Issue
43 February-April 2005
This issue of the OGT was paid for by advertising from the following
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,
Dunedin
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Sport
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Dunedin
474-1211,
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Moray Place
, 2nd
Floor
477-7267
or 027-497-2337
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Health South
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,
Dunedin
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Dunedin
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Dunedin
477-6976,
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Editori
al
by
Tor Devereux, Editor
Hello
and a very happy new year to all our readers. I hope that you had a safe
and enjoyable festive season and that 2005 is treating you well so far
(apart from the weather, of course, which has been simply awful!).
A
big welcome to all those who are reading this paper for the first time.
The Otago Gaily Times (OGT) is a queer community newspaper produced in
Dunedin
by a collective of volunteers. It’s printed four times every year (in
February, May, August and November) and is available free of charge.
Copies can be picked up from various outlets such as local cafes, the
Public Library, the University Book Shop, university/teachers
college/polytech campuses, etc., or it can be delivered to your letterbox
for a subscription fee of just $10 a year ($20 for organisations).
The
material that’s printed in the paper depends on what members of the
local LGBT/queer community, and our friends/allies, would like to
contribute. Anyone is welcome to submit material for publication and
it’s always great to have a wide range of contributors and copy. In this
issue we have our regular-type material - politics, pieces about local
groups, poetry, personal experiences, reviews, opinion pieces - but, in
addition, we also have another cartoon in the recently started Flannelette
& Corduroy series, two short stories and a piece about academic
research being done here in Dunedin by two local lesbian women. So, if
you’d like to contribute copy to a future issue of the OGT, then please
let us know. Also, if you’re involved with a group or if you’re
organising an event, please contact us about it so we can promote it in
the paper.
Information
about local groups which may be of interest is on the back page of the
paper. In addition, Amy is wanting to organise a potluck dinner for
lesbians and to set up a lesbian walking group - for more details see the
“Wanted” ad on this page. And, Keirsten is interested in setting up a
group for brainstorming about queer-friendly services for ageing women -
see “Ageing Gaily” on page 10.
As
I’m sure you’re all aware, the Civil Union Bill was passed towards the
end of last year. There’s a two-page spread in this issue of the OGT
related to this momentous moment in New Zealand’s LGBT/queer history,
and Amy’s cover design also has a civil union focus. While the civil
union debate is over and we are now looking forward to when the Act comes
into effect in a few months, the Relationships (Statutory References) Bill
still has to be reported back from the Select Committee and pass through
its 2nd and 3rd readings. It’s this Bill that changes all the
legislation that currently discriminates on the basis of marital status
and/or sexual orientation, so it’s just as important as the Civil Union
Bill. Hopefully this one won’t attract quite the same emotional
attention as the Civil Union Bill, though, because while many opponents
seemed to have an issue with our relationships having a legal status and
being publicly recognised, they didn’t object to us being treated
equally in legal respects – for example, eligibility for benefits, tax
provisions, and so on.
No
doubt some of you will now be planning your civil unions, just as my
partner and I are - and, perhaps also like us, you’ll be starting to
realise just how much organising needs to happen before the big day! Just
as well we have several months because after lots and lots of discussions
all we’ve managed to agree about so far is the date! Nonetheless it’s
pretty exciting to be able to have these discussions and to know that a
few years from now same-sex couples will start to take civil unions for
granted. We’ve come a long way!
Top of Page
1.
When will the Civil Union Act come into effect?
2.
What illness is Melissa Etheridge currently battling?
3.
What does PDY stand for?
4.
What is the name of the well-known American sexuality researcher whose
life was recently made into a movie?
5.
What is the name of Elton John’s latest album?
Answers
Top of Page
Wanted
…
Looking for lovely lesbians
interested in coming to a good ol' pot
luck and/or being part of a walking
group.
If you’re interested, phone Amy
on 021-116-7927.
Top
of Page
by
Andrew Metcalfe
Recently
my partner and I were privileged to attend the marriage of my brother in
Hawaii
.
Not an immediately obvious venue for a wedding, but as my brother and his
Japanese partner are based in
Tokyo
,
it was a logical choice as
Hawaii
is a “half way” point between the two countries and English/Japanese
are spoken widely.
It
was an interesting occasion for a variety of reasons. One was that, for
many of my relatives, it was the first time they had met my partner. It
was part of my on-going “outing” that seems to have been taking place
gradually over the past few years.
We
also discovered that all that is said about American culture appears to be
true, although possibly exaggerated in such a touristy place. The courtesy
of salespeople in shops, the unrelenting enthusiasm and self belief of
people we met, the way that indigenous culture in this setting was
marginalised by being turned into tourist attractions, steam-rolled by
freeways and shopping malls. We were very aware how rich (and fat!) some
of the mainland tourists were, compared to the poverty of locals who drove
the taxis, cleaned hotel rooms and waited on tables.
One
day while looking through one of the Wyland Galleries (www.wyland.com) at
Waikiki
Beach
,
an enthusiastic art consultant cornered us. He was desperate to tell us
everything about Wyland, a “confirmed bachelor” artist who is
recognised for his work depicting marine life. These ranged from
Picasso-like simple line drawings through to almost photograph-like
paintings. It was the sort of stuff you’d expect to see on a tattoo, not
really my cup of tea. But, this guy was determined to convert us …
literally. The more he talked, the more this artist’s work was described
in terms of cosmic-religious themes, and we realised we were at the mercy
of a typical, American-style, fundamentalist Christian.
I
escaped first and eventually my rather shell shocked partner emerged as
well. It was one of those moments when you take a deep breath and agree
never to darken that door again!
A
day later, we saw a rainbow flag flying in the hotel next door, and
discovered a place called the “Waikiki Beach Bar and Dance Club”
(motto: Come In For A Cool One … Leave With A Hot One!). After a while
of checking out who was there, we spotted ... you guessed it, our zealous
art consultant. And he appeared to be Chatting Someone Up in a very
different way to what we had experienced.
I
don’t know how you would react to this kind of scenario. Maybe this man
was able to live two very separate lives quite happily ... or, perhaps,
unhappily. Could it be possible for someone with his religious belief
system to still be comfortably gay? Somehow I think not. You only have to
look at the example of outfits like the
Destiny
Church
in
New Zealand
to imagine
what life would be like for a gay person within their fold. We will never
know what was really going on as we were not brave enough to bowl up and
say “fancy meeting you again!” But, perhaps we need to remember at
times those who, for various reasons, feel they have to live this kind of
separate life. And, if you are the praying type, spare a thought for them
- may they “come home” one day and discover that it is okay to be
themselves, even if that involves making some hard choices.
Andrew
is currently living and working in Perthshire,
Scotland
. You can
contact him at: [email protected]
Top of Page
World
Watch acknowledges the source of these stories as 365Gay.com,
gaylesbiantimes.com, GayLinkContent.com, GayWired.com and
rainbownetwork.com
Gay
Partner Cannot Be Deported
Tel
Aviv
,
Israel
A
court has ruled that the government acted illegally in trying to deport
the foreign partner of a gay Israeli man. The partner’s visitor’s visa
had expired and the Interior Ministry had ordered the Colombian man
deported. But he and his Israeli partner filed an emergency petition with
the district court.
Israel
recognises the
rights of same-sex couples for the purposes of immigration, while the
government recently announced that it would give limited rights to
same-sex couples.
Victory
For Gay Paper
Santiago
,
Chile
An
ultra-conservative movement within the Catholic Church, Opus Dei, has lost
a two-year battle with a gay Chilean newspaper. Opus Dei had sued a gay
paper, Opus Gay, claiming that the name was a deliberate attempt to
embarrass the organisation and the Church.
Honours
For Campaigners
United
Kingdom
The
new year’s honours list has recognised the work of two campaigners for
transsexual equality. Christine Burns, MBE, and Dr Stephen Whittle, OBE,
have long promoted the rights of transsexual people and played a key role
in getting the Gender Recognition Act successfully through Parliament.
AIDS
Kills Mandela’s Son
Johannesburg
,
South Africa
Makgatho
Mandela, the 54-year-old son of former South African president Nelson
Mandela, has died of AIDS. Nelson Mandela (86) told a news conference:
“I announce that my son has died of AIDS. Let us give publicity to
HIV/AIDS and not hide it, because the only way to make it appear like a
normal illness, like TB, like cancer, is always to come out and say
somebody has died because of HIV/AIDS, and people will stop regarding it
as something extraordinary.” The United Nations estimates that more than
five million South Africans (one in five adults) are infected with the HIV
virus, more than in any other country.
