editorial

Hello again and welcome to the last issue of the OGT for 2008. Before we know it the festive season will be here and we’ll be approaching another new year. It’s quite incredible how quickly the year has gone by!

This issue of the paper includes an interview with Steph Saunders, senior inspector at the Otago SPCA (hence all those cute animals on the cover!).  Steph has been part of the SPCA for more than 20 years and earlier this year her contribution to animal welfare was acknowledged with a national award.  Unfortunately the festive season is often a very busy time for the SPCA with the number of abandoned or unwanted pets often increasing, so perhaps you might like to consider whether you could help them out this year either with a donation or some of your time. There are more details about this on Page 3 including the Otago SPCA’s webpage which is well worth checking out.

December 1 is when World AIDS Day is commemorated in many countries around the world. This year marks the 20th anniversary of this day of remembrance and activism. According to the Worlds AIDS Campaign website (www.worldaidscampaign.org), “Leadership is the World AIDS Day theme for 2007 and 2008. The theme highlights the political leadership needed to fulfill commitments that have been made in response to HIV/AIDS - particularly the promise of universal access to prevention, treatment, care and support - and

celebrates the leadership that has been witnessed at all levels of society.”  World AIDS Day events will take place in New Zealand on Friday November 28, so keep an eye out for what’s happening locally. And, if you would like to be involved with the group that organises World AIDS Day events in Dunedin (the Working Together Group) then they would love to hear from you. See Page 4 for details about how you can help out.

Included in this OGT also is some information about family/partner and sexual violence. Unfortunately family/partner violence is not restricted to heterosexual relationships but affects our community as well – something we all need to be aware of even though it’s not often talked about or acknowledged. The Dunedin Collaboration Against Family Violence has provided the OGT with an in-depth article about family/partner violence, as well as a list of organisations that can support those experiencing family violence or those who are violent in their relationships. There is also an article about Rape Crisis and the hugely important work they do for women who

have experienced sexual abuse. See Pages 10 and 11 for these pieces.

On a somewhat lighter note, while you relax over the summer you might want to spend some of your time enjoying a good read so check out the book reviews on Pages 6 and 7. If you’re looking for some fun before Christmas, then there are two dance parties and a car rally (see Page 11 for more details). The car rally is a fundraiser for the Purple Passions Women’s Softball Team and sounds like it’s going to be lots of fun, so why not get a team together and have a great night out while supporting a worthwhile cause.

Happy holidays to all OGT readers, advertisers, contributors, distributors and your families. Thanks for your support throughout the year and we look forward to bringing you more issues of the OGT next year. Enjoy the summer and we’ll see you again in February!

Tor Devereux, Editor

Interview With A Sapphic SPCA Sensation

by Anna Chinn

It must be pretty cool to be described by your employer as “a skilled and tireless worker on behalf of Otago’s animals”. In May, Sapphic sensation Steph Saunders received the RNZSPCA’s silver medal for outstanding contribution to animal welfare at a local

level. Speaking to the Otago Gaily Times, the senior inspector for Otago, who is based at the country’s first animal sanctuary – established 1882 – in Opoho, Dunedin, said her love for animals began early.

“I’ve been animal-mad since I was born, and refused to play with dolls, would rather have something alive and kicking. I’m not sure how much of that was just being born butch and how much was an affinity with animals, I don’t know! But, yeah, it’s always been a passion and a focus – you know, I’d be playing air hostesses with the cats sat on chairs, and always cuddled up with the dogs.

“My first job when I left school was an office job. And it wasn’t really me; I mean, it was back in the day when, the rules were, you had to get School Cert at least and you couldn’t leave till you had a job. I wanted to get out, so I got an office job. Of course, loving the outdoors and also not bowing to the pressure of wearing skirts and things, I kinda bailed on it after a while. My parents had moved to Dunedin so I came here and started doing voluntary work and then I got taken on as the dog handler. So I progressed from there, really.”

Twenty-three years on, Steph finds her responsibilities are ever expanding within the organisation. She is on the National Inspectors Advisory Council, which is involved in training other animal welfare inspectors, and has this year taken on the role of South Island coordinator of rural complaints. “We get quite a few rural complaints and normally, in the past, it was MAF that dealt with the big farm jobs and that. But they’re very short-staffed and the SPCA’s having to deal with a lot of it, being the charity – it’s interesting, isn’t it? – rather than the Government body.”

