Lived Experience Forum

[hanami]

This is such an important topic and I've loved reading all the comments and ideas. I've not loved so much that members of the LGBTQIA+ community have that anxiety around discrimination, but it honestly doesn't surprise me. You just have to look to the current election where some of the issues affecting this community have been used as a political football. And then there's the religious discrimination bill...don't get me started on that. I long for the day where people can be more accepting of ways of life that are different to theirs. I often wonder why it's so hard.

As for allyship, someone very close to me identifies as part of the LGBTQIA+ community and they tell me that it's just little things I can do to show my support. For example the very simple act of sharing supportive posts on social media or asking questions about language and ideas around the community that are new to me. ❤️🌈🏳️‍🌈🌈🏳️‍🌈❤️

[Rhye]

Our discussion starters for Friday are...

Are there any specific LGBTQIA+ related topics you'd like to see the SANE forums cover in 2022?

And/or If you had a vision for a future where the LGBTQIA+ community lived with full equality and without discrimination, what would that look like for you?

[Rhye]

@MDT both! And I think your answer is spot-on; acknowledgment, openness and honesty are integral to any relationship. I really liked how you framed acknowledgement though – acknowledging difference, even when we might not understand, is one of the key factors in allyship, I think anyway 😊

[greenspace]

@Rhye 

My vision for a future where LGBTQIA+ people, and everyone who is now marginalised, live a life free from discrimination and bigotry, is shaped partly by some of the science fiction I've read, and partly by changes I know have happened in Australia since my nana was a girl. 

My Nana was left-handed, and when she first went to school, in 1912, she was forced to learn to write with her right hand, because being left-handed was seen as bad. 

I think most people in Australian schools now would be surprised by that, and I hope that judgemental ideas about and discrimination against LGBTQIA+ people will seem as strange to people in 50 years time as thinking that left-handedness is bad seems to us now. 

There is definitely resistance to social change, but I hope we keep making positive progress 

[TideisTurning]

Beautiful @Former-Member, this breaks my heart just a little to hear of the horrible experiences, discrimination and anxiety you, and sadly (though no doubt), many wonderful others have had to go through. I'm so very sorry. I also want to say thank you, to you and others here, for your generosity and courage in sharing with us so openly. 💛💛

I love your vision @greenspace, of a future and society free from the awful discrimination & bigotry there is now. I will also hold hope for positive progress, and that (enough) changed minds might truly be able to change the world ❤️. 

[hanami]

I had some further thoughts that I thought I might add here after a trip to Sydney on the weekend. It sort of weaves IDAHOBIT Day into Pride Month (which it currently is now in June). 

I live in regional NSW about 2 and a half hours from Sydney. We go to Sydney now and then for a day out and went on the weekend. While walking around I noticed how much Pride Month is promoted in Sydney. My husband commented that he didn't realised it was Pride Month until he saw this. So I started thinking that obviously around regional area still has a way to go when it comes to promoting the inclusivity of the LGBTQIA+ community. I'm curious now as to what others in regional areas think of this?

hanami 💮