Government
Planned Obscenity Charge Against Lesbian Author
London
,
United
Kingdom
Papers
released by the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions show that
the government of the day made secret preparations to charge Radclyffe
Hall, author of the 1920s ground-breaking book The Well of Loneliness,
with corrupting the young. Memos of 1928 show that the government was
confident an obscenity trial would result in a conviction because no jury
would accept Hall’s view that lesbians were a misunderstood and
persecuted minority. It wanted the book banned, believing it would deprave
the minds of young readers. The Well of Loneliness was finally
published in the
United Kingdom
in 1949, six
years after Hall’s death.
Did
Elton And David Commit?
London
,
United
Kingdom
Rumours
are circulating that Elton John has formally exchanged vows with David
Furnish, his partner of 11 years.
Civil
Partnership Triumphs
London
,
United
Kingdom
Whereas
the fate of
New Zealand
’s Civil
Union Bill hung in the balance right up until the day of the final vote
and passed with a small majority, the
United Kingdom
’s Civil
Partnership Bill easily overcame all obstacles in its path. Under the law,
same-sex couples can now make a legal commitment to each other at a formal
ceremony, and have the same rights as heterosexual partners on pensions
and property inheritance. They have full recognition for the purposes of
life assurance, immigration and nationality. They have the right to take
over tenancy rights, and can gain parental responsibility for their civil
partner’s children. As well as rights come responsibilities. Civil
partners have a duty to provide reasonable maintenance to each other as
well as to the children of the family.
Top of Page
Civil
Union Bill Passed – Significant Step Forward For LGBT/Queer Rights
In
New Zealand
by
Tor Devereux
The
Civil Union Bill – 2nd & 3rd
Readings
The
Justice and Electoral Select Committee tabled their report on the Civil
Union Bill in Parliament on
29 November
2004
. Although the
Committee called for submissions on both the Civil Union Bill and the
Relationships (Statutory References) Bill together, the Select Committee
completed the report on just the Civil Union Bill initially and is still
working on the report on the Relationships Bill. The majority of the
Select Committee supported the Bill (7 out of the 11 members) and the
Committee made only minor changes to the Bill. The Civil Union Bill’s
second reading then took place on 2 December. The following week
Parliament sat in urgency to debate the Civil Union Bill’s final stages
– the committee stage and the 3rd reading.
As
the Civil Union Campaign progressed, the lobbying on both sides got more
and more intense and opposition to the Bill was often quite unpleasant and
even “ugly”. Here are some of the “events” that took place:
·
The
TV programme “Close Up @7” conducted a highly unscientific phone poll
one evening asking if gay relationships should be legally recognised. The
result was overwhelmingly “no”, and the poll was referred to from then
on by various people, including TV journalists, as if it was scientific
data that accurately represented the views of a broad section of society.
Of course, all it represented was those who watched the programme and were
then willing to spend money registering their view. And, these polls
don’t take into account the fact that individuals can vote multiple
times.
·
The
electorate office of David Benson-Pope MP in
South Dunedin
was
vandalised.
·
David
Worth MP (National) proposed about 70 amendments to the Civil Union Bill,
including amendments that would have changed “civil unions” to
“civil relationships”. Basically this would have allowed a whole range
of relationships to be “recognised” including the relationship of two
siblings living together. All of David Worth’s amendments were
convincingly defeated.
·
The
Catholic Bishops wrote a letter which was read out during Catholic
services on December 5 which basically instructed members of the Catholic
Church to take into account how MPs voted on the civil union legislation
when deciding who to vote for in the 2005 general election.
·
Paul
Adams MP (United Future) went on a fast in the hope that someone on high
would stop the Civil Union Bill from being passed.
·
NZ
First proposed that the issue of civil unions should be put to a binding
public referendum at the next election. (Never before in this country have
human rights been decided by public referendum.) This amendment was
defeated 68-51.
As
was the case throughout the whole campaign, much of the debate during the
2nd and 3rd readings was full of prejudice and fear.
Some of the arguments against the Civil Union Bill included the following:
·
The
Government had no public mandate for introducing this kind of legislation.
(However, this was part of Labour’s manifesto before the last
election as well as part of the Green Party’s.)
·
The
Civil Union Bill is really just gay marriage. (Civil unions are similar
to marriage in that they are a legal relationship status, but they
aren’t marriage and the Marriage Act remains unchanged.)
·
The
purpose of marriage is to produce children and same-sex relationships
can’t do that so they shouldn’t be treated as equal to marriage. (So
what is the purpose of all the marriages that take place that don’t
produce children? Should older people, infertile people and those who
don’t want children not be allowed to marry?)
·
Civil
unions will undermine marriage and the “traditional” family and these
institutions need to be protected because they are the corner stones of
society. (It’s quite flattering, really, to think that our queer
relationships could bring down society as we know it! Seriously, though,
aren’t things such as domestic violence, poverty, isolation, etc. much
more likely to have a negative impact on marriage and the family than the
legal recognition of loving, committed, consensual same-sex
relationships?)
·
Same-sex
relationships are unnatural and shouldn’t be condoned in any way. (It’s
a bit late to argue this since homosexuality has been legal in New Zealand
since 1986 and this was not being re-debated here.)
·
Civil
unions are just another example of social engineering. (Call me naïve,
but I fail to see how granting people their human rights and treating all
New Zealanders equally and fairly is “social engineering”.)
·
The
state shouldn’t have a role in private relationships. (Then why do we
have marriage laws that are governed by the state?)
·
The
Civil Union Bill will open the flood gates and lead to having to recognise
and accept all sorts of relationships such as polygamy, incest and
bestiality. (This argument is extremely offensive and easy to refute
because, of course, the sort of relationships that will be recognised by
the Civil Union Act are loving, committed, consensual relationships
whereas incest etc. are abusive and non-consensual.)
·
The
legislation was rushed through. (Did the time frame really affect how
MPs exercised their conscience vote? It certainly didn’t impact on the
number of submissions received by the Select Committee which was huge and
probably, if anything, made the lobbying more intense.)
Despite
all of the above, though, fairness, logic and basic decency won out on the
day and the Civil Union Bill passed its 3rd reading on
9 December 2004
. The Civil
Union Act will come into effect on
26 April 2005
. YEAH!
Timeline
21 June 2004
Civil
Union Bill tabled in Parliament (by David Benson-Pope MP, Associate
Minister of Justice)
24 June 2004
1st
Reading
– passed
66-50
Bill
sent to the Justice and Electoral Select Committee for consideration and
public submissions
6 August 2004
Deadline
for written submissions to the Select Committee
August,
September & beginning of October 2004
Oral
submissions heard around the country by the Select Committee
29 November
2004
Report
from Select Committee tabled in Parliament
2 December 2004
2nd
reading – passed 65-55
9 December 2004
3rd
reading – passed 65-55
26 April 2005
Civil
Union Act comes into effect
Voting Analysis
Voting
on the Civil Union Bill at all stages was a conscience vote.
1st
Reading
- Passed
66-50
(Note:
3 MPs didn’t vote and Tariana Turia’s seat was vacant)
MPs
who voted for the Civil Union Bill at its 1st reading:
Labour
- 42
Greens
- 9
Progressives
- 2
National
- 5
United
Future - 0
Act
- 6
NZ
First - 2
2nd
reading - Passed 65-55
MPs
who voted for the Civil Union Bill at its 2nd reading:
Labour
- 45
(6
Labour MPs voted against the Bill. They were: Clayton Cosgrove, Harry
Duynhoven, Taito Phillip Field, Damien O’Connor, Ross Robertson &
John Tamihere)
Greens
- 9
Progressives
- 2
National
- 3
(Katherine
Rich, Pansy Wong & Clem Simich)
(Don
Brash & Lockwood Smith voted for the Bill at the 1st
reading but then changed their votes at the subsequent readings)
United
Future - 0
Act
- 4
(Rodney
Hide, Richard Prebble, Heather Roy & Ken Shirley)
(Gerry
Eckhoff & Stephen Franks voted for the Bill at the 1st
reading but then changed their votes at the subsequent readings)
NZ
First - 2
(Brian
Donnelly & Ron Mark)
Maori
Party - 0
3rd
Reading
- Passed
65-55
MPs
who voted for the Civil Union Bill at its 3rd reading:
Labour
- 45
Greens
- 9
Progressives
- 2
National
- 3
United
Future - 0
Act
- 5
NZ
First – 1
Maori
Party - 0
Although
the figures were the same for the 2nd and 3rd
readings, there were a couple of MPs who changed their vote – Deborah
Coddington (Act) decided to vote for the Bill at the 3rd
reading while Ron Mark (NZ First) changed his mind and voted against it.
