editorial

Hello! In this issue of the OGT we commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the Homosexual Law Reform Act and we’ve included here a history of the passing of the legislation that decriminalised sex between consenting male adults, as well as some personal re.ections about what this Act meant at the time and its ongoing effects on people and their lives. This anniversary provides an opportunity to stop and think about how much has changed for our community in 20 years, the sacri.ces that were made to get this legislation passed, the challenges and struggles we’ve faced since then, the progress that’s been made and what still remains to be done. The Homosexual Law Reform Act is an extremely important part of our LGBT/queer history and we should celebrate this triumph and all that’s followed.  

Speaking of celebrations, Dunedin’s Pride Week is coming up at the end of August (26 August – 3 September) and I would encourage everyone to participate in some way. There’s a wide range of activities being organised by a variety of local groups and individuals, so hopefully there’s something of interest for everyone. There’s a schedule of all Pride Week events included with this OGT as a separate insert and you can also check out the Pride Week website at www.dunedinprideweek.com  for more details. Pride festivities are a great way for our community to come together, to enjoy being who we are and to celebrate our culture. Lots of time and energy has been put into bringing about these Pride Week events, so please show your appreciation by getting involved and attending.

As part of Pride Week the Purple Passions women’s social soccer team is running a dance that’s a fundraiser (to help pay to send a team to the Masters Games in Wanganui next year), so please support them if you can.  Apparently the Purple Passions has been going for about 21 years which is amazing! There’s lots of history there and obviously the team (together with its supporters) plays an important – and popular – role in our community. Go the Purple Passions! 

In addition to Pride Week there are also a number of other events coming up in the next few months for us to participate in – Gay Ski Week in Queenstown, the Fringe Festival, various art exhibitions, a UniQ queerest tea party and later in November (when it’s hopefully a bit warmer!) a rainbow camp. See the "What’s On" column on page 12 for all the details.

It’s very encouraging to .nd out that a significant number of people turned out a few months back in Invercargill to discuss the possibility of starting some kind of support group for LGBT/queer people in Southland.  The establishment of the group is progressing steadily and the individuals involved in getting it set up have decided to give the group a formal structure by creating a charitable trust. The group is hoping to establish a phone line as well and to have this up and running by the end of the year. The Southland Gay and Lesbian Support Group (SGnLS) will certainly be a great asset for LGBT/queer people living in the south. (See page 12 for contact details.) Well done to all those who have gotten involved.

Make sure you keep warm for the rest of the winter! Enjoy Pride Week.

See you all in November.

Tor Devereux, Editor

We had planned our holiday in the USA for some time and many people thought we were very brave – or crazy! – to travel so far (from the west coast to the east coast) for so long (just over 5weeks) with two young children. But, as with most aspects of our lives, we didn’t let the opinions of others put us off and we remained confident that all would be well. And, I’m pleased to report that it all went much better than "well" - it was simply wonderful!

After two full-on days at Disneyland we flew from Los Angeles to Minneapolis, Minnesota and then we hired a car and proceeded to drive across the rest of the country to Boston, Massachusetts, our final destination, stopping off at various places along the way.

Some of the cities we visited were not the sorts of places that are generally on travellers’ itineraries, but the purpose of our trip was to visit friends. So, we weren’t sure how liberal or conservative some of the places we were visiting were going to be, but at no stage did we have any problems or experience any negative sentiments in regard to our family – although there was one hotel where the people at the desk were not exactly friendly and I thought at the time that they might have worked out our situation and not approved. And, there was the immigration officer in Auckland when we returned home who asked Barb and I if we were sisters … He wasn’t too sure what to say to us when Barb told him we were partners – but at 5.30 in the morning after close to 30 hours of travelling and with two tired children in tow and two more flights to go, we really didn’t care!!!

Our previous trip to the USA six years ago was full of queer culture, but this time we just had little snippets here and there. One of the major differences of holidaying with children is that rather than cafes and book shops our days were filled with children’s museums, zoos and toy shops. Anyway, here are some of the queer experiences that we had.

While in Minneapolis we visited the Amazon book store and had a great time looking through all the women’s and queer books, the pride paraphernalia, cool cards, etc. (Of course, we had to buy a few things too.)

While in Madison Barb and I took part in an interview on a community radio show hosted by a friend of ours who wanted to interview us about gay rights in New Zealand and in particular the Civil Union Act (since she knew that we had been involved in the civil union campaign here).  We did the hour-long interview accompanied by both boys in the studio, but I think that we still managed to talk fairly coherently! Someone from a group called Fair Wisconsin was also part of the show and he talked about an upcoming proposed constitutional ban that will appear on the ballot in Wisconsin in November and which will be voted on by voters. This ban proposes not only to prohibit and not recognise same-sex marriage in Wisconsin (even though it’s not yet legal here), but to also prohibit and not recognise any alternative form of legal recognition of same-sex relationships such as civil union.  It was very interesting, albeit scary, to learn about this proposed ban and the campaign opposing it because so many of the arguments that are being used to support it are the same as those we heard here by those who opposed the civil union legislation. The Fair Wisconsin group certainly sounded like they are very organised and here’s hoping that they’re successful in getting people to understand the issues and to vote "no" to this proposed ban in November. (For more information check out the website at www.fairwisconsin.com )

One of the things that we had hoped to buy while in the USA was some more rainbow families books for the kids. Unfortunately there didn’t seem to be many new books available, but we did find a couple that we like very much.

