Editorial
It’s a queer thing…
- Becky
Last year I was
interviewed about Pride Week on the Channel 9 News, and the presenter asked me
“so why do you celebrate Pride Week?” A
long silence followed, the presenter doing her best to keep her plastic
television smile, nodding me encouragement – while I tried to avoid firing
back “every other week is straight week”.
Even in
today’s society, I believe having a Pride Week is a hard concept for some
people to grasp. They feel it is
outdated, that the future is now - and that now, people generally are not
prejudiced. They turn on the
television and see Ellen “out and proud” running around with her anecdotes,
and believe that queers are being represented.
Now look at it
from a queer perspective. Basically,
entertainment with/by queer people fits into two categories:
1.
That any movie which contains a queer leading
role is immediately classed as “Art House” (When Night Is Falling,
Chasing Amy), or any queer music is put straight (excuse the pun) into the
“Alternative” section (Ani Di Franco, Karen Hunter)
– or –
2.
That the fact that it contains ‘queer-ness’ is a huge issue.
For example, Caroline coming out in Shortland Street and falling in love
with Dr. Laura - a big ‘scandal’.
In the past, the
queer movement’s focus was more towards the fact that we do actually exist
(e.g. Queen Victoria ruling male homosexuality as illegal, but lesbianism “did
not exist”). I think the issue
today is not so much about existence, but acceptance and equality.
It’s one thing to say “yeah, we know you’re out there” and
another totally to treat it as normal.
A
friend made the statement to me “if you’re queer, then you’re
political”. I agreed with her – which emphasises the fact that queer people
still have to fight for normality. This is the reason we celebrate Pride
Week. We celebrate Pride Week
because being queer is a political
statement, and as with any politics, we have to campaign for our rights before
it is accepted by general society.
Pride Week is
about believing in yourself and being proud of who you are.
It is a platform for everyone (queer, straight, questionable, etc!) to
stand together and to celebrate ourselves.
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Being Safe
- Marie
Tena koutou katoa.
Welcome back. I hope you all had a relaxing break and are feeling all ready for
the second semester. This is my fourth year here and I can confidently say that
the first week back is always a bit of a party. For queer people, their friends
and families, this week is a time to celebrate queer pride. For many other
students, it is a time to catch up with friends and have lots of fun. With this
non-stop social life, it’s important to remember to keep yourself self.
Firstly, it’s
always your right to say no. Whatever, whenever, whoever.
If you’re having
sex, make sure you do it safely. Discuss safe sex options and your sexual
history with your partner. Always use protective barriers, such as condoms,
dental dams (used for oral sex), and gloves. These barriers prevent the exchange
of bodily fluids and reduce your chances of falling pregnant or getting a
Sexually Transmitted Infection.
If you’re
drinking or doing drugs, take it easy. Keep with friends you trust. Don’t,
under any circumstances, drive a car or get into a car with a drunk/high driver.
It’s just not worth it.
If you're doing IV
drugs, make sure you shoot clean every time. Always use clean needles, and
filter your gear. For more information, contact DIVO, Dunedin's peer based
needle exchange, 30 Moray Place, ph. 4792300. They are open 10am till 10pm every
day of the year.
Most importantly, have
fun. We wish you all a safe and happy Pride Week.
Arohanui
Queer Avengers’
Facilitator
P.S. For more
information on safe sex, safe drinking and safe drug-taking, feel free to
contact UniQ at OUSA, ph. 4795332.
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Tim Barnett
Imagine if you will,
suburban Christchurch, a colonial cottage near the Avon.
A well groomed man emerges from his back door and yells “FAGGOT!”
The man is Christchurch
Central’s MP Tim Barnett. Far
from being a raging fundamental homophobe, he is one of three openly gay MPs
currently in Parliament, Faggot is the name of his cat!
In 1996, Tim won the
Christchurch Central seat by a slim 653 majority.
In 1999, his majority rose to 9404.
This was despite the National party candidate John Stringer’s attempt
to make Tim’s homosexuality a major issue of debate.
Tim believes that this actually helped him in his campaign.
