. Throughout the novel, there is an undercurrent of repressed homosexuality, and suspicions that Tom might be a “pansy”, “queer”, or “sissy” follow him throughout the course of the novel. For readers in 1955, rejoicing in the amorality of a homosexual sociopath would have been beyond the pale, and as such Highsmith presents Ripley through an elusive thirdperson focalization whose inner feelings are never quite accessible. While conjecture around Tom’s sexuality is implied throughout the novel, Highsmith’s ambiguity kept her “characters closeted to the reader, and perhaps themselves” (Decker 186). As a result, it is easy to also see Dickie Greenleaf, as a less than convincing heterosexual. Dickie’s outburst when declaring to Tom that “I’m not queer. I don’t know if you have the idea that I am or not” (Highsmith 89), belies the 1950s

28

heterosexual male that he is purporting to be. In a queer reading of the text, perhaps Dickie is simply protesting too much.

Anthony Minghella’s cinematic adaptation, The Talented Mr Ripley, released some forty-four years after Highsmith’s novel, is altogether sympathetic to Ripley’s panic of discovery in a homophobic environment.

Minghella softens Ripley by granting him an “unambiguous, homosexual identity, with the awareness not only to accept himself, but also to act on his impulses” (Decker 186).

Ripley’s sexual desire for Dickie allows for his transformation from closeted sociopath into the guiltlessly guilty, prototypical tragic hero.

Minghella himself noted that “I’m desperate that no one infer a connection between his actions in the film and his sexuality. It’s a sorry state of affairs if you can only write about a homosexual character who behaves well” (Rich).

The evolution of Ripley’s sexuality is also explored in a coded relationship he forges with Peter Kingsley-Smith. A conversation in Peter’s apartment where Tom says, “then you meet someone special and all you want to do is toss them the key, say open up, step inside, but you can’t because it’s dark and there are demons…” creates a moment of dramatic irony

~ On Di t ~

for the audience who see Tom’s statement as a desire for confession. For Peter, Tom’s words can only be interpreted as confirmation of his sexuality. As Decker suggests, “any complex reading of the film must admit that both interpretations are in play, with Tom inwardly cursing himself for killing Dickie before having met Peter” (Decker 195). In the logic of Hollywood romance, Tom fell in love with the wrong guy first.

Marketing this film to general audiences was not without complications, even in 2000.

After all, the plot is complicated, it contains very little action, and the main character is a homosexual. To overcome this, promotional materials obscured the Hollywood murderromance Minghella had created; instead positioning the film as a murderous, heterosexual love-triangle between Tom, Dickie, and Marge - not dissimilar to the 1960 French adaptation Plein Soleil.

This leads us to question the evolution of the studio in cultural terms, in regards to the portrayal of queer identities. Todd Decker suggests that Gwyneth Paltrow, in her role as Marge, serves as the film’s beard, and Chris Nashawaty, writing a promotional article for the film in Entertainment Weekly stated that “even the two studios releasing

the film seem to see Ripley’s queer identity as more of a marketing concern than the fact that he’s a murderer.” (qtd. in Decker 201) Promotional materials engaged in a straight-washing of sorts, eliminating homosexuality as a thematic element, fundamentally misdirecting the viewer. This deference to privileging heterosexuality advertised a film that simply did not exist, showing strikingly that while representation of queer identities in film had evolved, the studios of the late 1990s were still geared toward projecting 1950s moral standards. It is as if the promotional materials were simply embodiments of the words of Tom Ripley himself, “I always thought it would be better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody.”

Nearly twenty years on, we are left to wonder if there is still a cultural anxiety linking homosexuality and murder, and if the cinematic moral compass is still pointing to the past. Patricia Highsmith’s very murderous, very sociopathic, very queer, very talented Mr Ripley is still waiting to make his big screen debut.

29

~ On Di t ~

How To Avoid Becoming a Statistic Why the ‘bury your gays’ trope is so harmful Words by Aidan Mounkley

I

f there is one thing that’s worse than the Bury Your Gays trope on TV it’s the one currently happening in real life. In 2014 the Federal Bureau of Intelligence found the LGBT+ community were more likely to face hate crimes than any other minority group in America. In Australia, 61% of young LGBT+ people claimed to have faced homophobic abuse of some kind, while the attempted suicide rates of LGBT+ people are 14 times higher than straight people. This data has been used to defend the Bury Your Gays tv trope, with some believing that people who look down on gay people will see the tragic death of a good, innocent gay person on tv and feel sympathetic enough to realise the gay people in the real world deserve to live.

Unfortunately I do not believe it is that simple to so fundamentally change someone’s world view.

In the 1980s the AIDS crisis began and the death count was well into the thousands before any government party made significant attempts to help the situation. In America, the country this disease hit hardest at the time, President Ronald Reagan did not even mention the crisis publically for 5 years. This was a point of contention at the time but, when journalist Lester Kinsolving

30

consistently attempted to ask Reagan’s appointed mouthpiece Larry Speakes about the AIDS epidemic through the years, Speakes was more interested in mocking him than answering. Instead of discussing the government’s plans to prevent this disease, he implied Kinsolving must only be interested because he had the disease and was gay himself, much to the amusement of the other press conference members. Audio recordings of three separate press conferences in 1982, 83, and 84 show journalists and politicians ready to laugh at the expense of thousands of dead homosexuals. It was not until years later, when it became more commonly acknowledged that straight, cisgender people could suffer from the disease that it was deemed worthy of media attention and widespread sympathy.

In 2005, Brokeback Mountain was released and, while it received widespread critical acclaim, many audiences responded as if it was a comedy. What was a tragic story of two closeted gay men was reduced to cheap jokes and a sex scene deemed comedic simply because it was between two men. For years, I was convinced the movie was a comedy because everything I’d seen about it seemed to suggest that this was the

~ On Di t ~

case, but in reality it was just society turning its discomfort with homosexual relationships into a joke so that they could laugh, instead of shifting uncomfortably in their seats.

There is a wealth of other stories featuring or starring gay tragedies, it’s almost all the LGBT+ community gets. Loras from Game of Thrones, Lexa from The 100, and Larry from Buffy the Vampire Slayer are part of a long list of LGBTQ+ characters killed off because they had outlived their usefulness to the story alive. However, contrary to the theory that the deaths of sympathetic gay characters bring about real social change, there has yet to have been a visible effect on anything but the mental health of queer people.

