Representation at the Olympics by Abby Buckthought and cartoon by Georgia Broadbent-Berge

REPRESENTATION AT THE OLYMPICS

I came out when I was 15. My mum was scared for me; she thought being queer would ruin my opportunities in life, that I would be discriminated against. I have been. But I am also privileged – I am still white, cisgender, and able-bodied. I also don’t ‘look’ like the stereotype of a queer person.

becomes a better, kinder place. This generation is cultivating a culture of empathy through representation of diversity. – Abby Buckthought. Even other queer people presume I’m straight. My identity is mine – it is a truth, a fact, not a performance. I know that showing up as me, and living my truth, helps other people to be more themselves and contributes to

dismantling those stereotypes. Growing up, it didn’t even cross my mind that anything except heterosexuality existed, because there was simply no representation. Thank goodness for the internet. The patriarchal binaries that are so deeply ingrained in our society disregard our humanness. They exist to serve the (very flawed) system, instilling fear for lack of familiarity. When people who don’t fit in these binaries are brave enough to step forward and say, ‘this is who I am,’ the world

artwork by Georgia Broadbent-Berge

FIND

GREATNESS

Julian Braatvedt has always been fascinated by wildlife and has loved wildlife documentaries since he was five years old. He came to AUT after receiving a scholarship to study communications, but at first he wasn’t entirely sure where his degree would take him. All he knew was that he wanted to do something meaningful with his life. When his lecturer encouraged him to try everything, Julian did exactly that; studying journalism, social sciences and video. Today, he is using all of these skills in his work as a wildlife cinematographer, fulfilling his childhood dream of filming animals all over Africa.

Julian Braatvedt

Wildlife Cinematographer