editorial

Happy New Year to you all and welcome to the first issue of the Otago Gaily Times (OGT) for 2007. I hope that everyone enjoyed the festive season and managed to get in some relaxation even if you weren’t able to go away.

As implied by our cover design, there has been a distinct lack of warm, sunny days in Dunedin so far this summer so chances are you’re not reading this on the beach or lying in a deck chair in the backyard. Hopefully, though, the articles and news in this OGT will be so fascinating and absorbing that you won’t notice the weather outside!

As you’ll find out when you read the paper, a couple of our regular contributors – Mike and Anna – have each had some enjoyable escapades recently and in this issue they share their experiences of the Central Otago Rail Trail (Mike) and some local gay-run accommodation in the Otago region (Anna). Not only are these interesting pieces, but they also provide some great ideas for getaways. I know that the Rail Trail has been written about quite a bit recently, but it definitely is a fantastic experience. Barb and I did it some years ago (in our pre-children days – and that seems like a life-time ago now!) and found it to be amazing. And, it sounds like there are more accommodation options now and I’m sure more cafés will have sprouted here and there because of the number of travellers passing through. Perhaps 2007 will be the year to get on your bike and give it a go?!

Anyway, if that isn’t your cup of tea then there are plenty of other things happening in the local LGBT/queer community. The first FUNQ will be taking place on March 3 and, of course, there are also various groups operating within the community – see Page 3 for a list of all the groups that the OGT is aware of and Pages 4, 5 and 12 for upcoming events. Having said that, if you’re involved with a group or an event that’s not included here, or if you want to start up a group, then please contact the OGT and let us know. This is a community paper, so we rely on the community telling us what’s happening out there. Likewise, if there’s something that you’d like to write for the paper, a photo you’d like us to print or something else that you’d like to see in the OGT, then please email or write to us (contact details below).

If you’re reading this before February 10, then I’d encourage you to seriously consider making a trip to Invercargill to attend Southland’s inaugural Pride Picnic on Saturday February 10 from 11am onwards. This event is being organised by SGnLS (Southland Gay and Lesbian Support) and promises to be a fantastic day out. See Page 5 for more details about the picnic and Page 11 for an article about SGnLS’s experiences of becoming a charitable trust.

And, finally, there’s some important information on Page 10 for anyone in a same-sex relationship who’s currently receiving .nancial assistance from the Ministry of Social Development (this includes WINZ payments). As of 1 April this year, all same-sex de facto couples will be treated the same as married, civil union and opposite-sex de facto couples. So, if this change may affect you then check out the article in the OGT.

Hope you have a wonderful 2007!

Tor Devereux, Editor

by Tor Devereux

Welcome to all those new to Dunedin and those returning to the city, and hello again to those for whom Dunedin is home. Below is a list of the local LGBT/queer groups that I understand are currently operating in the city (and one in Southland), as well as a brief description of what they offer. There’s more information and contact details for all of these group on page 12 of the paper.

If you’re part of an LGBT/queer group or event that’s happening, then please let the OGT know so that we can include information about it in the paper. If you’d like to submit an article and/or photo from an event for publication then we’d love to hear from you. Remember, the OGT is your community paper and we rely on you to contribute copy and to keep us informed about what’s happening out there.

Hope you all have a great 2007, and that you enjoy some of the groups and events in our LGBT/queer community!

by Tor Devereux

In May last year the OGT had to find a new printer because the Oamaru Mail (who had printed the OGT for many years) ceased operating as a printing site. After getting quotes from several printers we ended up choosing The Southland Times and they’ve been doing a great job for us since then.

However, with the change of printers our printing costs rose significantly and the revenue from our advertisers and subscribers is no longer enough to cover all the costs associated with producing and distributing the OGT.

The Collective did not want to increase the price of our advertising because while commercial enterprises would have been able to sustain such an increase we feared that smaller businesses from within our own LGBT/queer community may not have been able to and this may have meant that they were excluded from using the paper to advertise in. We also didn’t want to put more ads in the paper because that would cut down the number of articles, photos, notices, etc. that we could include.

So, we decided that we should look at trying to get some form of sponsorship for the paper or a grant. We only needed approximately $500 to add to the revenue from advertising and subscriptions to produce the OGT for a year.

Consequently, in September last year we applied for a Dunedin City Council Small Project Grant for $500 and ... we were successful - yeah! This means that the OGT will continue to be published quarterly in 2007, that it remains free and that it won’t have any more ads in it than before. Hope you enjoy it!

by Lee Grigg

For all those who haven’t heard of us before, the "Cardinal Sinners" are the local lesbian softball team.  We have been around for about 4 years now and each year we seem to accumulate more and more members.

We started this season with about 15 players, many of whom had never played before but were willing to put on a pair of shorts and give it a go. We play in the local social division every Saturday afternoon between October and March with a recuperation gap over the Christmas break.