So, would we do it again? Absolutely! Holidaying with kids certainly means the holiday has a different focus than previous trips away, but then life itself has a very different focus for us now too.

The last couple of months have been busy ones for Southland Gay and Lesbian Support (SGnLS).

Since June the group has held its inaugural support meeting with between 30 and 40 people attending - an excellent start. A second meeting was held recently and the aim is to hold these monthly.  The SGnLS website has also been established and can be viewed at http://sgnls.bravehost.com.  The site contains news about the group, upcoming events and a message board. A more permanent site is under development. 

Work is also underway in establishing a telephone support line and it is hoped that this will be available to Southlanders before the end of the year.  As to the formal structure of SGnLS, it will be incorporated as a Charitable Trust in the very near future. A formal structure was preferred by members of the steering group because of increased opportunities to access funding and increased accountability.

There has been a lot of interest in the group from the community and feedback so far has been very positive with recent advertising and a newspaper story even drawing an enquiry from overseas.  You can contact SGnLS by email at [email protected]  or by calling Stephen Jenkins at Public Health South on (03) 211-0900.

Prepare to re-fringe yourself! The Dunedin Fringe Festival is coming and it promises to be packed full of must-see contemporary artwork and performance. Taking place between 22 September and 8 October, the Dunedin Fringe Festival will showcase over 800 artists, making it the largest fringe art festival in the South Island!

Check out the festival programme online at www.dunedinfringe.org.nz  or pick up your own copy in shops around Dunedin from the beginning of September.

During the Festival stop in at the Hub based at Dunedin’s iconic First Church. Featuring a marquee with seating for 100 people and two adjacent venues, the Hub will be the central focus for many Festival events. So, re-fringe yourself with the Dunedin Fringe Festival.

2 - 9 September, 2006 Queenstown

For more details check out the Gay Ski Week website at www.gayskiweeknz.com 

Friday night - Getting to know each other.  Saturday - Family day with crafts for both children and adults. Prizes for tug of war, handbag throwing and other games plus a pinata.

Saturday night - Talent quest with prizes. Sunday - Recovery brunch, then pack up to go home.

This is a BYO camp. All meals supplied but donations towards food would be appreciated. If you have any special needs food-wise, then you’ll need to contact the organisers.

Last year we had a good turn out at the camp of 60 to 80 people over the weekend.  We hope to see you at the 2006 camp.  We are looking for volunteers to do some letter writing, drivers for over the weekend and helpers for setting up and cleaning up.

If you can help out, then please contact one of the organisers: Alex on 472-8412 or Cheryl on 471-0089.

by Sue Thompson

The Dunedin Youth Expo displays a wide variety of services and information to Year 10 students. The aim is to promote help-seeking and positive attitudes to life. Taking part in this year’s Youth Expo was a most interesting challenge for PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays). Through it we made contact with many young people, other stall holders and teachers.

We were lucky to have 1,200 of our leaflets "If someone in my class is Gay what can I do?" included in the basic information pack given to all students attending the Expo. Its title is "safe" enough for someone to pick up without being identi.ed as gay, and on the back are some reliable, useful websites.

At our stall we provided a short four question quiz that could be answered by reading some basic information in the display, and we had our other lea.ets and information available.  Thank goodness for helpers who folded all the leaflets at the April meeting and for several PFLAG members who manned the stall over the two days. Two of us wore specially made t-shirts with photos of our children. The lettering on the shirts said "PROUD MOTHER OF FOUR (or FIVE). Which one is gay?" We found that we were surrounded at times and the young people wanted to talk about our children. As they "guessed", many ideas about gay people were challenged!

We tried to count how many people we talked to but it was hard to be entirely accurate - we know it was over 200, though. We had lots of entries to the competition, many of these from the country schools, and we noticed some young people who quietly took lea.ets and put them in their pockets.

- "They are relaxed, laughing at some of the myths about gays." – A teacher

- "Why do people make such a fuss about it?" 

- "All your children look normal."

- "Interesting. Great stall." – A student

- "We [gay students] get on okay. We support each other." - A country student

- "What are their [your children’s] jobs?" (Are there "gay" jobs??!!)

- A Muslim girl spoke with us.

- One boy took leaflets then stayed around our stall for a long time.

There was also one group, however, who came and said they were quite sure that gays could be changed. 

The Youth Expo was a lot of hard work, but it was also fun. The benefits are, of course, hard to

Things are moving along nicely at UniQ. A group of 9 UniQ members travelled up to Palmerston North in early July to attend the National UniQ Conference and happily for everyone we have come back with a revitalised enthusiasm and vigour for UniQ’s social events, support, queer politics and practical co-ordination of UniQ Otago.

