IDAHOBIT 2025

PLEASE NOTE: Attribution of speaker names may not always be correct in this transcript.

Aunty Jane 0:00

Hi, everybody. My name is Aunty Jane, and I'd like to begin by paying my respects to the wandering people and to the stolen generation, people off this land where we are meeting upon today for its elders in past and present, and even for the self advocacy people who have passed away and who are still here today on Aboriginal land. Thank you from Aunty Jane.

Chris 0:25

We recognise the self advocates who have worked very hard over many years for their rights and human rights for all.

James Cameron 0:35

Hello and welcome to another Raising our Voices show on 3CR digital and three 3cr.org.au. We are a self advocacy show run for people with a disability. About people with a disability - nothing about us, without us.

Speaker 1 0:56

Today, we are talking about IDAHOBIT Day. IDAHOBIT Day stands for International Day Against homophobic, biphobic, intersexual and transphobic.

James Cameron 1:10

Let's see who is here today.

Michael 1:13

Michael and I am from Rainbow right self advocacy group.

Cameron 1:19

Cameron and I am the 2024 Victorian Disability Award for Disability Pride champion. And I am from Rainbow Rights and Advocacy.

James McKenzie 1:29

My name is James McKenzie, and I present the In Your Face queer issues show on 3CR on Friday afternoons.

Matthew Parsons 1:38

Hello. My name is Matthew Parsons. I'm from Thorne Harbour health, an LGBTIQ service, and I manage a project called the Accessible Pride project, which specifically supports LGBTQ people with intellectual disability.

James T 1:54

James [?Tecomb] from Reinforce, and also on the AMIDA committee member.

James Cameron 2:03

Question one: What does IDAHOBIT Day mean to you? Michael?

Michael 2:10

it means to not be judgmental towards the queer community.Cameron?

Cameron 2:17

Thank you, Michael. IDAHOBIT Day means to me to bring up awareness against homophobic, biophobic and also make sure people aware that it's against human rights to judge people and discriminate against people's sexuality. I would like to pass on to Matthew Parsons now

Matthew Parsons 2:40

I think IDAHOBIT means to me, it's a chance for our community to reflect on some of the progress we've made in achieving more of our rights, but also think about how much farther we have to go in equality.

James Cameron 3:02

James T[?]...

James T 3:03

Yeah, for me, it's very much IDAHOBIT looked at through a lens of LGBTIQ current affairs on the day. So, so what is in the news? What is a current community campaign? What is something that we can link to the day which really focuses on combating LGBTIQA+ discrimination. So what's happening locally, what's happening nationally, and perhaps what's happening globally. And for me as a presenter of queer radio, it really varies greatly each year. Which focus we take.

James Cameron 3:40

Right, could you please tell us about the history of IDAHOBIT Day? I'd like to throw it to Matthew, thanks.

Matthew Parsons 3:51

Thanks, James. So yeah, the history of IDAHOBIT is interesting and important. I think it's a funny acronym, like, literally, it's funny people think that maybe we're talking about little creatures with hairy feet that live under the mountains in Lord of the Rings. Yeah. But even though it sounds funny, it has a serious message. So the very first Idaho day, the first acronym, was on May 17, 2005 and that was the International Day Against Homophobia. I chose May 17, because that is the day that in 1990, the World Health Organization said that being gay is not a mental illness. So up until 1990 the medical profession, doctors and psychiatrists and psychologists all had a manual that said being gay is a mental illness. And in 1990 on May 17, the World Health Organization said, No, it's not. It's part of just being normal. It's part of the diversity of humans. 

And then what I think is really lovely about our community is that we're often looking at who else have we not included? So when it first went out in 2005 it was only saying homophobia, International Day Against Homophobia. And then in 2009 it was officially changed to add transphobia. Then it was IDAHOBIT. And then in 2015 biphobia and intersex phobia were officially added. That's how we got the whole acronym, International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersex phobia and Transphobia. We're a community that wants to include everyone, wants everybody to feel that they're important and loved and good for being who they are, and we oppose the hate thrown at us. 

So we're against homophobia, biphobia, transphobia and intersex prejudice, our intersexism and we, we, we go against that with love and acceptance and celebration. Unfortunately, we need a day like IDAHOBIT to draw attention to the levels of unfairness, core treatment, discrimination, of violence and abuse that our community still experiences.