She is also involved in an initiative aimed at “empathy education”.

“We’ve got Norm Hewitt as our poster boy. He’s going to be touring intermediate schools here in early November. Basically, the whole thinking behind it is that, we’ve all heard that all these violent offenders and serial killers and mass murderers, they all started on animals. Every single one ... It’s actually an indicator – like, the chance of a child that’s torturing animals going on to be a serial killer or a rapist or commit violent crimes against humans is 84%. So, it’s like, hello?  So we’re intervening now where we can.

“So, Norm goes in, because he came from a violent upbringing ... And he talks about getting out on the farm with his horse and his dog and how that was where he found comfort. And also about having a dream - he knew at 7 years old, he stood up in front of the black-and-white telly when his family were about to watch a test and said, ‘I want to be an All Black!’ And he was. So he tells them that you can have a dream, that you can make changes. He’s saying [holding up a fist], ‘I know some of you kids have seen this. But you can make a change now, you don’t have to be like that; my kids will never see this.’

“You see the kids get it, ’cause he takes them on a bit of a journey and he’s being silly and they’re all laughing, and then he gets in with this and you see some of them, they’re just like ‘Shit!’ The letters we’re getting back from teachers are like, it was the most powerful presentation their school’s ever seen, the kids are talking about it weeks later. We’re getting letters from kids ... One of my favourites, and it’s probably the most simplistic letter we’ve received, said, ‘I used to be violent to my pet but I’m not now.’ It’s like, yay! Goo-ood! Brutally honest, but hey, we’ve made a difference.”

In her lengthy experience as an animal welfare inspector – whose arsenal of skills now includes veterinary forensics – Steph has seen some horrific offending. Curiously enough, though, she said queer folk have a near-spotless record.

“I mean, not that everyone’s got their flag out or anything but my gaydar generally works well and, look, we don’t have offending from the gay community, very, very rarely. Basically, we don’t – that’s not to say they’re not out there – but generally, the gay community’s very supportive of us. They adopt their pets from us, they think of us at Christmas. I do think about that and wonder why, and I think that generally as a rule we’re all fairly cool people. We’re not mean, we know what it’s like to suffer and to be prejudged, and so I think most people in the gay community are fairly compassionate.

“I also think that there’s possibly the child-substitute – I don’t actually like using that word but, sure we can go and have children but I think a lot of queers tend to enjoy having pets around.  I mean, the old ‘lesbians and their dogs’, it’s classic isn’t it? My mother used to hassle me, she said, ‘Oh, I’ve no problem with you being gay but I would’ve liked more grandchildren.’ But however, gay or straight, I don’t think that I’d have really been interested [in having kids] and I said to her ‘Anyway, they’d just be dog substitutes.’ That got her.

“She treats my dogs like her grandchildren as well and they get treats when the other grandkids do. Which hasn’t been pushed by me; she makes out it has but it hasn’t.” NOTE: The SPCA relies on volunteers for a lot of its work. If you love animals, you have some

time that you could donate and you’d like to help out, then call the Otago SPCA on 473-8252 and ask about their volunteer opportunities. Or, if you don’t have any time to spare, you might be able to make a donation. You might also like to check out the Otago SPCA website at www.spca.petpals.co.nz  for lots of information about what the SPCA does.

World AIDS Day - 1 December World AIDS Day - Dunedin

For many years now the Working Together Group, a group of volunteers, has worked together to provide World AIDS Day events in Dunedin - radio appearances, street stalls, roving condom man and giveaways, competitions and a street collection to raise funds to

support local people with HIV/AIDS. In other centres the New Zealand AIDS Foundation puts on events, but because of funding their work in this area does not extend to Dunedin.

The Working Together Group has included people whose jobs are about sexual and/or public health and people who volunteer their time because they believe HIV/AIDS is a vital health issue that affects us all.

All groups seem to wax and wane over time and this is happening to the Working Together Group right now. There really isn’t enough people power to run the event effectively this year. So, this is a plea to all readers – please consider these questions carefully:

• Do you believe HIV/AIDS awareness is important?