It is therefore hard to believe that the next dead gay person on television will stop abuse in the real world, as it seems, for homophobes, gay people are a joke and their death is the punch line.

Instead of trying to appeal to sympathy that doesn’t exist, it would be better to normalise gay people, happy gay people, in media.

It may not stop homophobic people from continuing to be homophobic but with

consistent effort it could help them learn to cope with real life gay people they might run into. Truthfully, there are a lot of ways to use media to limit the amount of queer deaths in the world, but I do not have high hopes for convincing people, who currently think gay people are deserving of death, otherwise.

I think it’s more important to create an atmosphere of acceptance by normalising gay people in every day life, including on the television screen. Not only does this have the potential to help reduce homophobic hate crimes, but it could help prevent many LGBT+ people from attempting to take their own lives.

“contrary to the theory that the deaths of sympathetic gay characters bring about real social change, there has yet to have been a visible effect on anything but the mental health of queer people.”

31

~ On Di t ~

Strange Bedfellows Words by William Miller

There is a fallacy within society that gay people are inherently left wing. This stereotype brushes aside the complexities both of the individual, and of the vast political ideologies that exist. Homosexuality does not automatically come with a set of defined beliefs and ideologies, these are individually acquired throughout a person’s life. Gay people make up significant minorities of every sector of life, and conservative politics is no different.

Another fallacy is some antiquated view that a gay conservative must have deep and constant self-loathing due to the ‘hardship’ of being both gay and conservative, as if the two are somehow diametrically in opposition to each other. This may be the case for some, but if the gay community has tried to prove anything to society in the past few decades it’s that we are not a stereotype; we come in all forms, just as the rest of humanity.

You simply cannot throw labels of political persuasion on someone because of their sexuality; being gay is not synonymous with being left-wing. There seems to be an element of ridicule and disbelief amongst

32

those who ardently identify with left wing politics that gay people belong with them, and that we do ourselves a disservice by virtue of our political beliefs.

Yes, some on the conservative spectrum don’t share the same social views as I do, but I should not be expected to defend my own personal beliefs against people from other parties just because Tony Abbott is voting no. And yet it is a regular occurrence that I need to justify my support of the Liberals ‘because you’re gay’. It is a sad state of affairs where you can find a home of like-minded individuals (which can still be difficult for many LGBT people) and still be treated by others as if you do not belong there.

During the student elections I was called a bigot, a nazi, and scum. People who were campaigning for us, my personal friends, were called homophobes and racists. The vitriolic hostility we received simply for being the right wing ticket astounded me.

I believe in conservative ideals. We need a strong economy with a regulatory framework that facilitates free market innovation, we need to work towards a

~ On Di t ~

“Ideals of individual rights and civil liberties, decentralisation and free-trade are ideals that affect us all and have a strong place in political discourse, yet gay conservatives are viewed through a one-issue lens.”

balanced budget, we need to set ourselves realistic long-term monetary goals, we need tradition and heritage preservation, we need our sovereignty, we need a strong national defence. These are things that I, as a gay man, do not find contravening to my sexuality in any way.

Ideals of individual rights and civil liberties, decentralisation and free-trade are ideals that affect us all and have a strong place in political discourse, yet gay conservatives are viewed through a one-issue lens. LGBT rights are incredibly important. Clearing the path for social cohesion and helping LGBT youth deal with depression are issues close to my heart. So too are economic management, historiographic revisionism, education, healthcare, and ATSI reconciliation.

Rudd announced his support of same-sex marriage to score a few cheap political points in the unwinnable 2013 election. I’m not saying the Liberals aren’t using the issue as a political football as well, but it takes two teams to play and national Labor need to address their own shortcomings before placing blame. Bipartisanship can exist in this area, and both parties have failed Australia’s LGBT community for a long time.

As with sports, however, we do not swap sides just because we don’t like the way a coach is managing the team or because one of the players turns out to be an asshole.

Politics is a quagmire, but they are not equivalent to beliefs and ideology. I stick to my beliefs, they are as much a part of me as my sexuality. Both define who I am, and neither should be used against me to hold The left does not hold a monopoly on me back. We’re not so much an anomaly as LGBT rights, despite how often they tout we are just individuals. themselves as champions of the LGBT community.

The Rudd-Gillard-Rudd ... government had 6 years to implement meaningful reform with same-sex marriage, William Miller is an accomplished drinker and they remained silent. And then, as a and one-time failed SRC Presidential desperate ploy of a failing government, candidate.

33

~ On Di t ~

how did homosexuality evolve? words by Kiri Marker

B

irds do it, bees do it. In fact, over 400 different animal species do it. Homoerotic behaviour is rampant in the animal kingdom, ranging from anywhere between the occasional same-sex genital massage, all the way to lifelong gay pair bonds with shared parenting responsibilities.

The question is: why do they do it?

Well, it turns out that the tendency toward same-sex behaviour is partially genetic. In simple organisms like Drosophila fruit flies, this is quite easy to prove. Males with mutations in the genderblind gene become bisexual and will court males and females indiscriminately. It gets a bit more complicated when we look at humans; especially when you consider that our species not only exhibits sexual behaviours, but rather sexual orientations.

Even in humans, evidence suggests that the tendency to be gay or lesbian has a genetic component. Studies have looked at the degree to which twins, siblings and adopted siblings share their sexual orientation. One of

34

these found that gay men are up to 5 times more likely to have a gay brother than their straight peers. Another study interviewed gay men who had an identical twin, and found that they shared their sexual orientation 52% of the time. But for adopted siblings, this was true for only 11% of cases.

This is a clue that being gay might be heritable. And while environmental factors do play a large role in shaping your sexuality, to a certain extent, it’s written in your DNA. Geneticists have even found candidate regions on the X chromosome which may contain the “gay genes”, as the media likes to call them. Whatever your sexual orientation, you have two copies of these genes. It all depends on which alleles you have – that is, which versions of the genes you inherited from your mum and dad. The ‘gay allele’, the ‘straight allele’ and so on.

But if homosexuality is genetic, then doesn’t this create a bit of a paradox?

