Happy New Year! Welcome to the first issue of the Otago Gaily Times for 2006 and welcome to all those who are new to Dunedin. Let’s hope that this year is a positive one for our community – locally, nationally and internationally.

As we started to work on this issue of the OGT and we thought about possible copy to include, we decided that it would be useful, especially at this time of the year with new people coming to town, to dedicate some space to the local resources and groups that provide support and assistance to and social events for the LGBT/queer community. This proved to be an interesting but also slightly disappointing exercise as I soon learned that several groups that once existed had recently folded. I know it’s the nature of groups made up solely or predominantly of volunteers that their existence or popularity frequently goes in cycles and at some stages they’re strong and vibrant and then they go through a rough patch and so on. Some groups survive the low points and are later resurrected and re-energised (often by a new group of people), while others simply vanish.

Local groups that I understand have recently stopped functioning include LIPS (Lesbians in Pubs), the queer radio show on 91FM, the Dunedin Rainbow Labour Branch and Rainbow Connection (an Invercargill-based group). Also, Pride Dunedin Youth is currently not offering its groups because it needs some more people to get involved and give some time and energy to the organisation before this can happen once again.

On a more positive note, though, groups such as Rainbow Families, PFLAG, Ascent, the Purple Passions soccer team and UniQ continue to go from strength to strength and are looking forward to offering support and social activities for members of the LGBT/queer community, our families and friends in 2006. There are also various other groups/services that are available - see pages 6 and 7 and the Gayzette/Dykrectory on page 12 for more information.

In addition, it’s wonderful to see that there are still people out there who are willing to try and set up groups. This is perhaps one of the strengths of our community. There are also informal groups that often arise from a number of people with similar interests or needs or concerns. If you’re involved with a group that isn’t currently listed in the OGT, then please let me know if you’d like us to promote your group.

2005 ended on a sad note for many in our community with the sudden and tragic death of Konrad Kahuroa who lived, until quite recently, in Dunedin. Konrad contributed significantly to our community and he is remembered as someone full of energy, enthusiasm and creativity. We will be printing a tribute to Konrad in the next issue of the OGT and everyone is welcome to contribute to this in any way they wish - photos, letters, poetry, stories, etc. Contributions can be sent either to the OGT (PO Box 6171, Dunedin or [email protected]  ) or to UniQ ([email protected]).

Finally, just a reminder that the OGT always welcomes contributions – articles, letters to the editor, poetry, reviews, photos, creative writing, blurbs about upcoming events, etc. etc. etc. Please remember that this is "our" paper and that there’s space for everyone’s voice. 

I hope that you enjoy this issue of the paper and the rest of the summer.

by Tor Devereux

In December last year the Marriage (Gender Clarification) Amendment Bill was, thankfully, defeated by 73 votes to 47. The Marriage (Gender Clarification) Amendment Bill was a Private Member’s Bill sponsored initially by Larry Baldock MP (United Future) and then taken over after the election by Gordon Copeland MP (also from United Future).

The purpose of the Bill was to change the Marriage Act to make it clear that marriage in New Zealand can only be between a man and a woman and to amend the antidiscrimination protections in the New Zealand Bill of Rights so that measures which "assist" or "advance" marriage would not be considered discriminatory. It also specifically stated that "a person may not marry a person of the same gender" and prevented the recognition of same-sex marriages from overseas.

The vote on the first reading of the Bill was a conscience vote. All Labour MPs except 1 (Taito Philip Field) voted against the Bill, as did all the Green Party MPs, all the Maori Party MPs, the Progressive Party MP, 12 National MPs and 2 NZ First MPs. In commenting about the Bill, Dunedin’s National List MP Katherine Rich said it would add nothing to the Marriage Act. "The law, as it stands, is that marriage is between a man and a woman. The law is already settled on this matter," she said. "This Bill is a cheap political stunt. It will be used as a platform for every banjo-playing redneck homophobe who wants to stand up and make comments about the way other people lead their lives."

Press Release from NZ AIDS Foundation, 31 December 2005

A Queen’s Service Medal in the New Year Honours List is a fitting recognition of a man whose dedication and work commitment has directly contributed to New Zealand having one of the lowest rates of HIV in its at-risk populations of any country in the world, the New Zealand AIDS Foundation said today.

NZAF Research Director Tony Hughes (Auckland) has been awarded the QSM for services to the community. He lobbied for and helped initiate the first Government-funded NZAF HIV/AIDS prevention campaign in November 1985 and has worked for the foundation for just over 20 years.

"On a recent visit to New Zealand," said NZAF Executive Director Rachael Le Mesurier, "Dr Peter Piot, Executive Director of UNAIDS, applauded this country for maintaining an HIV prevalence among men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM) at one of the lowest rates in  the world. A large part of that success is attributable to Tony’s political strategising, policy guidance and an emphasis on research-based practice."

Tony Hughes was also involved in lobbying for and supporting the establishment of other organisations in New Zealand that have helped this country achieve very low rates of HIV among other risk groups, most notably the national needle exchange system and the New Zealand Prostitutes Collective. As a result less than 1% of injecting drug users in New Zealand have contracted HIV, and HIV transmission among sex workers in New Zealand is one of the lowest in the developed world.

