STUN Magazine | Issue 5 | 2024

CANBERRA | SYDNEY | NEWCASTLE | WOLLONGONG

MARDI GRAS

Party from the beach to the bars

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

The alarming state of our relationships

LET’S GO JALISCO

Mexico’s party destination FREE | AUTUMN 2024 | NO. 005

Party monster The NGV pays homage to Leigh Bowery

TAKE ME! Y L I’M TOTAL

FREE zine

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Femme

Cora Bora

Monica

The Summer with Carmen

book tix at queerscreen.org.au

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So, what’s the future? olycrisis. That’s the word used to describe the compounding problems that have mounted up since the end of the pandemic. Climate change, the cost-of-living crisis, wars in Gaza and Ukraine, endless scams and cyber attacks, progressive dread over a possible Donald Trump re-election and senseless right-wing transphobia are just some of the issues vying for our precious attention.

The slogan of this year’s Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras is ‘The Future’ so maybe it’s time to stop and think about what kind of world that we want to live in but also to open our eyes to the challenges that we face getting there.

In our interview with new Mardi Gras CEO Gil Beckwith, she tells us that she’s cautiously optimistic about the future, especially in terms of diversity.

That progress is to be seen in this year’s Mardi Gras program, which features new events for lesbians and trans folk alongside shiny new attractions like the Bondi Beach Party.

We’ll go on a Priscilla-style road trip through regional Australia en route to ‘the Gras’ and find some colourful queer highlights along the way.

We also travel to the cultural powerhouse of Mexico and discover abundant queer life in Jalisco state, home to the gay mecca, Puerto Vallarta.

Australian performance-artist Leigh Bowery is being celebrated by the NGV in Melbourne

CONTENTS n News

6-9

n Age of Consent

11

n TV/streaming

12

n Music

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Canberra’s Rainbow Roundabout gets a makeover, Thailand’s road to marriage equality and giveaways galore.

P

The contradiction in our laws for sex and sexting.

Not everyone loves Saltburn.

Maestro and Fellow Travelers reviewed.

Transista Groove’s Szusza Ihasz at STUN’s Kylie party PHOTO: DC

and Christos Linou has pored over a 1989 interview to find enduring meaning in his work while Craig Thomas looks back at high school with Bowery.

We profile the up and coming Canberra-based music maker, Yokelust, review a love-letterto-raving book by New Yorkbased Australian trans writer, McKenzie Wark and take a salty lick at Saltburn.

We also identify the discrepancies in our sexing vs sexting laws, Immani Love reveals the difficulty of her marriage break up, Jennifer Hopelezz bemoans big tech’s censoring of queer sex businesses and Ali Khan discusses Australia’s queer domestic violence problem.

Clearly we have a lot to talk about so let’s just dive ‘straight’ in!

Happy Mardi Gras and stay stunning until the July issue.

Yokelust gets housey, Kylie’s Padam luck and new Pet Shop Boys.

n Books

17

n Arts

20

McKenzie Wark celebrates the trans raving experience.

It’s finally time to celebrate Australia’s Leigh Bowery.

n Mardi Gras

23-27

The future of Mardi Gras is looking bright with several new events.

n Travel

Finding cool queer vibes in Mexico is about as hard as hitting a low-hanging pinata.

n Domestic violence

28

32-33

Confronting the shocking facts about our relationships.

n Disability

36

Being inspired by Yenn Purkis on autism, trans and non-binary issues

n Snaps EDITOR

n Calendar

41-45

Fabulous nobodies at Screaming Gay, I Should Be So Kylie and Bernie’s NYE.

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Move over Sydney, it’s Wagga Wagga Mardi Gras, STUN gets a boogie fever in Newcastle, a first-ever drag king trivia for Wollongong, Canberra’s Venus Mantrap throws a Grace Jonesinspired disco and a queer party at Questacon is on the cards.

STUN | AUTUMN 2024 | Read online at stunmagazine.com.au

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Canberra’s Rainbow Roundabout has been given an even more inclusive makeover. PHOTO: CITY RENEWAL AUTHORITY

‘Yes!’ to the roundabout makeover A peculiarly Canberra landmark, the Rainbow Roundabout on Lonsdale Street in Braddon is a much-loved and photographed feature of our capital.

Painted in 2017 to celebrate the ACT recording the highest ‘Yes!’ vote of any state or territory in the marriage equality survey, it also became the site of the YES!Fest street parties in 2018 and 2019 and came to symbolise modern Canberra.

In recent years though, the marks from a burn out at the 2022 Summernats could still be seen creeping through despite a clean up for WorldPride and it seemed like celebrating Canberra’s LGBTIQA+ community and its wider progressive movement had become, well, less of a priority.

STUN Magazine

Issue NO. 005 Autumn 2024

Publisher/Editor Danny Corvini Art Director Rob Duong @stun_magazine STUN Magazine

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Contact Call 0417 322 038 Email hello@ stunmagazine.com.au Online stunmagazine. com.au Post PO Box 5073 Braddon ACT 2612 Subscriptions stunmagazine.com.au/ subscribe

Leonard Mickelo dancing at YES!Fest in 2019. PHOTO: JANE DUONG

So it was a very nice surprise to discover that the roundabout had received a fresh lick of paint over the summer break, courtesy of the City Renewal Authority, whose CEO had actually suggested getting rid of it not Contributors Sean Cook Jo Falvey Holly Hazlewood Hannah Head Jennifer Hopelezz Ali Khan Christos Linou Immani Love Craig Thomas Stuart Ridley

Photographers Cassie Abraham Stefan Ammerlaan Cain Cooper Jaimi Joy Benjamin F. McKenzie Hellen Richards Douglas J Robinson Amber Sempf Z. Walsh Darcy Oliver

that long ago. A third of has been painted with the colours of the trans flag as well as black and brown to reflect queer people of colour, signalling that the city is still taking its ‘Capital of Equality’ slogan seriously.

A spokesperson from the Office of LGBTIQ+ Affairs says, “The Rainbow Roundabout stands as a visual affirmation of the ACT’s dedication to fostering an inclusive environment for everyone, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or intersex status. It serves as a powerful reminder of the ongoing journey toward equality and acceptance. Representation matters and the Rainbow Roundabout is one of the ways we can continue celebrating and valuing LGBTIQ+ communities.”

Cover Leigh Bowery at the Limelight Club, London, 1980s.

Photo Alamy Printed by Spot Press, Marrickville, NSW

STUN Magazine acknowledges the Ngunnawal and Ngambri peoples, the Traditional Custodians of the Kamberri/ Canberra region, and recognises their continuous connection to culture, community and Country.

STUN | AUTUMN 2024

TRADE becomes TROUGH X Sydney sex-on-premises venue TRADE has been sold to the organiser of TROUGH parties, Nik Dimopoulos, who is re-opening the venue just in time for Mardi Gras. Nik promises to bring a Berlin nightclub dark room vibe to the site, which has a rare combined 24-hour liquor and sex-on-premises licence and 300-person capacity. “After years of reductive Sydney laws and liberties, we are res-erecting TROUGH X to help sexx up the Oxford St gaybourhood once again,” said Nik. “Our doors and arms are open to not only the maleidentifying gays/queers but to the full spectrum of gender and sexual orientations within the LGBTQIA+ sex positive and fetish communities.” TROUGH X will operate as a bar and cruise club 7 days a week, hosting dance events on weekends.

STUN | AUTUMN 2024

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QUOTABLES

Whoopi sounds the alarm on Trump

n “It’s not lost on me the irony of me winning ‘man’ of the year when I did drag for the first time this year.”

Troye Sivan at the GQ Awards in December

Whoopi is calling out the risks of a second Trump presidency. PHOTO: IG

Not bovvered by HIV If you thought that it couldn’t get any crazier than the Covid anti-vax movement then news out of the UK may make you reconsider. New research by Newfoundland Diagnostics has revealed that over a fifth of straight Brits (21%) believe that they couldn’t get HIV so they have never tested for it. This is despite government data showing that straight people now account for almost half of new cases. Diagnoses amongst gay and bi men there have fallen 71% since 2014 thanks to regular testing, PrEP and a higher level of treatment for people with HIV.

Thai MPs vote for same-sex marriage Thailand is a step closer to becoming just the second Asian nation, after Taiwan, to enjoy marriage equality after a majority of MPs voted in favour of four draft bills proposing the change.

A whopping 360 out of 371 MPs approved the draft legislation, which will be put to a vote after further debate. The Prime Minister, Srettha Thavisin (pictured), is in favour of marriage equality and surveys show that over 96% of the Thai public are, too.

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Get in touch STUN is fabulous but a small operation nonetheless.

If you are a writer or photographer and want to contribute, get in touch.

If you are an LGBTIQA+ organisation and have some news or a story idea, get in touch. If you are organising queer events of any kind, get in touch at hello@ stunmagazine.com.au CANBERR

A | SYDNEY

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QUEER

REFUGEES | WOLLO NGONG The struggles continue QUEENS OF POP

MARD

I GRAS

Party beach from the to the bars

Celebratio ns of Kylie and Madonna 2023 | N O.

DOME VIOLESTIC

NORDACIOUS

004 FREE |

The alarmin NCE g state of our relation ships

Bringing the Kenergy

AUTUM

N 2024

| N O. 005

LET’S JALIS GO

CO Mexico ’s party destina tion

PartyIt’s a monvi stbe er

Logical and The NGV biolog homage pays with ical ties Mo’Ju to Leigh Bowery

n “I didn’t really know exactly how it would play in terms of the role it was in the movie until I saw it at the screening, but I absolutely loved it.”

Sophie Ellis-Bextor on her eternal tune Murder on the Dancefloor getting a spin in Saltburn n “Nothing prepared me for when my father looked me in the face and said, ‘I do not accept you for who you are. I disown you as my daughter’.”

Kylie Kwong tells Guardian Australia about her father’s reaction to her coming out

| NEWCAS

GONG CANBE RRA | SYDNE TAKE ME! Y | NEWC I’M TOTALLYASTLE

FREE | SPRING

PHOTO: INSTAGRAM

n “Being French in 2024 means being able to be prime minister and openly gay.”

