We’re listening

We’re listening

When was the last time you thought about what life would be like if you were living in a rural or regional part of Australia rather than the city?

Research such as the Australia Institute’s 2005 webpaper Mapping Homophobia in Australia has confirmed anecdotal evidence that homophobia is generally greater in country areas than in cities, and also that inner city areas tend to be less homophobic than outer suburbs.

In addition to the higher likelihood of encountering homophobia, there are fewer openly LGBTI-friendly services available in many regional areas and fewer services available generally in the country — so support options for regional people coming out or questioning their sexuality or gender may be limited or nonexistent.

The GLCS provides a freecall service for regional callers to our Counselling Line: 1800 184 527, lines open daily 5.30–9.30pm.

About 14 percent of our calls come from regional NSW or the ACT (where a location is given during the call). Many of these calls centre on isolation and loneliness — people trying to find places to connect with other LGBTI people, or just wanting the chance to talk freely about how they are feeling or what is happening in their lives with someone who won’t judge them based on their sexuality or gender identity.

For some regional callers, our phone counsellors may be the first openly LGBTI people they have ever spoken to, or the first people they have ever shared their story with.

Positively, there is increasingly more attention being paid to rural and regional areas. More LGBTI-friendly or focused services are establishing regional centres or outreach services. More regional social networks and online supports are available to enable people to link up and share information across geographical areas.

One great initiative was Daniel Witthaus’ 38-week national tour of regional Australia in 2010 following the launch of his book Beyond ‘That’s So Gay’: Challenging homophobia in Australian schools. He spent a week at a time in small towns, interviewing people about their experiences and opinions of homophobia. Daniel blogged about his progress during the tour.

A great series of summary resources is now available at http://thatssogay.com.au/findings/

GLCS Counselling Line is open daily 5.30–9.30pm. Call 02 8594 9596 or 1800 184 527.

INFO: www.glcsnsw.org.au or [email protected]

Fiona Paskulich is the program coordinator of the Gay & Lesbian Counselling Service (GLCS) of NSW

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One response to “We’re listening”

  1. As a counsellor and therapist working in private practice, I endorse the important work being done by GLCS and similar organisations in other states. People living in rural and regional parts of Australia are generally massively under serviced by public health services and living in much more difficult conditions generally.