UniQ Otago’s community liaison (a new position that is externally funded) is achieving wonders and helping kick start and collectively co-ordinate Pride Week 2006.  One of UniQ’s focuses for Pride is the celebration of our community’s stars with the Lavender Globe Awards.  Everyone is welcome to send an email to UniQ with a nomination for any/all of the categories listed below:

UniQ will also be hosting some "post pride but still proud" events after Pride Week that will be in semester time, including a FunQ, a Queerest Tea Party and a film screening. Look out for posters, check out our website (www.uniq.ousa.org.nz ) or listen to "Slice of Fruit", the queer spectrum slot on Radio One every Wednesday at 10.45am.

The period leading up to the introduction of the Homosexual Law Reform Bill into Parliament by Fran Wilde through to the period immediately after the passing of the Act in 1986 seemed as divisive a period in New Zealand, to families and society, as that of the Springbok tour which took place five years earlier. The personal cost to Fran was huge as she determinedly, withskill and articulate advocacy, promoted the Bill. She deserves the unqualified and unstinted thanks and praise of members of the gay community still. This was an issue which split families, churches and communities. A particularly hurtful moment was when my father admitted to signing the petition because "we don’t know where it will end".

The debate brought out the worst in some people and institutions, particularly some churches, but it wasn’t always those against us who engaged in prejudice and lack of articulate argument. With such passions aroused reasoned debate and logic was often too little evident.  The degree of ignorance and lack of understanding of our natures and lifestyles by some of the leading people opposing the Bill was astonishing – showing a knee-jerk emotional reaction not based on facts but on fear and hatred of difference.

The good change that happened because of the passing of the Bill into law was not just the legislative one but the whole process of education, re.ection and debate which has helped many New Zealanders come to a more informed view on this issue recognising the rights of homosexuals to live their lives fully. This attitudinal change represented a tremendously important sea-change within society at large. The final vote by which the Bill was passed into law was a slender .ve votes, and one cannot imagine such a small margin today. This is due to the process which has taken place since and the way that society and the family have clearly not crumbled as a result of the passing of the Bill.

In personal terms the most important effect for me was that, as an "out" gay man with at that time a high public profile, I received in the years 1980/81 some anonymous threatening phone calls and letters which I felt unable to do anything about as I was living in a gay partnership. I had no faith that had I gone to the Police I would not have been opening myself to prosecution. Now, I would have no hesitation in going to the Police should such a thing happen again. The Salvation Army, by their actions in promoting the petition against the passing of the Act, ensured that they would no longer receive any donations from me. Since that time I have chosen to direct equivalent amounts to other charities each time I see their appeals. I am aware that other gay men have also done the same.

But we can never rest easy. Although with the passing of the Homosexual Law Reform Act homosexual behaviour became legal, the discrimination clauses were lost and it was several years before these were enacted in law in the Human Rights Act. Yet discrimination can be a prejudice subtly exercised and gays and lesbians, newcomers to this country, people of colour and people with disabilities as members of other minority groups still remain vulnerable.

Most people can remember "where they were" for significant events of history, like the death of Princess Diana or "9/11". I can recall exactly where I was in 1986. It was, quite literally, the "enemy camp". I was half way through theological training to be a Baptist Minister in Auckland. It was not the kind of place where being seen to be gay was a good move. Some of the more conservative students were trying to get the rest of us to sign petitions against the new law. They were convinced that they had the moral high ground and that God was on their side.

To this day I’m glad I never signed. It would have been easy to do so, but even then when I was not willing to fully declare myself, I believed in the kind of justice that this bill proposed. The passing of 20 years has proved me right, but not as fully as I would have liked. Some of those righteous straights holding the high ground back then have since had significant and rather public falls into disgrace. Others who were in the shadows like me have gone on to make significant contributions to the gay and Christian communities.  One was David Bromell, who graduated the year before  I began my training, and ended up leaving the Baptist denomination to become a leader in the New Zealand Methodist Church.

If Queer was an ethnicity and we had our  own catalogue of myths and legends, a major deity would be Fran Wilde, goddess of freedom.  And an important legend that we all knew by heart would go like this … On July 9, 1986, Fran Wilde, incarnate as Labour MP for Wellington Central, used her supernatural powers to outlaw the prosecution of consenting gay men in New Zealand. To do this she swept aside various cruel spirits, including 44 National Party MPs, an army calling itself Salvation and a battalion of loopies called the Coalition of Concerned Citizens. By all accounts a very sensible woman, Fran Wilde that night dedicated her of.ce to .amboyant, drunkenrevelry for her allies, including the Gay Task Force and 49 Labour MPs. Word spread that this shindig was taking place, and spontaneous festivities sprung up in queer quarters throughout the land.  It was a Wilde, Wilde night in 1986.

That’s the folklore, but the true story of homosexual law reform in New Zealand is, of course, much more fraught and did not involve supernatural aid. It began in 1966 with the formation of the NZ Homosexual Law Reform Society. Its activities included raising awareness among MPs, publishing educational pamphlets and organising a small 1968 petition to Parliament.

