editorial

This should really be the autumn issue of the OGT (and it certainly looks like autumn outside with the leaves displaying a wonderful range of red, orange, yellow and brown hues), but as I write this it definitely feels way more like winter. The end of April/beginning of May seems way too early to be bringing out the woollen socks and the thermals but I can’t bear being cold so I’ve given in and brushed the cobwebs off my winter wardrobe!

An important event that’s coming up in May is the AIDS Candlelight Memorial on Sunday May 20. This is the day when people around the world remember those who have died from AIDS and those who are living with HIV and AIDS. The Working Together Group is organising the memorial which will take place at 7pm at St Paul’s Cathedral in the Octagon. While the number of people diagnosed with HIV last year was down on the previous year, there’s no room for complacency and the safer sex messages and practices are just as important as ever. Each new diagnosis is one too many. See Page 3 for more details about the latest HIV .gures from the NZ AIDS Foundation and for more information about the local AIDS Candlelight Memorial.

The paper also contains information about upcoming events and activities, local groups and a new resource that’s been produced by the Family Planning Association speci.cally for women who have sex with women. And, in amongst all this, there are a few book reviews which might give you some ideas for books to check out during the long winter nights ahead.

On Page 8 there are details about a project that’s being carried out by a woman in Wellington on the subject of GLBTI domestic violence. If anyone would like to be involved with Kim’s project or would like more information about it, then her contact details are included there for you. Domestic violence in the queer community is something that is rarely acknowledged or talked about so the website that Kim is proposing would be a really valuable resource. Kim has indicated that she’s willing to write something for the OGT about domestic violence in the queer/LGBT community so hopefully we’ll have that in the following issue which will be great for raising awareness and making visible an issue that, unfortunately, our community is not immune to.

Press Release, NZ AIDS Foundation, 14 March 2007

Figures released today by the AIDS Epidemiology Group show that 70 gay and bisexual men were diagnosed with HIV in 2006, a rate of one every five days.  The New Zealand AIDS Foundation says the figures are a welcome drop on 2005, which saw 90 new diagnoses among gay and bisexual men - the most ever in a single year - but is still cautioning against complacency. Despite an increase in heterosexual diagnoses this year, gay and bisexual men remain the highest risk group for HIV, comprising 80% of the total number of 2006 diagnoses where infection occurred within New Zealand.

"While it’s great news that we’ve seen a decrease for gay and bisexual men this year, this doesn’t mean that we are less at risk," says NZAF Chair Hoani Jeremy Lambert.  "We have to remember that 2005 was a particularly bad year, and the number of men diagnosed with HIV in 2006 is still more than double what we were seeing between 1997 and 2000."

NZAF is reminding gay and bisexual men this year that it’s not who you are, but what you do that puts you at risk of HIV. "You don’t get HIV simply because you’re gay or bisexual – you get it by having anal sex without a condom," Lambert says. "This is by far the riskiest thing you can do in terms of HIV, and all the evidence suggests that anal sex without condoms is how all the gay and bisexual men in 2006 who were infected through sexual transmission got it."

Of the 70 gay/bi diagnoses in 2006, 52 were infected in New Zealand. Of these:

• 33% are known for certain to have been infected in the previous two years because they received a negative HIV test in that time.

• 81% lived in the North Island, with 56% from the Auckland region and 17% from Wellington.

• The average age of those infected was 38.

• 77% were of European ethnicity, 11% Maori, 8% Asian and 2% Pacific.

"The reality is, HIV does not affect everyone in New Zealand equally," Lambert continues. "As gay men, we remain the primary risk group because of the risk of transmission via anal sex, and because most of our infections occur here in New Zealand, not overseas. This virus is on our doorstep and in our communities."

Sunday 20 May is the date for this year’s AIDS Candlelight Memorial at St Paul’s Cathedral in the Octagon at 7pm. The memorial includes a non-religious service to provide a time to remember those we and our community have lost to HIV/AIDS, an "open microphone" time for anyone to speak of someone they have lost or make other comments or statements, a candle-lighting ceremony, silent time for prayer or meditation and a supper to meet together and share conversation, food and drink.