James Cameron 6:27

We'll be right back after a few announcements and the song Rainbow Rights Anthem, from the Rainbow Rights self advocacy group. (SONG PLAYS)

Song 6:46

I'm sexy and I'm proud me and my partner turn up, play up, well, he doesn't care how I look or that I'm a man. I'm sexy, and he gets me the way I am. [CHORUS] This is me, for all the world tosee, the way I am is who I'm meant to be. I got the right to love anybody. Living is wild and free. Living is wild and free. I'm proud of the body I was born in. It's taken me years to say, I've got lots of love left in it, and I'm free to choose why I play. This is me... [CHORUS...] I feel angry yet when we finally see a disability, when I got such a way to go till I celebrate my sexuality. This is me... [CHORUS] With my family standing here with me, I can be anything I really want to be. Never see the light I caught my window once we stay light, once we stand united, we are decided... This is me... [CHORUS]

Michael 9:35

The song you just heard was The Rainbow Rights Anthem by the Rainbow Rights Self Advocacy Group. The song was chosen because it's about being yourself, and it's about being a person who loves someone in the gay community, no matter what.

James Cameron 9:53

Mm, well said.

Cameron 9:55

Today, we are talking about IDAHOBIT Day, and how to respect. Affect everyone's sexuality in the LGBTIQ community, and what IDAHOBIT Day means,

Speaker 2 10:08

yes, well, a few years ago, I was really lucky to have Cameron, Cameron Bloomfield on the show, yeah. It was a great interview. It was a great chat in the studio, and we played the song, and in fact, a couple of times on some music shows I've done on other parts of the three CR program, grit, I've actually played it because it's a really great track. Love

Speaker 1 10:32

it that brings back memories. James, yeah, yes, you're listening to raising our voices on three CR, 850 5am three CR, digital radio and streaming at three cr.org.au, raising our voices is a radio show run by people with a disability. For people with a disability, nothing about us without us.

James Cameron 11:06

Thank you. Today's guests are Michael Cameron, Matthew and James. Amy. We have some questions for you. What kind of work do you do to support LGBTIQ, plus, I'll throw to Cameron. Well,

Cameron 11:26

thank you, James, that is a very interesting question. Well, the the kind of work I do, I'm a member of rainbow rights advocacy group, self advocacy group for people with intellectual disabilities in the LGBTIQ community. Yes, I'm also a board member and founder member of Irv, which is Irv inclusive rainbow voices, which is an advocacy organization for people with disabilities in the LGBTI community. And I'm also an award winner for the 2024 Victorian disability award for Disability Pride champion.

Matthew Parsons 12:05

Congratulations. Thank you.

Cameron 12:07

I like to I like to get out there and bring awareness to people with intellectual disabilities who are part of the LGBTIQ community through my man in stores for Rainbow rights at midsummer carnivals to pop it up on radio, talking about the issues that affect people in the LGBTIQ talking to politicians, talking to a lot of other people around the LGBTIQ community and people with intellectual disability, I'd like to hand over to Michael Castro now.

Michael 12:45

Thank you, Cameron. Well, as of the past two months ago, I gained the role of a living experience expert as part of the accessible pride team at Thorne harbor health, and I also took up the position of peer worker for Rainbow rights and self advocacy group. I am trying to get the community more involved and trying to help the community feel safer and for them just to enjoy their lives and be more positive and happy. I'll pass it on to James M.

James McKenzie 13:26

Well, I do a weekly radio show called in your face on 3CR Fridays, 4 to 5pm that looks at queer politics, community issues and the arts. I've been doing the show since May of 1997 and my very first interview was about the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Tasmania, which had passed that week... so a long time ago. And I've been exploring current affairs in the community, but also community and arts ever since. So that's what I do, and I have two or three guests on the show each week, which is a great platform for people to get their stories out there, to promote their events and to engage with the community.

(unknown speaker) 14:25

Matthew,

Matthew Parsons 14:26

I've been working in lots of different parts of human rights for people of diverse genders and sexualities for a while now. So I'm one of the co authors of the Rainbow Tick, which is a accreditation, which is a fancy word, but it's sort of like a set of standards that people have to prove, organisations have to prove, that they really are LGBTIQ inclusive. So instead of just putting a rainbow sticker up and saying, I'd like queer people to feel safe here, but I haven't done anything to make that real, the Rainbow Tick has a whole set of instructions that you have to go through. 