We may have our ups and downs on the field, but we have great team spirit and a desire to just have fun. There’s always a steady stream of supporters on hand to cheer us on as we run into home or get an opponent out. Softball is a great way of getting active and meeting new people, so if anyone is interested in joining/supporting our team please contact Lee at [email protected]  for more information.

To achieve this we need resources, both human and .financial. We have just received a grant of $2,000 from COGS (Community Organisation Grants Scheme) that will enable us to continue with our present activities for a further six months. We had asked for $16,000 to enable us to relocate our little office to premises large enough to establish an after school drop-in centre for secondary students.

This is a setback to our plans, but by no means the end. We certainly cannot continue with this project without the support of our community, but we believe that most of you would wish to see the establishment of a safe and supportive meeting place for young queer students. Wouldn’t it have been great if there had been such a place when we struggled through those dif. cult teenage years?

Thank you to everyone who was a part of the Human Rights Commission’s Transgender Inquiry last year.

The great news is that we received 126 submissions, from all parts of the country. The depth of information that people provided and the stories you all shared have created a very powerful statement for change. Submissions came from a huge diversity of trans people (whakawahine, fa’afa.ne, MtFs, FtMs, fakaleiti, cross dressers, gender queer and androgynous people etc. etc.) – from teenagers through to trans people in their 70s.

We also heard from health professionals, community organisations, your partners and friends, and people who just wanted to stand up and support the human rights of people they’d seen hassled at work or in the street.

Over the next two months I will be writing up people’s submissions - what you’ve told us about discrimination and human rights issues for trans people in New Zealand. You will all receive a copy in late February/early March. We really want to hear your feedback then so we can start writing the second and final report recommending things that will improve the lives of trans people. There will be plenty of ways for you all to be involved in developing the second report too. It will be finished by the end of June and we are planning to have copies printed to send out to people in September.

Jack Byrne, Kaitatari Matua / Senior Policy Analyst

Te Kahui Tika Tangata / Human Rights Commission

09-375-8647, [email protected]

On 17 November last year, a group of queer teachers, educators and others involved with the queer community met to bolster each other’s enthusiasm for working towards queer positive learning environments for staff and students – from early childhood through to tertiary institutions.

Two meetings were held – one for those working in schools, as part of the PPTA (Post Primary Teachers’ Association) Safe Schools Taskforce, and a second for both those working in schools and other interested parties - to form a wider network.

There are plenty of exciting ideas bubbling away locally and around the country about how to create and maintain school cultures which are welcoming and supportive of queer staff, students and families and provide the straight community with a healthy portrayal of what it means to be queer.

There was a suggestion that a GLEE (Gays & Lesbians Everywhere in Education) network may get underway in Dunedin, and for some time PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) has been exploring the idea of running a drop-in space in the central city for secondary-aged young queer people, with the background presence of rostered parents to provide support. One local high school is hoping to establish a gay-straight alliance among students this year.

The OUT THERE! project, a joint nationwide queer youth development initiative of Rainbow Youth and the New Zealand AIDS Foundation, believes that a whole-school approach is necessary to address sexual diversity and gender issues in schools. One of the latest initiatives OUT THERE! has worked on in the past year is developing a comprehensive programme in a pilot school (in Auckland) and there are hopes to work with a second school shortly to expand the programme. Because they are renowned for unsafe levels of homophobia, it is hoped that a boys’ school will be willing to take part in the pilot.

Locally, the SHIP network (the Sexual Health Information Providers’ network) has been developing a Peer Sexuality Support programme for secondary students which, among a broad range of sexuality and sexual health topics, will include training and information suitable to supporting young queer students.

And, there’s more … The Kaha Youth Hui for young queer people and youth workers took place in late January in Wellington; the PPTA runs a Safe Schools Task Force Network; NZEI Te Riu Roa (the union of Primary and Early Childhood Teachers and School Support Staff) is firmly queer positive; the Ironside Trust in Christchurch is a network umbrella group for GLBTI youth; UniQ is hoping to re-establish groups such as Bloom and Icebreakers for young women and men coming out; one of the Ministry of Social Development’s Rainbow Desk people came to Dunedin in December and they are currently particularly interested in developing the wellbeing of queer international students; the Safe Schools for Queers (SS4Q) Conference is planned for 6-8 July in Wellington.

But that’s not everything! So, to avoid an even longer grocery-list summary of all that is happening, bubbling, boiling, baked (and half baked ideas yet to rise), feel free to contact the Teacher Taskforce Network for more information or to become involved and meet up with others.