The memorial is open to all members of the community, all ages and stages of life, those who have lost friends or family to HIV/AIDS, those living with the virus or who have family or friends living with it and those who care about supporting them.

Ultimately we are all affected by HIV/AIDS because it is in our community and affecting people around us. In New Zealand there were 177 new diagnoses of HIV in 2006, 27 people previously diagnosed overseas and confirmed in New Zealand and 29 people notified with AIDS.

Please extend this invitation to all your friends and family, community groups, church groups and youth groups. In the past, more than 150 people have come along and many have found it a very moving and passionate event which leaves them touched and sad, but also motivated to continue to work and advocate for more public acknowledgement of the need for research funding, medical funding and sexual health funding to reduce the number of people contracting HIV in New Zealand in the future.

Dunedin is just one of over 4500 communities in 93 countries which hold an annual memorial event. Attending the Candlelight Memorial makes you part of a world-wide movement to remember those who have died and support those who are living with HIV/AIDS.  It is exciting to feel we are part of such a large event. See www.candlelightmemorial.org for more information.

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

A new federal law that will extend protections on the grounds of race or religion to sexual orientation or gender identity in the USA is to be named after the murdered gay teenager whose death brought the issue of hate crimes into the American consciousness.  Matthew Shepard was beaten, tied to a fence and left for dead in freezing Wyoming in 1998. He was the victim of a hate crime, targeted because he was gay. His story inspired Republican and Democratic Senators to try to bring forward new laws. With the Democrats now controlling power in Washington, the hate crime legislation has a better chance of passing than when it was first proposed by President Clinton to a hostile Republican Congress in 1999.

A court has ruled Latvian of.cials acted illegally in banning last year’s gay pride parade. Last year hundreds of skinheads, members of the Orthodox Church and people identified as members of an extremist national group threw excrement and eggs at about 50 gay rights activists and their supporters as they left a gay pride service, held after the city refused to grant a pride parade permit. Gay rights in Latvia have also resulted in political clashes between President Vaira Vike-Freiberga and parliament. Last year she sent a labour bill back to parliament with a terse message that sexuality needed to be listed alongside discrimination based on race, gender, age, disability, religious or political beliefs. Begrudgingly lawmakers reinserted the protections they had taken out and the bill was signed.

Police have dropped charges against civil rights leader Nikolai Alekseev and 200 other people arrested during last year’s attempted gay pride march. They were charged with violating an order denying Moscow Pride the right to "gather, meet, demonstrate, march or picket". If convicted they could have faced imprisonment. Moscow’s mayor, Juri Lushkov, had refused to give a permit for the May gay parade, citing security concerns, but he has often made anti-gay comments. When marchers attempted to hold a parade despite the ban, police quickly arrested marchers and counter protestors. Moscow Pride has applied for a permit to march on 26–27 May this year, and Lushkov has again said he will ban it.

Legislation that would allow Colorado same-sex couples to adopt is on its way to the desk of Governor Bill Ritter after passing through both legislative houses. While Ritter has refused to comment on the bill, it is widely expected he will sign it into law. As well as recognising same-sex couples as co-parents, the bill also allows two people who aren’t married (such as a grandparent or another individual helping a parent raise a child) to adopt.

After discovering how to grow human sperm cells from male bone marrow, scientists at Newcastle University’s North-East England Stem Cell Institute are seeking permission to replicate their experiment with female marrow. If successful, a female couple may be able to impregnate one partner’s eggs with sperm grown from the other’s bone marrow. However, Professor Nayernia emphasised the research could be of most use to infertile men. Creating a child using "female" sperm would produce only daughters as the Y chromosome needed for a male foetus can come only from male sperm. The concept of a child conceived by two women is possible, said the professor, but "the problem is whether the sperm cells are functional or not". The British government might ban the use of arti.cial sperm and eggs as part of an ongoing review of its fertility laws. A ban is supported by the medical association amid fears sub-standard sperm or eggs might produce children with serious health problems. Experiments on rats with arti.cially created sperm led to successful births, but the resulting children had shortened lifespans and health deficiencies.

