ROUND UP

DID YOU KNOW?

According to a research study published in Psychosomatic Medicine, people who routinely exude positive emotion are less likely to come down with the common cold. Additionally, our stress hormone cortisol levels are drastically lowered which improves our health as well.

Push To Move Mardi Gras Party To Allianz Stadium

After overcrowding issues and hundreds of complaints over the past few years, the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras after-party could move to Allianz Stadium following a plan by the NSW Labor Government to increase the number of events that can be held there each year. NSW Premier Chris Minns slammed the years-old cap on Sydney events each year, commenting that the cap meant that NSW was missing out on millions of dollars a year in economic activity and the tourism and jobs it brings with it. Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras CEO Albert Kruger said there were no plans to move next year’s 2024 after-party to Allianz Stadium, but that after discussions with the government, if Mardi Gras organisers wished to relocate the event, they could. Allianz Stadium can accommodate 55,000 people.

SUPPORT = HAPPINESS

A new study done in the United Kingdom by Just Like Us — a young people’s charity organisation — has identified a link between a lack of LGBTIQ+ support in childhood and negative outcomes for mental health, wellbeing and career prospects in early adulthood. The report surveyed 3,695 people aged 18 to 25 across the UK, including a pool of 1,736 queer young adults. When compared with queer people who grew up with support, both at home and in school, the survey found those who lacked it were half as likely to say they are happy in adulthood (43 per cent compared with 85 per cent).

Amy Ashenden, the CEO of Just Like Us, described the findings as heart-breaking, saying the impacts of a lack of support were prolonged and devastating.

Act Assembly Passes Legislation To Protect Intersex Human Rights

The ACT Assembly has passed legislation introduced by Andrew Barr, Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory (pictured left), to protect the human rights of people with innate variations of sex characteristics in medical settings.

The Variation in Sex Characteristics (Restricted Medical Treatment) Bill 2023 will implement mechanisms to regulate non-urgent medical care to encourage child participation in medical decisions, establish groundbreaking oversight mechanisms and provide transparency on medical practices and decision making.

“There’salottocelebrate.Therewillneverbeanothertimewhereajurisdiction is the first in Australia to pass laws that protect intersex children. It brings me immense joy and peace to know that it happened in my home town Canberra. This is the moment where positive change has been demonstrated, and our challenge to other states and territories is clear. This can be done; when will you step up, in turn, to protect children against harm and trauma?”

Cody

Smith, Training and Communication Officer Intersex Human Rights Australia

By Maxwell Elliff

DID YOU KNOW?

Emperor Ai of Han, who ruled China from 7 to 1 BC, is considered the first-ever out gay politician. Known to have had a male lover, his same-sex relationship was documented in many Chinese historical accounts. While Emperor Ai is not typically referred to as a ‘politician’ in the modern sense, he was a significant political figure of his time.

LATVIA ELECTS IT’S FIRST OPENLY GAY PRESIDENT IN CLOSE RACE

Latvia, a former Soviet country that has not yet recognised same-sex marriage, has elected Edgars Rinkevics as its first openly gay president. No stranger to making political firsts, in 2014 Rinkevics became the first Latvian member of parliament to publicly come out, which he did on Twitter.

He received 52 votes, one vote more than required to win. Incumbent Egils Levits, Latvia’s head of state since 2019, didn’t seek re-election. While socially conservative views remain strong in Latvia, despite this, Rinkevics proved to be popular with the general public. Rinkevics has been a long-serving and popular foreign minister in Latvia; he is also a strong backer of Ukraine.

Latvia’s Presidency is largely ceremonial, and the head of state acts as an opinion leader and uniting figure. The president represents the country on the world stage, acts as the supreme commander of the armed forces, and signs bills into law.

Canada Bins Historic Gay Convictions

UGANDA’S ANTI-GAY LAWS WILL TEAR QUEER LIVES APART

In a shocking development, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has given his stamp of approval to a new anti-gay bill. The law legislates, among other things, a ten-year jail term for attempted same-sex acts, a 20-year jail term for promoting homosexuality, a life sentence for the offence of homosexuality and a death penalty for aggravated homosexuality. Previously there has been historical surveillance and targeting of queer people in Uganda, but no penalties nearly as harsh as this. This is reflective of a spate of new laws happening across Africa. Their proponents argue that the laws protect African family values and are a rejection of ‘unhealthy Western norms’.

Canadians who have been convicted of outdated discriminatory laws can now have their criminal record destroyed. These include not only anti-abortion laws unfairly targeting women, but also indecency laws targeting the queer community. Canadian Police have historically used such laws to raid queer safe spaces such as saunas and nightclubs, charging customers, employees and performers. For instance, in 1981, some 286 men were charged with indecency breeches at a Toronto brothel. Marci Ien, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth, said past laws were unjust and that, “Canadians deserve non-discriminatory policies that put their safety first”. Those with prior convictions can apply for a free expungement order allowing for permanent erasure of ‘historically unjust records of conviction’. If deceased, family members can acquire expungement orders on behalf of their loved one

Prep Implant The Next Frontier In Aids Fight

Researchers in a joint study between the CDC and University of Northern Carolina have made major breakthroughs in AIDS prevention with the development of an injectable slow-release PrEP implant. The latest results have shown that their formulation can provide up to 6 months protection against HIV for non-human primates.

The research involved exposing macaques (a primate with similar immune systems to humans) to HIV, but of the six test subjects, none contracted the virus. Rahima Benhabbour, associate professor and one of the leading minds of the study said, “Our goal with this technology is a once or twice yearly injection that could be self-administered”. The team are awaiting further funding to advance to human trials.

ROUND UP DID YOU KNOW?

