The second issue of fledgling trans men magazine DUDE is on the way.
Issue #2 will be launched in Sydney this Saturday, February 11 at the upstairs hall of the Newtown Neighbourhood Centre, directly across from Newtown train station , at 3pm. The launch has changed location from the previously announced outdoor venue of Camperdown Memorial Rest Park due to the threat of rain.
Creator Jez Pez said DUDE Magazine presents information on transitioning, safer sex and personal stories by transguys from around the world, aimed at the wider community.
“Delve deeper into this complex abyss of body image, where we uncover a world where not everyone thinks it is hot to be a muscular, tattooed, post-op bro-type trans guy,” Pez said.
“I long for a world where anyone and everyone can feel included, attractive and sexy.”
INFO: DUDE is free. You can download it free at www.dudemag.org after its release or purchase from stockists listed on the website.
Margaret Court continued her obsession with homosexuality in weekend media. This time the former tennis champion used a major Melbourne Sunday newspaper to claim that sexuality was sometimes the result of sexual abuse as a child.
Factual? Not at all. Misguided? Absolutely.
While the rainbow chorus and its many supporters again used its collective voice to trounce Court’s latest far-fetched opinion on sexuality, we noticed a bit of a pattern starting to emerge.
There’s a small camp in rainbow land who’d prefer not to know the latest vomit Margaret Court is spreading through the heterosexual community.
Stop reporting on her, they call. You’re just giving her more oxygen.
But are we? Well, yes and no.
Granted, keeping abreast of the issues further stirs the debate and possibly encourages Court to spew forth more factually-barren opinions.
But if we didn’t report, who would launch the counterattack? Nobody, that’s who.
The mainstream media are delivering Court’s diatribe into the family heartland. The people reading her opinions are the very people we need onside if we are to win the current push for equality.
They are also the people we want to have a greater understanding of sexuality to help smooth the coming-out path for their sons and daughters, should they realise one day they are gay.
Agreed, Court’s comments are hurtful and they are causing us a lot of pain. They are designed to.
But sticking our heads ostrich-like in the sand in the hope she will just disappear won’t benefit anybody but the woman preaching about how others should live.
And if left unchallenged, her pulpit will one day be stained by the blood of our brothers and sisters who didn’t realise it’s OK to be gay — because we remained silent.
The darling of the skies, Pam Ann, is heading back to Australian stages later this year.
Pam Ann — Around The World will tour the country in August, but tickets are expected to sell like cheap flights to New York when they go on sale on February 6.
Here’s all you need to know about dates, times and tickets.
ADELAIDE
Festival Theatre – Playhouse
Wednesday 1st August Bookings:www.bass.net.au or 131 246 Tickets: $50 Adult/ $45 Concession/Group
SYDNEY
State Theatre
Friday 3rd August Bookings:www.ticketmaster.com.au or 136 100 Tickets: $80 First Class (front 4-6 rows, inc comp glass of champagne & keyring); $60 Adult; $55 Concession/Group
BRISBANE
Brisbane Powerhouse
Friday 10th & Saturday 11th August Bookings:www.brisbanepowerhouse.com.au or 3358 8600 Tickets: $80 First Class (front 4-6 rows, inc comp glass of champagne & keyring); $60 Adult; $55 Concession/Group
MELBOURNE
Athenaeum Theatre
Friday 17th August Bookings:www.ticketek.com.au or 132 849 Tickets: $80 First Class (front 4-6 rows, inc comp glass of champagne & keyring); $60 Adult; $55 Concession/Group
PERTH
Astor Theatre
Friday 24th August Bookings:www.bocsticketing.com.au or 9484 1133 Tickets: $80 First Class (front 4-6 rows, inc comp glass of champagne & keyring); $60 Adult; $55 Concession/Group
Australia’s favourite pop princess, Kylie Minogue, will return for Mardi Gras this year.
Minogue — who has performed at Party twice, the last time in 1998 — will attend the Parade to celebrate her 25-year music career and relationship with the gay community.
“I am coming home for Mardi Gras this year,” Minogue said.
“I simply cannot wait, and it’s going to be a beautiful way to celebrate 25 years of this relationship.”