France’s first gay Prime Minister Gabriel Attal in a keynote address to the French Parliament in January

n “Making Christian music does not mean that I can’t suck dick no more. The two are not mutually exclusive.”

Lil Nas X on his Christian era

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PHOTO: INSTAGRAM

Whoopi Goldberg fears that LGBTIQ+ people, along with journalists, may ‘disappear’ if Donald Trump is re-elected as president, urging young voters upset with Biden’s recent stance on Gaza to tread very carefully at the upcoming election.

Referring to Trump’s assertion during an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity that he’d be a dictator “only” on “day one” of his presidency, Whoopi said, “Do you want somebody who says, ‘I’m going to be, on day one, I’m going to be a dictator’?”

GRAB THE LOOT Hard up for cash this cost-of-living crisis? Having to choose between paying the rent and buying party tickets? Let us make your life fabulous with these stunning giveaways.

Drag Gala tickets Twilight at Taronga presents Drag Gala, a special Mardi Gras treat for the animals. The incredible line up includes Karen from Finance, Isis Avis Loren, Spankie Jackzon, Art Simone, Jojo Zaho, Maxi Shield, Beverly Kills, Alexander McKween, Ellawarra, Gabriella Labucci, Hollywould Star, Carla from Bankstown and songstress Victoria Anthony. To win a double pass, email hello@ stunmagazine.com.au and tell us what your spirit animal is.

Drag Gala Thursday 22 February at Taronga Zoo, Sydney.

Drag Gala brings the cream of Drag Race Down Under talent to Taronga Zoo.

The Antipodes Gin Co.

Art Simone book Star of RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under Season 1, Art Simone is releasing her debut book, Life Is Art on March 6. The book features Miss Simone’s tips for being as fabulous as a drag queen both on and off the stage.

The book features 10 years of colour-coded, iconic looks and is as visually entertaining as it is funny. To win, email hello@ stunmagazine.com.au and tell us why you really need help to be fabulous.

Life is Art by Art Simone is distributed exclusively by Booktopia.

STUN | AUTUMN 2024

Antipodes Gin is sustainably produced on Ngunnawal country.

Canberra’s Antipodes Gin Co. is Australia’s first certified organic spirit company. Their watermelon gin is balanced with notes of lemon myrtle and juniper, mixing well with yuzu soda or Solo or as an indulgent spritz while the pink gin features citrus and notes of strawberry pink musk sticks. We have a bottle of each to giveaway.

To win, email us at hello@stunmagazine. com.au and tell us what you simply must celebrate over a bottle of Antipodes Gin. Antipodes Gin Co. antipodesgin.com

Bowery Ball at the National Gallery of Victoria The NGV is celebrating iconic Melbourne-born performanceartist Leigh Bowery with a night of dance, drag, music and fashion. Throughout the evening, guests will sip on Pommery Champagne and indulge in canapes. Featuring Art Simone, Ruby Slippers, Rosie Rai and the

drag king alter-egos of Danni Ray and Keely Windred, Dazza and Keif. To win a double pass to attend the ball (party tickets only), email hello@stunmagazine. com.au and tell us how Leigh Bowery has inspired you.

Bowery Ball Saturday 22 March, NGV.

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The legalities of sending that pic For many taking part in LGBTQIA+ hookup culture, sexting is to be expected.

Hannah Head explains what you need to think about before you send that pic.

NEWS

Should I send a dick pic?

Did they ask to see the dick?

No Does it seem like they want to see the dick?

he first documented ‘nude’ image was sent in 1828 yet laws governing nude images remain confusing to this day.

Governments work to catch up with state-of-the-art technology and the possible opportunities for criminals to exploit victims through those mediums. However, something as basic as sending a nude image is complex in Australian law.

Each Australian state sets its own age of consent for sex. In the majority of states and territories, this age is 16 (17 in South Australia). Laws around sexting are much less clear-cut with both state and federal governments having the authority to create laws around online nude images.

Federal laws take priority over state laws, making 18 the minimum age for sexting. This is due to the Commonwealth’s legal definition of ‘child’ being up to 18. This means that a person who is old enough to have sex may still be legally too young to sext.

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STUN | AUTUMN 2024

Yes

Yes Not sure Ask if they want to see the dick

No

Don’t send it

They said no

They said yes

Send it

More than 52.5% of sexually active gay and bisexual boys between the ages of 14 and 17 use apps like Grindr to find sexual partners, according to the Journal of Adolescent Health. Ticking a box to say you are over 18 is instinctive for a younger generation who’ve had to lie about their age to access social media throughout their adolescence.

With apps like Grindr designed to make hookups as easy as possible, many queer men/ masc people have found the process of sending nudes to be natural in the pre-meeting process.

This makes proof of age when talking to a younger potential partner imperative.

Sexting with a person under 18 can result in child pornography charges for both parties. A person over 18 can face imprisonment and listing on the sex offenders register. A person under the age of 18 can be charged for possessing a nude image of themself.

Something as basic as sending a nude image is complex in Australian law Even photos or videos that do not depict nudity, such as someone under 18 dancing in their underwear, can result in child pornography charges for the subject.

These laws are complex and lack clarity, resulting in young people interested in exploring their sexuality inadvertently putting themselves at risk of criminal charges. Additionally, the lack of regulation of online dating apps means that protections to ensure all users are 18 or above simply aren’t there. Be safe and diligent, as these laws and online regulations are not designed with queer hookup culture in mind.

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Melbourne’s Jacob Elordi plays the wealthy Felix Catton in this summer’s breakthrough hit, Saltburn. PHOTO: MRC FILM

Friends in high places Everyone is talking about Saltburn but what is the film really saying, asks Sean Cook; and is Maestro a perfect work?

STREAMING

Saltburn Amazon Prime ★★★ Maestro is on Netflix ★★★★★n

t only took a modest amount at the box office.

It has divided critics and audiences alike. It has been snubbed so far at the awards season and it is constantly being compared unfavourably to The Talented Mr Ripley and Brideshead Revisited. All that said, Saltburn was number one on Amazon Prime for all of December (seeing off numerous Christmas movies) and is still in the top ten. It’s gone viral on TikTok (Saltburnrelated videos have recorded four billion views on TikTok alone), rich Gen-Z’s are claiming it is the movie that defines their generation (give me The Breakfast Club or Muriel’s Wedding any day!) and, of course, it has propelled Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s Murder on the Dancefloor back to the top of the charts.

So what’s it about? Not-sorich-kid meets rich-kid at a

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Barry Keoghan’s Oliver has eyes for Felix in Saltburn. PHOTO: MRC FILM

posh university when he helps him fix his bike one afternoon.

After said encounter, rich-kid suddenly feels compelled to pull not-so-rich-kid into his fold and after a few beers during which not-so-rich-kid provides anecdotes about his impoverished upbringing, rich-kid decides to invite not-so-rich-kid back to his sprawling mansion (Saltburn) for the summer. So

far, so Brideshead Revisited. At Saltburn, not-so-rich-kid meets rich-kid’s stereotypically fuckedup and eccentric aristocratic family and spends the summer with them doing what fucked-up and eccentric aristocratic families do ... which is, not very much (aside from acting fucked-up and eccentric in dining halls, around swimming pools and in garden mazes). The not-so-rich-kid becomes increasingly obsessed with rich-kid and his aspirational life and (as expected) things start to take a sinister turn. I won’t give too much away, only to say that it follows a similar path to The Talented Mr Ripley, though I’m not sure it has the same complexity or pathos of that movie or indeed the solid characterisation to make it plausible.

So why is everyone talking about it? It certainly has some standout viral-bait scenes (the bath scene, the grave scene and the final dance scene to name but three). Perhaps in our social-media obsessed world that’s enough to make something a hit? And Barry Keoghan (who I think is an exceptional young actor) plays STUN | AUTUMN 2024

COMMUNITYREVIEWSFEATURESLIFESCENECALENDAR an anti-hero who fucks over a rich family (and we all love an anti-hero). However, unlike Ripley and Brideshead, which were both great character studies, I failed to see any pathos or indeed irony in Saltburn. Whereas Ripley and Brideshead were both dark commentaries on class and wealth, Saltburn sends the opposite message. It seems to say that we should all aspire to insane levels of wealth and do whatever it takes to get it.

Just maybe, because we live in a social-media obsessed world and are constantly being told that wealth is the ultimate goal of life, that’s the reason why Saltburn has been such a breakout hit. Be sad if it’s true.

In Maestro, Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan act their socks off and will no doubt be rewarded accordingly come awards season. I really can’t find fault in the writing, direction or cinematography either and was mesmerised by this film but it’s not going to be for everyone. A biopic about the late, great composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein, Maestro largely focuses on the loving but tumultuous marriage between Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre. Bernstein was bisexual and as it went back then, he had to get married to a woman in order to further his career. That’s not to say that Bernstein didn’t love and need Montealegre. She was his rock and encouraged him to soar. She was also successful in her own right and thankfully the movie gives her equal footing too. Yes, there have been grumbles about Cooper’s fake nose (I’m staying out of that debate) and I read an article in the New York Times about the lack of attention paid to both Bernstein’s male lovers and his queerness in the film, which I think are legitimate gripes.

Overall, I think it’s an almost perfectlypitched piece of filmmaking.

STUN | AUTUMN 2024

Actors Jonathan Bailey and Matt Bomer channel matinee idols of yesteryear in Fellow Travelers. PHOTO: SHOWTIME

Critic’s choice Fellow Travelers 2023 Apple TV, Paramount+

★★★★ Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein in Maestro PHOTO: NETFLIX

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et against the backdrop of the Lavender scare (a witch hunt against queer people in government in 1950s America that ran adjacent to the Red Scare), Fellow Travelers is a story about two men, Hawkins Fuller (Matt Bomer) and Tim Laughlin (Jonathan Bailey), who meet and fall in love but can’t be together because society says they can’t.

Hawkins decides that the only way he can progress in life is by getting married while Laughlin decides that the only way he can survive without Hawkins is by joining the army.

The film fastforwards to the ‘80s and we see that their love story didn’t really end well (it didn’t really end but nor did

it blossom). Across the next four episodes, we cut between the ‘50s and ‘80s, slowly piecing together why things have turned out the way they have.