Campus Rainbow Flag Ban

Librarians at the Australian Catholic University (ACU) have been ordered to take down rainbow flags, sparking outrage from staff and students. An email was sent to staff telling them not to display rainbow flags or stickers across ACU’s multi-state campus libraries stating, ‘It is not considered appropriate at ACU’ Staff and a group of students retaliated by writing an open letter to Vice-Chancellor Zlatko Skrbis declaring, “You have decided to… send a message that LGBTIQ+ people are not welcome at your university”.

ACU spokespeople defending their position said they did not believe in promoting one group over another and that they already had certain flags approved for display — including state, national, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Vatican flags — and that staff could display personal flags of their choice at their private workstations. The fight continues.

Baby Mice With Two Dads

In a world first, scientists in Japan have created mice with two biological fathers, sparking intriguing possibilities for the future of human reproduction. Under the leadership of Katsuhiko Hayashi, a pioneer in the field of lab-grown eggs and sperm, a team of scientists at Kyushu University succeeded in transforming a mouse skin cell carrying the male X-Y chromosome into an egg carrying the female X-X. Male sperm was then used to fertilise the eggs.

The resulting mice were healthy, had a normal lifespan and even went on to have their own offspring as adults. Hayashi presented the results at the Francis Crick Institute in London, stating his belief that the research could be replicated with human cells within the next decade. If deemed safe, Hayashi is in favour of using the technology to allow same-sex couples to have biological children.

Youtubers Flee Russia

Popular social media stars Gela Gogishvili and Haoyang Xu were arrested in April for breaching Russia’s so-called ‘gay propaganda’ laws, which bar any LGBTIQ+ content from advertisements, films, music and websites. Russian-born Gogishvili and Chinese national Xu met on a dating app in 2021 after Xu moved to Russia to study abroad. Since then, the young couple has lived in the city of Kazan and share their daily life online — amassing almost 80,000 followers on YouTube.

Russian police said that their videos in which they kiss, hug and show them sleeping together are considered an inappropriate demonstration of ‘homosexual intimacy’. While Gogishvili was eventually released on bail, his boyfriend was sent to a migrant detention centre and threatened with deportation. After Xu’s eventual release and months of continued persecution, threats, trials, and prison, the couple has since fled to Turkey, where their difficult love story continues.

By Alexander Thatcher

Round Up

DID YOU KNOW?

Drag Queen Storytime events first started in 2015 by author and activist Michelle Tea in San Francisco with the goals of promoting reading and diversity.

Fortunately, in Australia, most people don’t believe these distortions of the truth and are accepting and welcoming of LGBTIQ+ people, celebrating diversity in our community. It’s sad that some humans haven’t yet embraced contemporary community standards of respect, inclusion and general decency.

The fight is far from over for LGBTIQ+ rights, with research showing that the uptake of homophobic and transphobic messaging has serious mental health impacts on LGBTIQ+ people in Australia and across the world.

DRAG ATTACK! A SMOKESCREEN FOR A BROADER ANTI-LGBTIQ+ AGENDA

A STRING OF DRAG QUEEN EVENTS HAS BEEN CANCELLED OR MOVED ONLINE, INCLUDING RAINBOW STORYTIME AND DRAG SINGALONGS, FOLLOWING SERIOUS CONCERNS OF THREATS OF VIOLENCE BY NEO-NAZIS AND ULTRA-RIGHT-WING CONSERVATIVES.

It’s been unsettling seeing drag queens in Australia (and worldwide) being attacked, abused and threatened based on outlandish claims that they are predators and that drag queen storytime and other inclusive events are used to groom or ‘turn’ children gay.

This recent right-wing narrative about the dangers of LGBTIQ+ people is unfortunately typical in the history of weaponising language and abuse blame-shifting. Tactics involve mistruths and moral panic, instilling unfounded fear and distracting from the actuality of things. Claims that drag queens and gay men are paedophiles are always worrying. Decades of research has shown that LGBTIQ+ people are no more likely of being an offender than any other member of society. In terms of the environment in which these crimes occur, young people are actually most at risk of sexual victimisation in their own homes, an institution or church (not drag shows and libraries).

These false narratives are carefully designed and propagated to confuse and anger people by shifting the perceived threat to children outside of the home. Unsurprisingly, there is a long history of attaching the LGBTIQ+ community to paedophilia and indecency.

The idea that young people are vulnerable to transference and being groomed is not a new tactic; it is based on the notion that queerness or transness is somehow transmissible and that LGBTIQ+ people are mentally ill, have low morals or are hypersexual. It’s completely bizarre that anyone still believes that everyone has the latent potential to become gay simply by exposure.

It seems clear that a minority of vocal and visible dissenters are attempting to poison people’s views about LGBTIQ+ people. Felicity Marlowe from Rainbow Families Support service, said that she believes that hate campaigners are not just focusing on drag events and that these attacks are a smokescreen for a broader anti-LGBTIQ+ agenda. “It’s insidious what they are doing, and it has got to stop!”, she said.

Drag Performer Dean Arcuri

The truth is, drag storytimes have proven to be popular with the general public and are a fun way to encourage reading. They are a joyful and age-appropriate way to celebrate diversity. They benefit all children’s growth with education about diversity, respect, consent, human dignity, self-determination and human rights.

In a message of support, The Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) condemned any intrusion of any event and stated that they fully support any Australian library hosting Drag Queen Storytime.

ALIA President Robert Knight, OAM, has said, “library collections, programs and services cater for all members of our communities, and their content is accordingly diverse. A number of libraries across Australia present Drag Queen Storytime as part of their commitment to inclusive programming, and it is completely unacceptable to see the disruption of activities in libraries on the basis of bigotry”.