Two young lesbians captured by Maoist guerrillas in early March have escaped, according to the Nepalese LGBT rights group Blue Diamond. The women (aged 16 and 20 years) were seized when the rebels, who control much of southern Nepal, discovered the pair were gay. From impoverished families and nearly illiterate, the women worked as cleaners at an HIV/AIDS of.ce. They were taken to a rebel camp, questioned and then imprisoned, where they were beaten until they renounced homosexuality. They were allowed out of jail after agreeing to join the Maoists, but slipped out of the rebel camp and made their way to the capital.

Interview by Pauline Butler Nicholson

Is this multiple choice? Let’s go with all of the above. By far the best "teacher" you can have is your own ear, but it’s also very valuable to have input and guidance from pros.

I was a gawky, fat kid. I think there’s still a part of me that’s .ghting to overcome that, at least the ghosts of it that remain in my head.

I keep intending to and then I get busy! I’ve been working like a madman on the daily video blog I’ve been doing. Once that gets under control somewhat I can return my attention to doing a fitness video.

Honestly, it’s scary. I’m afraid to misstep and set a bad example, or speak without thinking and say something like commentator Don Imus did recently about the Rutgers Women’s basketball team. But then I remember that I’m human. I never promote myself as a spokesperson for anything other than my own beliefs unless I’m specifically asked to assume that role, and I am willing to discuss my own shortcomings.

It started long before 9/11, but that brought things to the fore. The world is in a reactive, hate-.lled state and it is the duty of both individuals and nations to spread compassion instead of fear and  hatred. Our own government is a brilliant and wonderful organization, but I fear that the current administration has left us misguided. I didn’t vote for Bush, but I respect him as my President as long as he is in office. Many of the changes we must make start on an individual basis.  When you react to someone driving badly around you, do you immediately classify them by race, gender, age, etc.?  Think about it. Are there any minority (or majority) groups against whom you rile?  Ask yourself why.

I try to present gay people on my blog every day as normal, sane, not scary.  The biggest obstacle I think we face as humans is seeing others as different  from us, alien. In truth, we’re much more alike than we are different. Once we begin to recognise our similarities, our differences fade into the background.

It’s been a mixed bag. He’s signed some of the legislation that’s crossed his desk and vetoed some of it. I think that, in the long run, we have an ally. However, I feel he spent the early part of his term in of.ce appeasing the national Republican leadership, which currently answers to the religious right, no fan of gays! But Schwarzenegger seems to be striking out more on his own convictions in areas such as the environment and education, stepping away from the party line. Will he do the same on gay issues? Time will tell.

http://blog.myspace.com/benpatrick http://www.youtube.com/benpatrickjohnson 

Also on iTunes by entering Ben Patrick Johnson as a search and subscribing as a podcast.

by Jane E Libeau

When I think about communication and finding the quality that I want to exude, I think of the Goldie-Locks story – although notnecessarily the traditional Goldie-Locks and the three bears story we all know and love. To me Goldie-Locks portrays the seeker of knowledge, how she searches for what is just right and how she wants to find her way to communicate.

Goldie-Locks wanders the forest of "herself" until she comes to the house of her inner self.  Her curiosity to what is inside draws her to open the door and enter.

Once inside Goldie-Locks finds upon a table three bowls of porridge. She samples the first bowl of porridge and it burns her lips, she samples the second bowl of porridge and it is cold. Reluctantly Goldie-Locks samples the third bowl of porridge and to her surprise it is just right. The tasting of the three bowls of porridge reflects how Goldie-Locks wants to generate her communication. With tasting the third bowl she becomes aware that she will communicate with a warm and nourishing voice.

Goldie-Locks then peruses the room and sees three chairs. She sits on the first chair and finds it hard and rigid. She sits upon the second chair and sinks deeply as she folds into it. Then, sitting upon the third chair, she finds it comfortable, supporting and relaxing. How she feels in the third chair represents her desired body language. Goldie-Locks sits in the chair for a moment longer and ponders her new discovery of her self.