Our next meeting is Monday, 19 February, 4pm (please phone for venue). Contact: Sarah Loftus, Health Promoter, Family Planning Dunedin, 477-5850, ext 3, [email protected] Everlasting erudite expressions of educational ecstasy to everyone.

by Lee Grigg

Just before Christmas, a group of us tried our hands at Paintball. Many of those who came had never played before so the ones who had kept their mouths shut about how sore it was really going to be. It’s surprising just how much damage a little ball of paint flying at 40km an hour can do! Most of us came away with bruises/welts the size of golf balls but, amazingly, every single one of us would do it again.

For those who have never played Paintball before, you don’t know what you’re missing - it’s so much fun.  Whenever my partner and I play, we always have to go on opposite teams so we can shoot each other – it’s great couples therapy! We played in a forest where they had built barriers, forts and a helicopter so those who wanted to pretend they were a sniper for a couple of hours, could do so.

We were given chest protectors to protect our ever so important assets and camouflage gear so we could try to blend into the background. Aside from the bruises, Paintball is a great game that everyone should try at least once – and twice if you’re a glutton for punishment.

Instinctively I said a firm "Yes please!" and then picked myself up off the ground. Having committed myself, I then planned how best to prepare self and bike for this adventure.  I had a mountain bike already, but my sense that it was not well sized for me was immediately confirmed by Neill, my sports therapist. Neill also recommended the upgrading of brakes and gears, and the introduction of new components such as front suspension.

So, at the beginning of my training schedule we established the specifications for a new bike.  It was an exciting task buying a new steed, especially since the one chosen had a gold metallic finish - and a gold price tag definitely to be paid for on my gold Visa card. Even sale price it was at the upper limit of what I wished to spend. But, I decided that as I’d get another 30 years of biking into my life a really good model was worth investing in. By this means I justify a number of my purchases.

Immediately I also committed to a fitness programme to ensure that I would easily complete the Trail capably and not be an embarrassment to myself or a nuisance to others.

As week followed week my training programme steadily extended my stamina, my thighs and calf muscles. What also extended was my new biking wardrobe. I eschewed, for the most part, the high level designer lycra gear which one sees worn in cafés and bars, and even sometimes, on bikes.  Yes, what I had not been told at the outset was the extent of the shelf of highly desirable gear for biking starting with shorts with chamois gussets to provide the comfort and hygiene necessary when riding the insanely designed seats that bikers now embrace with their hindmost parts. Whatever happened to the comfortable cushion seats I rode on as an adolescent? "Terribly passé, darling … not The Thing at all!" I was told.

Even my gel seat cover was discarded as my nether regions were tamed to become the closest fit with a seat designed by medical professionals to ensure the ongoing health of the male parts. I am told that models are also designed by health professionals for women.

Also required were tops to be worn which would keep even the most evil winds from puncturing my lungs with their icicle needles and also long arms which would prevent my own arms becoming calloused with pre-cancerous scaly lesions.

The organiser of the planned ride was Bruce Morrison, who operates a gay homestay in Chester Street in Christchurch and who was awarded the Christchurch Gay Business of 2006 Award. Over the next three months Bruce worked mighty hard to plan our accommodation and refuelling.

Numbers rose and fell but generally stuck around twenty-five with three quarters being men and the remaining quarter women.  Participants came from as far north as Rotorua and as far east as Napier. A major cluster came from around Christchurch where Bruce inspires them, brings them into line and generally provides them with a wide variety of activities throughout the year. And, a bunch of us were from Dunedin and East Otago.

The interval between committing to the Rail Trail and starting it was spent in ensuring that our bikes were trail-worthy and that we were sufficiently fit. Singly and in groups the Dunedin contingent set out on a number of circuits around the city and the surrounding hinterland.

Come the day before we started biking the Trail in early October, the local group, augmented by JJ, a delightful Rotorua homestay co-owner, drove to Clyde through fresh snow on the ground, especially around Macraes and the Dunstan Mountains. The forecast was generally fair so we travelled on a wing and a prayer, or possibly sheer bloody determination.

The first night all our party gathered at the Clyde Hotel where some of us stayed overnight.  There we got to meet our new friends for the Trail adventure. We ate and drank well and generally had a jolly time while still mindful of the need to be feeling bright the next morning for the biking adventure ahead.

The day we biked the first section of the Rail Trail from Clyde to Lauder, the Ida Valley, through which we had driven inland the day before, was closed because of snow. On the section of the Trail through which we were riding, however, the ground was clear, dry and hard. We were blessed with brilliantly sunny weather and a cool and moderate tail wind.  Snow on the Dunstan Mountains added a special lustre to the distant vistas. The colourful clothing of our fellow pilgrims brought enchanting highlights to the Central Otago landscape.

Lively conversation, personal disclosures and fond anticipations provided seasoning to the conversations as pilgrim met pilgrim and passed on to meet others.  The Chatto Creek Tavern, which we reached at morning tea time, was surprisingly closed so we rode on, some of us stopping at Whiskery Bill’s Café and Bar for excellent coffee and scrumptious cakes. One of the advantages of biking the Rail Trail is that you can stoke up on fare you would normally eschew secure in the knowledge that the calories will be burned up in only a few kilometres.

