Media Release: Meridian | A Gender Agenda

La Trobe University research released today found 57.2% of more than 6,000 surveyed lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer people were experiencing high or very high levels of psychological distress, while 41.9% reported thoughts about suicide over the past 12 months. Mental health in the LGBTIQ community is in crisis, and the La Trobe research makes it clear that action and investment in LGBTIQ mental health and suicide prevention is sorely needed.

Free Qwire Concert  and Picnic in the Park
Saturday 28 November 2020.
Glebe Park, 12noon–2.00 pm

“Canberra Qwire, Proudly LGBTIQ+, is very happy to be able to sing for the public this year”, said the Convenor, Anne-Marie Delahunt.  “It's been a hard year but we stay strong and we continue to support each other in this time of difficulty.”

‘Qwire in the Park’ is a free concert in a relaxing picnic setting out in Glebe Park, which has hosted many of Canberra’s cultural activities celebrating the beauty of diversity that enriches our society.

 The Boys in the Band, a remake of a 1970 film based on a 1968 play, has arrived on Netflix.

The film tells the story of Michael, a Hermés scarf-loving, Manhattan-dwelling gay man who is hosting a birthday party for a friend. Intended as a small event for seven gay men, a straight former college buddy of Michael’s also arrives unexpectedly. The party, to put it mildly, does not go well.

Image: Andrew Rannells, Robin de Jesus, Jim Parsons, and Michael Benjamin Washington in The Boys in the Band (2020). Netflix Inc

After a chance encounter at an anonymous sex party, a sixteen year old boy hunts through the world of a hook-up app to track down the mystery man.

Favouring the instant gratification of anonymous, no-strings sexual encounters over meaningful relationships, high schooler Sequin is part of the always logged-on, but never-engaged, hook-up generation.

India is facing a prolonged backlash from its LGBTQ+ community over the continued use of conversion therapies to “cure” homosexuality by changing people’s sexual orientation. In May, the tragic suicide of Anjana Harish, a 21-year-old bisexual woman in Goa, sparked online protests. Harish had posted a video online before her suicide describing how she had been subjected to conversion therapy by her family in her home state of Kerala. Her death revitalised efforts by activists to call for an outright ban on the practice. 

LONDON: As British politicians wrestle with Brexit, Britain’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community - like others around the world - is grappling with a potential split of its own. 

Can the coalition of allies, which traces its roots back to the early days of gay liberation in the 1960s, survive in its current form? 

Caught in the crossfire between trans activists and feminists over the nature of what it is to be a woman, calls for a break-up of the longstanding LGBT+ alliance back to its constituent elements are starting to emerge. 

I saw a meme the recently: if 2020 were a movie, it would be written by Stephen King and directed by Quentin Tarantino. The meme game has been strong lately, but it offers a little respite from a really difficult period. My anxiety and depression have slowly crept back. I feel trapped in a heightened state of stress. Not being able to see my friends – my chosen family – because of social distancing has made it especially hard.

Zambia’s president has pardoned a gay couple sentenced to 15 years in prison in November under colonial-era sodomy laws in a case that caused a diplomatic row with the United States.

Japhet Chataba, 39, and Steven Sambo, 31, were among nearly 3,000 inmates pardoned by President Edgar Lungu last Friday to commemorate Africa Freedom Day, according to the government gazette.

Is your mental health deteriorating during the coronavirus pandemic? Here's what to look out for. Before the pandemic, one in five Australians experienced mental ill-health every year.

But the uncertainty and instability around coronavirus has the potential to exacerbate existing anxiety and depression and contribute to the onset of new mental health problems.

So what are some of the signs your mental health might be declining during the pandemic? And what can you do about it?

IN THIS ISSUE: Cover: Dylan Mooney, Reflections Of A Young Indigenous Artist. The Rise Of The Queer Superhero. Australian Cold Case Reveals A Wave Of Antigay Violence. Cancel Culture Is Here. 2020 Covid-19 + U. NSW Eases Gay Blood Donor Restrictions. Birth Certificates Break From Gender Binary Norms. Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and more.

Homosexuality may have evolved for social, not sexual reasons.

The argument is this: gay sex alone can’t produce children, and for traits to evolve, they have to be passed onto children, who get some form of competitive advantage from them.

These are common refrains that we hear everyday — from others, from the media, from ourselves. “Life is stressful”. Yes, life is full of challenges and stressors — deadlines, traffic jams caused by the new light rail building works, arguments with a spouse, work pressures, social anxieties, too many competing priorities, new relationships, navigating school or study — all are potential causes of stress in some degree or other.