"This award also gives appropriate recognition to Tony for his advocacy work in the area of Human Rights law reform, which has gone hand-in-hand with creating the conditions to allow MSM, needle users and sex workers full access to information and services around the prevention of HIV and other health needs without the fear and stigma of criminalisation and discrimination. As such, this work, while enormously important in its own right as an issue of human rights for minority groups, has also directly contributed to the success of our HIV prevention campaigns.

"Tony’s strength was his ability to frame these issues in ways that the public could relate to and feel that they had a stake in, even though they were issues affecting, predominantly, minority groups," Ms Le Mesurier said. "The result has been internationally acclaimed human rights and health promotion initiatives that have benefited all New Zealanders."

Otago in drought. A gravel road, humpbacked, stitched with grass and thistle. I rattle along in my rent-a-wreck, looking for .lm locations. Views right and left strike equally strange to my citified eyes, but a moment of particular incongruity stands out: beyond a wire fence, cutting between paddock and road, a common two-tone bull and a ram keep company. The bull stands proprietarily over the ram (perhaps to shade the sun), in a proximity that proclaims A COUPLE, and reminds one of Genet-like unions between men of one race who are intoxicated only by those of another. So, I wonder if this pair, too, have slipped the common herd for a further field where to indulge the bliss each finds in the other, or are they Shakespearean lovers driven off by their beastly clans for a passion not meant to be? (Whatever’s going down, man, it’s not Disney.)

Now, a farmer on his tractor, going my way - the owner, I assume, of the paddocks and wayward stock. I slow to overtake, smile and wave, hoping he’ll wave right back (it’s oft the kindness of strangers makes up a budgetary lack), but when he takes no notice of my politesse I begin to wonder if he’s lost in thought of the outlaw pair - and with what degree of disgust or empathy?

Or could it be some inner distraction blinded him to them in passing, as he seems to be blind to me? Or had he simply chosen to ignore them, not quite in an attitude of live and let live (he’s a farmer after all), but willing, in nature’s broad swing, to look the other way? Then again, perhaps to strangers only this rhyme strikes odd, one from a path if everyday trod would seem without distinction.

As I roll over the brow of the hill, leaving all behind, I wonder how best to co-opt the farmer’s stock to be my official .lm mascot.   

I figure a midsummer game of rugby must rate quite a bit of tongue-wag, so it’s cautiously I draft a letter to the local school rugby teams, which I hope to enlist for my film’s set-piece match. With no other card up my sleeve if these guys give me the heave-ho, I don’t want to blow my one and only chance, deciding the best parlance is to delay the time they come to know the central theme of my show is just a weensy bit gay, you might say. I tell myself it’s enough to parley up front the novel’s name (by a local, well known I assume) from which I’ve adapted the screenplay, and hope (even as I seal the envelope) my ethical fudge of keeping mum won’t boomerang later to bite me in the bum. I know that shifting responsibility from disclosure by me to self-enlightenment by them only postpones the time when they will need to know what I know must be made known, before I can be sure my game is secure.

The letter seems to have got me a foot in the door, though any other advantage won by my literary moderation is obscure, as I arrive at the home of one team coach. Handshakes over, this burly bloke introduces his pride and joy, who plays for one of the teams, and his friendly wife, who puts the kettle on.  The other coach comes with a boy of his own and we start the talk. These are not guys you muck around and I don’t want, on a later day, any parent to say I took them for a ride. So, as we sound each other out, I look for a way to play that three lettered word, which to keep faith (with myself as much as them) I feel ‘tis time ‘twas heard. However, imagining the passage of that sound (irretrievable once out) from throat to room (now abuzz with sporty enthusiasm) I hesitate, but my scene is at stake and, though it risks a blue, I’ve no choice but to come clean and speak true.

I muster my resolve. But then, by slight of hand beyond my ken, I sense the need for that small sound (which takes big breath to make) inexplicably evaporate; as the coaches let it be known, with tactful allusions (the kids are present) to boys who are a bit different, that they’ve read the book and have my news in hand. Before I can gather my wits, we’re in the backyard - coaches, kids, wife and doggy too - tossing a ball and sketching plays we’ll shoot a month down the track. As I try to avoid the ball (fumbled when not), I’m surprised and grateful, relieved and impressed by the discreet, finessed wherewithal with which these ham-.fisted guys pulled off their happy trick, on everyone’s behalf, of making everything known yet nothing said. In my mind I backtrack to pinpoint the moment decision in my favour was writ, but neither nay nor yea can I recall in signpost glance or nod, till it slowly dawns (I’m a bit of a plod) that the decision was shod well before my prance through their door. And I’m left to ponder a set of prejudices I did not expect to find - my own.