All members of our group detoured from the Trail at Omakau to make the short side trip to Ophir to a café renowned for its famed food.  We easily took over the place with our numbers and spilled forth onto the yard outside. Our gay caravanserai took brief ownership of every place we rested.  It was only in the course of taking the last of our orders that the genial proprietors discovered we were not the anticipated "Auckland Group" of 25. After only a moment’s hesitation they gathered their resources and feed us with great good humour. In fact, the Auckland group didn’t arrive while we were there and no doubt all the staff were busy baking fresh goodies by the time they eventually arrived.

The first day also saw us climb the steepest section of the Rail Trail – the winding trail up through Tiger Hill – before the short descent to Lauder. It was here that the .fist of very few punctures occurred when I ran over a couple  of staples from the newly erected deer fence alongside the track.

That night we stayed in three lots of accommodation - the Lauder Tavern, the B&B opposite and a charmed group was able to stay at Kevin’s Muddy Creek Cutting, a fine gay homestay just a couple of hundred metres up the Trail. Kevin is a genial host and joined us for our communal meal that evening.  The proprietor of the Tavern laid on an excellent and varied smorgasbord meal for 60 as we were not the only group staying in Lauder that night. It was splendid fare. Our lively group clearly perplexed an apparently fundamentalist clergyman who was walking the Trail. But he was sufficiently cool (or in enough need) to ask for his pack to be carried for the next section of the Trail in one of our support vehicles which we happily agreed to do.

The second day was again stunning in terms of weather. The tail wind continued and we biked through Auripo, Oturehua, the tiny remnant of Wedderburn and then, crossing over latitude 45 S, we began the long and blissful descent to Ranfurly at speeds of up to 40kms per hour, rejoicing in the good fortune of a tail wind and the fine condition of the track. Bikers who had started the Trail at Middlemarch did not fare so well and their red cheeks, somewhat grim faces and slow pace were in marked contrast to those of our merry company heading in the opposite direction.

At Ranfurly we cruised around the town for a bit poking in the art deco collectibles shop, the museum and, of course, the hotel where we sampled wines and lagers and the decidedly indifferent service. Here we (and our bikes) were picked up by the van and trailer provided by The Ancient Briton in Naseby where we stayed the night.

While The Ancient Briton is indeed an old hotel our group stayed in the more recently built accommodation alongside in suites of rooms able to sleep 3 or 4 each with their own en suite. The Ancient Briton provided us with a fine meal that evening and we took full advantage of the facilities offered. It being the last night that the whole group would be together there were speeches and toasts to Bruce Morrison, the principal organiser, the support crew and others.

The next morning, in the bleary light of day, just a few of us realised that we had perhaps over-enthusiastically enjoyed the ribaldry of the night before as we were taken by vehicle to Ranfurly and then set out biking the Rail Trail again. This was the longest leg of the three days at 61kms.  Yet again we were favoured with a tail wind and clear skies. Some more punctures had occurred at Naseby but they were quickly dealt with and soon the last of the group was on its way across the east section of the Maniatoto and through one of the most attractive sections of the track around Daisybank where a few of us returned this New Year’s Day for a bike ride and a picnic. The ride to Hyde was uneventful and here we stopped for lunch.

During that break a severe gust came up blowing several bikes over. Clearly we were heading for different conditions for the last 27kms of the Trail to Middlemarch. From then on our group was buffeted by very strong cross and head winds which threatened to topple us from our bikes and indeed from the Trail. With steady winds it would have been easier to cope, but during the gusts one needed to be riding obliquely while when they momentarily desisted it was clearly an unstable position. Eventually, though, we arrived in Middlemarch with a pronounced sense of achievement because of the onerous conditions we had faced for the last leg of the Trail.

Refreshments at the Kissing Gate Café (excellent coffee and tasty and sustaining food) revived us. It was here that sad farewells were made to some members of our party as they headed off to their homes while others of us returned to Clyde where our motor driven transport awaited us.

For those of us returning to Clyde we decided on a slap-up meal for the very last night so we went to Olivers that evening for an excellent meal and vivacious company. Carpet bag steak was my well-earned reward accompanied by fine Central Otago Pinot Noir.

Throughout the Trail the cost of food and accommodation was distinctly modest.  The Rail Trail experience was, without doubt, the best experience of 2006 for many of us. New friendships were forged. We were all fitter for the experience. A number of the Dunedin participants, now firm friends, regularly bike, hike and enjoy each other’s company over food, drink and sparkling conversation. And, we have been introduced to gay homestays in which to stay in many parts of the country.

The Rail Trail experience is strongly recommended. And yes, our group will bike the Rail Trail again in 2007.