Local Responses
I asked all those who were on the local Civil Union
Bill campaign email list the following question: “What does the passing
of the Civil Union Bill mean to you?” Here are the responses I received:
·
Walking
down the street holding hands and knowing that more decision-makers
supported our relationship than were against it. No longer feeling part of
the minority, feeling like we have a place, we fit. Four years ago 60
people announced us “married”. This year, the country will recognise
our relationship. (Wendy &
Anja)
·
The
passing of the Bill means that my partner and I will be able to legitimise
our relationship which for us and our families will bring many benefits.
The most important will be that our son will grow up knowing that not only
have his parents formally committed to each other, but that the State
(just as society does) acknowledges that his family is just as important
as those of his friends. (Vance
& Karl)
·
Relief
and pride to live in country that has the sense to defeat such prejudice
and bigotry. Also it reminds us of a saying, "Religion has no place
in politics, otherwise one person's sin becomes everyone's crime.”
(Janet & Lesley)
·
Thank
goodness that justice has been done! At last the dignity and beauty of
committed same sex relationships can be recognised and celebrated!
(Sue, PFLAG)
·
It’s
about equality and having choices. (Jane)
·
At
last a great wrong has been put to right. It has, for me, always been an
issue of social justice. (Merle)
·
It
was a great week: Civil Union passed, Ahmed Zaoui released & the smoke
free legislation enacted. Roll on the Relationships (Statutory References)
Bill because that's what will make the difference.
(Jane,
Otago Electorate Green Party Candidate)
·
It
means a victorious end to an intense campaign. It means that we can now
publicly express our commitment to one another and have that legally
acknowledged. It means that our children will grow up knowing that their
parents’ relationship is recognised as valid by the state and that our
family structure is affirmed. (Barb
& Tor)
·
It
means that instead of just blessing the relationships of gay and lesbian
couples, I can now formalise their relationship as a civil union celebrant
and give them a stronger foundation to build on.
(Rev Geoffrey Vine)
Civil Union Ceremonies
What
sort of ceremony will people want for their civil union? One could simply
imitate the marriage service and just substitute "civil union"
every time you come to the word "marriage", but perhaps we could
come up with something entirely different for civil union ceremonies.
So,
we thought that OGT readers could provide suggestions of what they would
like if they were entering a civil union. Send your ideas to Geoffrey at
[email protected] and they will be included in the next issue of the paper.
Local Civil Union Celebrants
Civil
Unions have to be conducted by registered civil union celebrants. Marriage
celebrants do not automatically become civil union celebrants, but they
may apply to be registered as such, along with other individuals who wish
to fulfil the role of civil union celebrant in the community. Applications
are dealt with by the Department of Internal Affairs.
There
are three criteria that are taken into account when appointing civil union
celebrants:
·
An
applicant must be a person of good character; and
·
An
applicant must conscientiously perform the duties of a civil union
celebrant; and
·
There
must be evidence that an appointment as a civil union celebrant is in the
interests of either the public generally or of a particular community
(whether defined by geography, interest, belief, or some other factor).
More
information is available from the Department of Internal Affairs -
Freephone: 0800-22-5252, Website: www.bdm.govt.nz, Email: [email protected],
Fax: 04-382-3401, Post: PO Box 10-526,
Wellington
To
date I am aware of a few local people who are in the process of applying
to become civil union celebrants or seriously considering doing so, and
below there’s a statement from each of them, as well as contact details.
No doubt there are several others who have applied already or are
intending to do so and I would encourage these people to contact the OGT
so that a more complete list of local civil union celebrants can be
included in the next issue of the paper.
Geoffrey
Vine
"Over
the past 15 years I have been approached by numerous gay/lesbian couples
asking me whether, as a Presbyterian minister, I could "marry"
them but the answer, of course, has always been “No”. All I could
offer was a service of blessing for their relationship even though these
couples often impressed me as having a stronger foundation than many of
the heterosexual couples I was able to marry. Now, with the Civil Union
Act, I can offer all couples a whole menu of choices and, once my
application to be a civil union celebrant is approved (before April 26, I
hope), I shall be happy to do so."
(Ph 473-1434)
Rev
Ken Russell
“As
a clergyperson who openly supported the Civil Union Bill, I have been
frequently asked whether I will apply to become a Civil Union Celebrant.
The answer is "Yes." I currently minister in three congregations
- Glenaven, Mornington and Broad Bay Methodist - which have consistently
declared themselves "reconciling" and "inclusive", and
among whom are gay, lesbian and transgender couples. Whether all of my
ministerial colleagues welcome it or not, the reality is that we have
become a pluralistic society, and the Civil Union legislation is a welcome
opportunity to diversify the community's recognition of a broad band of
relationships in which is found faith and integrity on an equally broad
band.” (Ph 455-3727)
Nicola
Brown
“I
believe that the passing of this legislation is significant progress, and
I would be happy to be involved in putting it into practice. I would be
honoured to help couples celebrate their relationship and formalise their
commitment to each other, in front of the people most important to them.
My aim would be to do everything within my power to ensure that people
have a truly wonderful experience and ceremony.”
(Ph 453-6322, [email protected])
Philippa
Jamieson
“Since
1987 I have created and performed numerous rituals, including a commitment
ceremony for a lesbian couple, a funeral, house-blessings, seasonal
celebrations, opening and closing ceremonies for events. I have a degree
in Religious Studies and a long involvement with the LGBT community in
Dunedin
, and am open
to performing civil union celebrations for people of all faiths and
sexualities.” (Ph 472-8461, [email protected])
Thank You …
There
were lots and lots of people involved in the campaign in support of the
Civil Union Bill, so a very big thank you (in no particular order) to …
·
All
the MPs who had the courage and foresight to vote for the Bill.
·
David
Benson-Pope (the minister responsible for the Bill) and our three queer
MPs.
·
Everyone
who was involved in the organisational side of the campaign.
·
All
those who attended meetings, wrote letters/emails to MPs, wrote a
submission, appeared before the Select Committee, wore a Civil Union Bill
t-shirt or badge, wrote a letter to the editor, talked to MPs, talked to
friends and colleagues, kept up with what was happening, or did anything
else to make people aware of the issues.
We
all played a part in ensuring that this legislation was passed, and we
should all be proud of what we achieved!
Top of Page
In
late April Kare Grayson will be presenting an exhibition -
“Ex-Inhibition” - celebrating our culture
and relationships.
This
exhibition has been timed to coincide with the introduction of the Civil
Union Act on
26 April 2005
. It will be held at the Segue
Gallery, located in Burns Hall (next to
First
Church
), entrance via
Burlington Street
.
More
info will be available in April by phoning 021-116-7927.
Top of Page
by
Marg Madill & Trisha Bennett
MARG
What
I Am Doing And How I Arrived There
After
working as a social worker I was increasingly interested in how people
working in the social services dealt with the intersecting issues of sex,
sexuality and gender in their practice. These issues play a big part in
the management of clients (and fellow workers) but are often not openly
acknowledged even though judgmental concepts concerning gender and
sexuality pervade many professional decisions. I was particularly
concerned with the apparent lack of engagement in practice with issues
relating to lesbian clients and practitioners. One way for me to explore
these issues was to go back to university and do research. In a general
sense I am interested in how marginalised groups manage themselves
socially and how they are managed by wider society. More particularly I am
interested in how these processes are engaged with when that
marginalisation is on the basis of the intersecting issues of sex,
sexuality and gender. Specifically my research explores issues of lesbian
parenting and social contexts. I am also lecturing at the university in
the areas of families and change, community development and violence as an
issue facing families.
Trisha
arrived in the office next to mine in the department when she began her
research. Her arrival at that time was crucial for the development and
support of my research. Essentially, I think we ended up presenting at the
NZASW (New Zealand Association of Social Workers) conference last year
because of a need to make space for our work and lesbian concerns in our
professional context. As the professional association of social workers in
Aotearoa/New Zealand the NZASW is directly involved in setting standards
for practice.
What
Professional Context?
One
of the rituals of academic research is that you review other professional
and academic work in your area of research. In part this is about
legitimising it as an important area of concern.
During
this process I looked through the NZASW journal from the year 1977 to
2004. I wanted to see what specifically lesbian content had been included
and also what attention had been given to the intersecting issues of sex,
sexuality and gender. I found absolutely no lesbian content of any kind.