Friday night the .lm crew descends on the country pub to unwind - not quite a takeover because plenty of locals enjoy a drink too. By 9pm, when I call in, the bump and grind of us to them is roughly equal - sixty men and women all up maybe, from the geriatric to the only just legal, questionably. The evening’s revel is at a stage when cool gives way to the bonhomie of lilt and phrase that rings pure country - a pleasure to see, undeniably, though I’m not a big talker myself, and I quickly find a wall where I can stand quietly and observe. The buck at the bar is a well built sort, sandy haired, young twenties, a farm hand I guess, and he’s stripping with the ease of someone changing out of dungarees after a day mucking out the shed - although here, at this moment, it’s elastic-waisted stubbies his thumbs hook and drag to the floor, with underpants along for the ride and tee-shirt skied to give the total look, the lot then socked at the bar fender, and forgot. So, it’s naked now he lifts his glass with tipsy grin to the mate alongside (a dark haired twin - alas still clothed).

I gag, I blink - you don’t get this when you drink in gay bars on K Rd, unless you pay extra at the door, and, even if you do, the draught served up lacks the full-bodied favour of this potent home brew. Glancing about into a stew of alcoholic hilarity attached to gesticulating limb, I try to ascertain my neighbours’ take on this riveting view, but the few who note it turn away, rolling eyes which seem to say it’s been a long day already. Even mine host behind the bar gives the impression of willful ignorance as he finds employ at the far end of the room, leaving my boy to enjoy his joke and nakedness, unmolested.

I zoom in, but before my closer inspection the happy chappy (sensing my attention?) sidles off to pay his respects to a group of local gals (his sister’s friends? an ex school mistress? the lass from the shop where he buys his chips?) who turn up their noses in mock dismay at the wares splayed out on their table top, all the while taking their .ll, till it’s got, and would seem stretching it not to ask why he’s waving his thingy under their noses. Then they send him (share and share alike) on his way quick trot to the next in line, who bide time patiently waiting for their ganderful.

No one beats a breast, complains outright, nor demands short shift. It’s as though everyone accepts this guy’s right to his night’s entertainment and judges it best ignored if it’s not their cup of tea, or coffee as the case may be, until (it looks set he’ll stir her drink) one gal cries enough! – she flicks her lighter (she’ll .fight fire with fire) and threatens him with the flame. He guffaws, withdraws tail flapping, back to his mate at the bar who’s not the sort (it arouses my faith in human nature to see) to leave a matey in the lurch, and so he (yahoo!) is now strip teasing too. But better is yet to come (top shelf rum we’re drinking here) ‘cause rather than be outdone, or perhaps wary of the competition, my fair friend takes himself in hand, working up the full extent of his stick (it’s swell, I tell you), but ‘tis a trick mine host deems going too far as he advances with a cue of his own (chalked but moments ago) and gives a whack to my beauty’s glow that cools it. He takes the hint that the show’s over and, with a hop, skip and a jump, the clothes go on and his pride and my joy is tucked to bed for the night - which then proceeds AS THOUGH NOTHING HAD HAPPENED.

by Aelred Edmunds

"I have been asked if there is such a thing as ‘a gay spirituality’, and my answer is a resounding ‘yes’." (William Schindler)

Is there such a thing?

The Theosophical Society in Dunedin will be hosting a seminar on this question on Wednesday 22nd February, 7.30pm, at the old RSA building 469 Moray Place (opposite First Church). This is a controversial subject, and so I think we can predict a lively evening! While Schindler’s answer is "yes", others will answer "no". Some commentators go so far as to claim that even the terms "homosexual" and "gay" have little meaning - that they are only historically recent social constructs.

Let’s see if we can get to the bottom of some of this.

It was Fr. John McNeill who famously (or infamously) advised the gay devotee to "invite God into a deep and passionate homosexual relationship". I have sought to do this, but have found it very difficult in a Christian context. Years ago I turned towards an exotic god-form who is openly celebrated as erotic - Krishna. Of course, as a gay man I have given this eroticism a gay twist! (Would that I could have successfully eroticised the figure of Jesus Christ. Sadly, so far as I can see, the Christian traditions have robbed Jesus of any sexual allure.)

And what of the following passage?

Is this a manifestation of "gay spirituality", or is it merely another aspect of queer "social constructs?" And what of the unique spiritual insights and visions of lesbian, transsexual, transgendered and intersex members of our community?

I really hope that we can make this a special and powerful sharing experience. So far as I am aware, there has been no initiative quite like this in Dunedin - at least not in the time that I have been in the city. So, please join us.

by Kare Grayson

The Rainbow Flag is perhaps the most widely recognisable contemporary symbol of gay pride. The flag was created by San Francisco artist Gilbert Baker in 1978 for the San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Freedom Day Parade.

The Rainbow Flag originally consisted of eight stripes with each colour symbolising an aspect of gay culture:

Baker hand-dyed all the material for the 1978 flags, but for the next year’s parade he opted to get them commercially printed. However, hot-pink was not a commercially available colour, so the pink stripe was dropped from the design. I can’t help thinking that the exclusion of the symbolic colour for gay sex was more than a coincidence. Why hadn’t the technology for the production of the gay male colour been developed? Perhaps this oversight was a reflection of society’s control through industrial means. Baker approved the seven striped design anyway. I can only imagine that the sacrifice of pink was, for him, justified by the flag’s positive potential for visibility.