“It was actually
helpful to the public just to see what the modern face of prejudice looked like,
and I was very impressed that the Christchurch Central public understood what
they were seeing. If people think
our nation’s not changing… you think of that compared to the fact that
fifteen years ago I would have been a criminal because gay sex was illegal.
They were outraged enough by what Stringer was doing to make a statement.
That in fifteen years, is an astonishing, dramatic turn around.”
Tim joined the British
Labour Party at University and eventually became a Labour councillor for the
London boroughs of Greenwhich and Lewisham.
He emigrated to Christchurch ten
years ago with his partner of eighteen years, now the Dean of St. Paul’s
Cathedral in Dunedin, the very Reverend Jonathan Kirkpatrick.
“Both of us are
working in jobs which are high profile and involve a fair level of public
service... and we accept that this limits our ability to live the kind of
personal lives we are wanting. So we cope by phone calls and by mutual interests in lots of
things.”
Tim comments that the
Anglican church is not as comfortable with homosexuality as Parliament is.
However, the Bishop of Dunedin, Perry Jamieson, is very supportive.
Apart from his
electorate work, Tim chairs both the justice and electoral select committees.
At present, there are two other openly queer Members of Parliament,
Georgina Beyer (Labour) and Chris Carter (National).
Both Tim Barnett and Georgina Beyer will be visiting campus as part of
Pride Week, we are very lucky to have their support, as having members of
Parliament who are open about their sexuality is a very encouraging view about
society today.
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Review of
“If these walls could talk 2”
- Kezia
It makes you cry
it makes you laugh! Yep, one of those movies!
I fell in love with this when I saw it on video a few months ago.
If you are interested in some of the darker and lighter issues of being a
lesbian then this is the movie for you!
Three stories span
three generations set in the same house. Each generation has its particular
issue to deal with. The first generation stars Vanessa Redgrave who plays Edith,
an older woman who is subjected to prejudice of the times as well as dealing
with the loss of her partner. The 1970’s story stars Michelle Williams (Dawsons
Creek) and Chloe Sevigny (Boys Don’t Cry, American Psycho) in a section that
deals with personal image and love. Finally
in the modern day story, Ellen Degeneres and Sharon Stone pair up in a segment
full of typically Degeneres humour as they play as a couple trying to have a
baby.
The beginning is
fairly depressing but persevere because the last two sections are sweet love
stories.
It is awesome to
see a production as clean cut as this one dealing with lesbian issues.
Some big names have teamed up and it is great to see that there is
support for lesbian productions in the entertainment industry. There is
definitely a need for this sort of stuff to be on the new release shelves at the
video store, so support it, you won’t regret it.
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Queer
Avengers Campaign
That’s So Gay….
So What?
Colloquialisms!
The beauty of our un-politically correct language, we see it everywhere.
Calling the opposition at the rugby a bunch of useless fags down to
movies where dreadlocks and key chains make “Uber Dykes” such as the movie
‘Bring it On’.
The use of hostile and
unthinking language perpetuates the undercurrent of homophobia that is present
in society today.
The Queer
Avengers, who are the campaign and activity organisation wing of UniQ, are
running a campaign during Pride Week which is targeted at the use of a
particular phrase. Everyone’s
heard it and may have even used it….”That’s so gay!” or “It’s so
gay!”
Many people will
not have considered the statement to be damaging.
Usually the subject of ‘gayness’ is related to non-homosexual
contexts, but the fact remains that the term ‘gay’ is used as a dysphemism
and is meant to degrade the subject of the statement.
The purpose of this
campaign is to win back the word ‘gay’ and to allow queer and queer friends
to feel safer in all environments by decreasing the use of homophobic under
currents in language.
Do your part this
pride week. Buy a T-shirt to support the campaign or grab some stickers,
(T-shirts $15 from Alex at UniQ) or think about what you say and who you are
saying it to. Think about who your
friends, family, work mates or teachers are.
You may not know who you are hurting by using degrading statements or by
not discouraging your friends from using them.
All that is required is some social conscience to stop reinforcing the
fact that homophobia exists for queer people in today’s society.
Support the Queer
Avengers in their campaign! “That’s
so gay….so what?”
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