A handful of the wider south-western LGBTIQA+ community gathered at Mandurah Performing Arts Centre on Friday evening, for the city’s first ever “All Things Queer” forum.
Along with the general public, there was a strong presence of support service workers and Greens supporters, who came to hear from panelists Lynn MacLaren, Greens MLC, Australian Marriage Equality WA convenor Brian Greig, Sandra Norman from Living Proud, Greens candidate for Canning Aeron Blundell-Camden, and RTRFM presenter Paul Van Lieshout Hunt.
Though much of the conversation revolved around national issues- the impending federal election, the possibility of a same-sex marriage plebiscite and the de-funding of the Safe Schools program- many audience members wondered how they could support LGBTIQA+ people in regional areas, like Mandurah.
Helen Robinsons from True Colours in Bunbury described her own experience of growing up as a queer person in Mandurah.
“I ran to the city, because there was nothing, and unfortunately in most of our regional areas there still isn’t… [True Colours] gets calls from Albany, Manjimup, Bridgetown, small country towns, where these young people have got no support whatsoever,” she said.
“Everywhere in Australia, there are people who aren’t necessarily heterosexual, who aren’t cisgender, who might be asexual, or not fall into any of those categories… For some reason I guess Mandurah seems to have fallen in between the cracks,” Mr Blundell-Camden said.
He said he was motivated by the fact that people expect regional areas to be more conservative.
“For me that’s a reason that I should go even more passionate in my advocacy, because the ramifications of that view are huge,” he said.
“There’s nothing that anybody loses by accepting [LGBTIQA+ people], in fact society gains, because we have an empowered individual, versus someone who is not at their best.”
Towards the end of the forum discussion moved into the specifics of organising a support group, with the panelists offering their support and advice.
“If you want to build capacity, and you want to connect with groups that build capacity, Sandra is really good at it, and I’d be delighted to come round and help, and I’ve got connections… this guy [Aeron] is going to be around after the second of July,” Ms MacLaren said.
“There are organisations out there… We can talk to other business owners down here that might have a venue that can do something like that.
“The fact that Mandurah might feel like it’s a little bit left out, is because there just aren’t the resources there, but it’s also up to the people of Mandurah to get together and create a group, that’s where these things start.”
Despite the apparent difficulties faced by the queer community in regional areas, Mr Greig challenged the perception that remote areas were inherently homophobic.
“Sometimes the best community things that can happen around Australia are in rural and regional communities, because they’re sometimes closer and more caring than some of the disconnected communities you have in cities,” he said.
“Some of the strongest support you get for marriage equality is from groups like the Country Women’s Association and some other organisations, and one of the reasons for that is that rural communities are so sick of seeing their kids leave and go to the cities, and if you can include them more fully in communities, so that they stay and flourish there, then that’s better for the town.”
He also urged audience members to contact their local MP’s personally to discuss these issues, and not to underestimate their personal power.
“An important conversation about living queer in the regions began on Friday evening in Mandurah,” Ms MacLaren said.
She encouraged Mandurah residents to email her at southmetro2@mp.wa.gov.au for help in establishing a group.
“This might be the first forum in Mandurah, but I certainly hope it won’t be the last,” she said.
