An authentic, rainbow-filled life
LACHY JOYCE, HEAD OF CALVERT HOUSE, SENIOR SCHOOL DRAMA TEACHER & FOUNDER/TEACHER SUPPORT OF THE GEELONG COLLEGE RAINBOW ALLIANCE (GRCA)
It has been such a pleasure to see The Geelong College Rainbow Alliance going from strength to strength as it enters its fourth year of existence at College. With meetings taking place face to face on a fortnightly basis, the group’s student body has once again grown in size and most pleasingly, grown in ambition and drive for what it can achieve. It has been wonderful to see the Senior School GCRA members collaborating more regularly with students from the Middle School, in order to make sure all members of the College student LGBTQIA+ community have access to support and celebration. The GCRA is underpinned by the value of giving students a chance to share their own authentic student voice, providing opportunities for students to collaborate and make decisions with adults about what they want to see in action in their school, what matters to them and how they can enact change
12 Ad Astra Issue No 142
in order to create and maintain a positive school climate that achieves this. The students have focused on building a greater awareness of the GCRA at both Senior School and Middle School with the Senior School students hosting their very own GCRA themed Assembly in honour of IDAHOBIT Day (International Day Against LGBTQIA+ Discrimination) which included a heartfelt and heart-warming message from special guest, Fred Ogilvie, who shared his own journey of self. The GCRA students have also been involved in a Youth Empowerment workshop with Minus18 and have continued to build stronger connections with other like-minded student led groups at other local schools.
In order to continue both the celebration and pursuit of living her own authentic life, one of the GCRA’s Year 11 members, Sabrina Horne, was fortunate enough to be accepted into the inaugural American Express Australia ‘My First Mardi Gras Community Program’. Run in partnership with LGBTQIA+ community organisations, Minus18 and Rainbow Families, ‘My First Mardi Gras’ was designed to build connections for more isolated members of the LGBTQIA+ community and provide a platform for them to express their true selves. This exciting opportunity saw Sabrina and her mum Penny, travel to Sydney to experience, for the first time, all the glitter and glam of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade.