Summer came. I was feeling frazzled and decided to channel my inner voice to see what was needed to soothe my soul. Some 20,000 leagues under the surface of me, I heard it calling - my inner voice told me I had better f*** off. "That’s right," crooned my inner voice. "You have been working like a prat since January last year, your immune system seems to have picked up a Trojan dialler, you have become cantankerous and really, you just need to f*** off."

One of the two accommodation options sampled first-hand for this feature was Muddy Creek Cutting B&B in Lauder, Central Otago. Host Kevin Scott acquired the skill of building with mudbrick while in Sierra Leone – as you do – and has restored the 1930s mudbrick buildings on his property to create an authentic charmer of a guesthouse. Apart from one bedroom off the main cottage that has exposed mud walls and a cool ethnic feel, the sleeping arrangements here are a series of double bedrooms with modern soft furnishings and paint, blended with antiquey rustic furniture and ornaments. (If musical, you might like to request the room with the old piano.) Kevin has added roosters and peacocks to the property to give guests a stirring dawn chorus. That is how the peaceful days begin here by the Central Otago Rail Trail, set well back from the highway.  They continue with that do-nothing bliss: reading, meandering up and down the trail, chucking a line in one of the nearby waterways, having decent conversations with friends, or moseying around Kevin’s organic farm and gardens. Guests share the kitchen and lounge area, which is all exposed mudbrick and which is made cosy by an open fire and one of those sturdy old woodstoves.

Although accommodation for about a dozen people is possible, Kevin usually accepts just a maximum of six, so it would be easy to book this place out for a private group. Otherwise, expect to share kitchen, lounge and bathroom with rail trailers – who are usually so exhausted they are easy to nudge away from that lovely, open fire anyway. Phone (03) 447-3682 / Email kevins_47@hotmail com / Web www.gaystay.co.nz/lauder

While we’re in the rural retreat category, the Shag Point Homestay warrants a mention. This is gay-run accommodation 40 minutes north of Dunedin which, according to the Gaystay website, "overlooks the Pacific Ocean and is handy to beaches, forest walks and the Moeraki boulders".  Tariff is $60/double and $30/single. Dinner by arrangement. Phone (03) 465-1742 /Email [email protected]   / Web www.gaystay.co.nz/shagpoint

Who would’ve thought historic Oamaru (pop. 13,000), in the conservative Waitaki district, would equal Dunedin (pop. 120,000) for gayrun accommodation options? Gaystay lists three homestay providers, including one period house, with tariffs for doubles ranging from $75 to $100 per night. Check out www.edenlodgeoamaru.co.nz  www.bellview.co.nz  or the www.gaystay.co.nz/oamaru  page to plan a mini-break in the North Otago town.

It is difficult to tell what, if any, Queenstown accommodation is run by non-straights, but fear not, for there you will find plenty of digs eager to take your pink dollar. A recent visit to this settlement confirmed my view that everything on the peopled side of Lake Wakatipu is spoilt and repulsive. However, if you crave words such as "exclusive" and "dress circle" in your accommodation searches, then you will find many a mini-break at www.gayqueenstown.co.nz

Okay, so most of our readers live in Dunedin and will hardly want to stay here for a weekend escape, but readers living out of town and those with GLBTI friends planning a visit may want to inspect the www.gaystay.co.nz/dunedin  page forinspiration.

Review by Barb Long

The novel is rich with descriptions of English countryside and culture while at the same time weaving threads of orthodox Jewish custom and ritual. Unfortunately the implied reconnection with her female lover of over a decade ago was disappointing for this reader, but don’t let that put you off reading the book.

Review by Mike Wooliscroft

Rupert, as many boys of his age and station in the England he grew up in, was sent to boarding school. He writes of that experience: "A child with a soft vulnerable heart soon had it calci.ed by abandonment, bullying and buggery: the rigours of prep and public school. He was soon conditioned so that by the time he became a faceless gnome in the ‘diplomatic’ he was without feelings of the normal sort and could be utterly ruthless in the service of his or her Britannic Majesty."

Rupert writes insightfully of many things: the theatre, the movie industry, Los Angeles and Miami, his relationships with his dog and his father, and the destructive effect Maggie Thatcher had on Britain likening it to the effect of the punk revolution:

"Punk in the heatwave was the trailer to a new England. They were the advancing rabble, wobbling in the shimmering desert smog towards the World’s End, and the end of the world as we knew it. Their Boudicca, unbeknown to them, was another peach blonde with a lot of egg white in her beehive: Margaret Thatcher. She would be the Main Attraction; they were the razorblades on the wheels of her chariot. They both wanted to get their hands on the past and slash it to pieces. Punks wanted to .ght on the high streets and shatter the windows of the greengrocers. Maggie the grocer’s daughter was going to close those grocers down and put up Tesco’s. They wanted anarchy and so did she."

