I’m walking down the street, headphones in and minding my own business, when a man drives by and slows down. He rolls down his window and yells out, “hello pretty lady.” A creepy grin appears on his face, revealing his disgusting mouth. I feel a cold shiver run down my spine as I contemplate saying …

Mama Alto is a gender transcendent diva, cabaret artiste, and community activist. She is a non-binary trans femme person of colour who works with the radical potential of storytelling, strength in softness & power in vulnerability. Bobuq Sayed sat down with them at Hares and Hyenas to talk queerness in the arts and the challenges …

Nic Holas is a writer, activist and the co-founder of The Institute of Many (TIM), an advocacy platform and grassroots movement for People Living with HIV. TIM has the largest membership of any HIV organization in Australia. We chatted with Nic to talk about U=U, TIM’s latest campaign aiming to highlight the message that an …

The words to Macklemore’s ‘Same Love’, being performed during the rugby league grand final telecast, resonated across Sydney Airport. They were cheered on with pride, joy and hope by Australians from all walks of life, united in defence of equality. En route back to Melbourne, I watched surrounded by other parents of transgender kids, tired yet …

Kids know. They really do. Long before the adults do. The stares, the pointing, the laughing, the mocking and jeering starts from your first class. Some primal part of the brain is triggered by the presence of something other, even if they cannot articulate what their own tribe is. It is something taught, something ingrained …

Having been brought up on a steady diet of the gay and lesbian section of Blockbuster Newtown, I can say that my movie taste is pretty low grade. In light of this, I can be forgiven for loving the new film Riot, which was released in time for this year’s Mardi Gras and dramatizes the …

Allan Clarke is a Muruwuri man and an investigative journalist with the ABC. He has previously reported for BuzzFeed, NITV and SBS. The Mardi Gras magazine recently published his article about the First Nations history of Mardi Gras, commemorating 40 years of black queer protest and celebration.   How important is the Sydney Mardi Gras …

He’s been paddling in the pool for 20 minutes, locking eyes with every member of the water polo team. I’m reclining by the edge of the water with my shirt unbuttoned. When he gets out to sit on the grass, I get up slowly and walk towards the showers. A few minutes later, he follows me …

Alex Andrews is an Australian feminist from Melbourne and the Founder of Get Hairy February.

Angela Serrano speaks to Panti Bliss, an Irish drag queen and marriage equality activist. Panti is Ireland’s foremost “gender discombobulist” and “accidental activist”.

As a sex worker and queer woman, Tilly Lawless doesn’t always find safety in traditional community spaces.

Finding a home in a new place is difficult, especially when your rights to that home are constantly called into question, writes Tina Dixson for Archer Magazine #8, the ‘SPACES’ issue.   The most common question I get asked in Australia is: “Where are you from?” It is asked at a party, by an Uber …

What’s missing from the entire analysis of these protests is the queer community, and how international voices from either side of the political spectrum undermine and erase Venezuela’s queer, indigenous history.

On the morning the yes results were released, my friends and I were running late to the State Library because we had to drop my boyfriends kids at school, get coffee and have some time to sing to Tracy Chapman. We were stressed and fielding everyone else’s anxious texts and trying to figure out if …

I am on the train, making my way to the marriage equality rally at the State Library. Scrolling through Facebook, I see that Premier Daniel Andrews has posted in support of the march. Foolishly, I begin to read the comments. ‘Let’s hope when they get it they will get out of our faces for good,’ …

Listen to your elders. We were always taught this growing up, and yet we rarely did so. We had our own path to carve out. It is not unusual in all levels of society for us to generally disregard the opinions of older people. The debate and discussion around the Marriage Equality Postal Survey has …

For those affected by the marriage equality debate, VAC offers a free counselling service, along with a list of helpful resources and tips for self-care.   Outside Victoria, phone support can be accessed through QLife. My dear queer, Are you tired, frustrated and hurting? I am too. Our communities are under siege, and while this …

As a trans woman, I have a fairly different perspective on marriage equality than most people who are heard in this debate. You may not be aware of how Australian law regards trans people. I’ve spent a lot of time making sense of the bureaucracy and the absurd legal grey area I exist in. To …

Of course we want to win. Some of us are married, want to get married or care about marriage. Some don’t care about marriage, but we all care about dignity. (It would just be nice for hatred to lose.) As a result of this collective desire to win it can seem like everything is at …

I am a queer person vehemently opposed to gay marriage. Right now, this means I am navigating so many complexities. Do I vote? Do I boycott? Do I go to the marriage rally because it is about more than just marriage now? Do I try and speak out against the institution of marriage, even though …

Late last week, my partner and I were celebrating our anniversary. I like having an excuse to dress up and feel fancy, and – if we want to risk it – leave our Newtown bubble to see what else Sydney has to offer. We did venture out of the bubble, with minimal fanfare or occasion. …

Recent reports label millennials the “gayest generation ever”. I didn’t doubt it for a second. We are producing some of the most diverse, well-rounded representations of queer folk, and these depictions are reaching the mainstream in some of the largest quantities in history. We are overwhelmingly out and, by and large, society in most of …