It wasn’t long before Goldie–Locks espies three beds. Of course it was time to test their qualities. The first bed by the open window was too large, too hard and too exposed. The second bed under the eave was too soft and too sheltered. In the centre of the room was the third bed. Goldie-Locks wandered toward the bed, easily got upon it and relaxed with its natural covers enveloping her and sides slightly raised giving a feeling of comfortable containment. Goldie-Locks lay in the bed that represented her social boundaries and consciousness of conversational intent.

And time went by.

The three bears come home to see that their porridge has been nibbled at and that one bowl is all gone. Their chairs have been sat in and now there is someone lying in the little bear’s bed. As they approach the bed Goldie-Locks rises and smiles at the two larger bears then turns to the little bear. She looks into his left eye and says:

I entered this house and I did found Three bowls of porridge up off the ground I chose the one that was right for me Now I generate my voice to thee The warm nurturing bowl, sweet and true Generates how I speak to you.

I sat on the chairs, and found that one Supported my self and my new voice I have found.

From there I picked this bed of three Is where I found you, and you hear me.  I speak to you from my true voice I had three of three to make my choice

So,

I chose from which cot 

To make MY bed

So now I say what I mean

And mean what I said.

With that Goldie-Locks and the little bear

Saw the mirror of self

Of self aware

From her belly of knowledge she could generate

The power of truth and intention

From a sleepless state.

Both understood

What she came here for

They embraced for a moment

Then Goldie-Locks walked out the door.

by Anna Chinn

Interpreting and TV. Purely by accident with TV – I’ve been involved in the film industry since 1992, and that was just by chance of meeting somebody who was writing something, and they sent me a letter and I auditioned, and it started off from there. My first job was working with Lucy Lawless, of all people. So that was my introduction to the film industry.

Not for me. I didn’t know at the time that I had deaf whanau. I was unemployed and was looking for a job that was totally out of the blue, something I’d never done before. And there happened to be a social worker’s job at the Deaf Association in New Lynn. Ten years ago. And I thought "Oh, why not, I’ll give that a go" and next minute I’m working for them for two years and then decide to take on the role of a sign-language interpreter.

Well, Monday morning, up at 6.30 and shower.  On the road by quarter past 7 from Helensville, heading to Grey Lynn, making sure I get there by at least 8.30. And then I’m there either transcribing or writing scripts, or editing, or going out filming with the people that are going to be on our show. Or directing - directing Levi while he’s doing his segments, or supporting Ramon if she needs support on her shoots with different things – you know, ’cause it’s such a small team.

Totally.

Definitely adoption. Whangai and adoption are huge kaupapa. Um, civil union versus marriage, health, equality – I could go on! Transgender is a really huge take at the moment within our whanau, hapu, iwi. There’s a lot of gaps in services for our transgender community. That’s one thing I’d like to keep pushing through for ever and a day, until the Ministry of Health or Human Rights Commission do something with their Inquiry that’s coming up.

Review by John Robinson

The artist Felix Kelly, known to his friends as Fix, was born just before the start of the First World War in Mountain Road, Epsom. Co-incidentally this was also the one-time address of his contemporary and fellow Neo-Romantic painter Patricia France. But, unlike France, Kelly left New Zealand in the 1930s and never came back.

At first he worked at Lintas in London. Lintas was the advertising arm of Unilever, which seemed to attract artistic talent. The painter Keith Vaughan, for instance, was there at the time.  Kelly was soon hobnobbing with the ha ha’d classes and found a comfortable niche painting portraits of country houses. One of his first aristocratic friends was Gavin, 2nd Lord Faringdon, who "famously prefaced a speech (to the House of Lords) not with ‘My Lords’ but ‘My Dears’’’.

Kelly’s star was rising and he visited the States, and the South with its antebellum mansions, swamps and steamboats particularly inspired him. Success followed success. Flash cars and a smart address. He did sets for Gielgud. He illustrated books and designed the covers. He painted murals for famous cruise liners. He was written about in glossies and made improvements to the facade of Prince Charles’ Highgrove.