• Do you think it “doesn’t matter” in Dunedin because there aren’t people with HIV here? – because there are. And you probably know someone, or know someone who knows someone. It affects us all one way or another.

• Do you care that the public of Dunedin is made aware that it is World AIDS Day? Would you care if there was no mention of it?

• Do you care that money is raised for Otago people with HIV/AIDS to be supported in some way, especially to go to retreat camps with other HIV+ people?

• Could you contribute some time to planning World AIDS Day as part of your job? (You may only spend 10-15 hours on it in the next two months.)

• Could you donate your own time to planning or taking part in World AIDS Day? You might want to be a street collector or you might want to be behind the scenes.

• Do you belong to a group or club that looks for causes to support or volunteer for? Would it work for your group to be part of World AIDS Day?

This year is the twentieth World AIDS Day. Some people can think back beyond those 20 years to before the word “AIDS” existed at all, before this life-changing, life threatening, stigmatising virus was there to even worry about. Have you got so used to it that it

doesn’t “matter” to do public campaigns for awareness about it? Does it not “matter” that the gay stigma is still attached to HIV in many people’s minds, that the public still needs awareness campaigns to keep themselves and others safe?

Younger people - you’ve grown up with the word AIDS, with the idea that HIV is “just” another one of the sexually transmissible infections out there. You can’t remember the vitriol directed against gay men who were the first main group to be diagnosed with it

(now the figures for new HIV diagnoses where the mode of transmission is known and occurred in New Zealand show 53 by men having sex with men and 31 men and 29 women by heterosexual sex - for more information see www.otago.ac.nz/aidsepigroup ).

You can’t remember the shock and pain and horror of the idea that this new virus would sweep the world. But it IS sweeping the world, although in New Zealand with our good medical system and publicly funded AIDS Foundation perhaps it seems like it doesn’t

really matter, or “someone else” is responsible for public awareness. But who is that “someone”? Could it be you?

Contact Sarah Loftus, Family Planning, phone 477-5850 ext 3, to volunteer your time, support or ideas.

NOTE: World AIDS Day is 1 December, but generally it’s commemorated in New Zealand on the closest Friday which this year is November 28.

Survey Shows Many HIV-Positive Patients Still Fear Stigma More Than 25 Years After The Start Of The Pandemic

Press Release, Merck Sharp & Dohme (NZ) Limited, 25 September 2008

Results from the AIDS Treatment for Life International Survey (ATLIS), which polled nearly 3,000 HIV-positive patients from New Zealand and 17 other countries, show many people living with HIV and AIDS still live in fear of the societal stigma that surrounds the disease. In addition, many are so concerned about medicine side effects they have chosen to stop their treatment.

The survey interviewed 101 HIV-positive people in New Zealand. Results showed many respondents were concerned about people knowing that they have HIV or AIDS, primarily because they fear social discrimination and stigma.

Respondents were most likely to tell their friends that they have HIV or AIDS, but believed their parents were the most difficult individuals to reveal their condition to.

The global results revealed concerns such as losing family and friends (41%), the impact on their ability to establish future relationships (37%), the risk of losing their job (36%) and the impact on their reputation (36%). Asia Pacific respondents were more  concerned about the risk of losing family and friends, as well as the potential impact on their current relationships.  HIV and AIDS Management and Treatment in New Zealand

More than seven out of ten respondents in New Zealand are currently taking prescription medications for HIV or AIDS and more than

one out of five people have had HIV treatment resistance. This is when the virus becomes resistant to a particular medication, meaning that medication is no longer effective for that patient.  A third of people living with HIV and taking medication feel that their HIV or AIDS medication has a negative impact on their quality of life and they wish they knew more about HIV or AIDS and its treatments.

People living with HIV are willing to take medication over a long period of time to prevent long-term health risks and their greatest hope for future HIV and AIDS medications is that the medications will allow them to live longer.  Treatment Advances Applauded but Side Effects Remain a Significant Challenge Overall, 26% of the global respondents reported that they had elected not to seek treatment because they believe that antiretroviral therapy (ART – the medications that keep the HIV virus from replicating) causes too many side effects. 