The first legislative attempt to achieve gay freedoms was a 1974 Private Member’s Bill seeking to amend the Crimes Act to decriminalise private, consenting adult homosexual acts.  It was defeated 34-29, and had the effect of piquing homophobia in a macho New Zealand and increasing police harassment of gay men.  The battle lines were drawn, and more gay rights groups started to emerge. In 1978, Chris Piesse, president of Auckland University Gay Liberation,expressed an ideal on Radio Hauraki: "We don’t look for anything speciifcally for gays, but just a society in which people, anybody, can express their sexuality - whatever it is - without being hassled and put down and ridiculed for it, you know? It’s a very idealistic view but I don’t think it’s impossible ... You know, just stop trampling on other people. It doesn’t just refer to sexuality, it refers to just about anything."

For gay activists, there were two painful ironies of the law reform campaign. One was that, due to such things as the public humiliation of court appearances resulting from police crackdowns and the intensified media and public focus on homosexuality, distress levels were high and the gay suicide rate seemed to rise in relation to the amount of attention the campaign received.  The other irony was that the creep of Aids into the community, debilitating and fatal to many of its members, actually proved to be of benefit to the campaign as several MPs were swayed to support the legitimisation of homosexuality solely because of the urgent need to reach this marginalised group with health services and education.

Between 1974 and 1985, at least two further attempts were made to introduce law reform into Parliament, but it was not until March 8, 1985, that another Private Member’s Bill was presented. This was sponsored by Fran Wilde, who introducing it said: "Mr Speaker, in brief, the Bill is designed to eliminate legal sanctions on consenting homosexual activity between adults; to remove the legal sanctions on anal intercourse between consenting adults; to strengthen protection for boys under 16 along the lines of protection already provided for girls; and to outlaw discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation." (Later, the part about discrimination would fail, and this was not rectified until 1994 when the Human Rights Amendment Act took effect.)

The next 16 months saw furious activism on both sides. One pest, National’s Norman Jones, MP for Invercargill, seemed to derive a feral, frothy sort of pleasure from his rants. Addressing a public rally in 1985 he cried: "I don’t love homosexuals! As far as I’m concerned you can stay in the gutter! ... Let all the normal people stand up! Let all the normal people arrive! We do not want homosexuality legalised! We do not want our children to be contaminated by those – turn around and look at them! ... Gaze upon them!  You’re looking into Hades! You’re looking at the homosexuals! Don’t look too long – you might catch Aids!"

Meanwhile, for the gay team, the debate was not only with conservatives, but it was also internal, with questions arising about campaign strategy and direction. Speaking at the Bigot Busters Conference in Wellington, lesbian Michelle Tui’s focus was tino rangatiratanga. "The homosexual law reform campaign has mobilised white gays on the security of their white privilege;  to canvas for a basic human right, to fight for your own self-determination. What support has there been for Maori self-determination from you?" At another meeting Suzanne Ward sought greater straight involvement. "Why in the name of the dead God can’t we get our friends out? And we can’t get our friends of friends out? ... I mean, there are very few of us who are lucky or wanting enough to be separatist, we all work with straights. Where are they? Where are they? And that is partly our responsibility, aye." 

Although they would ultimately be unaffected by the Bill (because the sexual orientation discrimination clause was removed), lesbians played a signi.cant role in bringing its passage.  This was partly because they could - lesbian acts were never illegal in Britain and consequently here, which meant lesbians were not at risk of criminal prosecution for outing themselves through their activism.

In September 1985 conservatives presented to Parliament a petition containing between 750,000 and a million signatures - some of them authentic.  In one electorate petition organisers claimed 97% of eligible voters had signed, but an academic survey found just 37% of respondents said they had done so. As is still seen, fundamentalists’ ignorance of the need for credibility made them look foolish and weakend their position. If the straights were not there at the meeting with Suzanne Ward, the majority were certainly backing the campaign from their armchairs.

The Bill passed its second reading by a single vote – that of then National Deputy George Gair.  But, at the third reading just a week later, on that legendary date, the margin was clear. A conscience vote in Parliament passed the Bill by 49 votes to 44. And the Act, which took effect on August 8, 1986, has never come close to being overturned.

Source of quotes, and recommended listening: www.radionz.co.nz/20yearsout 

It seems strange to think that at the time of my birth it was legal for a man to rape his wife but against the law for him to have consensual sex with another male.  Thankfully, the legal status of both has since been amended, bringing an end to a situation I believe was not only unjust, but to use a term favoured by the opponents of gay rights, immoral.

The perspective of my partner and me on the Homosexual Law Reform Act will be somewhat different to that of most GLBT Kiwis in that it was passed into law while we were still living in Australia. What we know about it has come from what we have heard and read.  

So why am I writing a piece about it? For one thing, we most certainly are living, literally, one of the main flow-on effects of that law change - the Civil Union legislation (my partner and I celebrated  our Civil Union in December 2005). For another thing, we had been aware of New Zealand as a "land of promise" for many years - and this was a key motivation for our moving here five years ago. It seems to me that New Zealand’s smaller and more compact society has contributed hugely to the Homosexual Law Reform Act having had more immediate and intense impacts. In Australia, by contrast, the initiatives and endeavors of individuals, groups and even reformist-minded legislators have had their impacts weakened by the sheer vastness of the country and the often competing agendas of the States and Territories.

