The narrative of monogamous coupledom exerts much force in our imaginative and social worlds - even queer films are dominated by love plots. But The Lobster, a savagely funny film about heterosexual love, is a welcome exception.
Queer history is celebrated in the United States, so why not Australia?
Ronald Woan
Drugs scare us and fascinate us. Societies might fight “wars” against drugs – but we also drink, smoke, ingest and inject an awful lot of them. The Ancient Greeks captured this instability with their concept…
Violence plays out in highly gendered ways. But many more factors are at play.
Syda Productions/Shutterstock
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) people experience family and sexual violence at rates similar to, or higher than, heterosexual women.
‘It is difficult to convey the exhilaration that can be received from recognising elements of your own intimate life magnified on a cinema screen.’ Anatomy of a Love Seen screens at the Melbourne Queer Film Festival.
MQFF
The curators of queer film festivals undertake a challenging task, assembling as best as possible a cinematic selection that reflects what is a very diverse community. Too often, lesbians are left out.
Marriage equality is one step closer in the US.
vpickering
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court of the United States struck down a key provision of the Defense of Marriage Act. The ruling allows the federal government to recognise same-sex marriage, granting gay couples…
Obama wove the story of gay rights into the language of America’s founding fathers during his inauguration speech.
EPA/Shawn Thew
Much has been made of the fact President Obama became the first president to mention the word gay in an inaugural address. But the significance lies not in what he said but how he said it. In declaring…
Campaigns makes clear that homophobia is wrong, but do nothing to affirm that being gay is good.
Niv Singer
Being gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or intersex is joyous! Make no mistake, it’s the experience of homophobia and transphobia that can destroy lives and often leads to depression, anxiety and poor…
It’s time some religious organisations saw the light about employing LGBT individuals.
Leonard John Matthews
A little over a century ago, our first prime minister told our first parliament that “the doctrine of the equality of man was never intended to apply to the equality of the Englishman and the Chinaman…
Archbishop Peter Jensen believes “homosexual lifestyles” are dangerous. He’s wrong.
ABC TV
Some people are ignorant. There are no cases, however, of ignorance being listed as the cause of death on someone’s death certificate. On the ABC’s Q&A program on Monday night, Archbishop Jensen agreed…
Joyous photos such as this one of Phyllis Siegel, 76, right, and Connie Kopelov, 84, marrying in New York could soon flood out of Tasmania.
EPA/Michael Appleton
I personally experienced the full necessity for marriage equality only recently. In the sunny town of Lamego, Portugal, my dear friend Nina was married to her beloved Marcos. She was the first of my friends…
Being counted in the census for the first time is a milestone for gay and lesbian couples everywhere.
multi.phrenic
AUSTRALIA BY NUMBERS: The Australian Bureau of Statistics has released the first batch of its 2011 census data. We’ve asked some of the country’s top demographers and statisticians to crunch the numbers…
Barack Obama has sent a message to same-sex attracted people everywhere: “I’m in your corner”.
ABC News
This morning my phone woke me earlier than usual with a text from one of my sons, who regularly taps into American politics in the middle of the night. “Obama has come out for gay marriage – how about…
Rapid HIV tests should be offered in beats and sex on-site venues.
If you’ve ever had to wait two agonising weeks for a HIV test result, you’ll be pleased to hear that rapid HIV tests can now give an equally accurate result in just 30 minutes. The problem is, these tests…