From an evolutionary perspective, the purpose of all life on Earth is to reproduce, and to do it well. The more offspring you leave behind, the

~ On Di t ~

more likely it is that your unique set of alleles will spread through the population. It follows that natural selection favours traits that will increase your reproductive output.

See the problem? How could this elusive ‘gay allele’ continue to persist over evolutionary time, if those who carry it are far less likely to reproduce?

The answer depends on which species you’re looking at. In the Laysan albatross, lesbian parenting is a clever solution to the skewed sex ratio on the island of Oahu. A baby albatross needs the cooperation of

two parents in order to survive. Since there’s not enough males to go around, an unpaired female albatross increases her chance of having children if she uses a ‘surrogate’ male, and then raises her chicks with a long-term female partner. These partnerships involve lengthy courtship displays, intercourse and mutual grooming: all the essentials for a happy, healthy albatross home.

The baby albatrosses are likely to inherit whatever alleles confer samesex behaviour from their mothers.

And so, homosexuality remains at a consistently high rate in the population.

35

~ On Di t ~

In bonobos, on the other hand, homosexual behaviours serve a very different purpose. Bonobos are intelligent primates with complex social structures. In these matriarchal societies, females strengthen their alliances with other females through kissing and genital rubbing. Males exchange fellatio with one another on the daily. These interactions are all vitally important in easing group tension and promoting harmony.

In both examples, homosexuality is advantageous to the species, and so it persists.

So, what makes homosexuality so advantageous to humans? With around 2 – 4% of the population identifying as gay or lesbian, it’s fair to say that the ‘gay allele’ has done pretty well for itself. At this point, it’s all still speculation, but there are some interesting theories out there.

1.

The allele that codes for

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homosexuality in men makes women more fertile.

What if instead of a ‘gay’ allele, we think about it as a ‘being really really attracted to men’ allele?

The boy who inherits this gene will grow up gay, while his sister will grow up straight, and be more likely to have lots and lots of sex and babies. This way, straight female carriers ensure that the ‘gay allele’ doesn’t die out. There’s actually some evidence for this.

One Italian study found that female relatives of gay men are much more likely to have greater reproductive success. It’s possible that a similar mechanism could explain female homosexuality, but sadly very little research has been done in that area.

2. Homosexual men make better uncles than straight men.

The ‘kin selection’ theory states

~ On Di t ~

Homosexuality helps us form bonds with one another. Much like in bonobos and bottlenosed dolphins, homosexual behaviour may have evolved to help us form stronger, more harmonious communities. that early in our evolution, gay brothers acted as ‘helpers in the nest’. Because a gay caveman didn’t feel the need to go out and conquer a woman to start a family, he would stay at home and help provide for his nieces and nephews (who share around 25% of his DNA). While this theory doesn’t really hold up in modern Western societies, we do see evidence for it in some parts of the world, like the Pacific Islands. In Samoa, the fa’fafine – effeminate gay men who consider themselves a ‘third gender’ – are more attentive uncles than straight men, and might help to provide a more nurturing family environment.

3.

Homosexuality helps us form bonds with one another.

Much like in bonobos and bottlenosed dolphins, homosexual behaviour may have evolved to help us form stronger, more harmonious communities.

Researchers have found that women who reported a greater preference or likelihood of engaging in homosexual behaviour tended to have higher levels of progesterone.

This is a sex hormone which is linked with social bonding.

Bonding with friends increases your progesterone, and vice versa, having high progesterone

makes you more sociable and willing to help others. It’s also linked to having more frequent homoerotic thoughts. Of course, these are merely associations, meaning we can’t prove a causeand-effect relationship. But it’s a plausible theory, especially when we consider the importance of homosexual behaviour in other mammal communities.

Though we have some promising pieces of evidence to support these theories, nothing conclusive has been found so far. And as you’ve probably noticed, the research is very male-centric. Does lesbian sexual orientation follow the same rules, or could it work in a completely different way? And what about other sexual orientations?

We have a long way to go before we can answer these questions, and we’ll probably never know for certain why homosexuality evolved in humans. But we do know this: sexual orientation is not a choice, and homosexuality is not unnatural. It has a strong biological basis, like the colour of your skin or the size of your ears. In species where homosexual behaviour is common, it usually offers significant advantages to the group. Whatever the reason, natural selection has made friends with the ‘gay allele’. And in return, the ‘gay allele’ has added to the richness and diversity of life on Earth.

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~ On Di t ~

Gay Liberation, Not Rainbow Capitalism Words by Leigh Briar

T

he birthplace of the gay liberation movement was Stonewall Inn, in June 1969 when a police raid on the bar sparked nights of rioting and protest against the systemic repression of gay sexuality and identity. Gay liberation joined the spreading radicalism of other movements of the time: the anti-Vietnam war movement, the US Civil Rights Movement, women’s liberation, and growing industrial militancy by workers demanding better living conditions. While many LGBTI activists of the time called for immediate reforms to win equal legal rights and recognition, they also argued that for true liberation, this society that is built on the exploitation and oppression of LGBTI people, people of colour, and workers, needs to be done away with and fundamentally changed.

The Gay Liberation Front was established after the Stonewall Riots, and was deeply connected to and influenced by other radical struggles by other oppressed groups. In their underground newspaper Rat, they wrote: “We are a revolutionary homosexual group of men and women formed with the realization that complete sexual liberation for all people cannot come about unless existing social institutions are abolished. We reject society’s attempt to impose sexual

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roles and definitions of our nature… We identify ourselves with all the oppressed: The Vietnamese struggle, the Third World, the Blacks, the workers, the women… all those oppressed by this dirty, rotten, vile, fucked-up capitalist conspiracy.”

Almost fifty years on, neoliberalism and bigoted reactionary campaigns have broken up and demoralised radical activists. The demand for liberation has largely been dropped and there is now a wider space for more conservative forces to argue that capitalism in fact has nothing to do with the oppression of LGBTI people, but it is all straight people who are inherently the problem. Now that many of the worst forms of homophobic discrimination have been struck out of the law books (as a result of street campaigns and marches) it is much less of a political statement to come out as LGBTI. Powerful individuals who would otherwise never risk their comfortable positions as business people, politicians, academics, and lawyers during the 1960s, now feel little risk to do so. As the political climate has shifted further to the right in the past few decades, many of these respectable individuals have gained prominence and influence amongst those campaigning for LGBTI rights.