And yet when he died in 1994, Felix Kelly was hardly known in the land of his birth. The Dunedin Public Art Gallery has quite a collection of twentieth century British art, but nothing by him.  

Dr Donald Bassett is an Auckland art and architectural historian. He had to travel to Britain and America to research this book. He is to be congratulated. Publishers were not forthcoming.  It is a labour of love beautifully illustrated with more than one hundred colour plates. Dr Bassett has also secured for Te Papa archival material from the estate of the artist.

Review by Mike Wooliscroft

Already this year, two collections of short stories have been published by internationally significant gay writers – David Malouf and Colm Toibin. Writing at opposite sides of the world, Malouf in Australia and Toibin in Ireland and Italy, both are adept across literary genres.

All the stories are eminently worth reading and all focus on the inner-life of the principal characters, the way people face and adapt to life-changing events even when on a small scale rather than the main stations we arrive at, sometimes time and time again.  

The settings are mostly distinctively Australian, easily recognisable to many New Zealanders whether Malouf is writing of the events in cities or small country towns. One inhales the setting through the familiar images of the paintings of Australia’s artists as well as by the words which Malouf uses so cleverly to create a sense of time and place.

Both of these collections of short stories deserve to be read cover to cover – not for "the gay bits", but because they speak so tellingly of all of humanity and life’s condition.

Review by Pauline Butler Nicholson

How could I not hunt out this novel after adding the author to my list of online friends?  I’m glad I did so as it is a wonderful story. It gives the reader a little window into the real lives of everyday people in Hollywood based on Ben’s observations of those he’s met.

The characters are so interesting. Claire works as an osteopath and Freddie is a writer.  They used to live near each other and, after watching Freddie jog by many times, Claire invites him to dinner. She wonders if it was a shame to waste a lovely dinner on someone who is gay, with no hope of a romance, but she realises that good company is enough, and the two become good friends.

Joshua’s lifeline is his public relations company. There are times when it is the only thing that gets him out of bed. He meets Freddie at the Power Zone nutrition store and the two of them go on a date.

The fourth friend is Ritchie. He is said to be the best looking gym instructor in West Hollywood. His heart’s desire is to be a famous actor, but he just gets things so wrong.  The story is set in Hollywood, LA and it is about the love and lives of this group of friends. They celebrate the good times together and support each other through the rough patches that life and Hollywood throw at them.

I was identifying with elements of all of these people, but I didn’t realise how emotionally involved I was with the story until I got near the end. If you are inclined to cry at happy and sad things very easily, then you will do so with this book.

Review by Ralph Body

Traditionally, printmaking has been associated with multiplicity and intimacy. The typically discreet scale of prints has made them ideal for indiscreet content. Able to be kept hidden away in drawers and folios, only brought out for private perusal, they were the perfect medium for politically and sexually subversive imagery. Indeed, for centuries printmaking was the principal process through which pornography was produced and circulated.  Neil Emmerson pulls printmaking out of this historical closet, subjecting his images to public scrutiny as the chief component of his large-scale installation.

In the culture of cruising physical intimacy and emotional detachment go hand-in-hand. The double bed of the third gallery is surrounded by letters spelling "THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER", a statement that simultaneously suggests isolation, vulnerability and aggression. A desire for anonymity is expressed by the triptych of men dressed to camouflage with the surrounding bush. It is perhaps also suggested by the silhouette of a male head that is repeated as a framing device in the second group of prints. While this serves as a window for other images, the figure himself remains a faceless shadow. It was somewhat disarming to be confronted by my own reflection in a large scale mirror as I left the gallery. Having viewed the images on display as a kind of voyeur, as possessor of the gaze, here was a reminder (in the Foucaultian tradition) that I too could be the object of scrutiny.