I have a further good reason for writing this piece - GLBT communities in New Zealand and Australia have a common enemy: hostile Christian pressure groups. Homosexual law reform has focused their fundamental hostility.  Indeed, as we can see in the example of Destiny Church’s posturings, the flow-on reform of Civil Union recognition has heightened this hostility and it has taken on apocalyptic dimensions! ("The end of civilisation as we have known it...") But there is a big difference comparing New Zealand and Australia - the hostility is the same, but the opportunities to manipulate are fewer in New Zealand because of the compactness and size of the population and because of the more intense media scrutiny here.

I was at university at the time of the Homosexual Law Reform Bill. Memories include forming the Lesbian and Gay Pride Choir and singing in the Student Union "Thank the Lord For Gay Liberation". I remember coming home from a debate on law reform to my boyfriend at the time who had made me an "Oscar" for having come up with the tag line "the grunt factor" to describe a particularly unruly and inarticulate group of rugby players at the back of the hall who seemed to only be able to … well, grunt.

I also remember going to another debate where the Salvation Army was present and afterwards having a puzzled young woman of my age approach me, as if coming face to face for the first time with an alien species, and saying, "But you’re not ugly, you could get married."

It was a scary and stressful time. The level of vitriol was quite extraordinary and crazy things were happening.  There were reports of supporters of the infamous "petition" approaching children on buses to sign the petition, and in the workplace "If you don’t sign, you’re queer" seemed to be the general tactic.

It was during this period that Youthline was becoming inundated with calls from men in distress needing to talk about their sexuality, and it was our thinking that the saturation media coverage of the issue was making it increasingly difficult for many to remain in the closet. Older gay men were starting to come out, even if only to themselves. Dunedin’s Gayline was formed as a result of this increase in sexual identity calls and, not long after, a coming out group – "Icebreakers" - which sought to address the needs of its younger callers was formed.

Making a comparison between the UK and New Zealand, I would say that airing the issues as thoroughly as we did, however painful, was a very good thing. Here in Britain, where the first wave of law reform was passed in the 1960s due to the foresight of a liberal elite and with no widespread debate, public opinion didn’t really progress on the issue until recently.  This delayed maturing process I put down to people not having engaged with the issues here to the same degree as they did in New Zealand. I think New Zealand started the campaign as a culture that was generally more homophobic than the UK’s, and ended probably being a little less.

Lastly, I will always be an admirer of Fran Wilde, who took on the challenge of this extraordinarily controversial and important Private Member’s Bill with huge determination, humility and wisdom.

To relate my experience of the campaign for Homosexual Law Reform which culminated in the 1986 vote to decriminalise sex acts between men aged sixteen and older I think we need to look back to the situation which existed in those dark days. To borrow from Charles Dickens, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."

For, without question, the police were our enemy. We knew a couple who had been forced from their bed to be brought before the magistrate, their lives forever changed because a jealous woman had laid a complaint. Another, potted on by a nosey neighbour, was sent to jail.  The career of respected parliamentarian Colin Moyle was destroyed when it was revealed that he had been observed by police meeting with a known homosexual.  If there was any news relating to gay men it was certain to be bad.

That is why the possibility of a law change was such a fantastic prospect.  The law had changed in the UK in 1967, but with strict conditions and an age of consent of 21. We later learned that it was for this reason that earlier attempts by MPs Venn Young and Warren Freer to reform New Zealand law had not been supported by the emerging Gay Liberation Movement. Their goal was nothing short of equality with straight society.

Broadcasts of the parliamentary debates were equally upsetting. It seemed that those opposed to reform were unable or rather determined not to listen to reason. Opinion pages in the newspaper were equally frustrating. It was a grim time, yet all the while there was for us that glimmer of hope that the prize of decriminalisation and equality might yet be achieved.  

Thankfully they have been, though we had to wait until 1993 for equal rights (via an amendment to the Human Rights Act). The hero of the campaign has to be MP Fran Wilde though there are countless others, particularly the Wellington lesbian community, who worked so hard towards making New Zealand in the 21st century a much more diverse, colourful and accepting society.

Review by Tor Devereux (with help from 4 year old Russell)

Naturally enough Trumpet is very saddened by all this and he comes to the conclusion that it’s awful to be different. However, somewhat predictably (well, for me as an adult reading the story anyway!) Trumpet does something to turn around the attitude of the horses. He uses his horn to open the barn when it’s on fire thereby rescuing all the horses inside. As a consequence he becomes something of a hero with the general public because they discover that there’s a real, live unicorn living amongst all these horses. Trumpet achieves mega-star status and decides that being different is actually "super" rather than awful.

As an adult reading the story I found the ending somewhat weak and dif.cult to explain to a young child, but on the whole this is a cute story with an important message (even if it’s not at all subtle in its delivery). The pictures are just black and white but still quite engaging, and there’s enough happening on the pages to keep an older pre-school child’s interest.

And, finally, some responses from someone the book was actually written for (a child):

- "I really liked what Trumpet was doing on every page."

- "My favourtie part was when his [Trumpet’s] horn started to grow."

- "It’s good to be different, isn’t it?"

Review by John Robinson

Review by Mike Wooliscroft

Graham Chapman was the only gay member of the Monty Python team and was something of an enigma to many of the team members for quite a time. He quali.ed professionally as a doctor. This profession gave him a respectability which assisted others’ acceptance of his caring for some much younger gay friends in his own home. Throughout he pursued an openly gay lifestyle when away from the Python team during years when gays in Britain had yet to achieve the acceptance they generally now have.