Then at around episode five (just as the show has set up a neat juxtaposition between queer persecution in the McCarthy era and queer persecution in the AIDS era), the show moves into the ‘60s and the ‘70s.

During these later episodes, it becomes a little less clear what the show’s overriding theme is. However, things get back on track in the last two episodes and we are left with a moving portrait of a love that couldn’t be because of the pressures placed on queer people by society.

What makes the show truly shine are Matt Bomer’s and Jonathan Bailey’s performances.

Both actors possess that rare on-screen charisma that you equate with the matinee idols from yesteryear. Both actors are openly queer and their stars are on the ascent.

Let’s hope they both go onto become the first really big openly queer matinee idols.

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Clockwise from above: Kylie Minogue at the Grammys, Olly Alexander, Pet Shop Boys, Lil Nas X. PHOTOS: ALAMY, IG

From Olly Alexander to the Pet Shop Boys, DJ Raydar hits play on the funkiest music news and gives Mardi Gras a hot tip, too.

MUSIC NEWS

Congratulations to queen Kylie Minogue, whose Padam Padam won the Best Pop Release category at the ARIA’s in November and now also the Best Pop Dance Recording at the Grammys. Lucky lucky lucky, because its producer Lostboy has recently revealed that the award-winning track nearly went to Rita Ora! Did anyone catch the one-off Royal Albert Hall show An Audience With Kylie when it appeared on YouTube briefly before being hauled off just hours later? To this reviewer, it was the most happy, relaxed and entertaining that Kylie has ever appeared on a stage. It’s streaming on 7Plus now.

Meanwhile, Kylie’s A Second To Midnight

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co-conspirator, Olly Alexander (pictured top right) has been selected to represent the UK at Eurovision in May in Malmö, Sweden. The Years & Years singer said that he is going to bring some “drama” to the competition. Watch out.

Pioneering house and techno DJ and producer, Danny Tenaglia (left) has spoken out about the colon cancer diagnosis he had last May, which left him wondering, “Is this it?” Danny had to cancel some European shows but focused instead on the third instalment of his Global Underground DJ mix series, entitled Brooklyn, which follows the Athens and London mixes. He’s woven in an fresh update of

Crystal Waters’ Gypsy Woman, called The Brooklyn Gypsy, which spins the 1991 classic into a vocal-less piano house track.

The Pet Shop Boys have announced that they are back in the studio recording a 15th album, Nonetheless, set for a late April release. “We wanted this album to be a celebration of the unique and diverse emotions that make us human,” they said in a press release.

Every track on the album will feature an orchestra and electronics and it will include both dance-oriented tracks and ballads.

Lastly, a shout out to the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras who have programmed a wildly diverse and exciting line up for the official afterparty and Bondi Beach Party this year. That CHECK OUT said, here’s a LIL NAS X’S ‘lil’ request! Lil LATEST MUSIC Nas X for 2025!

VIDEO WORDS I mean, can you IN HERE. even imagine?!

STUN | AUTUMN 2024

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The real triple threat MUSIC The Canberra artist and DJ Yokelust is

currently in his old school house and disco era so get in while you can, writes Danny Corvini. riginally hailing from Batemans Bay, Canberrabased Yiannis Nikodellis is one active bod. In between DJing and producing music under his Yokelust moniker, he’s also an artist (most notably the recent ‘Cover Yourself In Canberra’ campaign for Meridian). He keeps a tight social media presence and he makes his own music videos. And did I mention that he holds two day jobs?

“I like having a lot of things going on. I like to be very busy,” says Yiannis, somewhat stating the obvious.

The DIY electronic music maker has been chipping away on Unabashed, the second Yokelust album, for the last three years. It sees him squarely in his old school house and disco era, genres that he also loves playing when he’s DJing.

“This album took me so long because I wasn’t doing it full time,” says Yiannis. “Sometimes I’d be like, ‘Yeah, let’s make music’ or ‘let’s make music

O

videos’ and really go into it. Then at other times, I’m like, ‘I’ve just got no engagement in that right now because I’m working on something else’.

Like a lot of younger electronic music producers, especially those that focussed on music during the lockdowns, his musical set up is pretty simple: just a laptop, headphones and a mic.

“I started working on electronic music from around 2008,” he says.

“I used to record vocals on my little webcam microphone. Now I have a higher quality USB microphone, I upgrade my MacBooks every couple of years and I’m just using Ableton Live. As I’ve gotten older, the music that I’ve made has gotten older. I’ve always been kinda obsessed with samples.

Obviously a lot of house is just sampled disco, sampled vocals and snippets of things. I’ve tried to keep Unabashed very classic and very clean.”

While some readers might have seen Yokelust singing live (and DJing!) at last year’s Alter Ego party at the National Portrait Gallery, don’t necessarily expect to see him performing this album live any time soon.

“I like making this kind of music because I could DJ this kind of music,” he says. “Live performance has never been a drive for me.”

Besides, he’s got other things to catch up on.

Now the album’s out, Yiannis’s main focus will be on launching an online shop featuring a new line of merchandise that he’s been working on.

“I’ll probably be working on music in the background that’s a little bit more chill and experimental,” he says.

“There’s definitely some stuff that didn’t make it onto this album that I want to tidy up and will probably put out an EP this year. I usually like to put something out every November on my birthday. I do whatever I feel like doing. That’s why I’m independent!”

Download Unabashed at yokelust. bandcamp.com

As I’ve gotten older, the music that I’ve made has gotten older

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Art & about n Madonna40: A Celebration

Ends March 3 at Canberra Museum + Gallery | This is the last chance to check out collector Jerry Kirbell’s amazing Madonna memorabilia.

n Europa! Europa

February 15 to March 10 at the Ritz Randwick | Two queer films join the festival of European films, The Summer With Carmen (pictured below) and We Have Never Been Modern.

CEO of Qtopia Sydney Greg Fisher and Chair Elaine Czulkowski. PHOTO: QTOPIA

Qtopia is finally here n RAYN live in MAG&M Manly

Friday 23 February, 6pm-8pm at MAG&M | The singer will provide smooth sounds to compliment the Lost In Palm Springs exhibition.

The long-awaited queer museum inside the former Darlinghurst Police Station is finally throwing open its doors to the public.

The museum will open with a powerful tribute to the many lives that were lost to AIDS. Curated by George Savoulis, the AIDS Memorial will feature the names of those lost so that

they and their stories will be remembered for years to come.

“So many wonderful, beautiful and talented people died so early in their lives,” says Qtopia Sydney’s Emeritus Founding Chair David Polson AM. Qtopia 301 Forbes St, Darlinghurst. qtopiasydney.com.au

A very Queer encore Everyman Theatre presents a return of a powerful and poignant piece of immersive live theatre that was a sell-out back in 2019 at the Canberra Theatre. Causeway Hall will be transformed into a quintessential British ale house, ‘The Prince’s Arms’, as seven performers share personal stories that celebrate a century of evolving social attitudes and political milestones in queer history.

n Jordan Wolfson: Body Sculpture

Until April 28 at NGA, Canberra | A robotic work of art that NGA director Nick Mitzevich has likened to Jackson Pollock’s Blue Poles in terms of importance. You be the judge.

n Cult Classics: Fatal Attraction

Friday 23 February at the National Sound & Film Archive, Canberra | Venus Mantrap hosts the first cult classic sceening of the year. $16/$14

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Queers: a century of evolving social and political attitudes.

Queers February 14 to 24 at ACTHUB, Causeway Hall, Kingston, ACT. acthub. com.au

In Vogue: Songs by Madonna at Hayes Theatre Helpmann award-winner Michael Griffiths is Madonna.

No accent, costume or wig. Just Her Madgesty, the Queen of Pop leading you on a journey through her tough life and tender songs. Strike a pose, get into the groove and express yourself as Madonna opens her

heart. Written and directed by fellow Helpmann award-winner Dean Bryant (Sweet Charity, Assassins, A Little Night Music), this will be a night to treasure.

In Vogue 8.30pm, March 1 to 3 at Hayes Theatre, Elizabeth Bay. Tickets $40-$45+BF. hayestheatre.com.au STUN | AUTUMN 2024

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K-nights of the jaguar McKenzie Wark’s book takes us deep into the femmunist revolution in the underground queer and trans rave scene, writes Stuart Ridley.

BOOKS

leasingly, McKenzie Wark isn’t here to start a(nother) generational debate about what raves used to be and what they’ve become.

Like her, some of us are old enough to have experienced rave’s back-to-back (supposedly) ‘golden’ eras of the late 1980s/ early ‘90s. And even then, we heard tired party heads mumbling about how ‘things were better back in the day’ (what day did they mean exactly?).

At least some of the point of making raves happen was/is about creating spaces for people to share collective joy in the now.

Dancing like there’s no tomorrow — while also dreaming of brighter days ahead.

McKenzie says she “came back to raving as a practice after a twenty-year chill out”. But she’s not simply jacking back into the in-the-now-ness she experienced back at Sydney’s early ‘90s raves: since coming out as trans a few years ago—mid-life—she’s relishing a new way of being, deep in New York’s queer, trans, alternative techno community.

“A good rave, on a good night – that is where I can feel like my body is not an anomaly, or rather: not the only anomaly,” she writes. “It’s a distribution of anomalies without

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McKenzie Wark returned to raving after a 20 year chill out. PHOTO: Z. WALSH

a norm, anomalous only to each other. That’s what a good rave makes possible. Although let’s never forget that we took this configuration of fugitive possibilities — from black people […] on a good night, there’s the possibility that some few people for some few moments—might get free.”

McKenzie writes intimately and strikingly about how trans ravers are finding freedom, hope, strength and connection in a ‘ketamine femmunism’ revolution staged in underground rave ‘junkspaces’ (crumbling remains of industrial-capitalist ambitions).

Yes, K-time (‘imminent time’) is a confronting thing. Though as McKenzie explains, some

trans people are comfortable with it: their lived experiences of dysphoria and disassociation prepare them for being in—and without—a body while being pounded (multi-sensually) by hard techno.

She’s living and loving it.