Emmerson has utilised the reproducibility of the printmaking process to re-present the same images, allowing a residual sense of subjectivity. The images of cruising spaces have been reprinted in different colours, as if different perceptions of the same scene. This technique is even more evident in the second series, where selected images have been reconstituted into a variety of combinations. These draw on a myriad of cultural references, from pornography to Aubrey Beardsley’s illustrations and Maoist China. Once again Emmerson is questioning established binaries, such as those between East and West, the totalitarian and the libertine. The message seems to be that gay male identity is not singular and stable but diverse and shifting. It’s not something that can ever be fully captured or comprehended. The closest we can get are the various signs through which it is constructed.

There is an interview with Neil Emmerson and an image from his exhibition on Page 9.

Review by Mike Wooliscroft

The Leap of Faith Productions’ show was stunning in virtually every aspect. The huge stage set provided a variety of setting with simple modifications. The band, on stage throughout, was a delight as the performers showed much enthusiasm for the music they were performing.  And the cast mostly provided excellent performances with Le Roi Kippen playing Angel (the fabulous transvestite), Elly Bucher playing Mimi Marquez, Aaron Boyce playing Roger Davis and Ryan Carville playing Gordon and Cop.

In a tough life of poverty and associated stressful conditions one lyric gives the flavour of hope often reinforced: "There’s only us. There’s only this. Forget regret or life is yours to miss. No other road. No other way. No day but today."

Earlier this year, on the 26th-28th of January, Tapu Te Ranga Marae in Wellington was the staging ground for New Zealand’s first queer youth gathering, the Kaha Youth Hui. Organised by the Wellington based OUT THERE Youth Development Project and co-ordinated by Nathan Brown, the Hui brought together over 70 queer youth from centres around New Zealand to meet, make new friends, have a great time, but most of all to develop a nationwide support network between the youth involved and to discuss issues which plague queer youth of today.

The Hui featured workshops on drug/alcohol issues, sexuality and relationships, safe sex and HIV, discussed the issues of dealing with bullying in schools, body image and depression, as well as issues which many queer youth have avoided or not recognised in the past. There was also a presentation and question and answer session held by MPs Maryan Street and Charles Chauvel, which provided insight into the political system of this country and how they are willing and able to provide aid to youth support groups if needed. Also attending to lead a workshop was the New Zealand AIDS Foundation’s chair Jeremy Lambert who discussed activism and the media.

The Hui was kicked off at around 5pm on the Friday night with a powhiri and ran through to early Sunday afternoon with team building events and activities running all weekend, with everyone living and eating together as one. The Saturday night featured a performance extravaganza with youth standing up to perform, which was facilitated and supported by New Zealand’s own Buckwheat. This, along with everything else throughout the weekend, provided a chance for queer youth to "be themselves" in a supportive fun atmosphere, something which many had not experienced before.

One benefit of the Hui was that it featured a strongly diverse range of participants from different age groups as well as different identities - gay, lesbian, bisexual, intersex, transgender, fa’afa.ne and takataapui. This provided an environment for the queer youth to experience what they might not have before and to realise that they are not alone and that there really are other people out there like them. For many it was the first marae experience they had encountered and the cultural experience was very special and, through it, they were able to draw many parallels between homophobia and racism from the inclusion of the tikanga into the process of the Hui. Participants felt that the whole event felt natural and open, provided everyone with a sense of well-being and developed a community within the youth participants, sparking a passion for supporting queer youth and promoting acceptance of who they and those around them are.

The weekend was a success overall with the main result being a call from all the youth involved to develop a better nationwide network of support and communication around the country with the aim to provide queer youth with support and help in accepting who they are and how to experience life to its fullest. Everyone attending had a fantastic time with lifelong bonds and friendships formed and many still keep in touch and hope that there will be more gatherings like this in the near future.

by Robyn Flowers

SGnLS (Southland Gay and Lesbian Support) has been officially launched - and the website (www.sgnls.org.nz) and the support-line (21sgnls – 217-4657) are up and running! The website is regularly updated and whilst the phone line isn’t "manned", once a message is left the service sends a text to a cell phone and the caller is able to be rung back within minutes. 