Chapman’s prodigious drinking led him to become an alcoholic, at his trough drinking three bottles of gin in a day. Although he was wellseasoned, such drinking led inevitably to failures in on-stage performance and to other members of the scripting team feeling that he wasn’t always pulling his weight. Yet throughout he made a signi.cant contribution to Pythonesque humour.

Realising that he was wasting his life he stopped drinking alcohol cold-turkey and lived the rest of his (short) life never touching it again.  However, the damage caused by his heavy consumption of alcohol and steady pipe smoking had already damaged his throat severely and he died a few years later of complications from cancer of the throat. 

McCabe gives us a somewhat pedestrian account of Graham Chapman’s life, but it is worth reading for the views one gets from Chapman’s brother and other members of the Monty Python team. For the real oil, however, turn to Graham Chapman’s deliciously amusing and frank autobiography. Don’t be put off by the fact that it is called Volume VII on the title page and Volume VI on the dust-jacket. Here is where we can get closer to the real Chapman and appreciate the wit, humanity and sexuality of the man in a way that the biography doesn’t quite manage to do. 

Review by Ralph Body

Curated by the National Portrait Gallery, London, Beaton’s designs and fashion photography take a backseat to his portraits, although in many works these elements are inseparable. The show features more than 150 works, spanning nearly sixty years and capturing the beautiful, talented, famous and powerful from both sides of the Atlantic. Beaton’s love of style saw him producing unrepentantly contrived and theatrical images, characterised by their superficiality rather than their psychological insight. In all their glibness the results are visually stunning.

Despite the frequency with which queer individuals appear in this exhibition, the wall text rarely identifies them as such. The exhibition includes portraits of the following GLBTQ subjects: Rex Whistler, Stephen Tennant, Tallulah Bankhead, Siegfried Sassoon, Sylvia Townsend Warner, Osbert Sitwell, Pavel Tchelitchew, George Platt Lynes, Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, Marlene Dietrich, Colette, Jean Cocteau, Truman Capote, Noel Coward, André Gide, Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears, Marlon Brando, Francis Bacon, Carson McCullers, Tennessee Williams, Gilbert and George, Rudolf Nureyev, Andy Warhol (his entourage includes transsexual Candy Darling), Patrick Procktor and David Hockney (with boyfriend Peter Schlesinger working on a portrait of Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy).

This exhibition is on in Christchurch until 10 September.

It was great to hear Fiona Clark talk about her work at the opening of the exhibition as I’d have approached the pictures more cautiously otherwise. Her photos are of friends and people she’s known for years and for me this eased a wariness of voyeurism towards trans people and particularly trans bodies.

Hearing a little of the response she received to her first exhibition of the earliest photographs in 1975 (Auckland Art Gallery closed its doors to the public so the pictures could not be seized) and some fleshed out stories about herself and the people pictured drew me in more than the exhibition itself.

Of the people pictured in 1975, only one is still living; I felt a loss even though they were not known to me. To have a record of some aspects of trans history from Aotearoa felt lucky. My response was mixed to the photos which were particularly exposing, especially after hearing comments from some of the non-trans people who’d seen them - I’d have felt less ambivalent if I’d been among other trans people. But, overall, I was left with a sense of gratitude to Fiona Clark for her work and to the people in the photos.

~ Anonymous

My first reaction when entering the exhibition was surprise at the notices "warning" me that the content of the exhibition may offend. There were a few photos that involved nudity but the signs surprised me nonetheless. 

The context of Fiona Clark’s photos was as interesting for me as the pictures themselves because this exhibition made me realise how little I know of our LGBT/queer community’s history, particularly in New Zealand, and how I’d like to learn more. I was amazed at the fact that ten or more years before homosexual law reform there were really organised clubs and revues operating with printed programmes etc. It’s so important for us to stop and think sometimes about our history and those who came before us.  

I was also fascinated that just as in 1975 there was still outrage to some of these photos and their captions in 2005/06 when the exhibition was shown in Invercargill - copies of letters to the local newspaper were available in a folder to read. Just another reminder, I suppose, that there’s still a way to go to change attitudes and to achieve acceptance.

~ Tor Devereux

The main character, Bree, is a woman who, a week out from lower surgery, .nds out she has a 17 year-old son in downtown New York lock-up after being picked up for shoplifting a frog and possessing suspicious white powder while hustling on the streets. His other mother is dead. Bree’s psychotherapist, portrayed as a sensible goodie, withdraws the necessary letter of support for surgery until Bree attends to her son, "This is one part of your body you cannot discard". A realistic scenario on which the .lm casts no obvious criticism – why is no other medical treatment, life-saving or elective, dependent on attending to moral duties? How come the gate-keeping role mental health professionals have given themselves to assess eligibility and readiness for medical treatment extends to dictating what those duties are and when they should be carried out? Bree’sprotest that if she misses her booking she will have to wait another year for treatment is dismissed. And why does the rare opportunity of a mainstream feature .lm about a trans person revolve around her genital surgery? Sigh.

