What do you get when you have 350 queers in a room?
The flu, lots of arguments and a massive headache.
Luckily, that isn’t all that I brought back from QC’09 this year.
Queer Collaborations is an annual event that is run with the help of NUS and other organisations to provide a forum for GLBTI students from around Australia (and the world – there were Canadians there!) to discuss political issues, learn about sexuality and gender, meet a lot of other people and get drunk with them.
We listened to (and at times joined in on) hotly contested debates on Racism and Sexism, asking if it was racist to be attracted to someone because of their skin tone and if men can be victims of sexism or is there a difference between sexism and gender discrimination.
We watched presentations on what it meant to be hetero-normative which led to long and varied discussion about whether it was acceptable to be hetero-normative or whether the presentation itself had been discriminatory towards hetero-normative people.
We went to workshops on polyamory, gender, living with HIV, risk aware sex, Centerlink and the changes to the law, how to be a trans* ally and many other interesting and vitally important topics.
We held two protests – one at Canberra University to protest their closing of the Queer group and freezing of all student group funds by the Uni, and the other in front of Parliament House to demand equal rights for LGBTI couples.
We ran caucus groups (which are interest groups that you can attend if you identify as a part of that group of people) for women, trans*, cultural and language different people, people with ‘dis’abilities.
We held a very moving candlelight vigil in the rain with Amnesty International to remember those who had been victims of hate, oppression and violence due to peoples' lack of understanding about their sexual and gender identities.
We discovered the concept of ‘Safer Spaces’ – not only made safe for us by keeping queerphobia out, but also the need to discipline our own behaviours as adults so that our fellow queers feel safe around us.
We fought and argued. We made up and then argued again. But we did all of this as a community of people with a common identity and without the fear of being boxed in and labeled as being different. We were different to each other, but we gave ourselves the space to celebrate that fact instead of apologising for it.
In conclusion, QC’09 was an amazing week that opened my eyes to a LOT of issues facing queer folk of all sorts of flavours that I had never even thought of before.
I am 35 years old and thought that I had effectively sorted through my sexuality years and years ago. I have also had friends who have sorted through gender issues and felt that I knew enough about things to not be phased or shocked by anything - but this last week has taught me that I don't know anything.
I wasn't shocked or disturbed by what I saw or the people that I met; I was motivated and moved by them. I met people who identify as female, male, neither and both. I met people who are attracted to female, male, neither and both. But most importantly I met people who were intelligent, funny caring and who deserve the same rights as any other people in our country.
Just for the simple fact that whether they are a 'he', 'she', 'they' or an 'it', these people are people.
And these people deserve rights.
I can say this with certainty because I am one of these people - and I want my rights.
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