Don’t let anyone tell you there’s an age limit to raving either: if you used to enjoy it though drifted away for whatever reason, McKenzie Wark’s deeply researched book could bring you back again. So here’s the eternal question: Are you up for it?

Raving (2023) is published by Duke University Press. Wark’s other works include Love and Money, Sex and Death: A Memoir (Verso) and Leaving The 20th Century (out in August 2024 from Penguin Random House).

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Bottoms is about lesbian besties who start a self-defence club to try to sleep with cheerleaders. PHOTO: ORION PICTURES

Sapphic summer selections Hannah Head shares her favourite movies, books, podcasts and tunes.

REVIEWS

Must watch Bottoms (2023)

Your mandatory watching for this issue is Bottoms.

WATCH THE A satirical look BOTTOMS at high school TRAILER ON dynamics, this YOUTUBE comedic and often absurd depiction of lesbian friendship had my whole body shaking with laughter. The movie follows two teen girls who accidentally create a fight club in an attempt to get with cheerleaders. It is funny, smart and weirdly wholesome, giving high hopes for the next wave of LGBTQIA+

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movies to come. The soundtrack serves you queer music realness with Charli XCX composing a number of original songs. Further featured songs, including Avril Lavigne’s Complicated and Pain

by King Princess work to bring out the bottom in us all.

Bottoms is streaming on Prime Video

Must listen I The Imperfects: Gina Chick – Don’t Fight Life

If you are going outside, whether you are on a bushwalk, doing some gardening or just

taking a moment in the sun, you need to hear this podcast interview. You may know Gina Chick as the winner of Alone Australia but for Gina that is just one small part of her story.

The queer and neurodiverse adventurer experienced a range of tragedies, building her resilience and relationship with nature.

Across two hours, you’ll see the world through a new set of eyes. Gina explains birdsong meanings, the importance of dance, the role of grief and the true value of solitude.

Take some time out of your day and reconnect with your emotions and the natural world.

It’s worth it.

The Imperfects podcast is available on Apple Music, Spotify, iHeartRadio and elsewhere.

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Gina Chick found solitary in nature; Rina Sawayama sings heartbreaking queer songs PHOTOS: SBS, IG @RINASONLINE

Must listen II Send My Love To John by Rina Sawayama

If you take one recommendation away from this column, let it be this song.

Rina Sawayama sings from the perspective of an immigrant mother making amends with her queer son. The song is deeply cathartic as she sings an apology that feels almost universal to anyone whose sexuality or identity has not been accepted by their family. It’s a love letter to queer immigrants as well as a thank you to the chosen families that have nurtured them.

Must listen III Snow Angel by Reneé Rapp

Gen Z bisexual icon Reneé Rapp’s latest album is absolutely magical. The album STUN | AUTUMN 2024

toes the line between feminine angst and queer frustration, all through the incredible voice of the young Broadway star. The album’s first song Talk Too Much sums up life as an oversharing sapphic, a topic painfully relevant to many of us. With a grungy guitar element alongside her effortless vocals, the song is powerful, raging and sexy. Pretty Girls is an anthem for hopeless romantics, primarily the sapphics stuck on straight girls. It’s rare an artist hitting the mainstream with so much traction is openly queer.

She is Gen Z’s bisexual Regina George and we thank her for that.

Must read Pageboy by Elliot Page

Pageboy is a raw and heart wrenching memoir detailing the story of transgender actor Elliot Page.

This read is addictive. Elliot’s writing style subverts traditional

memoir timelines to frame the world through his eyes. From the quips about Canadian culture, the painful moments as a young trans man in Hollywood and the deeply personal stories of his youth, Pageboy is one book you won’t want to put down.

Pageboy is published by Penguin

Must smell Flowers!

When was the last time you stopped and smelled the roses? Heat and rain, though not an ideal combination for most humans, bring out some of the most vibrant flowers I have ever seen. Tucked away in the bush in both of my home towns of Newcastle and Canberra, yellows, pinks and purples are adorning the trails. This includes some very elusive orchids. Whether you buy, pick or see one on a bush, it is well worth spending a moment of your day smelling a flower.

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Fabulous and freaky ARTS Welcome home

Leigh Bowery. You’re not with us but we’re dancing at the NGV’s Bowery Ball, writes Christos Linou.

Left: Pregnant tutu head, 1992.

Right: The Metropolitan, 1988.

PHOTOS: NATIONAL GALLERY OF VICTORIA

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wanted to disappoint everybody.”

There have been multiple articles and reviews written about Leigh Bowery so where do I start in adding my microcommentary on this giant of a performance artist? This article has been written whilst listening to a 92-minute interview conducted in London in 1989, before his death in 1994. It gives insight to his intelligence and humour and reveals personal and candid aspects of his life. The closest way I can understand the man is to listen to him and think of his queer personality as one who transforms his body as a celebration of the flesh.

He removes bias, prejudice and arrogance and absorbs life’s challenges as a place of creative expression.

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“I like to make people feel embarrassed.”

Bowery’s excitement about exploring his queer fantasies has the rigour of an innocent child looking out onto the world with a spectacular awe.

However, he talks about a life of feeling embarrassed and growing up with disappointing parents who were hard and cruel to him as a boy. He discusses “something positive about being embarrassed” and he liked the tension between entertainment and embarrassment. He created performances to embarrass audiences as a way to empower his fear of being embarrassed.

“With the work that I do there is a sort of tension between maybe a really light-hearted side and also a very dark sort of side and maybe something glamorous.. but also something really horrifyingly twisted.”

Bowery dressed in drag, tripped on acid, used heroin, dropped ecstasy, snorted amyl and fucked over 1,000 men. His excessive approach to living life to the fullest was shaped by his need to explore the dark and light sides of his queer self. He caused shock and awe when he performed animalistic acts onto his body. Boy George said, he “never ceased to impress or revolt.”

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“I hate revival stuff. I like using whatever you can to make something new where there’s no rules.”

Bowery’s voluptuous grandiosesized body was juxtaposed by his attitude of elegance and friendliness. His larger than life stature demanded attention, elevating him to diva status, yet he had a gentle nature and an openness to being truthful about his homosexuality at a time when the stigma of being gay made you a target for violence.

Leigh was a pioneer in making one’s self be seen but sadly the boy from Sunshine did not get to play on the streets of Melbourne. His reason for leaving for London was one to escape the torture and cruelty of his parents and to get the fuck out of parochial Melbourne to the sexy allure of London’s Soho gay scene.

[Bowery] liked the tension between entertainment and embarrassment.

“Who makes money from my ideas?”

Great artists who challenge the social norms of their times are not always regarded as important. In post-mortem, the corporations of greed arrived in 1994 and up until 2024 the art of Bowery has been celebrated, revered, questioned and possibly exploited.

“My favourite fabric is flesh. I’m keen on skin, my skin.”

To survive the every day, Bowery, the starving artist, was involved in petty crime and was arrested for shoplifting. His hands were fully painted in golden tinsel to create the effect of wearing gloves and when the police fingerprinted him, the print was scratched and distorted from the tinsel wedged between the tiny lines of his fingers. So no clear print of Bowery’s fingerprints could be taken.

“I get a great deal of pleasure from doing what I do.”

He is funny and welcoming and I can imagine that when he was

performing a live birth with his friend pouring out of his costume with blood and guts spilling onto the dance floor, it grabbed the attention of Boy George. This started a queer collaboration with the neo-romantic post disco glam gay scene and Bowery set freaky new standards that paved the way for the glitz and spectacle of today’s drag queens, drag kings and gender queerness that we see all around us.

“I like religious guilt and blasphemy – I always want to do more extreme things and be in contact with more extreme people.”

Leigh Bowery’s excess of the flesh, a Dionysian orgy of erotic self-consumption, sadly left the enigma of a great artist dead before his time. The AIDS epidemic of the ‘80s was a tragic era for many people afflicted with a virus that was used to stigmatise minorities and the disadvantaged.

“Anyone can say they are an artist and getting reactions from an audience is a big part of my life. I need to bounce things off them.”

Bowery loved to create grandscale entrances whenever he arrived for a performance and the costumes he wore were outrageous, sexy, absurd, kooky and queer. The National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) will showcase a range of Bowery’s spectacular one-off costumes that he made for his queer performances and celebrate the boy from Sunshine at the Bowery Ball on Friday 22 March 2024. The ball will feature drag, burlesque, voguing, music and performance art so it’s a chance for all you sexy divas out there to get outrageous, freaky and glamorous. Be your own artist and pay tribute to Bowery’s queer genius.

More about the Bowery Ball at ngv. vic.gov.au/boweryball WATCH LEIGH BOWERY IN A 1986 BBC PROFILE

All Bowery citations sourced from an interview, recorded in 1989 in Soho, London.

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COMMUNITYREVIEWSFEATURESLIFESCENECALENDAR fun; I can’t recall any specific conversations about being gay and out. Leigh was always entertaining, that’s what drew me to him. That and that we were ‘outsiders’ who were neither good at nor had any interest in sport and we didn’t excel at maths and science either.

We also shared a strong interest in music. Melbourne High had a great and well-resourced music department. Leigh enjoyed playing the piano and I seem to recall he learnt the flute. I learnt the flute as well. Always very witty, he amused us constantly with hilarious observations and impersonations that were often at the expense of some teacher who took themself a wee bit too seriously. What made him very different was his selfdeprecating sense of humour.

We were outsiders who were neither good at nor had any interest in sport.

Melbourne High School in 1975 and Craig Thomas as pictured on his school ID.

Leigh Bowery and me Craig Thomas shares his memory of being at high school with performance artist Leigh Bowery in the 1970s.

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eigh was one of a kind.

He was very different. I was a classmate of his at Melbourne High in the late ‘70s.

The high school was part of the public education system but it was a ‘select’ school in that you had to sit an entrance exam to gain entry if you weren’t fortunate to live in one of the

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inner-city suburbs that gained you automatic entrance.

Leigh and I were both part of a group of six boys who would regularly gather for lunch in a garden area in the shadow of the school’s imposing façade.

We would talk about all things school and teenage life. It was mostly light banter, gossip and

I can still recall Leigh often joking that he was ‘just a boy from Sunshine’, a working class suburb at the time in Melbourne’s west. He would sometimes draw the ire of certain teachers who didn’t appreciate his sometimes flamboyant responses and gestures in class. What impressed me most was his dignified responses to some very public bawling out by some of those teachers.

