The SSO A-Z guide to queer Sydney
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IKEA Is IKEA gayer than Mardi Gras? Judging by the number of inner-city gays prepared to drive to Homebush Bay on the weekend to shop for Bumerang coat-hangers, Flang hooks or Alfhild Fagel lamps, it certainly is.
Follow the arrows and there they are -“ always in sets of two -“ getting stuck into cheap meatballs straight out of the bain-marie. Easily spotted by their tan shorts and polo shirts, they are almost -“ if not quite -“ outnumbered by the sets of dykes talking about how cute the kids’ furniture is.
The Star‘s Stacy Farrar wrote in 2004 that a Vanilla Pride movement might include workshops on flat-pack furniture construction, and we stand by this idea’s potential popularity.
Mardi Gras might have labelled itself Our Freedom, Your Freedom a couple of years ago, but everyone knows the gays prefer IKEA.
Idols Australian Idol has given us so much more than camp television and welcome encounters with Marcia Hines. Since its debut back in 2003, the reality TV institution has also bequeathed a series of graduates whose commitment to their gay fans is unwavering -“ not least when there are albums to sell.
Without suggesting their intentions are anything but sincere, these Idol identities -“ from Paulini to Ricki-Lee and Kate DeAraugo -“ have an uncanny tendency to appear at Arq or gay events around the time of a new release.
Australian Idol stars have also proven a mainstay of Mardi Gras parties in recent years, a trend Young Divas will continue this year.
Even outside of Mardi Gras and record release time, the Idol alumni exercise an uncanny pull on the gay community. Anthony Callea and Guy Sebastian both enjoy substantial gay followings.
And as Young Diva Paulini told the Star last year, when we have our concerts and we see a group of gay boys, they’re just rocking out. They give off a great vibe.
Her bandmate Kate DeAraugo had an explanation for the attraction. I asked some gay fans what it was they liked about us. They said it was because we are comfortable in our skins and we’re down-to-earth -¦ we’re not untouchable.