By the end of 1979 the Rainbow Flag lost another stripe. This time it was turquoise after harmony was disrupted by the assassination of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay supervisor of San Francisco and the man who had first challenged Baker to create a pride symbol.  The decision to edit out the turquoise stripe was made by the Pride Parade Committee. It appears that the decision to alter the design was a technical one - the Committee wanted to be able to divide the stripes evenly, with three stripes of the flags flown from the lamp posts on either side of the street. I would hope that the main reason for the six-striped version was respect; that the flag distribution  was a demonstration of the violent disruption which the killing effected on the gay community; the act of marching, a statement of solidarity, symbolically "bridging the gap".  

The six-striped version of the flag became the most widely used and it is recognised by the International Congress of Flag Makers.  I personally prefer the original eight-stripe version for its authenticity and comprehensive symbolism. Baker also reverted to the original design for his 25th New York Stonewall Anniversary Flag in 1994, producing a 1.25 mile-long banner reaching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico. After the parade, the flag was cut into sections and distributed to Pride Organisations around the world, including New Zealand.

Between 2004 and 2005 I created a piece entitled "Community Pride Construction Project". The work consisted of 736 portraits (92 of each of the 8 original pride flag colours), which were then hung in the format of the Pride Flag. My intention was that the individual elements, after being shown united, would be dispersed, as Baker’s anniversary flag had been, and as we as individuals do.

Each painting is from a blind drawing of a person or persons, producing a caricature of their physical identity. Some of the images are recognisable as specific individuals, while others are not so obvious.  This reflects the in/visibility of the queer community.  Working from blind drawings is also reflective of how we as queer people construct our individual images of community. We do not necessarily know anything about the people we include in our constructions, their purpose is simply to provide us with an abstract context in which to place ourselves. The queer "community" is a fiction, but a necessary one - without it we would not know ourselves.  

Diversity Liaison Officers (DLOs) were formerly known as Gay and Lesbian Liaison Officers, but the name was changed to be more inclusive of bisexual, transgender and intersex communities.

The DLO role is an initiative of the New Zealand Police as part of the inclusiveness policy. It sits alongside the Iwi, Asian and Pacific Liaison roles. Many Police forces around the world already have some form of a gay and lesbian liaison officer, including the New South Wales Police and the London Metropolitan Police force.

These roles specifically are to build trust, honesty and understanding between the Police and the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex (GLBTI) communities.  Overseas studies and local anecdotal evidence show that there is a great deal of distrust held by these groups about how they will be treated by Police Officers, leading to a large number of crimes against individuals and organisations going unreported. Some of these unreported crimes are extremely serious incidents, including domestics, rape, robberies, same-sex sexual assaults and burglaries. Many of these crimes will also sit under the newly legislated hate crime category. There is evidence too that many youth suicides, and much youth offending, may have as a direct or indirect cause sexuality issues.

The second half of the DLO role is to ensure that GLBTI staff within the NZ Police have a safe and supportive environment in which to work. Only by doing this can the Police ensure that it retains valuable, highly trained staff. There is much evidence which suggests that the organisation has lost many experienced staff at all levels due to sexuality (or perceived sexuality) issues. By providing a truly inclusive workplace, the Police can recruit from more varied communities to enrich the organisation and better reflect the communities that we serve.

The Police are committed at all levels to this initiative. There are currently 32 DLOs throughout NZ with 7 of those within the South Island. These are portfolio roles - that is, positions that are done in a part-time/voluntary basis over and above normal duties.  

Training is held annually at the Royal New Zealand Police College over a four day period, and it provides an intense and candid look into all aspects of the GLBTI community. A large part of this course includes training in Hate Crime Legislation - the same training that is delivered at the Detective’s Qualifying Course. In addition, all new Police Recruit Wings undergo inclusiveness training. All existing front line Constables have also been through this training. The New Zealand Navy already undergoes this training and the Justice Department has also taken up the initiative and training for its own staff. The Department of Corrections is also likely to commit to this training.

There is a semi-regular newsletter issued by the Office of the Commissioner called "Ten Percent". The newsletter is accessible to all NZ Police staff via the police intranet and it covers a wide range of material relating to the many areas affecting the GLBTI communities and Police throughout NZ.

Dunedin and Otago’s Diversity Liaison Officer is Sergeant Matt Scoles who can be contacted via the Dunedin Central Police Station (phone 03-471-4800).

Invercargill and Southland’s Diversity Liaison Officer is Senior Constable Eru Loach who can be contacted via the Invercargill Police Station (phone 03-211-0400).

Part of the DLO role is to be visible within the communities and available to assist people with any queries, difficulties or complaints that they may have. For our DLOs to build relationships with our GLBTI communities and with individuals, and more importantly vice versa, we as individuals must start to gain rapport and subsequent trust with them. Then we can begin to work together to make OUR community safer for us all.

Public Health South and the Invercargill Police Diversity Liaison Officer are hoping to assist in re-establishing a support and social group for members of the Invercargill non heterosexual community.

