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Groups gear up for anti-homophobia day

Written by Katrina Fox

Wednesday, 07 May 2008

A street protest and a performance art-based ‘human freeze’ are among the events planned to mark International Day of Action Against Homophobia (IDAHO) next weekend.

Lobby group Community Action Against Homophobia (CAAH) has organised a demonstration to protest homophobia and transphobia on Friday, May 16.

“[Kevin] Rudd has just forced the ACT government to back down from civil unions with ceremonies,” CAAH spokesperson Emilia Lawonski said. “This homophobic move by federal Labor demonstrates we still need to protest. That same-sex couples are being banned in high-school formals at an Anglican Brisbane school shows we need to protest. That queer refugees remain locked up in detention centres ... shows we need to protest.”

CAAH’s IDAHO protest will begin outside Gloria Jeans café, 156 King St, Newtown at 6pm. It will be welcomed to country by indigenous activist and rapper Jackeline X, followed by speeches from the Metropolitan Community Church, Kerry Nettle from the Greens, Rachel Evans from Socialist Alliance, queer rights activist Norrie May-Welby, and ‘78er Irene Doherty, with a performance by trans rights activist Conner Montgomery.

The march will then move to the ‘I Had A Dream’ Martin Luther King indigenous rights mural.

Meanwhile ACON’s Anti-Violence Project is working in partnership with Angelus Morningstar (initiator of the 2008 love heart Valentines’ Day pavement chalking of Taylor Square) to produce a performance art-styled anti-homophobia demonstration on the afternoon of Saturday, May 17.

This activity will involve up to 200 people randomly ‘freezing’ in a prominent public place for a set period of time. For details and location and time or to take part, email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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written by norrie mAy-welby , 20 May, 2008

norrie mAy-welby IDAHO Newtown 16 May 2008

I have a dream
Where children can feel safe and supported in their families and at school, regardless of how they may or may not fit with other people's gender expectations, where boys and girls are allowed to play with dolls or trucks as they choose, and no one is belittled for being a sissy or a tomboy, and where the individual gifts of each child are honoured and encouraged to grow and blossom.

I have a dream
Where children of non-opposite sex parents,
by which I include not only same sex parents but also parents where one or more is intersexed or androgynous.

I have a dream
Where these children are afforded equal protection, and can find their own situation represented in books like "Heather has Two Mummies", and where support for family diversity is part of the education system.

I have a dream
Where non-opposite sex couples can be assured that their partnership rights are equal to opposite sex couples, that their loved one can, for example, be by their side in hospital, that their loved one can make decisions if they can't, rather than have their possibly estranged parents take over.

I have a dream
That all people who are in effect married to each other are treated equally without discrimination based on their sex, and whether their sex is opposite, the same, or different to that of their partner.

I have a dream
Where intersex or hermaphrodite infants are not chopped up in the name of normativity above individuality, to make beautiful, diverse humans conform to either being boys or girls, and subject to ongoing medical intrusions on their sex organs as children, and maybe never be told the truth about their natural born sex.

I have a dream
Where all children are raised to know they are OK as they are, in a loving environment that is accepting of diversity, and where a human being is not judged publicly on the size, shape or configuration of their private parts.

I have a dream
Where children born with intersex conditions can grow into beautiful, loved and loving adults of whatever gendered or non-gendered identity they may see fit.

I have a dream
Where transgendered people are encouraged to express themselves without fear or shame, without having to hide their gender history or conform to the gender binary, without having to chop themselves up and take chemicals to conform to the expectations of others.

I have a dream
Where people questioning their place in the gender binary are not just encouraged to either stay where they are or jump into another box, but are encouraged to see beyond the limits of marketing categories, to express themselves as whole humans with a broad and changing mix of yin and yang, and find a social circle that supports them being individuals, regardless of how they may or may not fit the patterns of barnyard breeding economics.

I have a dream
Where people who express as androgynous are never made to feel less for being "different", but instead, have their androgynous gifts and talents accepted and encouraged and celebrated.

I have a dream
Where there are enough people accepting of gender and sexuality diversity to form a supportive community, where people can come together to create and play and express themselves without inhibition, and feel supported by each other in their wonderful expressions of life and love.

And I never dreamed I'd live long enough to see all of these dreams come true. But thanks to you and those like you, who have worked for human rights, or who have just changed what is considered possible by living their lives honestly and openly, regardless of the fears of the narrow minded, thanks to you, most, if not all, of these dreams have come true.

Sadly, intersex children are still being routinely butchered, and non-heterosexual couples are still not allowed to demand a church wedding, but we've come a long way, baby, and there's no stopping our momentum.

Non-heterosexual couples and their children are now being afforded equal treatment in everything but the church wedding.

"Heather has two Mummies" is only one of hundreds of similar books now available, and included in education curricula; children are now taught to be accepting of diversity, governments are actually moving to remove unfair discrimination, and transgender characters appear positively in mainstream media, where once the only roles allowed for us were tragic or monstrous. Sex and gender and identity are being deconstructed on South Park, and I can see that the "culture wars", the struggle between the old, narrow-minded view that only one way is right, and the broad-minded view that accepts and celebrates humanity with all our foibles and differences, is being won by those who love humanity without limit.

I have a dream, and the dream is coming true.

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