It usually takes an organisation like two years to do, and then outside auditors come in and they go with clipboards, literally go with clipboards around the office and go, have you done this? Yes or no, and once people get the Rainbow Tick, then it means that the community can have a lot more confidence that you'd be safe to go to that service. So yeah, I've done a lot of work in how to make services more inclusive, like family violence services, mental health services, and my work is usually trying to look at who are the people that have been left behind.

And that's why we're working for two years on this project just looking at LGBTQ people with intellectual disability, because the research shows us that of all of the different parts of our LGBTIQ community, the people who are suffering with the worst mental health and well being outcomes are the people with intellectual disability, and that's just not okay. So we need to do special strategies to support and and bridge that gap.

(unknown speaker) 16:22

Is you or your organization going to do anything for either Hubbard? Day, these questions are for James and Matthew. So many fire to Matthew first.

Matthew Parsons 16:35

Thank you. Chris... yes. Well, Thorne Harbour Health is doing a lot of different things for Idaho, but day they're all over the place. Each different part of the organization has different things planned. So on the 15th of May, we're having an open day. It's an all access open day. So we're inviting people with intellectual disability that are LGBTQ to come to our office and join what's really a mix of learning as well as having fun, as well as social connection, meeting other LGBTQ people. 

So the day is going to it's going to be hosted by a drag queen. Her name's Ms Bobby Pin. She's lovely. I've hired her a lot because she's a really kind and lovely drag queen. She's going to run some Drag Bingo. So we're working on an intellectual disability accessible bingo game that's going to be very gay, very queer. It'll be like who has a red high heel shoe who has a green high heel shoe. It will be fun. We're going to do drag makeup, so people who want to try drag for the first time can pop on a wig, learn some makeup from Bobby Pin. 

And then there's some serious stuff that we're going to do, we're going to learn about the services that Thorne Harbour provides. So our counselling team is going to come and talk about, what does a queer, inclusive counseling session mean? What? What can it do for you to have a talk to a professional about some of the big things that have happened in your life that might have been really unfair and have a lot of big feelings attached. And why might you want to sit with one of our queer counsellors and talk about that? We have a family violence team. We have an alcohol and other drug team. They're all going to tell us about what they do and how they've worked with my project to be more inclusive of people with intellectual disability. 

So I'm really excited to do the open day. It's, I think, going to be the first time that we really make an effort to not only say, of course, you're welcome here, but actually really reach out and say, we've made something especially for you, because not only are you welcomed, but like you're wanted here, we want you to come and learn more about our service and be a part of our community and access the same things that we provide to people without intellectual disability. You're important and we, and we want you.

Unknown Speaker 19:24

Sounds like fun.

Matthew Parsons 19:26

Yeah. Well, if you're back from your holiday in time, you should come. (LAUGHTER)

(unknown speaker) 19:30

I'll try. Okay. James M.

James McKenzie 19:36

Yeah, gosh, I'm super impressed by what Thorne Harbour is doing - and the projects you're working on, Matthew, sound absolutely amazing. I'm really lucky that Thorne Harbour actually sponsors my show In Your Face. They've been sponsoring the show for about five years now, possibly six years. Six years, I beg your pardon. And many years ago, I worked at Thorne Harbour when I was a very young person... straight out of uni as a volunteer, and then got my first job there. So I've got a long history with Thorne Harbour that dates back to... 1990 when... 

You mentioned HIV-AIDS, HIV-AIDS was the biggest issue in the community. Many people were dying. The community was very marginalised. There was a huge amount of grief and loss and anger and an incredible amount of HIV-AIDS activism from groups like Act Up and Queer Nation - and even Thorne Harbor Health which got into trouble from the government at many occasions - certainly quite a few anyway, over what was considered to be very risque advertising about safe sex and HIV prevention, which was really just about talking to the community in its own language, with images and slogans that were relatable, that would enable people to have the skills and and knowledge to combat HIV. 

And so when I think of HIV activism, I think that's a real link to IDAHOBIT, becauseIDAHOBIT very much, focuses on the kind of work that Thorne Harbor Health does every day, which is all about improving the lives of the LGBTIQ community and going into the dark places sometimes, you know, looking at issues for people who are marginalized in our community, that don't often get A voice that don't often get a say, that certainly don't get as much representation as they need, such as people with intellectual disabilities. 