The previous support and social group, Rainbow Connection, dissolved in June 2005. It was the most recent in a series of such groups. Previous support and social groups shared similar characteristics - a telephone line, informal and larger social gatherings and opportunities for networking.

Rainbow Connection was also involved in awareness raising activities around the Candlelight Memorial and World AIDS Day. Rainbow Connection was the result of collective action by a group of friends, who had themselves benefited from similar social and support groups. People we have spoken to still see a need for such a group.

What we propose is that a steering committee of people interested in supporting the proposal gets together in February, and together develops a plan to form a support and social group that will not only meet the needs of the community, but be sustainable over the long term.  The challenges faced by an informal group such as Rainbow Connection are matters such as responsibility falling on a small number of people who have to make use of their own private resources – this not only stretches their capacity but can also be unsafe for the individuals concerned.

A potential solution is the formation of an incorporated society or charitable trust which would serve to share the responsibility and open up the potential of external funding to underwrite services such as the telephone line, training for those answering the telephone and so on. Ultimately the main resource of any group that emerges will be the committed and capable people it is comprised of and it will be this group of people determining its characteristics.

Public Health South and the Invercargill Police Diversity Liaison Officer see their role as simply being one of support and encouragement.

If you are interested in taking part from the beginning, in whatever capacity, please do not hesitate in contacting Stephen Jenkins at Public Health South on (03) 211-0900.

Last Labour Weekend ASCENT Dunedin celebrated its twentieth birthday in Dunedin (twenty six years since our founding in New Zealand). Over fifty people coming from as far away as Australia and Wellington attended the various events over the weekend. The weekend was full of fun and the renewing of friendships.

ASCENT Dunedin meets monthly from February to December and is hosted by various members in their homes. It is a Catholic-based group of gays and lesbians, which has opened its membership to other gay and lesbian Christians who wish to nourish their spirituality. The activities are varied and the programme attempts to fulfill all the aims of the group. One of our major aims is to provide a supportive community for all gays and lesbians. The group is especially conscious of offering support to people who are newly experiencing their sexuality. We explore and share spiritual insights in an attempt to offer one another ways to understand what it means to have a spirituality. This offers us a challenge to build a bridge of understanding with churches and their members so we can reconcile with one another. Important within the programme is the opportunity to meet socially and build friendships, and to educate ourselves in matters of justice, law and our acceptance within society. 

There is a policy of privacy for all involved in our group with no questions asked.

For an opportunity to join a friendly non-stressful discussion and social

group, with an ecumenical flavour, or if you wish to receive a programme for 2006, please make contact with us at: ASCENT Dunedin, PO Box 5328 Moray Place, Dunedin, or by ringing Yvonne on 476-7395.

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 three years now and there’s a range in the ages of the children – toddlers, pre-schoolers 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 [email protected] or 453-1108.

Glenaven is a Methodist Church with an ecumenical congregation and a special ministry to the gay and lesbian  community. Theologically, Glenaven is at the cutting edge and our Sunday sermons are followed by some pretty lively dialogue.

On Sunday mornings we have coffee and cookies from 10:40am and our service is from 11am to 12pm.

Glenaven is located in Chambers Street, North East Valley.

Welcome - Support - Information - Confidentiality Understanding - Love - Acceptance - Pride Finding it hard to be young and gay, or questioning?

1. Everyone assumes you are heterosexual.

2. You hear negative things about gay people.

3. You feel afraid that if someone knows they will reject or bully you.

4. You worry whether your family and friends will still love you if they know.

5. You keep it quiet and need accurate information, but don’t know how to find it.

Realise that you ARE an okay person, valuable and worthy of respect. Take time to find more information about being gay.

Parents and families

1. Parents usually go through a time of real grief, fear and confusion when they first find out that their daughter or son (or family member) is gay.

2. They usually don’t know who they can trust.

3. They need to find support and accurate information.

Attitudes in the community can make parents afraid to love and accept their gay children, and often divide families. Parents need support and information.

When young people have the love and support of their families it helps them to develop a sense of self worth.

How can PFLAG help?

Understanding and Experience Although we have all "been there" in our own families, we recognise that each person, each family situation is different and will need different kinds of support. Look at our website for lots more information – http://au.geocities.com/pflagsouth or phone us on 025-686-9304 if you would like to talk or for more information.

(We always offer to ring back on a landline.) You can email us at [email protected] and we can also meet people individually for a coffee and a chat. Confidentiality is assured.

PFLAG also has a library that includes books, leaflets and videos. These are available at all meetings. PFLAG has monthly meetings:

4th Monday of the month, 7.30pm

Community House, Moray Place (opposite the "Woolshed")

We welcome mums, dads, grandparents, uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters and friends at our meetings, as well as gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people themselves. We find that gay people and parents talking together can help families to understand each other.

There are no formal support systems for trans people in the Otago area. A small number of guys who are trans or herm get together socially, reasonably regularly, and we welcome contact from others who are trans, herm, gender queer, trans butch or questioning gender in their own lives and who would like to meet up or talk by phone.

We can be contacted through the OGT ([email protected] or 0274-793-113) or Agender in Wellington

(0800-AGENDER).

