THE SSO A-Z GUIDE TO QUEER SYDNEY
O IS FOR
Obits Not too long ago, obituary ads in the Star were a constant reminder of the gay community’s battle with HIV/AIDS. It was common to see full pages of dedicated ads remembering loved ones who died, usually of AIDS-related illnesses. They were often hauntingly young, beautiful men cut down in the prime of their lives.
Advertising reps of the time talk of almost daily tragedy as mothers, lovers and friends would attend the office to drop off a photo for their ad and, more often than not, they’d stay for a cup of tea and a shoulder to cry on. Some of those people return to the office today, 20 years on, to run their remembrance ad on anniversaries and they’re always welcome.
And while the staff members are still more than happy to have a cup of tea and offer a shoulder, everyone is relieved to notice the number of premature deaths in the community is dropping every year.
Opera queens You know the opera queens are in town, says a concerned resident of Bennelong Point, because the Opera House foyer positively reeks of Eau Savage. For a certain underground group in the gay ghetto, the drag show at the Imperial simply won’t do.
These poof and poofesses like a high ticket price to reflect the very height of culture. Why stumble in front of a drag queen, spilling half a beer, when you can spend three hours in your black tie mesmerised by a diva under the great white sails? Opera queens don’t actually go to the opera; they go on a journey -“ a journey to the lyrical lightness of Puccini, or to the booming drama of Wagner. And then, after the show, and over a fine merlot, all can complain that so-and-so’s voice simply hasn’t matured to perfection yet.
The common or garden Sydney opera queen is a particularly smug breed, but who wouldn’t be, having the world’s most famous opera house on your doorstep? Closet opera queens are easy to rout -“ just whisper in their ears Paris Bastille, Covent Garden, The Met, and get ready to catch them should they faint. In video shops watch as a XXX Falcon DVD is bypassed for a Verdi special edition from La Scala.
The most popular shows are of course the ones with the big divas -“ Madame Butterfly, La Boh?, A?. The knees really wobble, though, when the dishy stars turn up. Teddy Tahu Jones wouldn’t look out of place on a podium at Arq, but it’s the Celtic hunk-of-spunk Bryn Terfel, the biggest bear in OperaWood, who sets all the queens’ pulses racing.