With the support of Wayne Harpur (Invercargill City Councillor and Community Trust of Southland Board Member) and Lesley Soper (Southland Labour Party List Member) we celebrated by holding a Pride Picnic in February.  We were delighted to have people from PFLAG South and UniQ Otago come from Dunedin and join us for the day. A huge thank you to those who travelled down - it was lovely to meet you all and to have your support! Brent Mitchell from Christchurch was here too with the NZAF stand and resources - thanks Brent for withstanding the gusts of wind which played havoc!

Tony Milne (Young Labour) also joined us for the day travelling from Christchurch to support our coming out.  Local support and information available at the event included Public Health South and the Women’s support line Rape Crisis.

Philip Patston provided the entertainment applauding Southland for "finally coming out", something which he said the rest of the country had been waiting for and expecting for some time now!!!  The picnic was an inaugural event for Southland and we intend to make it a feature on the SGnLS calendar.

Youth meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month and the women’s coffee group (lesbians 25 plus) get together fortnightly on Sundays. The men have decided it’s about time they organised themselves so a men’s coffee group is starting soon. Plans are to combine bi-monthly. Evening get togethers are arranged from time to time as well.

We are also currently planning workshops which will include topics such as safe sex and awareness around "P", a drug which is affecting too many people in communities throughout New Zealand.

by Anna Chinn

Late in April, the Blue Oyster Gallery was fleshed out by the work of Neil Emmerson, who has been installed as HOD print media at Otago Polytechnic School of Art for the past six months. The show, both a retrospective and the Aussie artist’s Dunedin debut, aimed for a subtle queering of the gallery’s three spaces.

Before it opened on the 17th, I asked Emmerson about a quote pilfered from curator Ross Moore on printaustralia.blogspot.com. It went: "Emmerson has sidestepped the tyranny of an Australian scene that no sooner sees an evocation of gay desire, than it dumps it in a basket named Gay Art and pops the lid back on."

So is the discretion that Emmerson goes for a way of avoiding that pigeonorifice?

"I think it is because I’m actually more interested in affecting a straight audience and queering straight spaces.  And I’m also interested in semiotics, because homosexuals, lesbians, gay men, et cetera are extremely good at code and sign. And so I like to slip things under the radar, so that there’s a reading for the people that are in the know, and then there’s this other reading and maybe some uncomfortable problematics for people that aren’t in the know. So there’s a subversion thing happening there." Publicity for his show described the Blue Oyster Gallery as being a sidelined space, "hidden down a dingy alley, the smelly arse-ends of restaurants and bars its only neighbours". Emmerson told the Otago Gaily Times about a strong sense of repression, and the need to subvert it, that he has experienced in Dunedin.

One such juxtaposition that Emmerson has conjured and revisited in the Blue Oyster show focuses on the public park complete with Anzac monument.  Such parks are all about boys and blokiness and war, but are also, at night, places where men cruise for sex.  "The Anzac memorials usually have an obelisk or a cenotaph – you know, a kind of phallic monument – and they’re in parks and gardens, public areas.  Children, playful stuff, picnics during the day, and then in the evening there’s another whole thing that happens. So I just find that conflict of constructions of masculinity really interesting."

by Lisa Davis

The Passions are riding high after returning triumphant from their trip to the New Zealand Masters in Wanganui. The Passions did incredibly well, gaining entry to the quarter finals and just missing getting through to the semi finals.

As the coach I was privileged to be part of a team environment that was second to none. The fun, laughter and huge hearts within the team were amazing. Many thanks to the Purple Passions team, our sponsors and the lesbian community for making this amazing experience possible.

On April 21 the Purple Passions kicked off the 2007 soccer season at Forrester Park, North East Valley.  Please note that this year the competition has moved to Forrester Park. Also the earliest game will be 11am, much better than last season’s 9am frosty morning starts!!  The draw for each week is on the University of Otago Unipol website (www.unipol.co.nz/outDoor_soccer_main.html) the Thursday before the weekend. If you have any questions or would like more information about the Purple Passions, then contact Lisa Davis on 021-279-5374 or 471- 8200.

by Sarah Loftus, FPA Health Promoter

To some people this sounds like a non-issue, as traditionally safer sex has meant contraception and condom use in heterosexual relationships, or condom use for anal sex in gay male relationships. It is a common assumption that women who have sex with women (WSW) don’t need to be concerned about their sexual health. But, a new booklet from FPA (Family Planning Association) called "Keeping It Safe" addresses a wide range of issues around sexual health for same sex attracted women.