A branding iron features as one of the symbols on the Wyoming State Flag. The unkindness of humans features in the eleven stories that make up this collection by Wyoming author Annie Proulx. Wyoming is far from the sea.  It is ancient mountains and vast plains. A harsh land with a harsh climate. It is small towns, like Casper and Laramie and Cheyenne. The entire population is less than half a million.

Proulx creates suitably tough (and believable) characters - ranchers, cowpokes and ne’er-do-wells - to inhabit this unforgiving physical environment. Most stories are set in the twentieth century, some the century before. "It was thirty four degrees below zero, the wind shrieking along the tracks. ‘It sure can’t get more worse than this,’ he said. He didn’t know anything about it." This is from "People In Hell Just Want A Drink Of Water".  Proulx is introducing us to Ice Dunmore. He has just bought a ranch and calls it the Rocking Box. His wife Naomi produces, in quick succession, nine sons - Jaxon, the twins Ideal and Pet, Kemmy, Marion, Byron, Varn, Ritter and Bliss.  Of course the Rocking Box fails to prosper and she leaves them all, running off with the cook-pan tinker.

"The Mud Below" is the tale of a doomed would-be rodeo star, Diamond Felts, who is a mere five foot three and really does have a brother called Pearl. "All his life he had heard himself called Half-Pint, Baby Boy, Shorty, Kid, Tiny, Little Guy, Sawed-Off. His mother never let up, always had the needle ready, even the time she had come into the upstairs hall and caught him stepping naked from the bathroom, she had said, ‘Well, at least you didn’t get short changed that way, did you?’"

White is highly sexually driven in life and this is reflected in his writing. What is also apparent is his response to the allure of physical beauty.  "Invariably, I’d fall in love with a pretty boy [meaning young man], a boy younger and more delicate than I. If I should succeed in seducing such a boy, I scarcely knew what to do with him.  By nature I was as passive as these boys were supposed to be; if I was lucky the pink-cheeked, full-lipped, flaxen-haired boy would have a sadistic streak; the foolish bride would become the infernal bridegroom. I fell in love with pretty boys, but I was aroused by masculine, demanding men."

In the section describing his infatuation with his "master", White writes frankly of their sexual acts and his intense pain when he concludes that there is no way of keeping even a dysfunctional partnership going. Although some readers may regard this chapter as "too much information" or merely self-indulgent, White’s account of the intense preoccupation with another is both painfully and well wrought.

In 1993 White published his award-winning biography of Jean Genet – over 700 pages of text with a further close on 80 pages of notes and a comprehensive index. In my view, this is the book that will remain White’s outstanding achievement – perhaps a strange thing for a man whose reputation among many has largely been based on his novels. Barber, in his biography of White, states that it was common opinion amongst the gay  community in the United States that White should move from researching and writing on Genet and turn instead to AIDS activism as Genet was regarded as irrelevant. White, however, sees Genet as an "enduringly significant presence".

There are significant commentaries on each of White’s published works relating them to his life where appropriate. There are also sensitive accounts of White’s partnerships including that with Hubert Sorin. The section on Sorin’s last days when they were travelling in adverse circumstances in Morocco (Sorin was dying with AIDS) is nothing short of harrowing. But there are also some conclusions which might be overdrawn – he likened New York in the 1980s becoming "a desperate landscape of absences" akin to Berlin in 1945.

Review by Ralph Body

Using a high-keyed palette, Robinson sets his figures against equally vivid areas of colour. Whilst his simplified forms divest his men of specific identities, the architecture of their limbs conveys a sense of their dispositions. Some figures are captured in moments of athletic exertion whilst others lounge. The splayed legged "Barberini Faun" pose appears frequently, perhaps a reference to the centrality of the male nude in the history of Western art. Even at their most langorous, however, Robinson’s colour and brushwork charge his figures with a latent energy. In all cases his figures appear at ease with their own bodies, comfortable and confident in their nakedness.

Robinson’s loosely suggested forms evoke the transience of human experience.  Although captured in paint, they seem more like memories of an encounter rather than an immediate presence. The paintings’ small scale, which recalls a postcard or snapshot, adds to this intimate quality. In a number of instances works have been brought together in groups of three to form triptychs. The individual panels seem to gain an energy when viewed cumulatively. One is more attuned to the variations in treatment as one image is played off against another.

Robinson has worked in a broad painterly style with his lush, fleshy paintwork an essential part of the picture surface. This treatment is by no means restricted to the figures, and is perhaps most fully realised in the background abstractions.  Indeed, in their sensuality of texture and pulsating chromatic vibrancy, these passages of intense colour serve as visual analogies, evoking the same qualities as the figurative subject matter. It is almost as if the atmosphere has been rendered physically palpable – crystallised in these exquisite morsels of sumptuous colour.

Review by Garth Frew

The images are the product of a photographer who registers patterns in the real but refuses a reading in terms of myth. Clark applies her skills in a self-effacing manner and uses colour, form, line and space as objective anchors for the realisation of individual presence. The early "Ian Geraldine At Home" (Auckland, 1975) appears prosaic but is a subtle symphony of cream and green, a 1970s context, a stage for the performance of gender identity.