But for all his humour and flamboyance, there was little hint of what was to come. At school, we were always dressed in our school uniforms. I can’t even remember a casual dress day where we would’ve gotten a foretaste of Leigh’s interest in fashion.

I lost touch with him after high school as we went our separate ways in life. It was seven years later, in the mid’80s, that I read with great interest that he had taken the world by storm with his fashion work. I thought, “Good on him.

The boy from Sunshine has done very well indeed”.

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Future: diverse Mardi Gras CEO Gil Beckwith stands by this year’s program. PHOTO: JAIMI JOY”

Former Canberran Gil Beckwith has taken the reins of Mardi Gras and promises a more diverse festival, writes Hannah Head.

MARDI GRAS

ith over 20 years in the not-for-profit and arts industry, Gil Beckwith has a perfect resume for a Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras CEO. Yet it’s her passion, dedication and love for the LGBTQIA+ community that shows just how much our community actually needs Gil in this role.

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The 2024 Mardi Gras theme is ‘Our Future’, a chance for the organisation to re-engage, refresh and rebuild after the difficult Covid years. With greater community collaboration and intersectionality at the forefront of this year’s Mardi Gras celebrations, Gil is keenly leading the charge.

For Gil, ‘Our Future’ is a call to action.

“Our future is in danger, it is not a guarantee,” she warns.

“If I have learnt anything from watching America the past few years, there is a growing fear of ‘different’. This fear is trying to take so much that our community fought for.”

Gil envisions a future of triumphs and liberation for the LGBTIQA+ community but knows it is something that must be demanded.

“Right now, the LGBTQIA+ community feel disenfranchised trying to find safe spaces and it makes sense. We saw a 30% increase in hate crimes on Oxford Street after WorldPride last year.

The feeling of safety in public is slipping. We are still just being tolerated. They still ‘let us’ have a parade as if there are limits on what we are allowed.”

Mardi Gras 2024 has a clear emphasis on safety and on offering safe spaces for all identities. “This year we wanted to ensure events like the Bondi Beach Party, Hot Trans Summer and Ultra Violet are body inclusive. Too often LGBTIQA+ spaces are for one body type and we want everybody to know they are welcome,” she says.

Gil credits the dedication of her entire team who have sought to make the festival joyous, empowering and loving.

“We have taken risks and put in the passion. Mardi Gras ‘24 is about being here, being proud and making it clear we are not going anywhere.”

Full details at www.mardigras.org.au

WHOEVER YOUR QUEEN IS

WE’VE GOT HER ON VINYL Order online daddyrichrecords.com 2/428 New Canterbury Rd Dulwich Hill O411 851 O53 STUN | AUTUMN 2024

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Left: Tilley’s has been a Canberra institution since the 1980s / Middle: Wollongong University, early 2000s / Right: The original Bernie’s

Road trippin’

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If you are driving to Sydney for Mardi Gras, chances are you’ll pass some queer history along the way, writes Hannah Head.

MARDI GRAS

Cooma Though prison is probably the last place you would consider stopping on a road trip, Cooma was once home to the world’s sole prison for gay men. With misinformation rife about the purpose of the prison, a recent podcast series highlighted its use as a human testing space to eradicate homosexuality. For an impactful history lesson, take a look at the Cooma Corrective Services Museum and listen to the podcast The Greatest Menace.

Canberra If you are passing through Canberra, take a moment to appreciate the powerful history of the capital. If you have a spare two hours, consider taking an LGBTQIA+ History Tour by She Shapes History.

If you want a bite, Tilley’s Devine Cafe Gallery has a fabulous history. Named after a gangster, brothel owner and one of Sydney’s wealthiest women, Tilley’s was established as a women’s-only space in the 1980s.

Restricting the entry of men created a safe space for lesbians to meet.

A very special stop on your rainbow history road trip is

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the AIDS Garden of Reflection.

Located at the National Arboretum, the garden was created as a comfortable space for contemplation and reflection.

On your visit you may meet Rachel, an original campaigner who put in over 20 years of effort to ensure a Canberra garden was established. Take a seat, feel the breeze and listen to the story of those that came before.

Wollongong Once awarded by student’s 2004 Homophobic University of the Year, the University of Wollongong has been home to some brilliant moments of queer rebellion. In 2000, after being displaced by new development at the university, the queer

collective was placed in an off-campus re-purposed garage with no security. Despite reports to the uni of death threats, rape threats, harassment and intimidation, no effort was made to protect group members. In 2004, a man attempted to set fire to a member in the queer space, prompting the group to occupy a campus function room in a campaign to be rehomed. After 47 hours, three group members remained when eight riot police broke into the room and violently arrested the activists. A year after the students were charged with trespassing, the university announced a new queer space on campus.

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SYDNE

WOLLONGONG CANBERRA

COOMA

When questioned if the box was being used for homosexual acts, Vernon assured the postmaster it would be very difficult to perform a homosexual act in a mailbox.

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TWEED HEADS

s Bar, Newcastle, 1970s. PHOTOS: FB , ANNALIESE CONSTABLE NEWCASTLE SUN

Port Macquarie

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PORT MACQUARIE

Tamworth

ASTLE

EY

Introduced as a safe space for patients and relatives, the John Hunter Hospital AIDS Memorial Garden was established on World AIDS Day 1994. In 2000, a time capsule was buried in the AIDS Memorial Garden containing up to date research on AIDS, to be opened in 2025.

On a remote mountain top near Port Macquarie lies Amazon Acres. The women-only community established in the mid ’70s banned meat, men and machines. The group divided the local community, with some seeing the group as a threat to the local way of life. Though now disbanded, the area remains a healing space for many, with 400 hectares of bush and views.

Newcastle Flicking through the collections from the Hunter Rainbow History Group, Newcastle’s rich and extensive queer history is dazzling. Highlighting both the vibrancy and pain of the LGBTQIA+ experience, Newcastle shows two opposing sides of the experience.

Visiting Bernie’s Bar is a must.

Located in the former Star Hotel, the LGBTQIA+ dedicated space is more than just a place to eat, drink and dance. The modernday incarnation gets its name from the original Bernie’s Bar, a wine bar well-loved by 1970s queers. The Star Hotel also had a bar for gay and trans people and was the scene of one of Australia’s largest riots in 1979.

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Whether you go to Tamworth, or simply send a letter that way, the story of Vernon Marshall will sit with you.

In 1972, Vernon Marshall advertised a post box in the local newspaper. The mailbox was established for the Camp-Gay Liberation Movement Tamworth with local gay people writing to the box. The mailbox provided a space for community, solidarity and liberation.

When questioned if the box was being used for homosexual acts, Vernon assured the postmaster it would be very difficult to perform a homosexual act in a mailbox.

In mid-2023, the mailbox was re-established. PO Box 727 is now dedicated to the letters once received by Vernon, providing an ongoing safe space for queer people to connect and find resources.

A Radical Faerie circle in 1983. PHOTO: DAVID JOHNSTONE ARCHIVE, AUSTRALIAN QUEER ARCHIVES/TWEED REGIONAL MUSEUM

Tweed The Northern Rivers has a rich tapestry of LGBTQIA+ love, defiance and activism. Tweed Regional Museum hosts Small Town Queer, an intensive lesson into the queer history of the region. The region was home to Australia’s first gay commune, a space described as ‘harmonious, vegetarian and ecologically sound’.

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Birth of a new beach babe MARDI GRAS A year after

its debut at Sydney WorldPride, the Bondi Beach Party is already iconic, writes Danny Corvini. t was one of the most impressive pictures from Sydney WorldPride 2023: of 12,000 people partying at Bondi Beach on a perfect summer’s day. It’s not something that could’ve happened in London, New York or Berlin, after all.

“We were looking at what events could come over from WorldPride and based on community feedback, the Bondi Beach Party was something that could continue,” says Jake Troncone, Festival Marketing & Communications Manager at Mardi Gras.

This year, the location is licensed to accommodate an extra 3000 people, eclipsing the capacity of the official Mardi Gras after-party. Troncone is keen to avoid any comparisons

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Bondi Beach Party was a definitive WorldPride highlight with Joyce Maynge and DJ Dan Murphy among those setting the scene. PHOTOS: CAIN COOPER

between the two parties though, highlighting that the beach party happens on the middle Mardi Gras weekend and that the after-party features 50 artists across five venues.

Both have the same ticket price of $239 plus booking fee.

“Our goal is to bring a queer paradise to Bondi Beach,” he enthuses. “It gives people a totally new and fresh way

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to engage with the festival and there’s no reason why it couldn’t become one of the most iconic music festivals on the Sydney calendar.”

Jake says that party-goers should expect some fresh changes this year.

“It’s going to be completely elevated,” he says. “Trends in music are constantly changing and the artists that are selected all have an ability to really connect with modern trends.”

Leading the charge is US pop phenomenon Slayyyter who will be performing alongside international DJs Jay Jay Revlon, Lagoon Femshaymer, Corey Craig and Josh Harrison, Sydney DJs Tyoow, Mama de Leche and Canberra’s Beth Yen. “People should expect a totally new version of the event,” says Jake.

There are no pass outs allowed during the festival though so make sure you plan to get your swim in before getting your party started.

Bondi Beach Party 2pm-10pm on Saturday 24 February. mardigras.org. au/event/bondi-beach-party

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Making a splash: Hot Trans Summer’s boat party. PHOTOS: SGLMG & GLASS

A place on the water MARDI GRAS The only thing needed by trans

and gender-diverse people to board is their authentic selves, writes Holly Hazlewood. ot Trans Summer is set to fill a gap in the queer party calendar by being an event produced by trans people for the gender-diverse community with safety and inclusivity at the top of the agenda.

Event producer Dusty Hartland says the cruise around Sydney Harbour could be the start of a period of more inclusive party programming by Mardi Gras for trans and gender-diverse people.

“Mardi Gras has such a long history. Looking where our communities are at now, we don’t really do anything for the trans and gender-diverse community so how about we do something that makes folks feel that Mardi Gras is for them?” Dusty says. “Often people don’t think that the events really represent who we are.”