Merck Sharp & Dohme Managing Director, Alister Brown, says “When the HIV and AIDS pandemic began in the early 1980s, the goal of education was to give people hope and the goal of treatment was to prolong life. Despite the incredible strides we have made, what this study shows is that some people are rejecting life-saving treatments because they fear the side effects of the medications that could potentially save their lives, while others on treatment have unnecessarily resigned themselves to live with side effects and poor tolerability in an age where less toxic treatment options are available. Patients can and should now expect more from their HIV treatment.”

ATLIS found that more than half of all respondents worried that their medications will cause one or more of the following: face or body shape changes (58%), gastrointestinal problems (54%), fatigue or anaemia (54%) and liver disease (54%). The Face of HIV has Dramatically Changed The ATLIS findings show that nearly half of those patients surveyed (48%) reported being in a heterosexual relationship, reinforcing that HIV is reaching broader populations.  [ATLIS is the largest, multi-country, comparative,

treatment awareness survey of people living with HIV and AIDS.]

A Very Pink Wedding – A Gay Guide To Planning Your Perfect Day by Nicola Hill (Collins, 2007)

Review by Barb Long

A Very Pink Wedding was written by an English author who has had a straight and gay wedding herself. After the author takes us on her own journey from her first wedding to her realisation that she preferred women, the book then progresses to a review and history of the Civil Union Partnership Legislation in the United Kingdom.

Finally, on page 16, there’s an introduction about how to use the book/guide! The book covers everything from determining a timeline to choosing the right venue, budgeting advice, speeches, quirky ideas and contact details for a huge number of resources that would be useful if you were planning to have your civil union in the UK.

The guide is somewhat prescriptive and step by step orientated and, although there are references to cost saving tips, the suggestions made appear somewhat extravagant and directed more towards relatively affluent same-sex couples rather than those on an average wage. The book is also lacking information for couples who want to combine a Civil Union ceremony with some kind of spiritual or cultural  element.

The book has some useful checklists and a countdown timetable that provides readers with some structure to start the planning for their big day. There are also interesting references to chocolate fountains which have me intrigued and wanting me to experience one!

New Zealand Civil Union Legislation was passed in December 2004 and came into effect in April 2005. Tor and I took a few months to  plan for our mid-2005 Civil Union and we learnt a lot about each other during this process. A Very Pink Wedding would have provided some useful ideas for a basis for discussion and planning, as well as some light entertainment about the extremes that one can go to.

If anyone would like to borrow a copy of A Very Pink Wedding, then please contact the Otago Gaily Times at [email protected]

One Great Civil Union!

Tor Devereux talks with Gay Crombie and Sue Courtney about their Civil Union which took place earlier this year

I’ve only attended a couple of civil unions (in additionto our own) but, as Tim Barnett commented in an interview with GayNZ.com in September, there really does seem to be something special, perhaps something more intense, about civil unions in comparison with weddings, some kind of intrinsic difference. Perhaps it’s because of the history – not only the history of the struggle to get to a point  where civil unions are a legal option, but also the history of the couple.

Even if the ceremony isn’t overtly political, the very act of having a civil union is still a political undertaking, I believe, because this is still a relatively new concept in New Zealand. We’re still at the stage where when people are invited to a civil union (especially people from outside the LGBT community) they’re often unsure of what to expect, unsure of what a civil union involves.

 When a lesbian couple has been together for 14 years and raised six children in a time when society wasn’t always accepting of same-sex relationships and parents (and it’s still not always an easy thing to do today!) and now they’ve decided to have a civil union and declare their love and commitment to one another very publicly, you know that this love, this bond is tremendously special, strong and real. Being present at the occasion when our friends Gay Crombie and Sue Courtney expressed this to one another in front of their family and friends was a real privilege.

In Tim’s interview he also talked about how civil union ceremonies aren’t at all prescriptive – instead they’re truly personal, intimate and very meaningful. Gay and Sue tied the knot earlier this year at Easter and several months after the event they reflected on their big day, their preparations and what being civilly united means to them.

Why did you decide to have a Civil Union and did someone propose?

It was a case of one thing leading to another, when we were on holiday in Thailand, having the best romantic holiday – our first one ever together overseas. We had just bought exquisite rings for each other in Bangkok on the day we were leaving this idyllic paradise.

Gay had always wanted to have a commitment ceremony and then, once the law changed, a civil union so she was ecstatic (once the shock subsided). It was a dream come true, the ultimate finale to an amazing adventure.