And so Bree heads from California to New York to rescue her child, Toby. The .lm’s portrayal of Bree reluctantly but surely being drawn into parenting her almost-adult child is well done. And Kevin Zegers, who plays the son Toby, puts together a great mix of emotionally child-like, street-wise, sexually self-possessed and typical teenage button-pushing. Mature and immature in ways that life has taught him - well acted. Yay! More nice things to say – my grandmother would be proud.

Bree, however, is played by Felicity Huffman, who has received rave reviews about her amazing talent in being able to play a woman who is trans. Hmph. I’m curious to know whether Huffman has quite as much trouble walking in high heels when she plays women who aren’t trans – but perhaps we’re meant to assume that once Bree has lower surgery and becomes a "real" woman her awkward gait will disappear. Hopefully she’ll just choose more sensible footwear, like most women I know, trans and non-trans alike. After the focus on genital surgery, the second big typing yawn is Bree’s exaggerated femininity, false-nails-n-all – what to say?

Bree and Toby, who is unaware of their relationship, drive across America as Bree is torn between perfunctorily discharging her duties to her son in time to get home for surgery and her growing attachment to him. Along the way we are taught that everybody is human (to varying degrees), we all have our prejudices (Bree included) and stereotypes are misleading (some of the time).

The film’s moral lessons are clumsy and transparent. "Sins" habitually attributed to trans people (drugging, sex work, suicide, molestation, alcoholism, jail time) are carefully distributed around the other characters, while Bree gets to be about as straight-laced as they come, although her own prejudices and failures are carefully made clear so we get to know nobody’s perfect.  

by Anna Chinn

The pile of glittery shoes is back!  Sneakers encrusted with maroon, blue and green; heels of pure emerald; there’s probably even a pair of ruby slippers in there somewhere. And, if you missed this scintillating installation at the Milford Galleries in Reuben Paterson’s 2004 show "The Customs of Tripping", then you really wanna see it this time around at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery. It’s on the first floor, darls. 

The camp art of Reuben Paterson (Ngati Rangitihi) does not just offer a purely superifcial enjoyment. Sometimes it seems all that glitter is used to draw us closer, unsuspecting magpies that we are.  The waiting trap being our own emotions, thoughts and memories, which have us ensnared before we know it.

Take the pile of glittery shoes, for example. Gorgeous jewels they are, but as you inspect them you inevitably start wondering about the people who owned them before they received a dusting of twinkle. And remembering similar styles of shoe you might have seen, and the people they belonged to. Perhaps even dwelling on materialism, since some of us actually have this much footwear all to ourselves. 

Originally, for the artist, this work symbolised the marae custom of removing the shoes before entry and leaving them in a pile or row. The shoe represents the individual identity; the pile represents the communal group of identities. He has added a further dimension of meaning for this installation, however, with the addition of a backdrop. Consuming an entire wall of the Dunedin Public Art Gallery (DPAG) first floor is a shimmering blue beachscape. Resembling one of Paterson’s typical, smaller glitter panels, it is made of hundreds of shiny metallic squares, each several centimetres squared, like magnified pieces of glitter. In the notes accompanying the display the artist recalls that the 2004 tsunami grabbed countless possessions and then returned them in chaotic clutter to the shore. Does this deposit of shoes now represent the displaced possessions of displaced people? This notion is enhanced by the stylised seaweed of strewn metallicblue strands on the floor/shore.

These works are part of the DPAG’s group show "Op Shop", which sees the use of reclaimed objects or traditions. It runs until September 10, and also features a glitter suit the artist made in collaboration with World.

by Geoffrey Vine (a Dunedin journalist, minister and civil

union/marriage celebrant)

The wake for Fritz apart, the Toronto conference offered a packed programme. The seven workshop periods each offered a choice of eight seminars and choosing which to attend was agonising. The keynote speakers, both Americans, reflected the main focuses. Author Loraine Hutchins explored the idea of erotic spirituality and how bisexuals might contribute to the development of the world’s religions, while researcher Trevor Jacques gave an overview of the .rst results from a massive survey of the role of bisexuality in the BDSM world (and, yes, the bi responses showed a significant statistical variation from those of heterosexuals and homosexuals).  

These twin themes were re.ected in the seminars but also there were avowedly political sessions on the place of bisexuality in the sometimes hostile queer world, quite practical sessions on day-to-day living as a bi, such as modelling polyamory, dealing with the media, immigration authorities or various forms of oppression, the issues facing bisexual married men, bi mothers and those born intersex, and the totally in-your-face pragmatic sessions on how to enjoy sex.

It was not all academic by any means. As well as a strong LGBT community, Toronto has a thriving BDSM scene in which bisexuals seem to be prominent. Not only was this re.ected in conference sessions, but every night there was at least one and usually two play parties at non-conference venues for those interested. The highlight of the conference dinner was the cabaret presented by a Vancouver husband-and-wife duo, The Wet Spots, whose kink-themed songs prompted gales of laughter. However, when they told us their singalong, copy-the-actions song about masturbation had been a big hit at a recent Rotary convention, I began to revise the wisdom of declining membership of that organisation.