In three recent texts dealing with social work practice in this country
there is also no lesbian (or takataapui, gay, bisexual, transgender or
transsexual) content. This particularly worried me given that the
association's ethical standards clearly state a principle of
non-discrimination and the ethical responsibility to acknowledge issues of
gender and sexual orientation. What substance does such a statement have
if there is no evidence of any further professional engagement with what
it might mean in practice? To discover such a blatant lack of engagement
with people’s issues of sex, sexuality and gender in the journal of a
professional body that is all about working with people when they are at
their most vulnerable was hugely unsettling and all the more reason to
both be doing the research and for us to take some questions to the
conference.
Supervision
And Accountability
Another
ritual of academic research is supervision. Supervision is (ideally) about
having people to support, mentor, (helpfully) criticise and facilitate
your work. A tricky thing at the best of times it becomes an even more
interesting achievement when you and your research relates to a
marginalised group. To whom do you make yourself most accountable - the
concerns and realities of the people with whom you undertake the research
or your academic and professional context? And who legitimises the
importance, direction or significance of what you are doing?
Working
with Trisha became part of my “cultural” supervision. That is,
supervision from within the constituency of the research concerns. This
was a matter of survival and was also about the ultimate meaning and
accountability of the work. It is in this context that we could explore
the Maori Hill dances as an example of community development and the
construction of social contexts without having to explain and translate.
It is in this context that it is most easily and profoundly possible to
create meaning that can then inform what happens in an academic and
professional context.
This
process of translation, of lives lived into stories and information that
will usefully and safely inform the practice of those working in the
social services, is what has also necessitated a parallel process to my
research. It has not been possible to engage in research concerning the
experiences and stories of lesbian parents without challenging a
profession in which those stories did not seem to exist.
Some
Initial Implications From The Research
The
politics of visibility and inclusion are ever present in our social
contexts. They are as challenging to us within our queer communities as
they are between them and “mainstream society”. This research, while
in its early days, already tells of an overwhelming move on the part of
many lesbian parents to deal with the legitimation of their parenting and
to construct and negotiate with social contexts in which both they and
their children may live. The daily politics of engaging with a
heteronormative parenting world and persistent notions of what is needed
for healthy development (gender or otherwise) are clearly aspects of their
parenting that are not and cannot be taken for granted.
This
research also creates another parallel story. Parenting and its
relationship to social inclusion is significantly linked to relative
affluence. Parents (and children) living in poverty are overwhelmingly
representative of clients of the social services and they are also the
most easily and detrimentally judged. Having children, increasingly and
particularly if you are using technological assistance, is expensive. The
baby boom in queer communities, acknowledged internationally, is a
phenomena that has important class implications. How we manage the
implications of this reality within our communities will be as interesting
as how wider society manages the implications of us and our families.
Top
of Page
TRISHA
What
I Was Doing And How I Arrived There
While
working as a counsellor, I had been chipping away at postgraduate
university papers over some years and it was crunch time. To undertake a
piece of research was the next challenge in front of me. The decision to
carry out research in my own community was not an easy option but the only
area that I could imagine would hold my interest for a full time year of
study. I had many misgivings about doing so ranging from personal
anxieties to community responsibility. I suppose it was the latter that
clinched the decision in the end, despite my anxieties about doing the
topic and my community justice. So, after many discussions and much soul
searching, a decision was made to jump in at the deep end and research the
area of counselling “lesbians”. I was interested in finding out what
my community's experience of counselling was and also professionally if
there were any particular concerns or issues in counselling members of our
community.
What
Professional Context?
Like
Marg, the umbrella for this piece of work was the community and family
studies department at the
University
of
Otago
. Also like
Marg it became apparent very quickly that there was very little research
of this kind available in
New Zealand
. What this
indicated to me, which substantiated my hunches, was that the very little
information that was available for health professionals to inform practice
hailed from overseas sources. This was and remains an ongoing concern. It
obviously raises concerns about the availability of appropriate and
relevant information for practitioner training.
Supervision
And Accountability
Very
early in the year I came to understand the basis of the cautions I had
been given about researching this area from one or two wise women with
some insights that I didn't have at the time. Again this understanding was
gained over several levels. Personally to research my community was to put
myself on the line both personally and professionally. Any internalised
homophobia I had was certainly put to the test as I began to put posters
up asking for participants. Also, any conclusions I draw I am accountable
for. I was aware as I put the material together that some of them would be
unpopular and challenging, positions I do not take lightly. The lack of
other research somehow put an additional weighting on any of my findings.
The distinct invisibility of lesbian academics meant that the usual
collegial support was difficult to establish. The importance of this
became clear very early in the year. With little written in the area and a
huge variety of understanding about “lesbian experience” meant that in
order to develop ideas, stay on track with my research community or
validate my experiences it was important throughout the process to talk
about what I was thinking and planning. This sounds basic, I am sure, but
very difficult to achieve and absolutely vital to completing the research.
As such I am indebted to those women who took the time to chin wag with me
throughout the year or so that I was studying.
Some
Implications From The Research
Briefly
this research indicates that, despite legal changes in
New Zealand
, women in our
community experience a range of attitudes from others towards their
sexuality both in their day to day lives and also in their counselling
experiences. Counselling is considered to be important for many women who
are in the coming out process and also to support the challenges of
relationships. Counsellors indicate deficits in training and ongoing
professional support which have implications for those seeking counselling
support. While these deficits remain it is likely that women who need such
assistance will continue to rely on their networks to establish safety in
counselling settings. Unfortunately this leaves those who are unconnected
socially with few means of informing themselves of counsellor choice.
In
the next few issues we will talk bit more about some of the ideas from the
work that we are involved in, provide some pointers to those who need to
seek supportive assistance and discuss other potential implications for
our communities.
Contact
Details:
Marg
Madill, Dept Community and Family Studies, [email protected]
Trisha
Bennett, Complementary Health Clinic,
215 North Road
,
Dunedin
, [email protected]
Top of Page
by
Tor Devereux
Care Of Children Act
The
Care of Children Bill was first introduced to Parliament on
10 June 2003
and had its first reading on
1 July 2003
. Once it passed its first reading
it was then sent to the Justice and Electoral Select Committee and
submissions on the Bill were called for from the public. Submissions
closed on
25 September 2003
and oral submissions were
presented during the next couple of months. After considering all the
submissions, the Select Committee then put together their report which was
tabled in Parliament on
29 June 2004
.
The
Bill eventually passed its second reading on
5 November 2004
, but there was
much intense debate. Interestingly, the debate was generally not about the
clauses in the Bill that give recognition to same-sex partners or families
with lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender parents, but rather the clause
that allows young women under the age of 16 to have an abortion without
the consent of their parent(s). The new Bill did not propose any change to
the current law, but those opposed to abortion used this opportunity to
try and make access to abortion more difficult. Amendments put forward
were all convincingly defeated by conscience votes (since all matters
related to abortion in Parliament are conscience votes).
Then
on
9 November 2004
the Care of
Children Bill passed its third reading by 62 votes to 58 (with the Labour
Party and the Greens voting for it) and thereby became law. The new Care
of Children Act will come into effect on
1 July 2005
.
The
Care Of Children Act will replace the Guardianship Act 1968 and it
modernises the laws on the guardianship and care of children. This Act is
important to the LGBT/queer community because throughout the Act there is
a recognition of the diversity of family structures that exist now in
New Zealand
, including
families with same-sex parents, and because it means that families with
LGBT parents will now be treated equally and fairly under the law.
Under
this Act, same-sex partners of lesbian women who give birth to children
conceived using assisted reproductive procedures will be automatically
granted parental rights. Male partners in heterosexual relationships where
children are conceived using donor sperm are already automatically
afforded parental rights and so this change removes the discrimination
that currently exists and provides the children born to same-sex couples
with the security and protections that they should be entitled to.
It
is my understanding that this part of the Act will be able to be applied
retrospectively – that is, non-biological same-sex partners with
children born before
1 July 2005
will be able
to apply to have parental rights/guardianship of these children by means
of the Act rather than as individual applications. At this stage I’m not
sure of the process that will be involved and when it will be able to be
started, but I will endeavour to find out more information in the next few
months and include it in the May issue of the OGT.
The
Care of Children Act also has the following implications for LGBT/queer
people:
·
Same-sex
couples will be entitled to counselling through the Family Court (just as
opposite-sex couples are).