~ On Di t ~

Take the example of Caitlyn Jenner, a filthy rich Republican who is also a transgender woman. She has openly opposed equal marriage rights and public healthcare that makes gender-affirming therapy and surgery for transgender people more accessible. She opposes these things because she holds wealth and power, and her class interest is to keep the poor unable to access these basic rights and services.

There now exists an entire ‘pink economy’ which builds upon the respectable individualist image and pressures workers to labour under worse conditions than other workers, on the basis that they should care about the survival and success of a pink business – that is, a business like any other, with the differing factor of publicly supporting LGBTI people winning a few rights. The idea that all LGBTI people have something more in common against the straights also adds to the problem, granting LGBTI bosses a pass to make unreasonable demands on those they exploit. Instead of sexual liberation, we’ve developed super-exploitation in the name of LGBTI rights.

Like the rest of capitalist society, LGBTI people are also fundamentally divided by class. There is no natural unity on the basis of sexual preference. LGBTI bosses, like straight ones, will underpay and discriminate against LGBTI workers in order to get ahead in their pursuit of profits.

After almost half a century of campaigning and winning reforms, it becomes clear that it will take more than reform alone to achieve sexual liberation. But that’s not to put a dampener on the campaign for marriage equality, for instance. The campaign for same-sex marriage should not be just fought in order to fit into ‘respectable’ society. The campaign should be seen broadly as a

struggle for civil rights and state recognition.

Winning marriage equality may indeed make LGBTI couples seem more ‘respectable’, but it would also challenge the stereotypes and preconceived ideas about sex and relationships, and the family, which lay the basis for homophobia in the first place.

The family is the bedrock for the capitalist system, saving the ruling classes billions of dollars each day as the masses of regular, working class people provide unpaid domestic care for the young, sick, and elderly. The family keeps alive the notions of ‘ideal’ male and female identities, and of heterosexuality as the norm. Single parents and same-sex couples are widely accepted today, but this is an example of a society tolerant to LGBTI people. But enough of tolerance, we want liberation. To do this the system of capitalism which depends on the family structure has to be challenged itself.

The working class, organised in their workplaces, has the power to bring the system to its knees. In times of high struggle, workers have shown that they can and will unite and organise to fight for civil rights for all. The Australian union movement of the 60s and 70s saw the strongest fight for women’s and LGBTI rights, against environmental destruction, and against the destruction of public housing, to list just a few.

We have to rid ourselves of this dirty, rotten, vile, fucked-up capitalist conspiracy, because only then can we live truly liberated lives. There was enthusiasm for revolutionary change among millions in the 60s and 70s as masses of people confronted war, racism, sexism, and exploitation, and that’s an enthusiasm we need to rebuild now. The fight for sexual liberation cannot be separated from the fight to rebuild a revolutionary movement to overthrow capitalism.

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~ On Di t ~

The trans-social agenda Words by: Stephen (Anastasia) Hok

W

hat is really a ‘real’ woman or

affect how I see my own gender identity

man? Some might say that the

when I look into the mirror.

biology of our bodies determine

reductions

of

people

in

the

transgender community to their gender,

gender is the product of societies’ stereotypes

or to their physical appearance, can be

and beliefs. Such speculations about gender

incredibly harmful and objectifying. To

rarely affect those who identify as cisgender.

put it simply, we are people before we’re

However, debates such as these are usually

a gender. We all have feelings, thoughts,

at the centre of transgender individuals’

and emotions that make us who we are,

lives..

and it’s no different with transgender

From my own observations, social media

individuals; they are people. So why all the

sites like Facebook and Twitter feature stories

controversy around transgender people and

and articles of transgender people and their

their gender identity on social media? As

gender transitions, the majority of which

someone who has been heavily questioning

appear to be heavily built around the topics

their own gender identity for the past few

of either the genitals of said transgender

years in the closet, and believes that they are

people, or the legitimacy of the gender they

a woman, it always hurts me inside when I

personally identify with. Some of the most

see the comments that some people make

common comments that accompany these

on social media about transgender people.

stories are typically along the lines of ‘she’s

Comments like those mentioned above

really a he’ and ‘that person has a penis, so

make it harder for people like me to come

they’re a man’. It’s fairly obvious that these

out as themselves, and affects their mental

sorts of comments aim to delegitimize

health in a negative way.

transgender people by tying gender to

But

it’s

not

all

negative.

The

ever

the biological sex that we’re born in.

growing support for transgender people,

Frequent comments like those mentioned

and the LGBT+ community overall is spread

above emphasise the issue of ‘passing’ as

throughout

a ‘normal’ woman or man when society

media, with various companies and groups

judges transgender people. One’s ability

pledging their support. It’s really nice to

to ‘pass’ places significant implications on

know that people outside of our community

how people in the transgender community

are supporting us.

the

world

through

social

view themselves; it places a lot pressure on

Regardless of what people say or think,

physical appearance for transgender people,

I’m proud to be who I am, and so should

and can create anxieties about whether one

everyone else. It’s sometimes difficult for

is able to acceptably pass as the gender

transgender people to find self-acceptance

they identify as according to expectations

with all the hostility out there, but I wouldn’t

of society when it comes to what a male or

change myself due to that. We’re so much

female is ‘supposed’ to look like. I know for

more than just what is in our pants.

a fact that comments on social media can

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These

our gender, whilst others have said that

~ On Di t ~

Bi The Way:

The Paradox of Being Queer and Dating Straight Words by: Phoebe Montgomery

A

s a bisexual in a straight, monogamous relationship, I often find myself wondering if I’m allowed to have a queer identity. Most recently, having watched so many of my friends suffer through the indignities of the so-called ‘respectful debate’ surrounding same-sex marriage, I have realised my relationship offers me a lot of security. For all intents and purposes, I pass as straight, and I never experience any discrimination regarding who I love and how I express it. In that sense, I am incredibly lucky. However, it’s hard to shake the feeling that in my incredible, beautifully diverse community, I am the human equivalent of plain white bread. .

It’s not that I’m insecure about my sexuality. I have known that I am attracted to both women and men since I was very small. Specifically, I remember so many little indicators, like how I’d chop the hair off half my Barbies and dress them in butch clothes so my dolls could have ‘pretty’ boyfriends, or how I had a huge crush on Megara from Hercules, and wanted to marry Ping from Mulan (still do. Guilty!).