Featuring all trans and gender-diverse DJs and performers, Dusty says that no stone will be left unturned in fixing some of the obvious mistakes made by some other queer events. All staff working on the cruise will undergo sensitivity training and be encouraged to use genderneutral language while all medical staff on board will be part of the trans community.

“Not all spaces are safe for us,” says Dusty. “While trans people go to queer events, they

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might not always feel safe.

Trans inclusion in the world needs to be upped along with access. It’s about affirming your gender in a safe space where people can have fun.

“We are trying to create a community vibe where you can not think about stigmas. I hate to use the word ‘passing’ but you don’t have to present in a certain way to be seen for who you are.”

While allies of trans and gender-diverse people are welcome on the cruise, Dusty stresses that they should recognise that this space is not designed for them specifically.

If they come with their chosen family, then they should respect the event for what it is and who it’s catering for.

Dusty says they also tried to keep the cost low, acknowledging the systemic economic inequalities trans and gender-diverse people face.

“It is the first event Mardi Gras has put on like this. It’s really important folks come and have more confidence in events for and by our communities.

And of course: “It’s a boat party around the harbour so it should be really beautiful!” says Dusty.

Hot Trans Summer will set sail on February 22 from 6pm to 10pm. mardigras.org.au/event/hot-transsummer

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Let’s go, Jalisco!

Puerto Vallarta’s Mantamar Beach Club Bar offers next-level beach pool partying. PHOTO: FB – MANTAMAR

TRAVEL Mexico might not be the first place

queer Aussies think of for a holiday but they should, discovers Danny Corvini. e arrived in the capital of Jalisco, Guadalajara, after a 15-hour flight from Sydney to Dallas and an additional 2.5 hour flight onto Mexico. Settling into our digs in a neighbourhood thick with grand colonial architecture, all of our initial needs were met on the funky Avenida Chapultepec, which has more bars, restaurants and nightclubs than you could poke a pinata stick at.

We started our induction into Mexico’s queer history over the past century at the Museo Memoria LGBTTTIQA+ Mexico (@ memoria_lgbtttiq), a small but fascinating spot. The guide told us about the historic violence, sensational newspaper headlines

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and the (as always) ahead-oftheir-time characters, a latter embrace of queer sexuality and more recently same-sex marriage and adoption rights, shown by a range of gay and trans books, newspapers and magazines that are on display.

Our choice of locations to spend New Year’s Eve, Guadalajara is a very queer city.

It was the host of the Gay Games in November and it has a visible LGBTIQA+ population (including more young lesbian couples walking around hand-in-hand than I’ve seen in any city).

The sometimes confronting nature of this usually vibrant country revealed itself on New Year’s Eve though when we

were stopped in the street by police and searched for drugs.

It was uncomfortable stuff but we shook it off and squeezed into the large Babel club (@ babelclub), featuring muscley go-go boys and a drag queen DJ, just in time for the countdown.

We slid into the more relaxed California’s Bar for a few solid hours of dancing to reggaeton and familiar pop/disco hits afterwards where our new dancefloor friends told us that our next destination, Puerto Vallarta, would be ‘intense’.

With that challenge accepted (and after we’d shaken off our tequila-riddled hangovers), we left Guadalajara full of love for its great coffee, vampy queer teens, exquisite art (both street art and galleries) and its plentiful grand architecture and made tracks for the gay-meccaslash-jungle-paradise on the Pacific.

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Guadalajara gayzing: Cafe Vida balcony, Babel dancers, colourful streets, a mag at Memoria LGBTTTIQA+ Mexico. PHOTOS: DC

Puerto Vallarta, or PV as it’s known, was immortalised in 1964 when Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton filmed The Night of the Iguana here and subsequently fell wildly in love.

The coastal city sure makes a mighty impression on arrival with its dramatically jungly mountain range, huge resorts, palm-lined beaches and enchanting Old Town. We stayed at the suitably glamorous Garlands Del Rio Hotel (@garlandsdelrio), situated in the Zona Romantica section of the Old Town, which is full of cobblestoned streets. The hotel offered just the right blend of old-fashioned Hollywood glamour and Mexican colour, eclecticism and hospitality.

While a cruise of Grindr offered up a screen full of XXL circuit boys, who were either escorts from Latin American countries or buffed-up American tourists, the gay bar street of STUN | AUTUMN 2024

Lázaro Cárdenas, two blocks away, offered a wider range of people, bars and businesses.

Puerto Vallarta is gay-friendly all over town but there is a second concentration of gayness at the southern end of Playa Los Muertos (which literally means ‘the Beach of the Dead’!), surrounding the mega Mantamar Beach Club Bar (@mantamarbc), the site of a pool terrace that hosts huge gay events and the Blue Chairs Resort By The Sea (@ bluechairsresort) next door.

Puerto Vallarta is undoubtedly more of a boys town than Guadalajara though.. and of course, where WATCH there’s gay PUERTO boys, you’ll find VALLARTA drag queens PRIDE 2023 too. Hit up the IN ACTION Palm Cabaret (@

thepalmcabaret) for polished productions. There were tributes to Lady Gaga, Freddie Mercury, Elton John and Tina Turner on while we were visiting.

What I loved about PV (aside from everything!) was the sheer number of gay clothing shops dotted all over the place. There’s no shortage of places to grab a cool new swimming costume or something daring for Mardi Gras.

Ultimately though, Puerto Vallarta is all about the beaches: the beach clubs, the islands, the boat cruises and the sea life. If you’ve done Bali and Thailand and are looking for a beach holiday that’s about as gay as it comes and where they also speak English, then Puerto Vallarta is calling out for you.

Puerto Vallarta Pride (@vallartapride official) and Puerto Vallarta Lesbian Pride (@pvlesbianpride) are both held in the last week of May.

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When one door opens Letting go is hard but there’s a life to live after a marriage ends, writes Immani Love. here’s an old saying, ‘When one door closes, another one opens.’

Growing up, it was something that old people said but as I became an adult, it became clear what that phrase actually meant.

It wasn’t just a metaphor. It was also, I discovered, a set of instructions..

I am divorced. My ex-wife and I were together for 15 years, seven of which were married. We were considered ‘couple goals’ by our friends and family.

We travelled together and supported each other’s professional aspirations. We struggled together through financial hardships, family dramas and health issues. We celebrated milestones like degrees for her and international tours for me and through it all we rarely argued.

We’ve been divorced for over three years now and up until recently I was still grieving the end of our relationship.

I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what I’d done wrong or what I could’ve changed to save our marriage until I realised that there were two people responsible for the end of our relationship. Just like with any break up, there’s a lot of the blame game, wondering what went wrong and, of course, grieving the memory of what was love. But in the end there was a lack of communication and honesty that

PHOTO: RON LACH/PEXELS

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Couple goals: wedding night bliss.

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was ultimately the reason for the demise of our wedded bliss.

After the last few years spent trying to heal my heart, I realised that I had not closed the door. There are things that I didn’t even acknowledge that I was doing and I was still leaving space for her in my life.

I do want love again, maybe even marriage. I want romance.

Little things can make a huge difference. I hadn’t deleted the photos of her from my phone.

I had our wedding album in my closet and I had one of her paintings on my wall that I absolutely loved. I hadn’t even deleted her number.

We haven’t spoken in over two years but I was still leaving the door open for her. Silly right?

So what changed, you might ask? I shifted my life to start doing more things that I used to enjoy before my marriage. I acknowledged the things that I did during my marriage that didn’t bring me as much joy anymore and just stopped doing them. I shifted how I interacted with people, acknowledging those who were in my life because of her and those who were there because of me. In this growth, I found that I had

been lying to myself in order to protect my heart and keep the door open, if only a crack.

Like the old saying mentioned above, I hadn’t closed the old door so there was no new one to open.

So I played a Facebook game that simply said, “What do you need to DELETE from your life in 2024?”

It hit me like a brick! I couldn’t get that new door open without closing the old one.

That night after playing the game, I dreamt that I had put her painting up for sale, that I had gathered all of those photos and little reminders of her and purged them from my home and last but not least, I deleted her contact from my phone. Just the thought of all of that gave me the most freedom I had felt in a while.

I consciously decided that I want a new door to open. I realised that I do want love again, maybe even marriage.

I want romance. I want deep friendship and most of all, I want to build something with someone.

If you are like me, let that new door open, allowing in the fresh air you need to breathe some life back into your world.

So … does anyone want to buy a pretty dope painting?

Follow Immani Love on Instagram at @ immanilove

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Where love ends Domestic violence occurs at shockingly high rates in the gay community and needs urgent attention, writes Ali Khan.

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ver recent years in Australia, we have seen immense progress in the recognition of LGBTQIA+ rights and the acknowledgement that we form part of Australia’s rich and diverse culture. Undoubtedly, marriage equality in 2017 was our pinnacle achievement, the result of decades of lobbying and collaboration between the queer community and our allies.

There’s been some pleasing developments in Victoria with the launch of the Pride Centre at St Kilda and the government’s appointment of Todd Fernando as the first LGBTIAQ+ Communities Commissioner in 2021. We shouldn’t forget that we also got our very own version of RuPaul’s Drag Race and then there was the unforgettable party last year that was Sydney WorldPride.

However, if we peel back some of the glitzy and glamourous layers and look more closely, you will learn that queer people can experience domestic violence in our relationships at similar rates as heterosexual women who are abused by their male heterosexual partners. According to ACON, one in three queer people experience domestic violence from a current or former intimate partner or family member. If you are one of these people, would you reach out for help? Are you concerned about being treated differently because of your sexual orientation or gender identity? These are questions that, as a gay man, I faced seven years ago.

It was on New Year’s Day 2017 and I had enjoyed a relaxing day with friends at a barbie at our place. Fast forward a few hours, I was sitting down on the floor of the entry with blood all over my face after my nose was broken and cheek fractured. I’m not too sure what I had said to my then boyfriend or what the argument was about but I knew that was the moment I hit rock bottom

O

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By the numbers

1 in 3

LGBTI people experience domestic violence from a current or former intimate partner, or family member. ACON of gay, bisexual or queer men said they were involved in past abusive relationships. SORTING IT OUT 2017-18,

66%

ACON & WESTERN SYDNEY UNIVERSITY

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same-sex attracted people were killed by their partner each year between 1989 and 2010. AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF

Up to

CRIMINOLOGY

and if there was a next time, it would probably get much worse for me.

