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.

This is an important Public Cervix Announcement! Regardless of your gender or who you have sex with, if you have a cervix, are between the ages of 25 – 74 and have ever sexually active then you need to participate in regular cervical screening.

 “The fact is, all LGBTIQ people with a cervix between the ages of 25 and 74, need cervical screening every five years to reduce their risk of cervical cancer, no matter who they have as a sexual partner.”

Drawing on a campaign developed by Cancer Council Victoria and Thorne Harbour Health, Women’s Centre for Health Matters and Meridian (formerly AIDS Action Council) are raising awareness of the importance of regular cervical screening for everybody with a cervix. We hoping to reignite conversations in our communities about the importance of looking after our bodies. We know that regular testing and prevention is the key to reducing incidence of cervical and other cancers in our community.

 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. 

South Korean officials are scrambling to contain a new coronavirus outbreak, searching for thousands of people who may have been infected in a cluster of cases linked to nightclubs and bars in the capital city Seoul.

Most of the new cases were linked to an outbreak at a number of Seoul nightclubs and bars, many of them catering to members of the LGBTIQ community.

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. 

Now it’s time to find out!  Enter your cutie in the Domestic Violence Crisis Service’s 2021 Pets of Canberra Calendar competition.

Open to all pets of the ACT and surrounding region, this is an opportunity to get the camera squarely focused on your pride and joy!  We want to see your dogs, cats, horses, rabbits, birds, fish and everything in between! Naturally, there are plenty of dogs and cats entered, but this year DVCS really want to see more horses, rabbits, mice, rats, lizards, snakes, chickens and birds! 

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.