The façade nature of some of the theatrical world is shown when he describes the home of his manager Simon Napier-Bell: "There was a huge entrance hall with a grand old staircase that swept upstairs, although around its first corner was a brick wall. The front door would be opened by one of Simon’s Asian ingénues, and as you came into the hall, thinking to yourself how successful Simon must be, the man himself walked nonchalantly down the staircase as if he were just coming from another part of the mansion. Actually, as far as I could tell, the flat only consisted of the hall and a small room off it. But it gave a marvellous impression of opulence…"

My only quibble, and it is a small one, is that he writes engagingly of various topics and characters with sometimes little sense of a timeline. The fact that the photographs are undated doesn’t help this.

Review by Barb Long

Set in San Francisco in 1977, Jeanne lost custody of her children to her ex-husband because she was in a lesbian relationship; had she not acted on her lesbianism and been living with her partner it is implied she may have retained custody of one son who had never lived with his father! The case and trial were pivotal in bringing together feminist and LGBT activists in San Francisco. Unfortunately, though, the decision went against Jeanne - she was admonished by the judge for making this a political case and denied custody of her sons.

I found reading the book somewhat disturbing as this woman and her partner, who just wanted to create a loving home for their children, ended up in hostile courtrooms and became estranged from family. I followed her harrowing experience through the American court system, the media and finally to a seashore town in northern Italy where her ex-husband kept her children under close watch, preventing her access to them.

by Jane E Libeau

Beached whales

Droughts, gales

Ocean levels rise

Is this all because of human

interference

Or a cycle of nature’s life?

Seasons change

The summers that were

Will never be the same

Earth axis moving?

Or something else again?

Insects a buzz

Cold weather confusing

Animals hibernate

Closer to extinction

Their life cycle terminated.

Earth’s rotation

Slowing, quickening

Shuddering, juddering

Adjusting in violent surge

Is she just itching or ready to purge?

Blind to the facts

We think we will manipulate the earth

Proclaiming our need for more

More junk to pollute

And I wonder what for.

Gadgets for gadgets

Consumption and waste

Dictators dictating life styles

Murdering murders

It leaves such a bitter taste.

And at the end of the day

When it all comes to rest

No one’s the winner

We all have soiled our one

Our only nest.

by Anna Chinn

Here artist Reuben Paterson, who will be exhibiting in Dunedin in May, shares his korero. Q&A by email.

I am Ngati Rangitihi and Ngai Tuhoe from Matata.  Matata is a small town 15 minutes from Whakatane and the place of intense .oodings over the past few years. Matata is, of course, special in many ways and, importantly, it is where the land wars ended. This way Matata has seen a lot of blood and the community has absorbed this bloodshed in tapu places with acceptance and sadness. I was born in Auckland, and this is where I live.

After living and travelling the last year and a half through Greece and spending the last 3 months at the ISCP art studios in New York, sponsored by the James Wallace Trust, I would describe myself as a traveller, that travelling is a vehicle through which to experience.

Experience, Empiricism, Epicureanism and the pragmatism of pre-Socrates philosophies and our continual involvement in the process of aging and life motivates me. Although all three are different strains of philosophy, they each encompass experiences as the source through which to test knowledge, notably Empiricism. Epicureanism acknowledges that pleasure should be the goal of human activity, and following this that pragmatism will test the truth and value of ideas by their practical consequences. These frames of ancient Greek philosophy help me to produce artworks that challenge explanations of Maori philosophy in Western terms.

The more travelling I do, the closer I feel to interpreting people honestly through their stories. These stories then become art. We can’t assume what the world is or what people can be, till we have been to those places ourselves and opened the world to its real interpretation. As a nation we are left-field to the real trauma that surrounds our world, and we need to be involved in it and to help shape it.

Living in Greece through 2005 and 2006 I became inspired by the interpretation and understanding of cultural imagery contained within the work I was producing, that without a clear understanding of my New Zealand Maori locality and the position of the Maori design within them, they were free to speak their own language, they were freed up in their interpretation.  This sense of cultural confusion and seduction is happening in gallery spaces all around the world, but to partake in cultural interpretation is something I could experience .rst-hand in the galleries of New York.  Through the many years of working with glitter, it is now time to .nd the work that best represents the person I am today. The glitter did, but does not so much anymore. Travelling helped inspire the reactions I get to new things, to inform my world of the larger one that is out there, and the thickness of culture that it abides by.

Having been brought up to believe that what I do is important. A large part of exhibiting is its public face, but the connection to feeling work as it is created comes from the belief, from the caring and the nurturing of being connected, completely, to the feelings in what you do, say and make.