·
Agreements
with donors about contact after the birth of the child will be enforceable
by the Family Court (provided they are in the best interests of the
child). Such agreements are sometimes currently made by both parties, but
they have had no legal standing.
·
Same-sex
partners will be able to apply for parenting orders/access with children
in the case of relationships breaking up (whereas in the past same-sex
partners have often not been recognised as parents).
·
Same-sex
partners will be allowed to be appointed as additional guardians.
·
Donors
will continue to have no legal rights or responsibilities for children
conceived by a woman/couple using assisted reproductive procedures.
Most
importantly, though, the Care of Children Act is about children and their
best interests, and it provides children within our community - children
in rainbow families - with the protections they deserve and includes them
in legislation about children and their care. Our children have the right
to grow up with the security and rights that children with heterosexual
parents already have, and this Act - together with the Civil Union Act -
will assist with achieving this.
LGBT/Queer Parenting –
The Real Story
Much
of the debate engaged in by those opposed to the Civil Union Bill involved
discussions about children. We heard that the purpose of marriage is to
create and raise children and since same-sex couples can’t produce
children on their own then these relationships are secondary (at best) to
heterosexual marriage. We heard that the best environment for raising
children is with their biological mother and father (married to one
another, of course!) and that other family structures contribute
significantly to negative outcomes for children. And then we also heard
outcries of shock and horror from some that LGBT/queer people are
parenting at all.
So
many unsubstantiated comments about LGBT/queer parents were thrown around
and remained unchallenged, while others (including people such as the
recently elected Mayor of Auckland, Dick Hubbard) claimed that their views
were backed up by research. The problem was, though, that much of this
so-called research was generally bogus or carried out by people or in ways
that have since been discredited.
Towards
the end of the Civil Union Bill debate some MPs suddenly raised the issue
of adoption by same-sex couples. The current adoption laws do not allow
same-sex couples (or unmarried opposite-sex couples) to adopt. Neither the
Care of Children Bill nor the Relationships (Statutory References) Bill
deals with adoption since the Adoption Act is being reviewed separately
(although the Government has not yet announced when/if it will introduce
new legislation in this area). But, let’s return to the connection
between the Civil Union Bill debate and adoption. The latter was used as
an example of the evils that the Civil Union Bill could lead to once the
doors had been opened – and the “logic” employed here goes along the
lines of “what could be more evil than same-sex couples being allowed to
adopt children”. I know that there are people with prejudices who do not
accept that my family is as valid as others, but I have to admit that I
was pretty blown away when I heard MPs talking in this way. MPs openly and
unashamedly standing up in Parliament and saying that allowing same-sex
couples to adopt children would be a horrendously awful thing.
Why
are people so concerned about LGBT/queer people being parents/caregivers?
There’s so much emotion caught up with the notions of children, family
and parenting that I guess it’s to be expected that discussions about
these things become emotional rather than objective and rational. However,
there is now good evidence to back up what some of us know from experience
or gut instinct – that is, that children raised by same-sex parents have
similar outcomes to children raised by heterosexual parents.
This
research was conveniently ignored by those who opposed the Civil Union
Bill and don’t support our rainbow families in general. However, an
article entitled ”Parents' Sexuality Irrelevant To Kids” (written by
Emma Davies, Programme Leader (families and children) at the Auckland
University of Technology’s Institute of Public Policy and David Semp, a
registered Auckland psychologist) was published in mid-December 2004 in
both the New Zealand Herald and The Press. This article
discussed “the growing body of scientific literature documenting that
children who grow up with gay and lesbian parents do just as well in
emotional, cognitive, social and sexual functioning as those brought up
with heterosexual parents”.
It
would seem, in fact, that there are even some advantages to being raised
within a rainbow family since, according to Davies and Semp, “There is
some evidence indicating that lesbian and gay couples share child-rearing,
household tasks and decision-making more equally than heterosexual
couples. So it is no surprise that children of gay and lesbian parents
appear to develop a broader range of social roles and skills.”
As
a result of the various scientific studies that have been carried out, the
authors conclude that, “It is not the sexual orientation of parents that
matters to childhood outcomes. Far more important is the quality of
relationships between adults, and between parents and children … Family
conflict, poverty and social isolation are better predicators of poor
outcomes for children than family structure.”
The
only negative factor noted by Davies and Semp is connected with the
prejudice that rainbow families sometimes experience within society and
the impact this can have. “When children are asked about their
experience of being raised by same-sex parents, the only disadvantage they
mention is the stigma that comes from outside their families. Lack of
social acceptance of families with gay and lesbian parents is more
important than parents’ sexuality.”
Luckily,
perhaps, this is something that can be changed – and, I believe, it’s
slowly changing all the time. As people become more aware that rainbow
families exist and they get to know us, then many of the barriers break
down and we become more accepted. There will always be those who won’t
be willing to accept us, usually because of religious beliefs, but there
are also lots of others who are, especially once they realise that we just
want the best for our families and our children, and to be acknowledged as
legitimate and effective parents. Let’s hope that as time passes we
won’t have to rely on studies to prove our worthiness as parents because
the validity of our families won’t be questioned.
Fostering
The
results of the research referred to above are already recognised in NZ by
Child, Youth and Family (CYF) who have a non-discrimination policy when it
comes to choosing people to become foster parents/caregivers. In fact, the
number of lesbian and gay couples in
Dunedin
who are involved with fostering is not insignificant and is continuing
to grow. The Dunedin CYF office acknowledges that lesbians and gay men can
make excellent foster parents and encourages any people in the LGBT
community who may be interested in finding out about fostering to contact
them for more information. (Phone Mavis Turnbull at CYF on 955-3471.)
Fostering
brings with it a whole set of challenges and it is life-changing, but the
rewards are awesome. There are children of all ages that need to be in
care for varying lengths of time - long-term, short-term or respite. CYF
is constantly looking for suitable people who are willing and able to make
a commitment to caring for these children and making a positive difference
in their lives.
Top
of Page
The
Rainbow Families group exists for all those in the LGBT/queer community
who have, want or are trying to have children to get together for support
and social activities.
The
Rainbow Families group has been running for over two years now and
there’s a range in the ages of the children – babies, toddlers and
older school-aged children. The group runs very informally, but provides
those who are part of a rainbow family with the opportunity to talk about
issues and share ideas and information. It’s also great for the children
to grow up knowing that there are other families like theirs.
The
group meets monthly, generally on the first Saturday of the month. Below
are listed the events that have been planned for the next few months. For
more information about the group, contact Barb on 453-1108 or
[email protected] or Jacinda on 471-9495.
Saturday
March 5
Macandrew
Bay
Playground - meet at the recently
revamped playground at
Macandrew
Bay
(on the main road) at
2pm.
Afterwards we may choose to
investigate the local café or there’s always the option of an ice cream
from the shop nearby.
Saturday
April 2
Easter
Egg Hunt - starts at 2pm. RSVP by March 26 to find out the venue and so we
can let the Easter Bunny know how many eggs to leave. And, please bring a
small plate of food to share for afternoon tea.
Saturday
May 7
Chipmunks
- meet at Chipmunks (
373 Princes St
) at 2pm. Chipmunks is suitable for
children aged up to 11 years. Cost: Under 1 year and adults - free; 1-2
year olds - $4.95; 3-11 year olds - $6.95.
Top
of Page
Nineteen
Seventy Nine
by
Rhona Cameron
(Ebury
Press, 2003)
Review
by Sarah Noble
Rhona
Cameron’s memoir Nineteen Seventy Nine is classified and shelved
as biography, but in fact it’s something a little different. Cameron
takes as her subject not her whole life, but one formative year, and
sticks rigidly to it, with very little reference to the before or after.
And, because she’s still young and most of the people in the book are
alive and kicking, all the names have been changed. Finally, as she
explains in her prologue, she has reshuffled and condensed events, where
necessary, in order to keep things within her month-by-month format. But
it is the truth, and it’s really quite fascinating.
Rhona
was thirteen in 1979, and struggling in limbo between two reputations:
“a bit of a slag” and “lemon”, an intermediate-school word for
lesbian. She’s hopelessly in love with two or three classmates, as well
as her teacher - all female - while trying vainly to convince herself that
she fancies various boys. It’s also the year in which her idolised
father died.
Rhona
Cameron is a comedian, but thankfully her book doesn’t just play for
laughs. She knows how to write a funny scene well, but she also deals
skillfully with the less comic moments of her life. And while laughing in
amazement at her evening stalking activities and daily trips to the
staffroom to declare her love to aforementioned teacher (not to mention
her school holidays spent in the staff carpark, staring longingly at the
oil patch left by the teacher’s car), you can also see a glimpse of the
emotional mess this girl was in at thirteen.
