Pride March

Every year at the end of Midsumma there is a Pride March and it is free for all to attend. Here the marchers wait for a long while at the oval at Lakeside drive until it is their turn to march. And then they march down Fitzroy st to Catani Gardens where entertainment and food await them.

I went this year with RUSU Queer Department on a perfect day. It was not too hot and not too cold. Heaps of people turned up to this free event, hence all the trams going back into the city from there were packed. And some people waited for hours in bars.

Hence I decided to run the 7km back into the city after it ended.

Every year it is fun to go and say hi to the crowd as you pass them. For me that was yelping and cheering.

But every year the lines are long for the bathrooms and the food. That is why I never bothered with the food. As for the drink wristband, last time in Alexandra Gardens it was 6pm and they never bothered checking anyone's ID. This time around  they did and it was a huge queue for it.

Do go next years one if you are a uni student or work for one of the LGBTI groups as to which there are many. SEEK had a ball with their balls.

Midsumma Carnival and T- dance party

Both were held on the same day and it is a tradition for RMIT Newintstudents to attend. This was their 30th festival (they have one each year) and so of course it was special. Here they were both as fun and both had just as many people and lines to the bathrooms and food. The lines to the food was really crazy. Last year there were so many stalls. This year they cut it back a little. Also there were no free bottle openers which I and others would have loved.

Patting dogs

Dan Murphy's cider theatre

I would have got food but because the lines were so long, I ended up with takeaway from somewhere else. People brought food but because I did a run in the morning I couldn't be bothered carrying all.

The T-Dance party was quite fun but loud and drunken people ruined it for everyone. I tried a Fat Yak ale and it was $9 for a small can. I also tried a $6 slushee in a small cup. The tubes were $10 and people kept coming back for refills.

The dog patting and spotting was the best part of the day. Visitors brought in dogs to enjoy the show with them.

Do come to next years one and celebrate all things queer.

Is it ok to be queer?

As part of Bupa's best blog competition for 2015

Being gay, lesbian, trans is all ok in Australia. In that we like to do the same things as the normal straight people. The gay community is a very friendly one in Australia and its ok to join them even if you are not gay. In fact the gay community love to watch movies, have bbqs etc.

Coming out is also alright as we are all fairly open. In fact there is a queer space at your campus. Just ask the friendly student union staff.

But in some of the Asian countries it is not. Asian countries are a lot stricter. Many parents do not like their child to have sex before marriage or have same sex relationships. For most Asian countries it is taboo.

In Australia it is ok to have same sex relationships. But the Victorian government says no to same sex marriage. Hence all the protests.

In Australia is it illegal to discriminate against someone just because they are gay. According to the Human Rights commission all people are equal. In fact there is a University guide which we have recently covered

LGBI guide- how universities fared in the latest assesment

As part of Bupa's best blog competition for 2015

The Human Rights commission has released a new guide just for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans students and they rate universities on this. You can see it here.

This assessment was done by the Australian Human Rights Commission who has released a guide on how to treat students who are gay. Many International students are gay or lesbian and some countries don't allow this such as China. But Australia is an open country.

The guide is meant to make picking a university easier for LGBTI students.

Universities around the country are being accessed according to 15 different criteria. They include having a safe space on campus and training staff to deal with LGBI students. Surprisingly most universities failed in this department.

But the one that they most passed is having a department just for the queer students. About 60% passed for just having events for students. The majority of them also passed for having events on campus just for the queers.

Our response to this is that it is great to see a guide from the Human Rights commission as queer, gay, lesbian and trans people are all equal. Universities should treat them as such. These people are being discriminated against by the straight people.

Pride Mentoring program

RMIT has a program for queer students on campus and we talk about how good this is in terms of looking for a job

The Pride Mentoring program is for RMIT Queer Students only. But each university would have a similiar program. It has been operating for two years now and has been going well.

The other unis don't have this as there may not have been any funding for these services

It is a career focused thing. They can read over resumes.

Equity- not all workplaces are equal and not everyone is accepting. They can advise students but they are not legal experts.

It is easy to sign up and they match you to a mentor. And then you connect and then you initiate the first meeting. It goes for 24 weeks with one hour meetings every week. Your mentor will be there every single step of the way but they don't look for the job for you. You have to do that, but can suggest events for you.

The mentors are very friendly and they have been in the same shoes as you.

Do apply for it via their site.

Body Image workshop

RNIS was invited to this workshop by RMIT Queer Department
As part of Bupa's best blog competition for 2015

The RMIT Queer Space is a safe space and no one is being judged here. You are beautiful just the way you are.

Self perceptions
"Our self perceptions are harsh"
This is about self love.

"What did I think about of him who is deeply ashamed about himself?" There are people who are happy to be themselves. Some of them are so deeply deeply unhappy and some who are ok. His image had suddenly changed. He was more confident

Its not like what we look like it is about the way we see ourselves from the inside. We need to change our beliefs about ourselves. My self image is a woman and it is the most peaceful and joyful thing in the world. What is inside our hearts is what matters. Sometimes you don't have to do the big things to make a difference. It is the smaller things

Your thoughts is what you perceive of the world- you decided that you have a bad day. Perception is everything. Think about the important people and the way how you feel about them. Eg your mum/dad overseas. Who you feel deeply appreciative of. What can you give them which is pure and that they will appreciate and enhance. It has to be something that you want to give them.

Being negative
People expect everything to be perfect and some people compare themsleves to others. Some people think that other people is better. Our ideas are very perfect, i.e models. Models are airbrushed to make them look pretty in the media.

Self esteem and acceptance
Do you accept yourself for who are? How would you rate yourself? Confidence comes from acceptance. I have accepted myself.

Many thanks to RUSU Queer Department for the invite

The Queer Community forrum

The Queer Community in Melbourne plays a really important part of our culture and RNIS was glad to attend this year's forum.

It really was to talk about this years midsumma and how we can be more inclusive. International students may not know that queer people are the same as normal people. 30% of the volunteers for Midsumma's this year were International students. The organizing committee admits that they "are not good at marketing events". Social media is one great way to promote events and they also need to get more people involved in organising it.

This was the forum to talk about any ideas for the next midsumma event and people had lots of ideas. One being about communication and promotion and the other being about funding. Communication about being queer is always going to be difficult. A queer person is just like anyone else. We don't neccessarily party.

The midsumma festival isn't all about parties, it is about arts and culture too.  There are many different genders of queer, such as transgender, bisexual etc. It should also be showcasing the community.

Funding was really hard to get this year as donations have been bad. This year not many people donated a gold coin to the tins. Your gold coin would have helped fund some of the performances. The carnival was the highlight and showcase of queer culture in Melbourne. The organizers need some more money from the big businesses and from you to help cater for better events for next year. One idea could be to sell the Entertainment book. The other idea is to engage with the audience and social gurus early.

There was an app for the midsumma festival last year, but it was not there this year as they wanted to make the webiste more user friendly and you would be able to access on all platforms.

The festival should be extended for four weeks not three so that more people will have the time to attend them. There should be some sort of diversity program for all.

Do donate to them if you have the chance and I hope that the Midsumma crew will sell the Entertainment book this year.