Love. To feel it, breathe it and be it, and live vicariously through it. We share, as takatapui a deeper understanding through our hardships, through our embracing the feminine, and the masculine within us. Check out Reuben Paterson’s webpage at: www.reubenpaterson.com

Sources: www.365Gay.com, www.pinknews.co.uk, www.rainbownetwork.com

Harvey Milk, the first out gay male politician in American history, is to be honoured with a bust. Regarded as a political icon among gay activists for his ability to build the LGBT community into a grassroots political force, Milk was elected to the city’s Board of Supervisors in 1977. Eleven months later, he and the city’s mayor were gunned down by a disgruntled former supervisor. In his short term in office, Milk sponsored a gay rights bill and helped to defeat a proposition that would have seen openly gay and lesbian teachers sacked. The bust will go on permanent display in San Francisco City Hall, a rare honour for someone who was never the mayor.

An 89-year-old man and his 60-year-old partner have taken part in Switzerland’s first gay civil union after legislation to recognise same-sex partnerships, passed in 2004 and approved by a country-wide referendum in 2005, came into effect on 1 January this year. The couple, who have been together for 30 years and wished to remain anonymous, exchanged vows in what friends described as a "very moving" ceremony. Same-sex civil unions in Switzerland do not grant full marital rights but do have a similar legal status. However, gay couples are barred from adopting children or from receiving IVF treatment.

A gay rights group, The Lima Homosexual Movement, has accused police of.cers of carrying out systematic attacks on LGBT people, claiming it has details of over 600 homophobic assaults during 2006. Homosexuality is legal in Peru, but the homosexual rights movement in Peru has been slow to take hold. While The Lima Homosexual Movement was founded in 1983, it was not until 2002 that Peru’s first gay pride parade took place, and even then the few hundred people taking part wore masks to hide their identities. Most countries in South America have a relaxed attitude towards LGBT people, though police harassment and corruption remains a problem.

The government is considering offering damages to members of the gay community who were sent to mental hospitals, tortured or imprisoned under the regime of General Franco between the 1930s and 1970s. Under Franco’s strict Catholic rule, gay people were seen as a threat to the Spanish "macho" image. They were banned from jobs and routinely jailed and discriminated against. Homosexuality in Spain was decriminalised in 1979, and the current Socialist government has legalised gay weddings and adoption.

The only out gay man in the new Congress, 66-year-old Democrat Barney Frank, has been appointed chairman of the powerful Financial Services Committee, giving him an opportunity to tackle some of the inequalities caused by the rampant free market in the US. The Harvard-educated lawyer has a sharp tongue and is consistently voted one of the funniest members of the House. He came out in 1987, survived a rentboy scandal in 1990 and in 2006 ran for Congress unopposed.  In 1998, he founded the National Stonewall Democrats, a LGBT Democratic pressure group, and he has been a vocal and articulate defender of LGBT rights.

A Swedish judge, presiding over two cases, has ruled that nonbiological mothers cannot adopt the children of their partners, despite the fact the couples are registered under Sweden’s civil partner law. In each case the birth mother had been artificially inseminated and the partners had been approved for adoption by social services authorities. But the judge rejected the applications, saying the couples were trying to bypass Sweden’s law allowing children to identify biological parents. Both couples said they will appeal the ruling as judges have approved adoptions of partner’s children in previous cases.

The Ministry of Social Development has produced a brochure informing same-sex couples of changes to benefit entitlement that will come into effect from 1 April 2007.

As of April this year couples in same-sex de facto couples will be treated the same as opposite-sex de facto couples, married couples and civil union couples in regard to income assistance provided by the Ministry of Social Development. Such assistance includes Work and Income, Community Services Card, Studylink, Veterans and Superannuation payments.

The brochure entitled "Are you in a same-sex relationship?" outlines the criteria for two people to be considered a couple (for the purpose of government financial  assistance), as well as other important information.

The OGT has been sent a number of these brochures so if anyone would like one sent to them then please let us know (OGT, PO Box 6171, [email protected], 0274-793-113 - phone or text).

by Tor Devereux

Georgina Beyer has announced that she will retire from Parliament in February this year, approximately halfway through her third term.

Beyer came into Parliament as the MP for Wairarapa in 1999 and she was the

world’s first transsexual MP. She stood again in 2002 and won the seat once more by a signiifcant majority, and then in 2005 she returned to Parliament for a 3rd term but this time as a list MP. During her time as an MP Beyer has been a member of a number of select committees.

Prior to entering Parliament Beyer was involved in local body politics. She became a member of the Carterton District Council in 1993, and then contested and won the mayoralty in 1995. She retained the role of Mayor of Carterton until entering Parliament in 1999.

After retiring as an MP Beyer will take part in a play - "6 Dance Lessons in 6 Weeks" - at Dunedin’s Fortune Theatre.  Although Beyer will be gone from central government, she hasn’t ruled out returning to local body politics and running for the Wellington mayoralty later this year.