It was a great conference. It was worth travelling to Toronto just to catch up with friends I had made at earlier conferences in Berlin and Sydney, but the speakers and seminars offered a lot too. In any community there are a lot of bisexuals, but few of us are out of the closet. Conferences like this one help rebuild confidence in the bisexual takeover of queer communities everywhere.

World Watch acknowledges the sources of these stories as www.365Gay.com, 

www.gaywired.com , www.pinknews.co.uk  and www.rainbownetwork.com 

Lesbians are to gain the right to fertility treatment without the stipulation of a father being present, according to Caroline Flint, Public Health Minister. Ms Flint has told MPs: "What’s important is looking at the family environment, whether in the traditional sense or a same-sex couple, and the family they want to create … What’s important is that the children are going to be, as far as we know, part of a loving home." It is believed the existing "need for a father" stipulation will be replaced with "the need for a family".

In a landmark Court of Appeal ruling, an alleged victim of homophobic workplace harassment has been granted the right to pursue a case of "vicarious harassment" against his employer. The man had complained in April 1998 he was being bullied and intimidated by his female manager who was homophobic. After an internal inquiry confirmed the allegations and the manager resigned, the man pursued the case against his employer, explaining: "For me the issue has been about the right to go to work and not be harassed. I felt I had to bring legal action against [my employers] because they were responsible and accountable … particularly as it appears they were aware of [what was happening] but did nothing to address the issue."

The Ministry of Health, reacting to a campaign from GayRussia activists Nikolai Alexseev and Nikolai Baev, have announced that gay people are again allowed to donate blood.  According to Mr Alexseev: "The General Prosecutor recognised that there is nothing in the law that prevents gays from donating their blood. As a result, his office has asked the Ministry of Health to cancel its instruction made in 2001 that forbad gays to give their blood." Gay people were initially viewed as a high risk group, along with drug addicts and prostitutes. "A symbolic discrimination will end," said Mr Baev. "This is probably the .rst positive news for gays from Russian justice since 1993 with the decriminalisation of male homosexuality." This announcement follows similar plans in France and Australia, as well as protests in America and the United Kingdom.

A previously unof.cial policy change that men engaging in consensual gay sex would not be arrested has been of.cially announced by a government representative. The news was welcomed by the New Zealand AIDS Foundation, which has long suspected a link between driving the gay community underground and increased levels of HIV infection. Executive Director Rachael Le Mesurier said: "The spread of HIV is facilitated by the prejudice, discrimination and marginalisation of minority communities. Making gay men into criminals only serves to drive sexual activity underground, making it almost impossible to reach with safe sex information and life-saving condoms."

Homosexuals were sent to work camps and excluded from jobs after Fidel Castro seized power in the 1959 Cuban Revolution, but a niece of Castro is now leading a revolution of pro-gay laws.  The country has no antidiscrimination laws based  on sexual orientation and bans gay organisations, but Mariela Castro, in charge of the government’s National Centre for Sex Education, has promoted issues of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights. Her department has campaigned for better AIDs prevention, promoted a soap opera involving a bisexual character and most recently pushed for a free gender transition law, which will be voted on in December.  Now she is being pushed to promote gay unions. "We do not know what we will propose," Ms Castro said. "It depends on what we identify  as homosexuals’ and lesbians’ main needs."

Former UniQ Otago Coordinator Nathan Brown shifted to Wellington recently to take up a new appointment coordinating the OUT THERE! Project, a successful joint queer youth development initiative between Auckland’s Rainbow Youth and the NZ AIDS Foundation. "This job is great. It’s an awesome outlet to channel my enthusiasm for developing safe and inclusive communities for queer young people," says Nathan.

The project, which has just come to the end of a three year contract, was successful in securing a further three years of funding from the Department of Internal Affairs in addition to attracting further funding for a half-time OUT THERE!  Takataapui Coordinator. "I think that the fact OUT THERE! can continue for a further three years is testimony to the success of the project and the work of previous coordinators, Amy Donovan and then Sarah Helm, but it also means that there is still plenty to be done for queer youth."

The achievements of the project so far have included a series of posters to display in youth spaces that help identify people and places as accepting of queer identities, the development, publication and launch of an action kit called Safety In Our Schools that helps schools develop a safe and  inclusive learning environment through school wide change, the starting of the SS4Q campaign (Safety In Schools For Queers) for coordinating change across the country, and the development and delivery of workshops around being inclusive of queer or questioning youth.

Some of the projects in the pipeline include the previously postponed Kaha National Youth Hui, which is planned for the summer, the development of a new resource by OUT THERE!,  continuing to work with school communities to promote and implement the tools in the Action Kit and encourage SS4Q type action, supporting people who work with queer youth regionally, and running a pilot in a school to create whole school change as a model for other schools.

Nathan is planning a regional visit of the South Island before the end of the year and would like to hear from people who are either interested in either talking about SS4Q locally or who seek support on an issue relating to queer young people.

Labour’s team of LGBT/queer MPs is on the increase! Recently Jim Sutton MP announced his retirement which means that the next person on Labour’s list will enter Parliament when he leaves – and this just happens to be Charles Chauvel, one of Labour’s rainbow candidates at the last election and an openly gay lawyer. This brings the total number of LGBT/queer Labour MPs to five.