Thirteen
is a life-altering kind of year for anybody, but when you’re coming to
terms with your sexuality, the fact that you’re adopted and the death of
a parent, it’s got to be particularly rough. But what helps this
book’s appeal is Cameron’s determination not to wallow - she moves
through her teenaged agonies honestly but not self-indulgently, and the
result is an absorbing, intelligent and sometimes screamingly hilarious
year in the life of a perhaps not-so-average teenage girl.
Top of Page
Poppy’s
Return
by Pat Rosier
(Spinifex
Press, 2004)
Review
by Barb Long
With
the best of intentions I was going to read Poppy’s Progress prior
to picking up this novel, which I assumed was a sequel to the first.
However, with the OGT deadline looming it was a case of grabbing the
second book and hoping I could follow the characters. This wasn’t a
problem as the writer weaves the history of the previous novel into the
storyline and it can certainly be read alone. However, I am now eager to
read Poppy’s Progress and further explore the complexity of
Poppy’s relationships with family, colleagues, friends and lovers.
Pat
Rosier lives on the
Kapiti
Coast
, is an out
lesbian, a former editor of the feminist magazine Broadsheet and
has also published books about lesbian and gay families and workplace
relationships. With a herstory like that I anticipated a novel that was
inclusive of lesbian culture and feminist politics that would stimulate
some reflection for the reader, and I was not disappointed.
Poppy’s
Return,
set in
New Zealand
, commences
with Poppy being informed of her father’s impending death from cancer
and she is thrown into emotional turmoil when she decides to travel to the
UK
to care for
him. There are the implications of his death, complex family relationships
and Jane to whom she is attracted and with whom relationship has been
implied. But Jane has yet to extricate herself from Heloise, her current
partner who wants children much to Jane’s disagreement.
Between
her experiences in the
UK
and resettling
back into her teaching job in
New Zealand
, Poppy’s
internal dialogue with Ms Mudgely, her interfering cat, and a new woman on
the scene, there is little lesbian culture that is not discussed in the
story line. I was continually reading late into the night just to find out
what happened next.
Although
a light read, there are many complex situations that prompt thought,
nicely balanced by lighter moments that many readers will be familiar with
such as the cat being peeved by a night outside when Poppy didn’t come
home one evening!
Top of Page
Feelings
Have To Give – A Short Story (Part 1)
by
Leebee Lu
All
I knew was, in fact, that I was going to be late for the board meeting. I
wonder, are board meetings now a contemporary excuse for men and women to
talk out of their ass? Clinton George was right, I should have hired the
interns from
Simon
University
. Examining my
company sales, it was clear the sales had no sophistication. All the
company’s accounts were old, and the firm seemed tired and cheap. I
wanted a change.
As
I stepped out onto the balcony of my condo overlooking my life, I wondered
how I was ever going to survive in this breeder town, men and women
haunting me with their tacky shoes and their daunting hair cuts. There are
casualties of ignorance everywhere I turn - the subway, the grocery store.
These people are shocking and are stacking up in society as married men
with thumb rings and soccer moms that look like their husbands at first
glance. I was not going to say anything, but I will not take it anymore.
These people are getting ahead of me in the dairy, grabbing my hokey pokey
bar before I do and taking my crew hair fudge before I get to it.
Something’s got to give.
In
another life I must have been a nun down on my knees bobbing for apples or
sinning, and now I’m paying for it. Today I was going to pave the way
for myself and for others alike. I was going to wear my blonde wig and a
yellow headscarf to the office and damn it was going to feel great. Oh how
this was going to shock the little people into rejection. As I entered the
office, I asked Mana for my files. “Mana do you have my files ready?”
“Yes I do. Here they are.” “Thank you Mana. That will be all.”
As
I opened the french doors to the meeting, it was in full progress. As I
walked to my chair, I could not help but look at the desk that all these
people so easily laid their hands upon and remember that I picked up this
lovely desk in
Asia
, in a little
town the name of which I had forgotten as soon as I heard it. The evening
market was probably the most indescribable - an amazing candle
lantern-hanging haven of light from white chipped painted poles. As I
regained my focus, I stared at my team and sat down. Actually my daydream
was more exciting. “So, do any of you have anything to say? Okay,
let’s wrap up the meeting shall we? Let’s take lunch guys. Please pass
your reports in, thank you.”
As
the team left I saw the new assistant was smiling at me as he walked out.
I smiled back. “One more thing, team. I will see you all next week at
the
2pm
cocktail
social.” When I talk to my team they don’t blink, and regularly I see
members of my team picking their trousers out of their butt as they leave
meetings. And, of course, do not get me started on my assistant CEO who
cannot see his head for his ass. When he talks to me, he looks at me and
never stops smiling. He never has anything to add, just “Yes miss”.
However, the way I got to the top of my empire was not saying yes and no.
I just stated the facts that were worth saying and not the facts that
weren’t worth saying. How can a lesbian woman say anything else?
To
be continued in the next issue of the OGT
Top
of Page
A
Grain of Sand
by
Jane E Libeau
Have
you ever lain upon a beach
And
wondered about the sand
Did
you pick one particle up
And
place it in your hand?
Did
you focus your eyes so very tight
And
wonder where it has been
And
why it ended up on this shore
And
what worlds it must have seen.
Have
you thought if you took it away
What
impact there would be
Is
the beach complete
Without
that grain
And
lonely without the sea?
Have
you truly examined it
Then
thought of it some more
Then
placed it back believing it is much bigger
Upon
the shore
It
is true
It
is a rock
Ground
down by the sea
Something
special I pick up
Connecting
land, sea and me.
Top of Page
Her
Hair Was Spiky
by
Orma Bradfield
Dear
Mary,
The
fudge I am rubbing on my wet hair is the stuff that you told me about. I
had admired the way your hair was so spiky and lively. So here I am
putting on this fudge to go to your funeral. It is very weird.
You
died too quickly. We thought it might happen, of course, but I thought
that we would have more time. Well, the doctors had said four years four
months ago and we were hoping for miracles – the drugs and perhaps the
transplant. I had visited you in the plain wee hospice room the day before
you died. You didn’t have much of your own gear there because you
didn’t plan on staying long. Although it was cold, you had the window
open onto the garden - for more air. Moving from bed to commode took
tremendous energy and you were so anxious about it all that I could hardly
bear it. So I didn’t wish more struggle for you. But you told me then
that to qualify for a lung transplant you had to be able to walk sixty
metres and you were going to start on that tomorrow.
Perhaps
you know, from wherever you are now, that we all trooped into the hospice
when we got the shocking message from
Alice
that you had
died. You were the peaceful centre of a lot of tears and talk then. It was
good to be able to hold your hand and kiss your hair. I felt a bit guilty
because you hadn’t wanted anyone to be so close recently – you needed
all the air around you to breathe. You were warm then, and looked lovely
in the purple nightie that
Alice
had bought for
you the day before you died. Big strong Alice who was now weighing the bed
down on that side, bereft. She had searched the city for nighties that you
would have chosen. I kept thinking that you were still breathing a little.
Did
you see our guard of honour as they took you away covered in black (you
never wore black) on the stretcher – those awful burly young men in
black suits. It seemed all wrong.
Alice
said to the
one who was driving, “Let us have women next time.” He said “Yes”,
and drove you slowly away.
At
the funeral parlour when we went to collect you, we had to wait while you
were “prepared for viewing” by Felicite, the funeral director. She led
us into this room where she, who had never known you in life, presented
you as though you were her work of art. She stood at the end of the casket
smiling proudly as we peered in. All of us were quiet for a time. The
clothes were great, of course – they were yours, orange and lime green,
and you looked staunch in your favourite boots – a happy contrast to the
awful white quilting. But all that powder on your face! We got her to wipe
it off until your own lovely skin emerged beneath it. And you had never
looked sort of chubby around the chin like that, even when you had been on
the steroids. The hair was wrong too - too flat.
We
couldn’t get the lavender casket through the door at your house so lay
you on your own bed, on the bright blue duvet and apricot pillow. There,
you looked yourself again for the first time since they had taken you from
the hospice under the black cover. I had brought my fudge over – I think
yours had been thrown out with all the medicines and things that had made
your home look like a hospital lately. I rubbed it in my hands to warm it
and, with
Alice
watching,
rubbed it into your hair. The thing is, with fudge, you can’t be gentle.