I was privileged to have been awarded a 2019 Churchill Fellowship to explore international approaches ‘to enhance support for gay male survivors’. I had proposed this topic as I had experienced challenges in accessing support stemming from Australia’s domestic violence narrative and support framework which is designed under the narrative of men’s violence against women. I wasn’t sure how I fitted in as someone who had suffered ‘a gay man’s violence against his boyfriend.’

In January last year, I travelled to Aotearoa in New

Zealand, Canada and the United Kingdom to learn about their work in assisting gay male and other LGBTIAQ+ survivors of domestic violence. I chose these countries to visit as we are all part of the Commonwealth, have similar backgrounds and legal systems. During my eight weeks away, I spoke to LGBTIAQ+ support services, domestic violence agencies, government departments, senior policing staff, academics, victims’ support agencies and groups, domestic abuse policy advisors, data analysts and other survivors.

The people I met with were amazing, dedicated and committed to ending domestic abuse and helping LGBTIAQ+ survivors. These are some of the key takeouts from my research: Some gay men may not know they are experiencing domestic violence. Violence among gay male couples may have been normalised in some contexts. Therefore, if you don’t know what’s happening, you can’t seek assistance to move out of it.

Gay men need to see themselves in mainstream domestic violence support awareness campaigns so they know it’s OK to seek support.

Ideally, there should be mainstream and LGBTIAQ+ domestic violence support providers to allow gay men to choose the provider that STUN | AUTUMN 2024

PHOTO: RDNE STOCK PROJECT | PEXELS

Ali travelled in 2023 to Ottawa, Canada and met with the Canadian Federal Ombudsperson for Victims of Crime, Professor Benjamin Roebuck (centre), and Policy Analyst Mariam Musse (right); and meeting with staff from the LGBT Foundation in Manchester, England.

best supports their needs. For example, some gay men prefer to speak to queer people with lived experience while others may prefer to speak to mainstream providers.

My Churchill Fellowship report is due to be published on the Churchill Trust website in the coming months. After this, I will reach out to the Australian Federal Police, local and federal government departments, domestic and victims support services and others to share my international conversations with a determination to build STUN | AUTUMN 2024

partnerships and work together to improve how we support LGBTIAQ+ domestic violence survivors. I’ll keep STUN readers updated over the next year and if you have any questions about my fellowship, please email me at churchillfellow2019@gmail. com or find me on LinkedIn. If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, help is available. Call 000 in all emergencies. Counselling service 1800 Respect is also available or visit sayitoutloud.org.au for a list of more support and guidance.

What is a Churchill Fellowship? n Churchill Fellowships are awarded by the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust each year for Australians to travel overseas and bring back knowledge, ideas or insights that benefit the nation. n The next round of Churchill Fellowship applications opens on March 1. n For more information visit www.churchilltrust.com.au

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Jennifer’s Amsterdam sauna had its Google account abruptly eliminated. PHOTO: STEFAN AMMERLAAN

Let’s be adult OPINION When restrictions are put onto queer

sex businesses in a attempt to ‘protect the children’, more than livelihoods are at stake, writes Jennifer Hopelezz. ometimes you’d think the world was made exclusively for children.

Well, at least that’s what people against the queer community want us to believe. A lot of our rights are being stripped away in the name of protecting children.

Don’t get me wrong; I adore kids and have a close bond with many of those little critters.

However, using children as a reason to curtail adults’ artistic and sexual freedoms doesn’t sit well with me.

It’s not the kids’ fault. It’s the world that’s incredibly hypocritical about sexual rights.

We (nearly) all have sex and without sex, none of us would be here. Yet, somehow, it’s perpetually linked to criminality, immorality and sordid behavior.

What is it in human nature that equates sex with crime?

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In the liberal city of Amsterdam, where I own three sex-on-premise venues, despite the city’s pro-LGBTQ+ stance, we encounter restrictive anti-sex rules. Recently, it was big news in Holland that banks were finally allowing sex workers to open bank accounts. Mind you, sex work has been legalized since the early 2000s. It’s absurd that many sex workers have had to operate without a bank account, a challenge I’m sure is mirrored in most parts of the world.

It’s not just banks: insurance companies, credit card companies, Apple Store and governments throw all kinds of obstacles at sex-related businesses, mine included, and we continually encounter challenges with Facebook and Instagram, where our posts are frequently blocked,

profiles are deactivated and our hard-earned followers are unceremoniously eliminated.

Two years ago, Google abruptly eliminated our gay sauna’s account in Amsterdam. Running a business without a Google account is like driving a car without wheels – completely impossible.

After weeks of distress, desperation and complaints, we recovered our account but the ordeal made us extremely cautious. Similar experiences are reported by other gay saunas in Europe and America.

So, we find ourselves selfcensoring, saying ‘sexy’ instead of ‘sex’, tip-toeing around the rules with winks and asterisks.

Even using the words ‘gay sauna’ puts us at risk.

Ironically, Google Australia is a supporting partner of this year’s Mardi Gras. Their blurb on the Mardi Gras site about ‘diversity of perspectives, ideas and cultures’ comes across as mere ‘blah blah blah’ to me, seemingly oblivious to their own practice of censoring queer-related sex businesses. Their hypocrisy is not just blatant, it’s downright childish.

Follow Jennifer at @jenniferhopelezz

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The power of sharing lived experiences DISABILITY Yenn Purkis is a leading advocate in

the autism, non-binary and trans space. They share some of their magic with Jo Falvey. ith over 17 published books, two TEDx talks, a fortnightly radio show and weekly postings on their blog, Yenn Purkis is a authentic voice in the autism space in Australia who’s known for sharing their lived experience.

The magic of Yenn shines through in everything they do. We sit in Yenn’s brightlycoloured apartment as they tell me a story about how during one of their many visits to a psych ward, they ran into a 21-year-old autistic man who could not believe that Yenn had a job and had written a book.

He just couldn’t believe that someone with autism could do any of those things. This helped

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Yenn Purkis with their mother at the Woman of the Year Awards in 2017.

propel Yenn to write even more books. I couldn’t help but think how different the starkly bare walls of a psych ward would be in comparison with the walls of this apartment, so full of the

beautiful artworks they’d created.

Yenn has struggled with mental health for most of their life. They were diagnosed with schizophrenia in their early twenties, just around the time of the autism diagnosis. Yenn admits that both diagnoses took a long time to accept, especially schizophrenia, but their abundant bravery, boldness, insightfulness and inspiration has meant that they are willing to share their learnings, realisations and humanity with the world to create positive social impacts.

Yenn has also identified as queer since their twenties but it was only in the last decade they have been out as non-binary trans and asexual.

“It was utterly liberating. I felt like my life made sense,” says Yenn. “I understood who I was and I used the pronouns ‘they/ them’ because for me I’m not STUN | AUTUMN 2024

I’m not a fan of procrastination because it stops you from doing things and then it’s really stressful ...

Instead, I just do exactly as needed.

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male and I’m not female. I am a sort of different option.”

This gave Yenn the freedom to do what they do best: share their lived insights. Yenn has written three books about being non-binary and trans, teaming up with Sam Rose to create The Awesome Autistic Guide for Trans Teens and with Dr. Wenn Lawson on The Autistic Trans Guide to Life, along with one of their own.

Yenn educates the health industry by using their lived experience as a non-binary and autistic mental health advocate to not-so-gently encourage decision-makers to get vital perspective on other social identities.

I was lucky enough to meet Yenn when I was organising a queer writer’s event for Canberra’s SpringOUT last November. They stood out amongst the panellists for having an incredibly infectious and positive attitude and for their unique ideas. The audience

nodded laughed with and nodded along with Yenn. An example of their insight-in-action is their perspective on procrastination in relation to the creative practice.

“I’m not a fan of procrastination because it stops you from doing things and then it’s really stressful and you think ‘Why do I have to do this thing?’ It gets blown up out of proportion. Instead, I just do exactly as needed.”

Yenn recently wrote a piece on social media about how you can’t tell someone’s gender by looking at them. They received all kinds of negative feedback but it was also balanced with much heart-felt thanks. They felt it was important to share the truth. They like to challenge the myths and assumptions of autism, gender and mental health. They choose to see everything with an infectiously positive attitude regardless of, or because of, their circumstances.

Read more at www.yennpurkis.com

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decade and a couple of hundred members later, Pro Train Fitness is still going strong.

Around that time, I had a sedentary corporate job and knew that I needed to make some drastic changes to address a waist-line that was expanding along with my salary. Although I’d had sporadic relationships with gyms all my life, my body was changing and my health was starting to feel out of control.

A big hurdle for people is feeling intimidated and that they don’t know what to do.

Cam Smith’s gym Pro Train Fitness is an Oxford Street success story.

Train like a pro If you want to get fit, you’d better get Cam Smith from Pro Train Fitness in your corner, writes Danny Corvini.

HEALTH

am Smith had been a Kings Cross bouncer for 10 years with a black belt in jujitsu and an economics and marketing degree when he decided to start his fitness

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business back in 2012.

He’d been running outdoor bootcamps in Centennial Park when a ideal location for a fitness studio revealed itself at Taylor Square. Just over a

I had never imagined myself as someone who could commit to an hour-long, high-intensity boot camp before work three mornings a week but over the next two years, I did just that. I got the fittest I’d been in my whole life and learnt a swag of valueable infomation not just about fitness and exercise but, crucially, about myself.

Cam says that his motivation is trying to help people improve themselves physically but more often than not, “It ends up in the mental sense as well,”.

He does this by treating everyone with respect regardless of their sexuality, age or gender identity and by channelling their inner athlete, however dormant it may be. Cam limits the size of the sessions so that he and the members all get a chance to know each other personally.

“I don’t like having more than eight to 10 people in a class.