There were bigger realisations in my teens. I used to spoon my best friend and feel my heart thump painfully against her back and hope she didn’t notice, and when we played spin-the-bottle at illicit mixed gender sleepovers, I always felt more comfortable kissing the girls than the guys. Although my number of same-sex encounters may not be as lengthy as my heterosexual ones, I have never had any doubt of my capacity to be attracted to both genders, or to love someone regardless of their gender identity.

However, sometimes your own knowledge of yourself and how others see you don’t really match up. And sometimes, that can make it difficult to know who you really are.

It’s time to make a revelation – I am technically not ‘out’. My boyfriend knows, and my close friends know, and I came out to my mother earlier this year. Coming out to my mother was the most difficult, as her response was predictably along the

lines of ‘why did you need to tell me? Is this something I really need to know? You’re not dating a woman right now!’. In the back of my head, I remember thinking, I know, but it’s still who I am. Another, much smaller voice also whispered, but are you really? Maybe she’s right. Don’t announce your bisexuality if it’s just going to stay invisible.

Although I hang out with a lot of people in Adelaide’s queer community, I don’t think I can be a part of things beyond being an ally. I’m not being excluded in any way, but something inside me makes me feel like I can’t claim to belong on the same level as my queer friends. After all, straight relationships are ‘weird’, and I’m in one. Monogamy is old-fashioned, but it’s what I’m comfortable with. I’m cis, average weight and white. And honestly, I get heart-thumpingly anxious about the idea of rocking up to queer spaces, because I’m scared the fraud police will find me and tell me I’m not queer enough to be there.

However, the personal insecurities are only a small part of it. Most of all, I don’t want my limited experiences of queerness to erase the trauma of others. Bisexual erasure is a serious issue and it sucks that so many of us feel caught in these in-between spaces. We have a right to be a part of the community; after all, there is a ‘B’ in LGBTQI. Nevertheless, straight-passing bisexuals have a certain amount of privilege, and I’d rather accept that than champion it in a way that might take away from the experiences of other queer people. That is a personal decision, and I don’t claim to speak for all bisexuals in opposite gender relationships.

While I am in my current relationship, I cannot experience being queer in the same ways as others, and that is okay. For now, my bisexuality is a quiet part of my identity, and while that isn’t exactly comfortable, it’s what I need at this stage of my life. Maybe this will change. Maybe it won’t. All I know is, my next step forward is getting more comfortable with the coexistence of my queer identity and straight relationship.

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~ On Di t ~

The Gayze: Queer representation in media Charlie Kay and Lucy Summerhayes host The Gayze, an LGBTIQ+ comedy podcast discussing Queer media. They sit down and talk all things that overlap in the Venn Diagram that is LGBTIQ+ and pop culture.

Hi there! We’re Charlie and Lucy, the humble hosts of ‘The Gayze’, a podcast where we discuss the quality and crunchiness of different types of pickles. We also talk about LGBTIQ+ media… okay we lied about the pickle thing but we do dream of writing our own pickle-centric TV show in the future. We think we’ll call it ‘Pickled Pink’ or something; we’re waiting to hear back from several producers regarding our pitch.

Anyway, we’ve come here today to talk about gay shit, because the world can be dark and scary (and very heterosexual) sometimes but we can always rely on good-quality gay shit to brighten our lives with its glow (and pickles too) ((but we’re not here to talk about pickles)).

We brainstormed three questions that we know you are all burning to have answered.

Even if you don’t know us, you’ve always thought, “man, I want two lesbians to tell me ‘what’s up’!” Well today’s your lucky day because we are two lesbians who love to tell

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people ‘what’s up’.

What is important about representation in media?

LGBTIQ+

Charlie: I mean, I think of my TV as a mirror… hypothetically speaking, although it can be in a literal sense when the screen goes black and you’re forced to confront your reflection with a feeling of unparalleled horror. But you also need to reflect society to an extent. Growing up, I allowed myself to be fooled by subtle, subtext-based representation, like a stray dog eating scraps from the street. Two characters of the same gender looked at each other for a little longer than normal? That could keep me sated for weeks on end. I realise now that we, as queer viewers, are programmed to not expect much, to take what we’re given in terms of LGBTIQ+ characters… but we can do better. We can do better than a 1 second shot of Lefou dancing with a man at the

~ On Di t ~

very end of 2017’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and we deserve better as a community. The rise in representation we are seeing means that we can call out these kinds of media for taking advantage of queer audiences.

Lucy: Representation not only ensures that what we are watching is inclusive and accurate to life but it also gives younger LGBTIQ+ people something to relate to! I often wish as a kid I had more characters to look up to in pop culture, and as time goes on more and more characters and story lines have been added and it makes my cold heart warm. Even as an adult, having hetero characters, stories and romances constantly shown in media is painful, like seriously, come on people, I like ‘The Notebook’ as much as the next person but please give me something else! When I see just one queer character, I am immediately more interested and more likely to interact and see myself within the piece of media.

New rule: Can all media please and thank you include at least 2 gays?

What are the LGBTIQ+ media that have had a profound impact on you?

C: The Australian TV show ‘Dance Academy’ was really important to me as a young LGBTIQ+ Australian because it was a program marketed towards children with a major character who was bisexual. I still remember how it felt seeing a character from one of my favourite shows struggling to come to terms with being same-sex attracted, mirroring the difficulties I was experiencing at that time. Also, ‘Dance Academy’ helped me realise that I could never cut it as a professional dancer, so, in a way, it protected the world from a tragedy.

L: I feel like as a child I had a fascination for straight culture. It’s true I always lusted after a hetero life and watched nothing but Disney-style romances, then, somewhere

around the age of 14 I realised that the reason I loved these movies was because I always imagined myself as the man falling for the woman! But I’m not here to talk about my love for women, I’m here to talk about what helped me realise that I wasn’t alone in my feelings. An author that really impacted me during this time was David Levithan, Specifically his books ‘Will Grayson, Will Grayson’ and ‘Everyday’. These books explored topics of same sex attraction, non-binary characters and trans characters and having these characters and themes there when I was really at a cross roads helped me through this stressful time and I’m thankful these books are available for young people.