When I said, “Am I being too rough?”
Alice
said, “No,
that is exactly the way she did it.” Your hair was soon spiky and
normal.
I
felt the shape of your skull under my hands. I can feel it now, your skull
and your fine hair running through my fingers. I had not known that about
you before. I feel the shape of my own skull as I rub this fudge in after
my shower, preparing to go to your funeral.
Top of Page
On
1
July 1985
Roger Swanson and Roy Johnston formed the Dunedin Branch of Ascent.
Six years earlier it had been established in
Wellington
.
Ascent
Dunedin
invites the Gay and Lesbian Community to join with them to celebrate this
birthday over Labour Weekend - Friday evening 21 October to Sunday evening
23
October, 2005
.
We
are keen to contact past Ascent members and supporters. Please make
contact by writing to Ascent,
PO
Box 5328
,
Dunedin
,
or email [email protected] or phone Yvonne Wilkie on 03-476-7395.
Mark
your diaries now and watch this space for further information. We look
forward to having your company for an occasion of sharing, fun and
celebration.
Top of Page
Girls
#4
by
Sarah Noble
Dusty
Springfield
I’ve loved Dusty Springfield all
my life, but I didn’t realise how much until my sixteenth birthday, when
I watched a
Melbourne
drag queen do some particularly unsettling things to the tune of “Will
You Still Love Me Tomorrow”. I hadn’t been expecting to be at a drag
show that (or any) night, and to be honest I was feeling more than a
little out of place, but when I heard Dusty, blasting away in a crowded
pub, everything was perfect (indescribable onstage acts notwithstanding).
The next day I went and bought a nice blue “Best Of” CD, and I’ve
never looked back.
There’s
something about Dusty which places her just that much above all the other
gorgeous beehived British girl singers of the 60s. I’ve read her
described as possibly the best singer the
United
Kingdom
has ever produced, and I’m inclined to agree. Personally I also rate her
(with Judy Garland) as one of the greatest voices ever, anywhere. It’s
more than the voice, though, which makes Dusty special. It’s the whole
Dusty Springfield persona, one which she herself consciously created back
when she was still the gloriously named Mary Isabel Catherine Bernadette
O’Brien, a shy, hockey-playing, Catholic schoolgirl. The wigs, the eyes,
the gestures. Like Dolly Parton, imitations are easy, but they never can
capture the essence of the real thing. Dusty is glamorous and adorable,
and she has That Voice to go with it.
I
grew up with Dusty, knowing the songs and knowing nothing about the
singer, until I was in
Melbourne
on my birthday and went about changing that. So you can imagine what nice
icing on the cake it was to learn that this gorgeous singer I was
listening to compulsively was, in varying degrees, a bit of a dyke.
Fabulous! I’d have loved her unreservedly if she’d been as straight as
anything - this just made it so much the better. I knew she was rather an
icon for gay men - now I found she was on my side of things too.
As
the decades passed (and before her too-early death from breast cancer),
she talked more and more about her sexuality, but the image I still love
most is that of the 60s icon, so apparently representative of the girly
pop-idol, talking about “cute Italian men” on the backs of her
records, and yet, as it turns out, anything but conventional. I’ll leave
you with one of my very favourite things, a moment from the 60s British
music show Ready, Steady, Go! I’ve watched the show Dusty
guest-hosted. In introducing the Beatles she talks to them for a little
while and then winds up her interview with John to introduce the next
song. It goes like this:
Dusty:
I think we’d better start finishing. What are you going to sing for us
next?
John:
She Loves You
Dusty:
She does? Bye!
Priceless,
no?
Top of Page
Out
Takes Gay & Lesbian Film Festival Not Coming To
Dunedin
In 2005
Reel
Queer, the Wellington-based non-profit group that organises the Out Takes
gay and lesbian film festival, has announced that Out Takes will not be
coming to
Dunedin
in 2005.
However, the group does intend to bring the festival to
Dunedin
in future
years if local people can help make it sustainable.
Reel
Queer says that the hiatus this year is necessary so that the group can
concentrate on consolidating the future of the entire festival nationwide.
Committee member Tamsin Evans says: “Out Takes nationwide has grown so
much in the last couple of years that we run the risk, as unpaid
volunteers, of not being able to sustain the current level of
professionalism in the way the festival is organised. Out Takes is one of
the biggest queer events in the country. This year we’ll be carrying out
a strategic review and taking a hard look at our current situation, how
the festival is run nationally, and deciding how we want to develop it in
the years to come to ensure its long term future. All that takes time and
we are having to prioritise the three largest festivals –
Christchurch
,
Wellington
and
Auckland
– where we
have been able to make the festival pay its way. We were not able to
recover our costs in
Dunedin
last year and
were disappointed with the level of support the festival received.”
Festival
programmer Simon Fulton says that Reel Queer could possibly get involved
in securing a gay or lesbian film to screen during
Dunedin
's Pride Week
if local people wanted to help organise such an event.
Reel
Queer's
Wellington
members put in
3,500-4,000 hours each year to organise all of the Out Takes festivals,
but rely on local people to help with many aspects of running each
festival such as local publicity and advertising.
Reel
Queer welcomes feedback from the
Dunedin
queer
community to feed into its strategic review. They would like to hear about
how locals think the festival could work in
Dunedin
, as well as
from anyone willing to help organise any future festivals in the city.
Email [email protected]
CONTACTS:
Gavin Hamilton, Reel Queer Inc (
Wellington
)
PO
Box 12-201,
Wellington
Tel:
(04) 471-5112 (wk), Fax: (04) 934-5489 (hm)
Email:
[email protected]
Tamsin Evans, Reel Queer Inc (
Wellington
)
Email:
[email protected]
Top of Page
As
I Was Walking Out The Door …
Heading out the door this
afternoon, I was still wondering what to write about WAQD (We Are Queer
Dunedin) last year. How do I express the happiness and fun we all had
hanging out, laughing and being ourselves?
Essentially,
WAQD lunches on campus at Otago are designed for kicking back and relaxing
with a tasty and wholesome $3 lunch in hand. It is open to anyone, though
the majority of people who attend identify as being gay, lesbian, bisexual
or transgender.
Last
year WAQD planned events on and off campus such as bowling, Pride Week
functions, Civil Union rallies, FUNQ, national UniQ conference, OUSA
meetings and a lunchtime social with Polytech campus queer students filled
with exciting individuals and where we watched a wonderful short film.
Occasionally
WAQD had guest speakers drop in from around the world and throughout the
country, with others passing by to say hi and have a catch up over lunch
with us. The fun activities that took place during the WAQD lunches
included watching a documentary on the history of same-sex human rights,
being entertained by a visiting hypnotist and the visit to Polytech to
name just a few. Generally hanging out and discussing current events in
Dunedin
and/or around
New
Zealand
was also a common occurrence at the WAQD lunches.
The
turnout of people last year at WAQD was a wonderful mix of all genders and
ages, students and non-students. Becky, the original founder of WAQD, did
a wonderful job by initiating this group. Now WAQD is closely associated
with UniQ. Last year Nathan Brown, UniQ Co-ordinator, did a tremendous job
acting as a role model and facilitator for WAQD. Without Nathan’s focus
and dependability WAQD could not have been such a success. I was able to
explore new avenues for WAQD with Nathan’s guiding hand and support.
Thanks
to those of you who were curious about WAQD and just wanted to peek in the
door to see what WAQD was and to see why everyone was rushing to the
orange door at
noon
- thank you for being a part of WAQD during 2004. We hope to see you all
back this year with your plates and sandwiches in hand for more fun and
laughs.
Nathan
and I hope that everyone had fun last year as we had many laughs
ourselves. We also hope that you had a safe and fun holiday.
Take
Care,
Lisa
P.S.
WAQD lunches will resume in the first semester
2005 in the Otago Room at Clubs and Societies (
Albany
St
),
12pm
every Wednesday.
P.P.S.
To contact WAQD email [email protected]
Top of Page
Coming
Out On
Coro
Street
by
Euan Thomson
If,
like me, you have been spending more time in front of the box than usual
this summer, then you may have caught up with one of the latest
story-lines from “
Coronation
Street
”, the coming
out of Todd Grimshaw. My gaydar said from the beginning that he should be
a gay boy and, sure enough, it’s caught up with him.
Only
19 years old he’s already living with his fiancée Sarah-Louise and her
daughter Bethany. Now Sarah-Louise is pregnant with his baby son. Todd has
turned down his opportunity for an
Oxford
education and is supporting his family on a hospital orderly’s wage.