It’s more of a family dynamic and you know everybody’s name after two weeks,” he says. “If someone’s missing, they get contacted and the members also reach out to them. That helps with comfort levels as a big hurdle for people when they’re first coming in is feeling intimidated and that they don’t know what to do.”

Cam’s goal is to teach members to train the way that personal trainers do..

“When I’m onboarding them, I’ll say, ‘Are you looking to get results and then lose them or to STUN | AUTUMN 2024

COMMUNITYREVIEWSFEATURESLIFESCENECALENDAR get results and to keep them?

Because if you’re looking to get results and keep them, then you need to adjust your mindset to realise that this is now going to be who you are’.

Cam says that most members will know what they’re doing in four weeks and will see results in three months.

“I shadow them for the first four weeks to make sure that they know exactly what they’re doing. They get educated on training technique, on breathing, on how to lift safely and on the importance of progressive overload. New members need to be willing to learn so by the time they leave they’ll know exactly what they’re doing,” he says.

“There’s a lot of accountability.”

It’s an enticing - albeit challenging - proposition. We all want to be a better version of ourselves, after all.

“The biggest problem these days is there’s so much instant gratification so it’s so easy to make yourself feel better when

you’re stressed or upset. That’s a very attractive option as a way of managing stress or hard times emotionally and it requires no effort. My whole goal is to help people get the fitness bug and then they can continue in whatever shape or form they like,” says Cam. “But they’re going to have to put in effort.”

For those not living in Sydney, Cam will start a weekly online program in 2024 that includes training videos and nutrition programs. Keep an eye on the website for details.

Pro Train Fitness is located at 4-6 Flinders St, Darlinghurst. Sign up at www.protrainfitness.com.au

NEW SINGLE

THE AETHER RELEASED 29 Feb 24

Hey Let’s Play, Break Free & genderevolution out now on all digital streaming platforms.

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BUSINESS DIRECTORY CONTACT US TO ADVERTISE

Let the Ducks make a splash at your party itting Ducks is one of Canberra’s oldest and best known caterers and is also queer owned.

The Ducks offers all types of catering menus for events at home, an office, a function space or anywhere in-between.

Bento boxes are the newest menu offering alongside canapes, hot buffets, two-orthree course sit-down formal meals, conference packages and, of course, simple items like sandwiches and wraps..

The Ducks take the utmost pride in looking after customers from the first call right through to the conclusion of your event so that you can concentrate on the most important things like chatting with your guests.

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Sitting Ducks staff will ensure you get to enjoy your own party.

The Ducks can also provide hire items such as crockery, cutlery, glassware packages and linen so you won’t have to worry about running out of anything or washing up afterwards!

For your next event, give Danny a call on 0417 322 038, sittingducks.com.au

N U D E Y O G A & T A N T R A R E T R E A T S F O R L G B T Q + M E N

SCAN TO LEARN MORE www.andreasembodiment.com/tantricretreat

FRIENDS, FAMILY, SUPPORT WORKERS, CARERS, AND ASSISTANCE ANIMALS ARE ALSO WELCOME

Ainslie Arts Centre, 30 Elouera St, Braddon RSVP www.meridianact.org.au/events

DO YOUR BUSINESS HERE! To advertise in Directories, contact: hello@stunmagazine.com.au

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CALL 02 6257 2855 OR EMAIL ROUNDABOUT@MERIDIANACT.ORG.AU

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Bernie’s NYE | Bernie’s Bar, Newcastle | 31 December 23 | PHOTOS: AMBER SEMPF

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Christmas Drag | Cube, Canberra | 21 December 2023 | PHOTOS: DARCY OLIVER

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Screaming Gay | The Lass, Newcastle | 30 Dec 2023 | PHOTOS: B.F. MCKENZIE, H. RICHARDS

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I Should Be So Kylie | Cube, Canberra | 3 Nov 2023 | PHOTOS: DOUGLAS J ROBINSON

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I Should Be So Kylie | Bernie’s Bar, Newcastle | 27 Nov 2023 | PHOTOS: AMBER SEMPH

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Coming up n Drinks in the Dark

It’s lights-out every Saturday night at Sydney’s newest queer bar as they crank up the tunes and the bartenders make cocktails by candlelight. Grove Bar, Kings Cross from 9pm

n Bernie’s Breakout Heat 1

Finding the best in drag culture in the Hunter and beyond. 7pm, Thursday 22 February at Bernie’s Bar, Newcastle. Free

n Drag Cabaret Do you know your drag king from queen? PHOTO: HYPOTHERMIC PICTURES

The king trivia There are millions of questions but the biggest is “Will you be there?!” as Magnus Opium, winner of Drag Race Down South 2023, hosts the Illawarra’s only drag king-lead trivia. Held fortnightly at Amari Bar in Wollongong, each game promises a night of fun, velvet-vocals, electric lip-syncs, good music,

laughter, quality entertainment and head-scratching questions.

Will your team shine and win the prize? Polish off your knowledge, be that boss and win!

Amari Bar, Wollongong Every second Thursday from 8pm-11pm. $10 to play.

Follow Magnus Opium on instagram @kingmagnusopium

Venus is mantrappin’

Venus Mantrap (left) has two variety nights coming up to keep Canberra’s camp clock ticking backwards. First is the Grace Jones inspired event Six Degrees of Separation: Pull Up To The Bumper, a cabaret show followed

by Nightclubbing after-party.

Then it’s time for the Studio 54 flashback, Cabaret Voltaire, which is produced by award-winning burlesque performer KAIYA. Six Degrees of Separation, Saturday 13 April from 8pm, $20; Cabaret Voltaire, Friday 3 May from 8pm, $25.

Smith’s Alternative, Canberra

Grove Bar gives Potts Point gays new life

It was a sad day for the art deco set when the Green Park Hotel closed its doors in 2020. Alas, local gays and visitors to the Cross alike can once again enjoy a drink in a proper gay venue with the opening of Grove Bar. There’s a lot to love about the new bar including daily happy hours, an espresso machine that’s

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on until midnight and Thursday’s Open Decks, a night for up & coming DJs. New BIPOC event Q.O.C. (Queers of Colour) in on Friday nights during Mardi Gras with Victoria Mami and guests.

Grove Bar 68 Darlinghurst Rd, Kings Cross, Wednesday to Saturday, 4pm till late. grovebar.com.au

Guy Alias presents a kooky cabaret with a different theme every month. Held on Friday 23 February and then March 29, April 26, May 31 and June 28 from 9.30pm at Smith’s Alternative, Canberra

n Mardi Gras Watch Party!

Saturday 2 March | Celebrate Mardi Gras, Newcastle style!

8pm, Bernie’s Bar, Newcastle.

Free

n Wagga Wagga Mardi Gras

Expect drag, a street parade and parties at this regional pride.

Thursday 7 March to Sunday 9 March. waggamardigras.com

n Move Through

Nicola Ford will host a nontypical and non-judgemental dance class for LGBTQ+ folk.

6pm to 10pm, Sunday 10 March at Top Rock Studios, Newcastle West

n Drag Race Down South

The search for Wollongong’s and the Illawarra’s next drag superstar starts again in May.

n Bowery Ball

Bow down for Australian drag icon Leigh Bowery. Saturday 22 March at NGV, Melbourne ngv. vic.gov.au/bowery-ball

n Queering Questacon

Canberra instututions The National Portrait Gallery, National Museum of Australia and CMAG have all held LGBTIQA+ events. Next it’s Questacon’s turn with a pride-themed SciNight for SpringOUT in November. More info in the next issue!

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presents

STARRING ▼

Etcetera Etcetera RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under SEASON 1 PHOTO: PETEZIMAGES

▼

Transista Groove LIVE DISCO SET

▼

PLUS MORE DJs

Raydar ▼ OWEN Emagica ▼ MEETHOD

EASTER SATURDAY

30th MARCH ▼ 8pm-1AM King St Newcastle ▼ 8pm-1AM TICKETS: Humanitix

LGBTQIA+ CRUISE/DANCE BAR & CLUB OPENING FOR MARDI GRAS ADDRESS: 273 CROWN ST SURRY HILLS NSW SYDNEY/Gadigal Land .........................................

MON—FRI: BAR & CRUISE CLUB / SPECIAL EVENTS .........................................

SATURDAY: DANCE & CRUISE PARTY .........................................

SUNDAY: FUCK CLUB .........................................

After almost 20 years TROUGH X - a Melbourne / Naarm born and raised event, has found its home in Sydney / Gadigal Land where we can finally give the SEX-POSITIVE / FETISH communities an alternative space for cruising, clubbing and dancing all under the one roof.

within the GAY MALE SEX-POSITIVE SPACES has evolved. TROUGH X will embrace this growth and progressiveness by opening its doors to the LGBTQIA+ SEX POSITIVE / FETISH communities

HOW: Easy! With respect, patience, education and an open mind. TROUGH X will be open EVERY DAY & NIGHT 7 DAYS A WEEK. On WEEKDAYS we will be open as a BAR / CRUISE CLUB. Throughout the year we will be hosting many exclusive events catering to all spectrum of genders & sexual Over the two decades TROUGH X celebrated preferences within the LGBTQIA+ SEXand supported the MALE-IDENTIFYING GAY/ POSITIVE / FETISH communities.

QUEER communities by providing a safe space inside (now closed) men-only cruise Most SATURDAYS, TROUGH X will become venue - CLUB80 for gay/queer men to a DANCE / CRUISE PARTY. Throughout the dance, socialize and engage sexually, year inviting a selection of GUEST DANCE freely and openly at a time where events like EVENTS hand picked from the LGBTQIA+ these were almost non-existent. community. Every SUNDAY we will be hosting our weekly FUCK PARTY. Exclusive As we enter 2024, TROUGH X is excited to to MALE-IDENTIFYING GAY/QUEER patrons. not only enter a new space, but also a new era where inclusivity, diversity and tolerance YOU’RE WELCUM!!

VENUE HIRE & BOOKINGS: QUEERIES@TROUGH.EVENTS

MORE DETAILS & UPDATES: WWW.TROUGH.EVENTS

TROUGH X UPDATES

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All the rumors are true! TROUGH are the new custodians of SYDNEY’S BIGGEST GAY CRUISE CLUB - formerly HEADQUARTERS & TRADE.