Gay: - Ecstatic, sincere and the rest is all in my song!!!!!!

poetry - Walking A New Road

Ask The Posts Of The House

Review by Mike Wooliscroft

OGT readers may well turn to this story first, but the rest of the novellas and short stories in this collection are well worth reading and make this yet another high point in Witi Ihimaera’s fine achievements.

Ask The Posts Of The House is readily available through public libraries, as well as good (and even not so good) bookshops. It deserves to be widely read for the insights it provides into Witi’s creative worlds, Maori and non-Maori, gay, straight and somewhere in between.

Ask The Posts Of The House by Witi Tame Ihimaera (Reed, 2007)

HOTEL OF DREAMS

Edmund White’s latest novel Hotel de Dream has been widely panned by critics, but I think that they have been a bit harsh and this rather fanciful though somewhat dispiriting story has its merits.

Edmund White (one of the 20th century’s leading gay authors) writes about the tuberculosis-ridden and assuredly straight Stephen Crane (19th century) writing of a seemingly straight man with homoerotic inclinations falling in love with a gay rent-boy with terminal syphilis.

It doesn’t seem the stuff of anything other than opera perhaps and/or an over-fevered imagination, yet the tender relationships portrayed between the various characters give the book a measure of redemption.

There are three cleverly entwined stories in this book. The first is Stephen Crane’s journey with his wife (formerly the madam of a Florida brothel called “Hotel de Dream”) to a Bavarian spa seeking treatment for his terminal tuberculosis. The second portrays Crane’s imagined memories of the 1890s New York rent boy. And the third is the crafting of a novella The Painted Boy.

An almost certainly apocryphal story has it that Crane was composing this story in his later years before it was destroyed by the (fictional) writer Henry James.

This is a fanciful story but, although it has received a fairly harsh press, perhaps White is just having some fun both with us and with his characters based on earlier writers. One is inclined to wonder what fun future authors will have in recounting (with embellishments) Edmund White’s own life.  That would assuredly offer plentiful scope even though White has mined his own seams so frankly and frequently.

Hotel de Dream is an extraordinary work which is readily available through public libraries and good bookshops.

Hotel de Dream by Edmund White (Bloomsbury, 2007)

When You Are Engulfed In Flames

When You Are Engulfed In Flames by David Sedaris (Little, Brown, 2008)

One Son and His Father

Review by Mike Wooliscroft

In Running With Scissors Burroughs wrote of his dysfunctional childhood. This was made into the somewhat grim but also entertaining movie with Annette Bening as his mother, Alec Baldwin as his father and Brian Cox as Augusten. The DVD is available from public libraries and sound and vision stores.

A Wolf At The Table, Augusten Burroughs’ latest memoir, is also generally available. In this memoir Burroughs focuses on the relationship with his father who was a philosophy professor at a New England college and an alcoholic in a distressed marriage.

Certainly if the tales in Running With Scissors and A Wolf At The Table are largely true it is no wonder that Burroughs took to substance abuse for some years as he described in Dry which detailed his battle with alcoholism.

A Wolf At The Table: A Memoir Of My Father by Augusten Burroughs (Picador, 2008)

100s & 1000s - John Z Robinson

Del Martin (1921 - 2008)

In Remembrance Of Jill Dunwoodie (1931 - 2008)

WORLD WATCH

GAY AUTHOR NO LONGER WELCOME

Canada

In 2002, the American Library Association added Sanchez’s book Rainbow Boys to the list of Best Books for Young Adults.

COURT OVERTURNS BAN ON SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

United States

Looking For Wheels?

Copenhagen, Denmark 25 July - 2 August 2009

The World Outgames will also include a Human Rights Conference, 27-29 July

Cologne, Germany 31 July - 7 August 2010 www.games-cologne.de/en

FAMILY VIOLENCE

by Dunedin Collaboration Against Family Violence

What Is Family Violence? Family violence is a pattern of coercive, exploitative and  violent tactics, used by one intimate partner against the other, in order to establish and maintain power, control and dominance over another person/s. Family violence can affect anyone. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people do experience domestic abuse, but the reality of LGBT relationship violence is rarely  discussed. It is important to speak out about this issue if we are to live safe lives free from violence and abuse.