Imaging "what she knows" and focused upon recording that reality in all its nuanced complexity, in the artist/participant performance pieces of the "Dance Party" series Clark captures transgender sensibility. Controversial at the time, the work challenged the cultural gate keepers. It is a project which continues to challenge. Not a package of entertainment (apparently not Te Papa’s cup of tea), it demands from its audience participation in the recognition of a larger, more inclusive concept of New Zealand society. This material is not documentation of "outsiders", it is no window on a cultural other that might be kept at a distance. This project is an insider’s service to the task of legitimising cultural experience.

Throughout the works, Clark’s camera takes a variety of perspectives on the lives of her subjects. In the likes of "Sharon At Mojos" (Auckland, 1975) the camera looks up and emphasises the stage. The pictured context is characterised by simplicity and clarity and is compositionally rigorous. Line, shape and colour allow Sharon to declare herself with direct gaze. Many of the photographs employ portraiture from close and medium distance. They function as classical portraits facilitating the expression and representation of cultural being. These are real personalities documented living interesting lives. Many of the later images are almost "conversation pieces", context and gender performance expressed in a maturity of context and outlook. They realise the deeper and more comprehensive self that is life experience. "Pat Robb At Home" (Auckland, 1984) is different again. The backlight illuminates and casts shadow. The closeness of the shot, the level and direct engagement with photographer and audience insist on the recognition and engagement with a psychological presence.

The video performances, open and honest monologue/ dialogue between artist and subject, relate three decades of personal experience from a variety of perspectives. They produce an ether of subjectivity and give insight and connection to individuals elsewhere in the exhibition. The artist is present as participant and the real is shaped as a phenomena of participation.  Functioning as a powerful complement to the stills they are integral to the cultural matrix this project realises.

by Jane E Libeau

Somewhere in the

Soft twilight

Between end of day

And start of night

The eyes do see different hues

Softened pastels

Of greens and blues

The whimsical notion

Of fairy worlds evolve

Dancing flying

Ancient

Old

Eyes play tricks?

Or senses change?

Reach out to touch

But cannot engage

Could it be in

The belief

They do not exist

Have we forgotten

Fairy bliss?

If you believe this to be true

And the land of fairies

Is not for you

Shut out the twilight

Of end of day

Ignore the .uttering

Wings o’ fey

Just remember

The flicker of the eyes

And not believing

Will make them die

Until the next twilight

Comes by

You may see them again

And breathe out a sigh

I believe in fairies

That come out to play

Bringing colourful endings

To my day.

by Jane E Libeau

Embossed images

Pressed within the mind

Like wetted paper

I remold

Stories become memories

As memories

Unfold

I soak in my life

And forge my being

True self emerging

From the sights I am seeing

The deeper I go

Into the abyss of me

The warmer I feel

To the knowing of me

Transformations

On levels abound

Truth of the being

Ever resound.

World Watch acknowledges the source of these stories as 365Gay.com , gaylesbiantimes.com, GayLinkContent.com, GayWired.com, rainbownetwork.com and pinknews.co.uk

South Africa has followed many other countries in banning gay men from donating blood. The country’s leading gay rights group, South African Gay and Lesbian Rights Advocacy Group, has argued that potential donors should be screened according to whether they have had unprotected sex, not on the basis of their sexuality. "I understand that the blood transfusion service needs some sort of social indicator to derive the safety of blood but the use of gay in a blanket way indicates this is not fair," said a spokesman for the group.

Australia’s right-wing Prime Minister, John Howard, has ruled out ever recognising gay marriages. Howard claimed he is not seeking to discriminate against gay people but believes "very strongly that marriage is exclusively a union for life of a man and a woman to the exclusion of others".

Police have raided an underground gay club and arrested four men on charges of perpetrating homosexual activities. According to the police the men are members of Talaash (Search), an internet-based group with over 100,000 members. "These people haven’t been accused of having sex, just of running an organisation that puts other gay people in touch with one another. This isn’t even illegal in India; the law criminalises the act of gay sex, not being gay itself," said a spokesman of the British gay human rights group OutRage!.

Police have shut down the opening of a gay and lesbian cultural arts festival in Beijing, an action participants say highlights deep-rooted intolerance toward homosexuality. The festival was to be a weekend of films, plays, exhibitions and seminars on the issue of homosexuality. Police claim the organisers did not have permission to hold the event, while participants say the real issue was the subject matter. "The attitude in China is still very conservative," a student said.

The lower house of Belgium’s parliament has voted 77–62 in favour of allowing same-sex adoption. Final approval by the upper house is expected in March, making Belgium the third EU country, after Sweden and Spain, to grant gay couples the same rights as heterosexual couples, including the right to adopt children from anywhere in the world. In Germany and Denmark homosexual adoption is limited to the partner’s biological children. Belgium campaigners had argued that many children are currently cared for by homosexual couples, but are without adequate legal protection. Since Belgium approved same-sex marriage two years ago, some 5,000 ceremonies have taken place.