What media you would recommend to young LGBTIQ+ people entering University?

C: I cannot speak highly enough of ‘Sense 8’. It’s available to watch on Netflix and very binge-worthy. There’s such a diverse spectrum of representation with a really cool Science Fiction plot. This show will make you think, make you cry and make you very gay.

L: Before I graduated, after a long, hard day at Uni I would come home and watch any comedy I could find. At the time I was re-watching ‘Friends’ (a sentence I can say at any point in my life) but as I became more involved in the lesbian lifestyle™ I discovered shows like ‘Sense 8’, ‘Orphan Black, ‘Rupaul’s Drag Race’ and ‘Black Mirror’ which are all amazing and I would definitely recommend.

So basically what I’m saying is, if you want to pass your topics, don’t get Netflix or whatever totally legal streaming services you enjoy. BUT if you want to have a good time, relate to your peers and forget the woes of life definitely use your time to watch these shows and every Louis Theroux documentary you can find. That counts as queer culture right?

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~ On Di t ~

Beautiful Freaks “Who’s shouting next?” asked a voice from one of the bustling tables along the balcony.

It was nearing dusk on a Friday and the bar was full of students ready to drown some unwanted brain cells.

“My turn I’m pretty sure”, piped up one of the three voices from the centre table. She held her wallet and looked inside blankly as if staring into some deep endless chasm.

“Kate! You never have money! Did you finally rob a bank like I’ve been telling you?”

“Not yet Georgie-boy” smiled Kate as she slid a worn debit card out of her shirt pocket.

“Robbed an Avocado farm instead, heaps easier, have to show you my three houses someday”.

Kate’s girlfriend Racheal and George both laughed as Kate slid her chair back, wincing at the grinding of steel on concrete she should’ve been familiar with by now.

Kate made her way inside, her fingers anxiously flicking the debit card against her hand. Only halfway to the bar, her brain reminded her just how small her bladder really was. She looked back through the balcony window and considered asking Racheal to come with her. After a moment of hesitation, she thought, ‘fuck it’ and made her way towards the toilets. As she opened the door to the women’s restroom, tiny butterflies of anxiety began to flutter from her stomach into her throat.

Kate breathed a small sigh of relief as she saw she was alone, greeted only by the familiar echoes of dripping water. She closed one of the stall doors behind her, slid her black jeans down and began to admire the hundreds of etched, scribbled and stuck on pieces of graffiti around her. Her eyes darted across the surrounding walls: feminist slogans, motivational quotes and nihilist memes all greeted her, as if in some time-capsule of millennial frustrations. She saw Bikini Kill lyrics scribbled on the door and smiled, mouthing the words to herself.

To be a girl poet, means you have to die.

As she pulled out her phone to take a picture, she was confronted by small scribbles a few inches lower, “FUCK TRANNY FREAKS”.

The words seemed to be a second thought, scrawled in lazy handwriting scribbled with an almost empty Sharpie. The faint black lines burnt into her, half-arsed words probably written in a drunken haze. Yet they screamed, ‘You don’t belong here, you are the other, reduced to a six letter word’.

“Fuck off,” she breathed. An angry sigh of rebellion as her mind started to form the writing into her ever present anxieties. Now biting her nails, her mind raced through thoughts of unwelcome, thoughts wondering what she had done to deserve a word more commonly used by bigots, murderers and aging parents, now scrawled inside the door of a women’s bathroom.

The once liberating scrawls such as ‘pussy power’, now seemed to close in on Kate, adding to the pressure already felt from her prison of faulty, ill-fitting feminine features.

Had she been away from the table too long? The thought of Racheal worrying brought Kate back to the present. She took a few moments making a personal adjustment to the message, then left.

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~ On Di t ~

“Hey! What tookya so long girl?” smiled Racheal, her cheerful Māori accent flowing like honey through Kate’s brain; the addition of that last simple word acting like codeine to a headache.

“Just ran into a pal from Anthro inside, had a chat”, replied Kate, humming out a tune as she placed a jug of West End on the table and sank into her chair.

As Kate pulled out a cigarette, George started pouring everyone’s drinks, putting on a sour face as he poured his own glass.

“Mmm West End, you got the good stuff huh Kate?”.

“We can’t all have lawyers for parents George”, muttered Kate, looking out past the balcony towards the now setting sun. A look of worry crossed George’s face as soon as Kate failed to use his affectionate nickname ‘Georgey-boy’. She took a long drawn out drag from her smoke as George and Racheal both shared looks of concern.

“Sorry, shit joke. Thanks for the drinks Kate”.

The sunset eventually turned to early night as the Uni Bar closed up. Good company and drinks had allowed Kate to forget her anxieties for a while and have a good time.

The three of them walked down from campus towards the river. All of them eventually waving goodbye as George cycled off home. Racheal and Kate continued towards the river, sniggering about how ridiculous George looked with those fleuro cycling bracelets around his ankles.

With their arms lazily hanging off each other’s shoulders they fell to the grass, giggling uncontrollably at their own clumsiness. Eventually sitting up against each other, they stared at the water in front of them. The lamp light reflecting like neon ripples on the river’s surface. They took in the ambient noise for a while: the nearby buzzing of invisible bugs and the far-off city noises created a calm atmosphere that made them both feel far from anything important.

“Hey so, what was up with George before? You seemed tense” asked Racheal, breaking the silence.

“Nothing really, just wasn’t in the mood,” replied Kate, her eyes still fixed on the river.

“You were humming when you came outside, you always hum when you get heaps anxious,” Racheal gently poked Kate’s nose and smiled, a sign of affection they’d both shared for ages.

Kate turned back and returned the smile, almost like a reflex born in her care for Racheal.

“Just some transphobic shit in the bathroom, nothing worth getting worked up over”.

“Fuck really? Some people still have shit in their brains huh? Always will. I’m sorry girl”.

Racheal put her arm around Kate and pulled her closer.

Kate looked down at the detailed Tā Moko on Racheal’s hand and forearm, a symbol of strength and her girlfriend’s passage to womanhood.

“Yeah, just wish I could ignore it and not be such a miserable cunt when it comes up”, muttered Kate.

“We’re both queer millennial women, pretty sure it’s our job to be miserable cunts”, giggled Racheal while landing a messy kiss on Kate’s cheek. Their laughs echoed along the river as the warm night continued around them.