Power And Control Family violence can take many forms including physical, sexual, emotional, psychological (including social) and financial.  The following are examples of abusive behaviours. 

Physical: the threat of harm or any forceful physical behaviour that intentionally or accidentally causes bodily harm or property destruction. For example:

• Punching  and/or kicking

• Biting

• Burning

• Attacks with a weapon

• Strangulation

Sexual: any forced or coerced sexual act or behaviour motivated to acquire power and control over the partner. It is not only forced sexual contact, but also contact that demeans or humiliates the partner and instigates feelings of shame or vulnerability – particularly in regards to the body, sexual performance or sexuality. For example:

• Treating partner as a sexual object

• Criticising performance or desirability

• Withholding sex

• Refusing to use protection and/or assaulting partner for requesting it

• Forcing partner to have sex with others

• Rape

Emotional/psychological: any use of words, voice, action or lack of action meant to control, hurt or demean another person. Emotional abuse typically includes ridicule, intimidation or coercion. For example:

• Withholding affection

• Silent treatment

• Extreme jealousy, accusations, stalking

• Threats of suicide

• Blaming the abuse on the victim’s identity or behaviour

Social: typically includes isolating partner from others. For example:

• Stopping partner from visiting their friends or family

• Abusing or fighting with their friends or family so they stop visiting or calling

• Cutting off the phone or monitoring calls or bills

• Preventing them from attending LGBT or other events and venues

• Locking them in the house

• Isolating them from their cultural background or preventing them from practising their religious beliefs

Financial: the use or misuse, without the victim’s consent, of the financial or other monetary resources of the partner or of the relationship. For example:

• Controlling financial information

• Making partner hand over paychecks, justify expenditures or commit welfare fraud

• Refusing to meet children’s needs

• Not letting partner work or go to school

• Denying partner domestic partner benefits that they are entitled to

Speaking Out About Abuse It can be hard for LGBT family violence victims to seek help because they may not want to disclose their sexuality to police or other organisations.  Because of the general homophobia and transphobia in modern societies, LGBT victims of partner violence may be concerned about giving gay and lesbian relationships a “bad name” and may refuse to speak up about the abuse they’re suffering. However, it’s important to seek help as abusive behaviour can get worse.

The Cycle Of Violence It can be hard to recognise when a pattern of abuse has developed in a relationship. Abusive behaviours can be perceived as isolated incidents that are unrelated to one another. Yet abuse often happens in cycles, so that abusive episodes are interspersed with calm, loving periods, characteristic of those positive things that initially drew you together. The pattern that develops can become predictable and a source of tension even when an episode of abuse is not taking place.

If You’re Being Abused Recognise that you are not responsible for the abuse.   Recognise that violence/abuse is not likely to stop on its own - episodes of violence usually become more frequent and more severe. It is important to break the silence. Try to tell someone who will believe you. Only you can decide what to do  about your relationship. Whether to stay or leave is your decision. Seek help from a  qualified counsellor or programme that is knowledgeable about partner abuse. It is also important to develop a safety plan in case you and/or your children’s safety is in jeopardy. Your plan should include identifying or arranging for a safe place to stay, keeping a list of emergency phone numbers such as 111, having your own  bank account or keeping some money handy, keeping a bag of personal toiletries and clothes in a safe place and making copies of important papers and keys.

If Someone You Know Is Being Abused If someone discloses or you suspect that they are being abused, don’t be afraid to privately express your concern and offer to help. Do not offer excuses for the violence and do not minimise the seriousness of what has happened. Just being there to listen is very important. Don’t give up or criticise them. If a friend doesn’t leave an abusive partner, understand it is not  easy. Let your friend know that you will be there regardless and let them know there are ways to get help. If someone you know is being abusive, tell them that  violence and abuse are unacceptable. Encourage and support them in getting help to stop the violent behaviour. Hold them accountable for their actions and the need to change. Remember: “Everyone can do something – the right words at the right time  can make the difference.” For Further Information:

Rape Crisis: Not Just For Straight Folk

“SAME DIFFERENCE” HAS ARRIVED!!!

Our young facilitators have worked together to share the driving of an unknown (but at the same time familiar) road and leave us now with a clear path to follow. We can ensure you that your markers will remain … Go well.