Human Rights Watch, an international human rights organisation, has joined United States LGBT activists in accusing the government of Nepal of trying to wipe out gays and transsexuals. "Human Rights Watch is gravely concerned by a continuing pattern of arbitrary arrest and police violence against metis (men by birth who identify as women, and might in different cultural circumstances be called transgender people), men who have sex with men and activists for sexual rights in Kathmandu," a spokesman for the group has said. The latest reported incident occurred on 3 January when four police officers reportedly spotted a group of metis on the street in Kathmandu and shouted, "Metis! Kill them!" All three metis were beaten severely. The Nepalese government has refused to comment.

by Andrew Metcalfe

Along with New Zealand and other parts of the world, Scotland now has in place a system for recognising same sex partnerships. However, there are some significant differences. Surprisingly, one of these has been the lack of public pressure, antagonism and the need for the GLBT community to rally around to make sure that the measures went through. In a country that is still essentially conservative when it comes to matters of sexuality (until 1981 sex between men was illegal in Scotland, even in private), there has been very little fuss.

On the 5th of December 2005 the Civil Partnership Act came into being, allowing same sex couples to register their partnership and gain entitlement to the same rights and responsibilities as married couples. I’m not sure why there has been such a lack of public controversy. Perhaps because in this case Scotland chose to follow what was being legislated in the whole of the UK, rather than enact its own law through the Scottish Parliament. There often seems to be a difference in how things get dealt with in the smaller (5 million) population base here, and what happens in the whole of Britain.

The other difference is that this legislation is primarily for same sex partners, and does not give an option of "civil union" for others who may not want traditional marriage and all its trappings, as is the case in New Zealand.  Civil Partnerships will be carried out by registrars within all of the various local authority areas. Each area must ensure that there is someone available to perform them, especially as there have been mutterings from some individual registrars that they are not keen to do this. As you could imagine, there is a fairly consistent resistance from the Church of Scotland and other religious organisations to have any part in these ceremonies, although one would hope that there would be a number of rebels in the ranks.

At the date of writing this, there have been 59 applications (34 male and 24 female) in Edinburgh, 30 in Glasgow, 18 in Fife … and 9 in Perth and Kinross, where I’m currently based. Perhaps this is an indication of the areas where most same sex partners are choosing to live and work. Another interesting feature is the age profile of applicants - they tend to be older people who have been with their partners for a while and who need to have issues addressed like pension arrangements, next of kin, access to social security, support of children, tax benefits and inheritance rights.

So, "viva la difference". Here’s hoping that the lack of fuss is not because people don’t care, or have not fully realised the momentous change that has happened here. But it is this way because Scotland and the whole of the UK recognises that it is the decent and right thing to do.

Many have been wondering how Spain, which has been perceived as a hardline Catholic country, came to legalise same-sex marriage and adoption in June last year. Here are excerpts from the now-famous speech delivered by Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero at the time. (Translation by Rex Wockner.) It’s probably the most affirming speech ever delivered by a head of government, anywhere, so we thought it’d make nice summer reading…

"We are not legislating, honourable members, for people far away and not known by us. We are enlarging the opportunity for happiness to our neighbours, our co-workers, our friends and our families. At the same time we are making a more decent society, because a decent society is one that does not humiliate its members.

"Today, the Spanish society answers to a group of people who, during many years, have been humiliated, whose rights have been ignored, whose dignity has been offended, their identity denied and their liberty oppressed. Today, the Spanish society grants them the respect they deserve, recognises their rights, restores their dignity, affirms their identity and restores their liberty.

"It is true that they are only a minority, but their triumph is everyone’s triumph. It is also the triumph of those who oppose this law, even though they do not know this yet, because it is the triumph of Liberty. Their victory makes all of us (even those who oppose the law) better people; it makes our society better. Honourable members, there is no damage to marriage or to the concept of family in allowing two people of the same sex to get married. To the contrary, what happens is this class of Spanish citizens gets the potential to organise their lives with the rights and privileges of marriage and family. There is no danger to the institution of marriage, but precisely the opposite - this law enhances and respects marriage.

"Today, conscious that some people and institutions are in a profound disagreement with this change in our civil law, I wish to express that, like other reforms to the marriage code that preceded this one, this law will generate no evil and that its only consequence will be the avoiding of senseless suffering of decent human beings. A society that avoids senseless suffering of decent human beings is a better society.

"With the approval of this Bill, our country takes another step in the path of liberty and tolerance that was begun by the democratic change of government.  Our children will look at us incredulously, if we tell them that many years ago our mothers had less rights than our fathers, or if we tell them that people had to stay married against their will even though they were unable to share their lives. Today we can offer them a beautiful lesson: every right gained, each access to liberty has been the result of the struggle and sacrifice of many people that deserve our recognition and praise.

"Today we demonstrate with this Bill that societies can better themselves and can cross barriers and create tolerance by putting a stop to the unhappiness and humiliation of some of our citizens. Today, for many of our countrymen, comes the day predicted by [Greek gay poet] Kava.s one century ago: ‘Later ‘twas said of the most perfect society / someone else, made like me / certainly will come out and act freely’."