Letters – issue 1041

Letters – issue 1041

SLEAZE #1
The gay community no longer wants to be pinned down by just going to gay parties.
It seems a lot of gay people (especially the young gays and lesbians who didn’t have the same societal hardships with sexuality like older generations) no longer want to be stereotyped by the gay community and within the gay community itself.
People see that there is more to being gay then calling yourself a Bear, twink, leather daddy, otter, bull dyke, showboy, muscle Mary, lipstick lesbian.
Many young GLBT members are now calling themselves mainstreamers. They want to been seen as normal. While they respect the community, they are partaking of festivals and parties that aren’t exclusively gay like Stereosonic, Good Vibes, Parklife.
It seems the nature and interests of the GLBT community are changing as it’s become less and less segregated.
— Baden

SLEAZE #2
Sleaze’s original purpose was to raise funds to help put on a parade.
It was a great idea that allowed Mardi Gras to grow and the parade got bigger, the festival was introduced, events expanding over three weeks were introduced. Mardi Gras grew from a grassroots moment to a celebration of self.
Then the bubble that seemed endless, ended. And the community pulled together and formed NMG.
Their path seems to be travelling the same as the old Mardi Gras and I am sure everyone is working just as thanklessly as the old board did. But that won’t change the results, as reflected in last years financials.
So as a community memeber I have to ask — if our community does not support the fundraisers, what are we going to be willing to give up?
Unless a new funding source is secured, someone is going to have to make the hard decision — does the festival go? Does Fair Day? Does the parade? At what point do we as a community admit change, and are we going to support that change?
Because clearly it’s no longer in the parties to be that revenue source to support what we want to have — the parade and celebrations.
I think it’s sad Sleaze is going, not because it was a great party, but because it used to support something great, and we as a community have lost that.
— Kathie

SLEAZE #3
Attendance at Sleaze has been trending downwards because Mardi Gras are not delivering on their promises and are not catering to the desires of attendees — instead focusing on providing an expensive yet sanitised, bland dance party that is easily outperformed by its competition.
Mardi Gras have rested on their laurels and failed to adapt, failed to heed the feedback from their members, and failed to deliver the parties that people want.
Mardi Gras have tried to be all things to all people, but instead have become nothing to anyone.
— Rob

SLEAZE #4
With the loss that NMG posted at the end of the last season now is not the time to experiment with income sources. Sleaze is supposed to be the fundraiser for the Mardi Gras season.
The Dome is a favourite of some very hardened partygoers. As a women’s-only space it will be lucky to get half full. How ridiculous. Does Ms Marton have a clue what she is doing?
There is so much competition for the party dollars — why is she giving serious partygoers another reason to abandon Sleaze?
I am a woman, but I don’t support single-sex spaces at parties.
— Sue

PALMS SECURITY
Seems like a one-off thing for Palms with this issue (‘No Kissing’, Letters, #1039).
I frequent there as well and, yes, they do have the odd different security guard there on occasion. I work on the strip and think I can say on behalf of a lot of venues that it’s not always easy to have the same security guards every weekend who are gay-friendly.
The fact that Stephen was told to move away was unacceptable for any venue on Oxford St for what he was doing.
It’s not hard to speak to management/ licensees in any venue when problems arise. I have always had a general rule when it comes to complaints — you are guaranteed when someone says they are sober they have had more than a few drinks or are on some sort of recreational drug.
Security don’t pick on people for the thrill of it.
— Dave

MEDIA FODDER
Using ‘Leela’ and ‘Krishna’ in this article is totally negligent (‘Gay refugee move’, SSO #1040). This young man may have outed his situation and sexuality, mainly in an attempt to get the help he requires.
He is not out to his family and most of his friends in Sri Lanka. Assessing if one actually has his permission and understanding regarding the campaigns and articles that are circulating about his story is nearly impossible.
I have spent many hours with this young man trying to assess his understanding regarding small pieces of paperwork, let alone a campaign or an article for a publication.
He has been used as a ‘poster boy’ for the campaign. I spoke with him tonight.  He had no idea, not a hint, that this was being published. He is fully aware that similar articles have made his relationship with immigration caseworkers and lawyers fragile.
And who is this person who is ‘profiling’ Leela’s apparent feminine behaviour? I have met with many refugees in detention centres. Leela is no more feminine than many I have met. Like any institutional setting, there is a full range of personalities and behaviours.
Is this article helpful to Leela or just another attempt for a few to make themselves look good by using the desperation of one of the most disempowered new members of our society?
The interesting facts about this specific case are not even represented in the article. Leela has been a client of Twenty10 for over three months now, and if they had offered him housing he would most likely be released already to wait out the obligatory ASIO checks.
This young man has become media fodder, used like a freak for pathological activists, and abandoned by the services that build their reputations as ‘helping’ organisations.
— Andrew

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