Sound idyllic? And we were led to believe he was brainy!
Well,
now he’s fallen for a gay nurse and he’s contemplating sacrificing all
of the above for the dubious charms of Carl and he even spent a night at
his flat. Meantime he’s declared his love and loyalty to Sarah-Louise
and is making plans for an early wedding. His situation is getting rather
desperate and he’s told his mum about Carl. Thankfully, she is
supportive, even if for the wrong motives, and she’s told him that
marriage is not the solution to his problem. To be happy in life he must
be true to himself. Who should he choose? Is it a choice? What will be
revealed in the next episode?
This
is the first gay storyline in more than forty years of “
Coronation
Street
”
and, hallelujah, it treats the subject with sympathy, respect and a fair
amount of awareness of the difficulties Todd is facing.
His
desires, his doubts, his denial, his distress are something many of us
have experienced as we journeyed towards self awareness and acceptance. If
Todd’s concerns ring bells for you and you are facing similar decisions
in your life, you need to know you are not alone. There are many
organisations you can contact in
Dunedin
that are able to help, whatever your circumstances. (Check the back page
for details.)
PFLAG
South has many helpful publications designed to help you, your friends and
your family. You can check them out on our website http://au.geocities.com/pflagsouth
or email [email protected]
Top
of Page
PFLAG
(Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) has an office. Here
are the details:
95 Fitzroy St
,
Kew
,
Dunedin
(within the
offices of the Dunedin Methodist Mission)
Office
telephone: 477-2000
Help
line: 025-686-9304
Email:
[email protected],
Postal
address:
PO Box 5266
,
Dunedin
Hours:
10am to 2pm
on Mondays,
Wednesdays and Fridays
Top
of Page
Ageing
Gaily
I
am a parent in my 30s with a Grand Dream of establishing a queer positive
“aged care” service for women.
Inspired
by two stunning Grandmas (and disturbed by the support available to them
in their old-ageing), I’d like to work towards setting up home-based
support services, advocacy and eventually, if needed and wanted,
residential care.
I
am wanting to start out with a group of women to brainstorm, dream, plan
and scheme what kind of support would be useful and achievable, to set the
direction for making it happen. I’m thinking 12 to 20 women would be
needed to make this viable and resilient in the short term.
If
you would be willing to rant and rave about what you want for your ageing,
or to be a dreaming and scheming groupie, I would love to hear from you.
Please
contact the OGT for my contact details,
Keirsten
OGT
Contact Details:
PO Box 6171
,
Dunedin
0274-793-113
[email protected]
Top of Page
Has
coming out alienated you from your church family? If so you might feel at
home at Glenaven.
Glenaven
is a
Methodist
Church
with an
ecumenical congregation and a special ministry to the gay and lesbian
community. Even if you don’t think of yourself as Christian you can
belong and be valued. Theologically, Glenaven is at the cutting edge and
our Sunday sermons are followed by some pretty lively dialogue. Be
prepared to be challenged.
Try
us out on Sunday mornings. We have coffee and cookies from
10:40am
and our
service is from
11am
to
12pm
. You’ll find
Glenaven in
Chambers Street
, just two
blocks along
North Road
from the
Garden’s supermarket.
Top of Page
by
Emmie Ellis (PDY Co-ordinator 2004)
Well
for those of you who have never heard of PDY (Pride Dunedin Youth) and
what we do, let me fill you in. PDY provides social and peer support
services for queer and/or questioning youth (25 years and under) in
Dunedin
.
The best part is that PDY is a volunteer organisation which is run by a
collective of queer youths who want to make a positive impact on the lives
of young people dealing with issues of sexuality. PDY is run by youth for
youth with close working relationships with PFLAG South, UniQ Otago and
Pride Dunedin Inc.
During
2004 the PDY collective:
·
Designed
the PDY website (www.pdy.org.nz) which
provides an abc of books, terms, movies etc, as well as links to other
web-based resources for queer and questioning youth.
·
Designed
PDY’s first poster (pictured here) and information pamphlets which are
headed for the High Schools in
Dunedin
this year.
·
Ran
Bloom, a peer support group for females, for the second year running.
(Unfortunately Icebreakers, a peer support group for males, did not happen
due to low numbers.)
·
Attended
the Year 10 youth expo and ran a PDY stall and performed skits which
provided information about sexuality issues and homophobia.
·
Continued
one of the most important functions of PDY - providing peer support to
queer and questioning youth.
This
will be the third year that PDY has been going, but alas the curse of
community-based volunteer organisations is upon us as all but one of the
original members of the PDY collective are leaving. This means that PDY
needs fresh new faces on the collective for 2005! So, if you’re
“queer” (i.e. not exclusively straight), young (25 years and under)
and have a genuine interest in providing support to other youth who are
dealing with issues of sexuality, or if you know someone that would be
good for the job, PDY needs you!
Many
thanks to all that have helped and supported PDY over the last two years,
and we can look forward to what’s to come!
For
more information about what you have just read:
Email
[email protected]
or phone John on 021-774-922
Top of Page
by
Anna Chinn
A
funny thing happened when the Civil Union Bill was passed late last year.
Five members of the Act New Zealand Party voted in favour of it. That’s
five out of nine Act MPs in Parliament, which might not seem especially
spectacular, until you consider that the National Party, with its 27 MPs,
could only muster three ayes. Crappy effort! But had it been solely up to
the Act Party, the Civil Union Bill would have passed with a higher
majority (56%) than it actually did with all of Parliament voting (55%).
To
me, that outcome highlighted the difference - usually so difficult to see
sans microscope - between Act and National. And the difference is
business. While the Nats like to pretend that money is not the groin of
their world, Act New
Zealand
believes fundamentally, and openly, in capitalism. Privatise everything,
let there be competition, and let the consumer choose: everything else
will fall neatly into line.
So
what? So, it’s time to out
New
Zealand
business. All those Act MPs who voted in favour of the Bill - and that
includes former leader Richard Prebble and incumbent leader Rodney Hide,
who should know - were well aware that gays are good for business and,
therefore, any law that’s good for gays is also good for business.
Money, money, money. According to Australian Government statistics (our
lovely Goverly won’t collect any - but let‘s assume the stats are
fairly similar here), just 20% of lesbian couples and just 4% of male gay
couples have children living with them. And, even when we do have
money-sapping offspring, queer couples are almost twice as likely to have
degrees or higher qualifications than heterosexual couples, and thus,
theoretically, to have higher-paying jobs. In essence, then, we pay higher
taxes to raise, educate and healthicise children we don’t have, and we
still have plenty of money to throw around in the shops. Businesses just love
us!
That
is, they love us, but they are in the closet. Some are in the closet
because they have executives who fear open support of queers would
endanger their bottoms; while others are in the closet because they just
don’t realise, yet, that they love us.
I
think it’s time we made them see. Companies are required by law to hire
staff on the grounds of ability and not sexual orientation, so it should
not be too far a leap for them to start actively saying to customers, via
a sticker on the door: “Yes, queer staff might work here” or “We
welcome the gay dollar”. Some business folk might argue that such
statements would alienate their non-gay clientele - but why would they?
Does a “We welcome Visa” sign alienate MasterCard holders? Indeed,
since most people know and love someone who is queer, businesses may well
be surprised by the response to such stickers. I have no idea what the
organisers of Pride Week have planned, but a stickers-for-businesses
campaign would be great.
“Hmm,”
you say, “Is there really a need for such a campaign?” I think so, for
these reasons: 1) This is election year and certain groups have promised
to remind voters about the “immoral” civil union legislation that has
been passed by the Labour Government. Civil unions, and queers in general,
should not be made an election football, but if they must, it would be
helpful if businesses finally put their mouths where their money is and
supported us. 2) The
Destiny
Church
- with a gym, private education centres, a TV show and (apparently) a line
of suits to its name - has firmly set itself in a corporate mould.
Businesses should show us that companies with oppressive agendas are not
worthy competition for benevolent, socially responsible companies like
themselves. 3) The struggle for greater visibility is about normalising
the queer experience and improving public understanding and acceptance. As
part of that, there is a need for greater visibility of the queer economic
contribution. Queers feel much healthier out of the closet - businesses
will, too.
Top
of Page
1.
26 April 2005
2.
Breast cancer
3.
Pride
Dunedin
Youth
4.
Alfred Kinsey
5.
Peachtree Road
Top
of Page
