3 minute read
QT Caberet
Next Article
LGBTQIA+ community of Hobart, you are terrible with your inclusion. Ooooooh, Hera, them’s fighting words. Well, babes, let's take the gloves off, and bring in the wading pool full of ethically produced vegan jelly, and let’s wrastle. But, before the jelly flies, and we kiss each other's wounds better, let’s talk about why I make such slanderous assertions, and do a little bit of shameless self-promotion.
It’s 2017, the plebiscite has just happened (the last national plebiscite was 1917, I believe, asking if we should do conscription for the first world war – I feel rather important) and we’re all making events happen. I noticed a lot of my transgender and gender queer friends weren’t getting a space, and when talking to them, I noticed some exclusion. My friends, I clutched my pearls. How could a community who have faced exclusion for time immemorial, not include certain members of the collective?
So, QT Cabaret started to give these performers a place to perform and to upskill themselves, because, surely, the reason they were not being engaged with was because they lacked merit. That first QT Cabaret was a success and has been running for the last five years with lots of people feeling better for the experience.
But behind the glitz and glamour there have been stories that make my nails curl: stories of exclusion (one person had been kicked out of their social group because they weren’t vegan!); of people not having luck in love because they made a mistake in the past, and after doing everything to make it right, rumours still haunt their bed; stories of people not going to events ever again, because they can’t face the crowds, and all the words whispered around them.
Words have power. Words shape the world around us. Our community knows the power that words have, we have wielded them like a knife to defend in the face of adversity. Why, now, are we turning them on ourselves to attack?! I won’t say that I’m faultless, I’m just as bad, and have said things I probably can never take back. But I want to make things good, and right, and bring us all together to reflect the image of love, inclusion, and freedom that we portray to the rest of the world.
How am I going to do this? At QT we will:
• Reach out and find everyone and anyone who wants to perform • Welcome anyone and everyone (but not if you have weapons or are very drunk; if you are disruptively drunk, we’ll help you get home) • Say YES! to every performer and act idea (you may not be in the next show, but the one after)
• Forgive and forget – with accountability • Reflect on what we’re doing and how we can grow • Continue to find ways to better our community At QT I have seen people get the courage to come out as the gender they have always been. I have seen people perform on stage for the first time. I have seen people change and shape into marvellous conduits of pleasure and power. I have seen multiple love stories begin, and I have seen years of silence erupt into laughter and joy. I have seen people sing the Bee Gees while brushing their teeth, and seen people pleasure themselves with vibrators to the sounds of Trump. Dancers have brought people to tears, and singers have brought laughter to the room. I’ve experienced being doused in hot sauce, dropping lubed light bulbs, having cheetos eaten from my mouth, and being a living gimp pass-the-parcel. And none of it would have happened if we all didn’t come together. Just three more shows this year, August 19, October 29, and December 3rd. Find us on Facebook, and instagram, or flick me an email to be involved.