“Your support over the years has just been phenomenal and I can’t wait to come home and share that with you. So see you in March.”
Minogue’s appearance at the Parade — widely recognised as the world’s best celebration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex pride and diversity — will kick off her celebration of 25 years in the music industry.
Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras (SGLMG) will honour Minogue during the Parade with a spectacular K25 float that pays homage to the artist’s outstanding contribution to the music industry and support of the LGBTQI community.
SGLMG’s CEO Michael Rolik says Minogue’s RSVP will go down as one of the great moments in the organisation’s history.
“There is no doubt our community contains an enormous number of Kylie fans, so we are delighted she will be here for Mardi Gras at the start of her 25th anniversary in the music industry,” he said.
“There are often rumours that Kylie will be back at Mardi Gras and today we are pleased to confirm she will be here to party alongside us over the Parade weekend. We will be pulling out all the stops to show her a good time.
“In strategic partnership with Destination NSW we have been investing in the quality of the Parade to ensure that it delivers great creativity, stronger messages and is a more attractive event for visitors from around Australia and overseas.
“This year promises to deliver a wonderful Parade and Kylie’s attendance will be the cherry on the cake.”
NSW Tourism Minister George Souris said the NSW Government, through Destination NSW, had forged a strong partnership with Mardi Gras which has helped ensure Minogue, who was recently inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame, is in Sydney for Mardi Gras.
“We welcome Kylie Minogue to Australia’s leading tourism and events city for one of the world’s leading events,” Souris said.
“Ms Minogue has a very special place in Australians’ hearts. She has a global audience who adore her. Where better for her to celebrate her 25 years in entertainment than in Sydney, Australia’s global city.
“The presence of Kylie Minogue is sure to make this the biggest and best Sydney Mardi Gras ever.”
INFO: Sydney Mardi Gras 2012 runs February 12 – March 4. More at www.mardigras.org.au
The full acoustic version of Kylie Minogue’s 1992 hit Finer Feelings was revealed this morning.
Recorded at Abbey Road Studios, it is the first of what we have been promised will be a series of special releases over the coming year to mark the pop icon’s 25th anniversary as a global recording star.
To unlock the video more than 25,000 people were required to tweet #K25fans. It took just moments for the stunning video to be revealed to the world.
It is understood further tracks will be made available throughout the year.
The songs Kylie has recorded are a surprise and will be revealed on the day they become available.
Kylie re-entered the studio last year, following the spectacular Aphrodite: Les Folies world tour, and teased fans throughout the process on Twitter with photos from inside the studio.
She has been recording with long time collaborators and renowned producers Steve Anderson and Colin Elliot, the Aphrodite band, four backing vocalists and a 24-piece string orchestra led by Cliff Masterson.
This track is the first glimpse at what Kylie has in store for fans in 2012.
Australian pop princess Kylie Minogue will kick off her K25 celebrations at 6am Thursday, Sydney time.
Kylie, who was recently inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame, has chosen to mark this incredible milestone with a year of surprises and gifts for her fans.
To kick-start the celebrations she will release a specially-recorded acoustic version of Finer Feelings – a Stock and Waterman hit from the 1992 album Let’s Get To It – from her website, Kylie.com.
Kylie released a teaser of the track early this morning, sending fans worldwide into a frenzy.
The release will be the first in a series of especially commissioned new recordings of classic Kylie songs, recorded at the legendary Abbey Road Studios.
It is understood further tracks will be made available throughout the year.
The songs Kylie has recorded are a surprise and will be revealed on the day they become available.
Kylie is asking her fans to ‘tweet to unlock’ the video, so 25,000 people will need to tweet #k25fans to unlock it for all to view.
Kylie re-entered the studio last year, following the spectacular Aphrodite: Les Folies world tour, and teased fans throughout the process on Twitter with photos from inside the studio.
She has been recording with long time collaborators and renowned producers Steve Anderson and Colin Elliot, the Aphrodite band, four backing vocalists and a 24-piece string orchestra led by Cliff Masterson.
This track will be the first glimpse at what Kylie has in store for fans in 2012.
