While we march head first towards marriage equality (or in the case of Australia, lurch slowly and yet inevitably), some topics within the LGBT remain a lot more taboo to discuss as dinner party conversation.
For the staffers of Prime Minister Tony Abbott, apparently the mere idea of meeting two gay men at the same time was too much to bear. The Ambassador to France Stephen Brady apparently went understandably ballistic and offered his resignation after his long-term partner Peter Stephens was told to wait in the car when the two men met the PM at a Paris airport, during an ANZAC Day visit. Thankfully, the matter appears to have been a misunderstanding, and the resignation was not accepted so he remains our first openly gay serving diplomat.
One of those taboos arguably surrounds how mainstream society still regards the idea of two men in bed together as something icky and gross. Take for example when last week The Guardian posted an agony aunt advice column on a gay couple where one had a fear of bottoming, leading his partner of two years to feel increasingly frustrated by their one-sided sexual relationship.
The Comment Is Free section of The Guardian’s website turned into Comment Is Freaked, with homophobes howling that anal sex was disgusting, and that they shouldn’t have to read about the intimate details of gay sex. Never mind, of course that these shocked and appalled readers had obviously clicked on the story themselves, and that of course straight sex has plenty of column inches dedicated to it in The Guardian and elsewhere.
Another taboo surrounds the treatment of HIV in our community. With HIV no longer a death sentence, but rather a chronic but manageable disease, there is increasingly a push from the HIV+ community to remove the stigma associated with HIV, and to also encourage the use of PrEP which allows gay men to take a tablet a day and dramatically reduce their risk of contracting the disease (although it must be said of course that unprotected sex still carries lots of other risks of STIs).
One magazine in Austria has dealt with the stigma surrounding HIV in a novel way by printing the current issue of the magazine in HIV+ blood, thus putting the issue literally in the hands of readers. HIV does not survive outside the body for more than a day, so it is perfectly safe to touch but the Vanguardist wanted to make a statement about the rise in HIV infections largely due to many gay men not getting tested. No word yet on whether this will see the 3,000 copies of the magazine fly off the shelves.
Sadly, one of the other last taboos in Australia seems to still be the issue of coming out in sport. Still today, there are no openly gay players in the AFL, or in any of our major sports codes. A groundbreaking peer reviewed study of over 9,500 gay and straight people called Out in the Fields found 70% of participants believed youth sport was not safe and supportive for gay people. A staggering 80% of survey participants had witnessed or experienced homophobic abuse or remarks whether in PE classes or in spectator stands, and these experiences saw one in five gay men decide not to play a team sport.
This Friday night, CLOSET returns for a night of 90s inspired debauchery in honour of the 25th anniversary of Pretty Woman. This month’s poster boy is Richard Gere. The lineup includes a 90s house set from DJ Grant Camov (the local legend of Loose Joints fame), alongside YO! M.A.F.I.A, JLAW, Salvador Darling and Catriona Contance vs Mellydee. CLOSET will be at Little & OIver, 393 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy from 10pm until 5am. Entry is $15 on the door (unless you’re lucky enough to find yourself on a gues tlist). For details or the chance to win free entry, visit facebook.com/closetpartyoz.
Also on Friday, Sircuit will be turned into Queen, one-night-only party in homage of five divas. DJ Argonaut will be spinning a marathon six hour set dedicated to five queens of pop – Madonna, Lady Gaga, Britney, Beyonce and Rihanna back-to-back. QUEEN will also see a host of pop-up performances inspired by the divas throughout the night. QUEEN Party will be a mixed event open to queens of all kinds. Tickets are available on the door or presales are $20. Sircuit is located at 103 Smith Street, Fitzroy. For details, visit facebook.com/5QueenParty
This Sunday is the International Day Against Homophobia, otherwise known as IDAHO where LGBT people all over the world get together in solidarity. It is only fitting therefore that there will be a March for Marriage Equality on this Sunday organised by Equal Love (who have now been campaigning for marriage equality for a decade!). Shake off your hangovers on Sunday and get down to the State Library from 1pm for the protest march down Swanston Street and up to the Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages. For details, visit facebook.com/equallove.