There seems to be a cultural myth that lesbians, in particular, are not vulnerable to Sexually Transmissible Infections (STIs) or are not capable of transmitting infections to other women. But, the real-life experiences of women and international research both tell us there are reasons to think again. All the known STIs have been reported in women who have never had sex with men. Female-to-female transmission of genital herpes, trichomoniasis, genital warts, syphilis and other STIs have all been recorded. To prevent viruses and bacteria passing from woman to woman, the use of oral dams, gloves and condoms on sex toys is recommended.

As well as prevention of STI transmission, the phrase "safer sex" should also be used to include emotional safety, psychological safety and aspects of general sexual health, and the booklet includes information on issues as wide-ranging as homophobia, drug and alcohol use, menopause, sex toys, emotional health and step-parenting.  Women who have sex with women are also reminded that they need to have regular cervical smears – every three years once they are sexually active and over 20 years old (regardless of age of starting sexual activity and including those who have never had sex with men).

FPA health promoter Sarah Loftus will be running a free workshop for WSW wanting to find out more and discuss some of the issues in the booklet on Tuesday 24 July (see below for more details).

Copies of the "Keeping It Safe" booklet are available from Sarah at any time, or from the workshop, or by going to www.fpanz.org.nz , clicking on "resources", downloading the pamphlet order form and faxing it off for two free copies.

FPA offers free medical consultations for everyone under 22 years, $5 consultations for those with community services cards and a range of charges for others. All members of the community are welcome at the FPA clinic.

Free workshop for WSW (women who have sex with women) 

Tuesday 24 July

7-9pm

FPA, 95 Hanover Street (second floor), Dunedin

Facilitator - Sarah Loftus, FPA Health Promoter

Please phone 477-5850 to register or for more information

by Sue Thompson (PFLAG)

A friend told me a story. She and her three year old twin boys were making gingerbread men.  When the cut out shapes were laid on the tray she went to answer the telephone. After a longish interval she rejoined the boys. They had been busy and were ecstatic at what they had made.  The 24 gingerbread  men each had a penis (and probably in great variety)! A creator delights in what he or she has created.  Whatever has been made tells us something about its creator.

I think that God delights in each of us, his creations, straight and gay. We all have much in common with the rest of humanity. However, we are each unique, whether in body or in our sense of ourselves as a man or woman, or the way we express ourselves as a man or woman, or who we are romantically and erotically attracted to. Unlike the gingerbread men, we also have been given the power to love and to create change in the world by the way we love.

Another story from this week is about a church which commissioned a set of sculpted marble stations of the cross (a set of 14 pictures depicting the events leading to the crucifixion and death of Christ). The sculptor, with creative energy, produced a work that would appeal to a wide variety of people - strong figures, different from the usual slender European Jesus. The church people were upset though. The crucified Jesus was completely naked! No matter that an old man thought it was "great that Christ had his tackle just like us". The problem was that they were not at ease with such a sacred image being associated with sex.  Perhaps steeped in "tradition", they did not listen to the artist’s vision, or they were not comfortable with their own sexuality, or they were afraid of how people would react. The artist was asked to add a "drapery".

Perhaps this suggests how for the rainbow community and their families, churches can be more of an obstacle than a help to finding God.

This Holy Week I still attended the services, albeit with faith tattered and changed forever. As I focus on the gospel, it strikes me that Jesus would feel a huge compassion for all his gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered brothers and sisters. He knew what it was like to be rejected by community and church, betrayed by a friend, found outrageous for keeping "bad company" and that some authorities were silent at his unjust treatment.

I believe that we are all created by a God who loves us just as we are.