Aurora lends a hand again
Eight community organ-isations have shared in $25,000 through the Aurora Group’s small grants scheme.
The grants were handed out at last night’s sell-out Fat Tuesday event at Slide.
Queer Screen received funding for a queer film digital archive and filmmaker Katherine Wilkinson received cash to finish her documentary We Killed Your Faggot Son. The Welfare Rights Centre were funded to develop an information sheet on the recent changes to taxation and family law while the Lesbians and Cancer Project got cash to host an information forum.
The St George Gay and Lesbian Youth Support Services Network received a donation to establish self-defence classes for GLBT youth in Hurstville.
Support was provided to the publishing group Learn to Include to assist with the printing and distribution of The Rainbow Cubby House -” a school reader designed to raise awareness of
same-sex families.
Team Sydney secured funding to enlarge the scope of the Mardi Gras Sports Festival and further engage GLBT people in active lifestyles.
The Gender Centre received assistance to establish a health and nutrition support service.
Every year we are thrilled to support a number of important projects that benefit the GLBT community through our Small Grants Program, Aurora chairwoman Alex Sosnov said.
The number of worthy applications we received this year shows there is no shortage of need for funding across many diverse areas.
Dear Sir, No, I am not aware of any reliable source of data that would be accepted by a government department or a court as valid because of the methods used to collect that data.
That also means there is no data available from a reliable source to disprove my assertion.
My assertion is based on my own observations of the gay community.
Another indication that my assertion is correct is the role taken by male prostitutes. It appears from the advertisements they place in gay publications that the service they offer is that of the active participant.
If there was a market for prostitutes who played the passive role I expect that they would advertise their services.
I suggest that there is no market for passive prostitutes in Sydney because a male who wanted to have sex with another male as the active participant does not need to pay a prostitute for that service. There are so many bottoms in the community that a male who wants to take the active partners role can easily find a partner who would be willing to take the passive role.
I would like to bring two matters to the attention of the community;
1. I met a gay guy several years ago at a gay venue. He is mentally retarded (I don’t know if that is the modern definition) but he knows he is gay. He lives in a Department of Community Services Home. He works in a sheltered workshop (I don’t know if they still call them that).
He was in his thirtys when I met him. He was a transvestite for most of the time I have known him.
I discovered that there were large organisations in existence to help gay people who were dying of AIDS but there was nothing to help gay people who were not dying but had problems.
I decided to help him by taking him to a gay venue once a month so he could associate with other gay people. I have been doing that for several years.
It is great to hear that there are dedicated members of the community who have found ways to help gay people who are not dying of AIDS but still need some type of assistance.
There may be more people like the person I am helping living in DOCS homes around Sydney. I am not sure how an organisation can help such people but individuals may be able to help. It requires a great deal of patience and skill to cope with someone who is mentally retarded and gay.
If you think you can handle something like that and you want to help a gay person by giving them the opportunity to associate with other gay people occasionally you could contact DOCS and offer to become a ‘gay friend’ of the gay DOCS resident. You attend an Individual Planning meeting once a year which is designed to help the individual concerned. You attend as a gay friend and are asked to offer advice on activities etc…
2. The other matter is Gay Immigration into Australia.
Various ethnic and religious groups consider immigration important enough to warrant attention.Those groups monitor immigration into Australia and lobby the Australian government about matters concerning immigration by members of their groups. I suggest that the gay community should give attention to this matter.
There are many gays in the third world who could become life partners of Australian gays. The demographics of Australian society and the gay community condemn a lot of Australian gays to solitary lives because of the lack of suitable partners.
What I am talking about is the fact that there are about 9 bottoms to every 1 top in Australia. That means there are a lot of passive gay guys who will never find a life partner by looking for one in Australia.
Passive gay Australians are more likely to find a partner for life in a third world country.
The problem is that for undisclosed reasons internet sites which seek to provide the opportunity for gay people to find partners – exclude subscribers from third world countries.
If organisations would change their policy of excluding subscribers from third world countries it would give gay Australians a greater opportunity to find a partner for life amongst the gay populations of those third world countries.
If the leaders of the Gay Community Groups put Gay Immigration to Australia on the agenda it may help those gay Australians who have found a partner for life in a third world country to bring those partners to Australia.
Editor’s note: Chillsauce, I am curious to know exactly where your ‘ bottoms to every 1 top in Australia’ information comes from? Can you please provide a reliable source.