Beyer will be replaced by Southland union organiser Lesley Soper, the next candidate on Labour’s list. Beyer’s departure means that Labour’s number of queer MPs will reduce from five to four.

by Tor Devereux

If you’re reading this then obviously you managed to find a copy of the OGT, but we thought that it might be useful and interesting to let our readers know about all the different places where we distribute the paper.

Each time an issue of the OGT is published there are 1000 copies that need to be distributed (by a small team of wonderful volunteers) to various locations around the city. Some of these copies (about 20%) are mailed out to subscribers, LGBT/queer organisations throughout New Zealand, various local health providers and support agencies, queer MPs, local MPs, many of the high schools in Otago and Southland and libraries throughout Otago. In addition, some copies are sent to distribution points in Invercargill, Christchurch and Auckland.  The remaining OGTs are distributed around town at the following locations:

Percolater, Nova, Metro, Strictly Coffee, Poolhouse Café, Tangente, Jizo, Mazagran, Pot Pourri, Arc, Bronx, Port Royale (Port Chalmers), Green Acorn, Modaks, Governors, Croque-o-dile

Dunedin Library, Mosgiel Library, Blueskin Bay Library, Port Chalmers Library, Waikouaiti Library

University Book Shop, Anja Klinkert Lawyer, Metro Cinema, Real Groovy, Head Quarters (Sth Dn), Aurora Health Centre, Civic Video (Sth Dn), Contours Gym, Lure Jewellery

PFLAG, UniQ/FUNQ, Prostitutes Collective, Arai Te Uru Whare Hauora, Relationship Services

Art School Polytech, Bill Robertson Library, Polytech Union, Unipol, University Staff Club, Science Library (Uni), Commerce Building (Uni), Women’s Room (Uni), Clubs & Societies, Student Health, Richardson Building (Uni), Med Library (Uni)

If there are any other locations that you think we should add to our list of distribution places, then please let me know.

by Robyn Flowers

SGnLS (Southland Gay and Lesbian Support) FINALLY achieved incorporation as a Charitable Trust on 20 October 2006, three months after submitting our initial application. We celebrated what felt like a mammoth achievement that night.  However, the taste of victory (as it had indeed been a battle) was soured by the tedious and frustrating process we had been subjected to. It was a bitter sweet celebration.

Why three months to become incorporated when this can often be finalised within a fortnight?  We are still bemused by that ourselves. Granted, the .rst two rejections were justi.able - the rules had been left out of the envelope and the trustee signatures were not witnessed. We wouldn’t have been overly concerned if these two points had been made in ONE letter of rejection. Rather, we received the first which we duly sorted and resubmitted. Then number two arrived and, still in a good frame of mind about it all, we again sorted and resubmitted. Keep in mind, though, that it was now September and we had funding applications which could not be submitted until we were incorporated.

The feeling within the group was that we had a case which we could quite rightfully take to the media. However, we were determined to exhaust all other options first. SGnLS responded by letter along with (once again) our application.  We provided credible research that nonheterosexual youth are at risk, affirming that our support, information and education service is primarily a means of creating and maintaining safer communities and the well-being of the nonheterosexual community and their families and friends through acceptance and inclusion. Further, we searched the Companies Office site for likeminded organisations with charitable status and attached copies of their objects in comparison.

It also felt like it was time to bring in the "big boys". A chat with a local Labour Party member got Rainbow Labour involved, and our wonderful contact at Public Health South was only too happy to lend support also.

We gave the Companies Office the ten working days which we were advised was the longest it would take to have our application reconsidered before calling to check progress on 20 October. I was informed that our application hadn’t quite reached rejection or approval stage as when each of the letters of support had been received the process had had to begin all over again! However,

I was told that in light of information received that yes, we were entitled to charitable status after all (funny that), but that we were going to be rejected as we had a membership clause in our rules.

Now, the membership clause (which had been an oversight) was a justiifable reason for rejection, but it meant that we were facing a further delay as once we had made the amendment and resubmitted the process began from scratch AGAIN. Did I lose the plot at this stage and succumb to hysteria? … Almost!!!

Like the proverbial dog with a bone we were NOT going to give up. And, to the Companies Office’s credit, the particular staff member I spoke with that day made a firm commitment to action this on our behalf within the shortest time possible. She was both empathetic and responsive to our dilemma. (Perhaps my tears of sheer frustration helped our cause, although at this point in time I also resorted to mentioning the media and politicians!)

Which brings me back to my first paragraph.  Yes we celebrated, but it had been a hell of a battle. The point I brought to the Companies Office as a result was that the process by which an application is processed needs serious refinement.  In the interests of time, energy and resources I have to wonder why a document (be it a trust deed, constitution or rules) accompanying an application is not considered in its entirety. And, that where an application is rejected, that the applicants receive a complete recommendation for all necessary amendments/alterations. The ideal: one rejection letter, one resubmission and then incorporation.