As the lights flicked off in the women’s restroom of the Uni Bar. Pale moonlight illuminated the inside of a toilet stall, where a new phrase has been etched into the wooden door.

“A Tranny Freak was here”.

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Blackcurrent Tea ~ On Di t ~

words by Emma Heyen

I

am sitting outside my house with a cup of coffee. It bristles my palms and I’m too hungry to eat. My hair is greasy but I can’t shower. I didn’t get a lot of sleep. My legs are tucked underneath myself. I’m sick to my stomach in a sharp, familiar way. This morning is hard in the way most are when you came home uneasy; when you remember something from the night before that sleep tried its hardest to erase but couldn’t quite manage. I got up in the middle of the night with a queasy feeling in my gut that keeps compounding.

My brother Henry’s birthday celebration was at a restaurant I couldn’t afford but couldn’t not go to. The small grace I was given was a dedicated smoking area a metre away from our table separated by greenery. Smoking is an unfortunate social crutch in situations where I need to do something with my hands.

I was out amongst the plants with my girlfriend and Henry’s roommate. He was out, he was charming, and he was as passionate about film as Henry. When he engaged me in conversation I was absolutely thrilled. I wasn’t comfortable, but cigarettes tend to bring people together.

He offered me a light, made small talk for a moment, and then said “My mum is a lesbian.”

It didn’t phase me. I hear it a lot from new people when they meet me in conjunction with my girlfriend; my sister is gay, my roommate is a lesbian. To me, it’s a bizarre way of trying to connect with someone. It’s so common that it’s background noise. I have a script for the moment straight people realise I’m not like them.

They scramble to tell me they don’t care because of their sister, their mother or a girl they met once at the pub on a Thursday night. I feign interest and laugh until they’re reassured I don’t think they’re ignorant.

I didn’t reach for my script that evening. This was different than anything I had ever been confronted with because not only was he queer, but he was talking to me about his mother. His mother is gay and she’s in a long term relationship with another woman. I don’t hear that as often. It moves me to tears most of the time.

I can’t think about how my life is under scrutiny and picked apart by people I’ll never know. They don’t consider that my life functions outside of my sexuality and that most days I never consciously think about it myself. I’m not in the habit of othering myself.

But the idea that there can be two women happy together, sharing a life that it is so simple as it is intricately woven with love, soft moments, laughter, pain, children, conversations about bills or groceries or whether they want to go to the cinema on Friday night is a shock to the system, and I take another drag so that I don’t hyperventilate.

I think I was still going over what that meant and trying to process where it sat with me when he next spoke, and to this day I don’t know why he said it, and why it felt like a wall I had started to let down suddenly skyrocketed ten more metres upwards “Bisexual people should just choose a side, am I right?”

I was convinced my limbs stopped working. I looked at my girlfriend and I saw how I felt written all over her face for a second until we both composed ourselves. I’ll never forget how it felt to feel so comfortable and safe and realise I was so wrong. He had kicked the wind out of me and I needed to run.

I am always assumed to be a lesbian. People think that because I am with a woman that I am exclusively interested in girls. There’s a common misconception that all queer people understand and accept each other.

Once someone I was close to said, “I know a girl who says she’s bisexual, and I hold up her relationships with men against her relationships with women to see which one I think is genuine”.

Who in their right mind would open themselves up for that much scrutiny over brunch. Over a coffee. Any other situation where I may run into this person. Am I more in love with John or Elizabeth? More publically affectionate with Maggie or Anthony? Why is this up for discussion? Am I not allowed to attempt functioning relationships without aggressive questioning?

He was right, though. The one I shared a cigarette with. I’ve made a choice.

I choose to emphasise my straightness to strangers when it gets dark and I’m not sure they’ll let me walk home without following me if I don’t. I choose to emphasise my gayness when I’m around “like minded individuals” in a “safe space”. I choose to avoid telling people I’m bisexual; I tell them I’m an all encompassing queer.

I’m sitting outside my house, and the sun is shining, and my chest feels less tight when I think about who is inside writing essays and making tea.

I choose to love her. I wake up every morning and she’s already awake. I had to teach myself not to keep an iron grip on the blankets after I’d stolen them in the middle of the night. Her favourite warm drink is blackcurrant tea. She likes dogs that have people names. She checks the mail every day and hates washing dishes, and I love her.

It’s difficult to tell someone they’ve really hurt you if they have no point of reference for how that hurt feels. It hurts even more when that person should understand.

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~ On Di t ~

An Open Letter To Bisexuals and the World Around Them words by Hana Jay Hi pals, It’s me, your friendly neighbourhood bisexual. Or not so friendly, because I’m tired. I’m tired of writing these words which I’ve written in various ways before, constantly rearranging them in a plea to demand gentleness for the bisexual community.

I began identifying as bisexual when I was thirteen, and it’s something I feel very comfortable with now, but it hasn’t always been this way. I assumed that this meant I had a place in the world, a community and a family with other bisexual people and the wider lgbtqia+ community. Sometimes, this rings true. Sometimes it sadly does not.

Being bisexual seems to be endlessly coming out and trying to validate that yes you are that real thing : a living and breathing Bisexual Person™. It gets so, so exhausting. It gets so disheartening. Your heart is going to be broken by microaggressions. You are going to hear : “But you’re actually gay/straight, right?”

“So you have lots of threesomes?”

“I knew you’d pick a side!”

You are going to get really good at trying to ignore these. But sometimes they wear you down and you just ache. You want so desperately to be valid, to be understood, to not have to present your entire dating history to people to prove that you are a card carrying bisexual.

As a community, we need to do better so bisexual kids can be allowed the validity and safety they deserve in their identities. To not worry if they are gay enough or straight enough. To not feel unwelcome in their communities. To safely date whoever they love. To not ever have to hear themselves invalidated again. Bi kids, we deserve to be celebrated. We deserve love, not to be erased or to be made to identify as something we aren’t for the comfort of those around us, who don’t want to put in the time or effort to understand our sexuality.

Let’s work harder at acceptance, let’s work harder at being better.

With hope, Your friendly neighbourhood bisexual.

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~ On Di t ~

The changing face of braggadocio: Hip-Hop’s evolving view on homosexuality.

