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It's the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras & SANE is celebrating all things LGBTQIA+
With the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras 2022 festival opening tomorrow, we thought it would be the perfect time to again welcome a discussion about all things LGBTQIA+.
So to hold the banner high and celebrate diversity and inclusion, we’re kicking things off with our own Mardi Gras celebration! Starting today and concluding with the Mardi Gras parade on the 5th March, this 3 week celebration will highlight moments of struggle, honour achievements, celebrate what it means for us to be LGBTQIA+, and also provide a safe place to land for those who may be questioning or struggling with their identity.
Message to our SANE LGBTQIA+ allies; you’re welcome to celebrate with us! Please feel free to don your best party outfit and contribute to this thread in whichever way feels right for you – we’re stronger together and as a community 🧑🎤👩🏾🎤
Building a community that’s safe and inclusive for all is one of the foundations of the SANE forums, and part of that commitment is ensuring that within this space our LGBTQIA+ members feel not only safe, but at home. So if there is anything you’d like to explore across the next 3 weeks, please feel free to reach out with your suggestions, either here or by sending an email to teams@sane.org.au and we’ll do our best to ensure your amazing ideas are incorporated in the celebration 🌈
Some of you might be wondering, what does LGBTQIA+ stand for? These initials refer collectively to people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual and their allies. It’s also important to acknowledge that these terms expand beyond a label, and that everyone comes to the umbrella definition with their own sense of what identity means to them and where (or indeed if) these terms are representative of their identity.
One of our awesome moderators @Jynx has previously put this list of terms together which might be helpful in understanding some of the colourful and diverse spectrum of identity:
- Cisgender: Identifying with gender assigned at birth
- Transgender: Identifying with a gender other than the one assigned at birth
- Gender diverse: Umbrella term used to describe anyone who identifies outside of the gender binary (i.e. male or female) and includes nonbinary, gender fluid, agender, and others
- Asexual: Someone who does not experience sexual attraction to others
- Grey-Asexual: Someone who only experiences sexual attraction occasionally
- Aromantic: Someone who does not experience romantic attraction to others
- Intersex: Someone born with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn't seem to fit the typical definitions of female or male
And if you’d like to read the a previous Topic Tuesday thread on LGBTQIA+ & Mental Health check it out here.
To get the celebration and story sharing started, we’d love to put two questions out to the community:
Where/how/when do you experience joy, happiness, or euphoria related to your LGBTQIA+ identity?
AND
In light of the debate that took place in parliament and around the nation over the past few weeks related to transgender and LGBTQIA+ students (link to the powerful speech by MP Stephen Jones here), if anyone has been struggling with painful emotions the proposed bill may have elicited, please feel free to share your story here with the community – this space is for you
Tagging forum members, as well as peer support workers, who may identify as being an ally or LGBTQIA+:
@TheVorticon @petrichor @Former-Member @wellwellwellnez @Clawde @TideisTurning @Former-Member @Former-Member @cloudcore @Paperdaisy @Daisydreamer @Corny @NatureLover @outlander @Oaktree @SJT63 @Shaz51 @frog @Maggie @Fluttershy1 @Adge @Rebel @eth @Jynx @Schitzo @Former-Member @tyme @Former-Member @RiverSeal @Former-Member @Former-Member @Bunniekins @MDT @Former-Member @rivergal @Appleblossom
As always, let’s keep this space safe, inclusive and kind, and if any of the topics covered here cause any distress and you’d like to chat with someone, please call the SANE help centre on 1800 187 263 (Mon-Fri 10am-10PM EST), the crisis support numbers here or Qlife on 1800 184 527 (3pm till midnight everyday).
❤️🧡💛💚💙💜❤️🧡💛💚💙💜❤️🧡💛💚💙💜❤️🧡💛💚💙💜