So for me, what am I going to do on IDAHOBIT? Well, going to be going to a local event in Brunswick, where I live, on the 17th, on the actual day of Idaho, but at the Kunahan Gallery on Sydney Road, and for me, that's going to be a really nice experience, because often, as queer people, you know, historically, our community has only been very visible in pockets of areas. And even though I live in Brunswick in the inner city, the community certainly very vibrant, but wasn't always visible. And so that's something that you know, I think is pretty poignant for me. 

Especially as in February, I launched with my wonderful colleague, Nikki Stott and also the queer librarians at the city of merribeck and 3CR, a Queer Histories, Queer Futures podcast series that looks at the queer history of [?Meribec], focusing on activism, but also the arts, also community. Yeah, so they're the things I'll be thinking about on IDAHOBIT - but not sure what I'll be doing on the show, but certainly I'll be celebrating it on the day in my local community, which is something I cherish, because it's something as I get older, I don't often have the chance to do.

(unknown speaker) 22:51

Thanks for that, James. Thank you. How do people find out what events has happened? Have a day. I'll ask James m this time, sure.

James McKenzie 23:02

Well, look, I'm a great believer in the queer press. I think it's really important that we have a local queer press, even though it's not really a press anymore, it's online, which actually makes it more accessible, which means that people that don't live in those little pockets that I just talked about can actually access information. So for me, I think a great way is to go to queer news. Look at the Queer News... or Q News, I should say Q News Victoria section online, and find out about your local events. Also Star Observer, which is another queer paper online. That's another great way to get information about IDAHOBIT, go to your local queer community organisations' websites. Check out the Thorne Harbour Health website, possibly other groups... 

Switchboard has community listings. They should have information about Idaho, but events on their website, queer space German Street. Queer Space Services at Drummond Street, that's another organisation. Transgender Victoria often has heaps of stuff happening on IDAHOBIT, but go to their website as well. So yeah, do your online searching with local LGBTIQ orgs. That's the best way to do it, I think. And queer media, that's the kind of stuff I would do.

(unknown speaker) 24:22

Thanks for that. And Matthew...

Matthew Parsons 24:27

I think James covered that really well. The only thing that I would add is the Victorian Pride Centre is, you know, meant to kind of be the community's spiritual home, where we all feel a place that we belong, and that one of the things they do for us is do some of the work that James was talking about, where they collect all that information and they put it all in one spot. So you could call the Victorian Pride Centre. And. If you're in Victoria, you can call 03 7035 3592 and you can talk to the Victorian Pride Centre, and you can ask them, What's happening in my local area? Or What's happening specifically for the bisexual community, if that's what you want to talk about, or specifically for the trans community. So 03 7035 3592, they can help direct you to things that are important for you... or to things that are local for you.

(unknown speaker) 25:35

Mm, well, thank you very much, Matthew for that.

Chris 25:40

If you have only just tuned in, we are raising our voices on 3CR, 855 AM. Today, we talked about IDAHOBIT Day. IDAHOBIT Day stands for International Day Against Homophobic, Bi-phobic, Intersex and Transophobic. We may have talked about some stressful or triggering topics. This might have brought up some difficult feelings for some people listening today. You can call or get more information from Q life - opens 3pm until midnight every day. You can call them on 1800 184 527... or you can go on their... online at www dot Q life dot org dot AU. And if not, you can also go to lifeline on 13 11 14, and that number again is 13 11 14... or Beyond Blue, which is 1300 22 46 36... and that number again is 1300 22 46 36.

(unknown speaker) 27:09

Okay... I would like to thank the guests for coming on to 3CR on Raising Our Voices. Thank you very much to our special guests.

Thank you.

Thanks, James, thanks

Cameron 27:22

Thanks for listening to Raising Our Voices on 3CR 855 AM - a radio show run by people with disability, for people with disability. Join us next month, where we will talk about hidden disabilities and what people with hidden disabilities now have to help them in the community. Plus... June, it's 3CR Radiothon. This year's radiothon theme is Your station, your voice. We will share details of how you can donate to the radiothon on our Facebook page.

3CR ID 28:04

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