Words By Henry Armfield and Jack Rau With the conversation over Australian marital rights in full swing, popular culture can be a huge influence upon our opinions, so for the sake of rhetoric, I looked into a favourite music genre of mine: Hip-Hop. On the surface, Hip-Hop is vehemently opposed to the idea of anything that makes compromise from the braggadocious, violent and masculine imagery that has epitomised rap music for the past three decades.

Homosexuality and gender stereotypes, are clearly taboo, or at least they were up until recently.

In a 2005 interview with MTV, Kanye West spoke upon the homophobic environment within the Hip-Hop community and how it influenced his outlook upon homosexuality, stating the following: “If you see something and you don’t want to be that because there’s such a negative connotation towards it, you try to separate yourself from it so much that it made me homophobic” and furthermore “everybody in hip-hop discriminates against gay people. To me, that’s one of the standards in hip-hop is to be like, ‘You f*g, you gay.’”

West himself had his sexuality questioned

by Hip-Hop traditionalists when he chose to don the now iconic pink polos, and later in his career during his ‘Watch the Throne’ Tour with Jay-Z, where he sported leather kilts and skinny jeans. Kanye West’s sexuality was considered contentious by the Hip-Hop community because of what he wore, but what happens when an artist is a known homosexual is rather different.

Frank Ocean came out as bisexual in 2011, and confirmed that his Grammy winning

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album, Channel Orange included songs written about the first person he fell in love with; a man. ‘Thinking ‘bout you’ and ‘Forrest Gump’ include implicit lyrics about his sexuality that fly under the radar unless you have considered the context of the album.

A more open confession of his sexuality, in comparison to the 2012 release, is the 2017 single, ‘Chanel’, in which Ocean opens the song with an emotionally dripping verse: “My guy pretty like a girl And he got fight stories to tell I see both sides like Chanel” Ocean directly refers to a homosexual partner, and his own bisexuality. Sexuality is expressed through metaphor, as typically male characteristics of physicality are contrasted with the prettiness of a woman, culminating in seeing “both sides like Chanel”. What makes Ocean’s recent work so significant is not simply what he is saying, but the reception he receives in contrast to Hip-Hop’s historical outlook.

Frank Ocean is revered, not rejected.

Ocean’s emotionally honest admissions of homosexuality represent a bold new direction for the genre, and have served to highlight that stereotypical notions of femininity surrounding emotions can be legitimately integrated into the industry. However, the much lauded 2016 LP, Blond, blurred the lines between masculinity and femininity.

The dual-nature of the release’s themes – personified by the stylisation of the title of the masculine form “Blond” or feminine “Blonde” – can be viewed as hip-hop’s cycle turning full.

As in Orange, emotion bleeds from the lyrics

~ On Di t ~

and instrumentation, however, are intertwined with once typically masculine genre notion of sexual prowess. Ocean boasts passionately on “Self Control”: “I’ll be the boyfriend in your wet dreams tonight” Ocean takes pride in his sexual superiority; unabashedly declaring how he will make his partner climax. Remarkably, this is expressed in a musical category once defined by - and still littered with superstars bragging on their graphic sexual successes with women.

Ocean, through defining himself through this braggadocio of sex, undeniably fits the hip-hop mould. Critically, however, Ocean’s status demands, through his honest and testimonial lyricism, that this is inclusive of all sexualities, genders and dispositions.

Ocean was not the first bisexual man to express his sexuality in Hip-Hop, but he has directly inspired others to do so. Kevin Abstract is an unabashed homosexual, and an unapologetic Frank Ocean protégé. He is also making some of the most critically acclaimed Hip-Hop of 2017, with The Needle Drop giving Abstract and his collective, Brockhampton, the highest rating of any album this year with a 9/10. Abstract does not shy away from discussing homosexual acts in the slightest.

One of his group’s most popular songs, ‘STAR’, includes Abstract bragging: “Heath Ledger with some dreads, I just gave my n***a head” over the booming 808’s and low-end bass to be expected of any modern rapper.

He even makes jest of homophobia in an assertive braggadocious manner through his verse on Brockhampton’s ‘JUNKY’, as he asks “Is it homophobic to only hook up with straight n****s?

You know, like closet n****s, masc-type Why don’t you take that mask off? That’s

the thought I had last night” On the spectrum of braggadocio, I think being able to seduce someone with a predisposition to your entire gender ranks higher than when straight rappers claim they could steal others’ girlfriends.

Lyrical content has clearly changed since days of Kanye having his tracks branded as ‘gay’ if they weren’t good. The same has happened to the fashion which saw West’s sexuality questioned. Young Thug released ‘Jeffrey’ in 2016, with the cover art featuring Thug in a dress. Thug has also been pictured in figure hugging women’s jeans, frequently calls other rappers “Dear”, “Baby” or even “My love” online, and has tweeted allusions to his possible bisexuality. Lil Uzi Vert sports scoop neck designer T-shirts, diamond chokers and wears women’s sneakers on stage. Tyler, The Creator, who many believe to be gay due to his lyrics and twitter account, wears nothing but the hyper-colour clothing which had West’s critics up in arms, and details his personal upkeep routine including manicures and “stinking of Chanel”. If any rapper from the 90’s or 2000’s was to have done this they would undoubtedly be dismissed and torn down. Nowadays, Young Thug has a cult following online, Lil Uzi Vert has two double platinum singles, and Tyler, The Creator debuted at second on the Billboard charts, a thousand sales behind number one.

Although the genre is still not completely inclusive, the once exclusively masculine community is far more open and has grown and thrived in the process. Perhaps the genre’s progress could be reflected in society, if we allow our LGBTIAQ+ community the same opportunities as rappers did.

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~ On Di t ~

Team O’ his skin, he smelt like rose water, And his hands, soft and smooth and sweet.

His gravelly morning undertones whisper, And his smile, a glimmer of raw ethereality.

His dulcet voice; the end of me, and I have forgotten all wrongs, all blows and bruises and late-night fights and fears of ‘if he loves me’, gone.

Hello Brown Skin, hello Blonde Hair.

Carry me back to naivety, darling, for I’m wonderstruck in your presence, and my heart cannot take the stars.

Those that incandesce in your eyes, dancing to your scintillant soul and flourish like galaxies above.

I’m lost. I’d rather not be found. ~ J. L. L. Kamp

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