Category: LGBTIQ

Great places to stay in Sydney this World Pride 2023

Paris Pride

Everyone knows that emerges from its 11-month dormancy every year in March to bless the city of Sydney with its rainbow glow and turn Sydney into the living, breathing, beating glittery LGBT heart of the country that it is. So it’s no surprise that likely countless LGBTIQA+ people and their friends will descend on the city this February-March 2023 to bask in some of that rainbow glow, party, celebrate, activate and commiserate. Read more about it all here. If this is you, where will you stay? We spoke to Booking.com and they gave us a round up of some top-notch plays to call yours for a little or a long while, based on which events you’re heading to. Located in the inner-city suburbs of Eveleigh and Redfern, renowned multi-arts organisation Carriageworks will come alive for six days as the First Nations Gathering Space. Stay at the vibrant Adina Apartment Hotel Chippendale offering modern service apartments with a leafy courtyard and outdoor plunge pool.  2.              Event – Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade and Pride Villages Be in the thick of the action around Oxford St where the iconic Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade and Pride Villages will take place. For 9 days from February 24th, parts of Crown St and Riley St will be closed to host an array of Pride Villages including stalls, performances, dining and Booking.com’s own Travel Proud stage. Make yourself at home at this Victorian Style House with Courtyard off Oxford St fitted with everything you need to enjoy your stay whilst immersing yourself in the celebrations. Only… Read More

Sydney Mardi Gras headliners: Sugababes, Agnes, DJ Kitty Glitter and more announced!

Kim Petras Mardi Gras

And the time to get loose with excitement’s here – Sydney Mardi Gras’ headliners are out and they’re huge! Swedish icon Agnes, British queens Sugababes and Australia’s own Kitty Glitter and over 50+ more have been dropped and tickets are the hottest things in town. You’ll have the chance to lose yourself in the ultimate party playground, the highly anticipated line-up for the sold out Mardi Gras Party 2023! It is promising a re-imagined footprint with headliner artists, International DJs and performances spanning across 7 venues, with all-night programming. Taking place after the iconic Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade on Saturday 25 February, the Mardi Gras Party will host over 10,000 party-goers for the biggest and longest-running LGBTQIA+ dance party in the Southern Hemisphere. The entertainment spaces are endless, so head to the Sydney Mardi Gras website here for more, but for more about the gigs you’ll see, scroll on… Acts to see at Sydney Mardi Gras 2023 Performing at Mardi Gras Party is none other than UK chart-toppers Sugababes, who are returning to Australia for the first time in over two decades with their original line-up of Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan and Siobhan Donaghy. Fresh off their latest release The Lost Tapes, these era-defying British sensations have six Number One UK singles, millions of global sales, and multiple multi-platinum albums under their belts, and are known for their smooth vocals and magical harmonies offset by garage and alternative soundscapes. Experience the electric energy of one Swedish pop music’s hottest stars, as spiritual disco diva Agnes takes the stage… Read More

Where to go after Melbourne’s Pride Parade

Espy St Kilda sunset al fresco outdoor garden view

This Sunday 5 February, after the glitter settles the the hoarse voices of cheering begin to subside, there’s only one place you should be looking to: St Kilda’s The Espy. From one end of Fitzroy Street to the other, The Espy is set to shine like the beacon of LGBTIQA+ merriment, putting it on and turning it out for all the queer kids from Melbourne and abroad. Entry is free to all areas and guests will enjoy over-the-top themed decor, more music and entertainment than you can shake a glitter stick at and Rainbow Slushies that will be raising money for The Victoria Pride Centre. There will be a very special Espy staircase performance from Sunshine Disco Faith Choir. Roving performers will add to the Pride vibe and a who’s who of Melbourne’s queer dance community will play across three rooms including Jason Conti, Butch Le Butch, Gavin Campbell¸ Jake Judd, Hip Hop Hoe, Sugar Plump Fairy, Onyx, Juicy Fruit, Cushen and EMMYK & Tilly. Meanwhile HONCHO DISKO will be taking the reins in the Gershwin room and guests will enjoy entertainment featuring fierce drag performances and DJs from across the country and around the globe, including a stellar, special guest performance from disco legend DJ Severino – direct from The Eagle in London. What: Hotel Esplanade’s Post Parade Party When: Sunday 5th February, 2023, 12pm until late Where: ‘The Espy’ Hotel Esplanade, 11 The Esplanade, St Kilda, VIC, 3182 Who: Anyone wanting to celebrate Pride ‘23 Why: To continue the celebrations of Pride ‘23 once the March has come… Read More

Reuben Kaye to host Opera Up Late this Sydney World Pride

Reuben Kaye Sydney Opera House Joan Sutherland Theatre 1

Opera Up Late is back this February! A bespoke arts event from Opera Australia, in association with Sydney WorldPride, on 18 and 23 February, it’ll shine a light on all things artistic and musical in a camp explosion of humour and art, totally befitting the Sydney World Pride events of 2023. And this year, Australian queen of camp comedy, Reuben Kaye will host, bringing his brutally funny and multi-award winning comedy to the stage. Reuben Kaye is an Australian comedian, singer and writer, who has cemented himself as one of the biggest names in comedy and cabaret both locally and internationally, while also accruing a massive following on Tiktok, Youtube and Instagram. What is Opera Up Late about? Opera Up Late shines a light on the extraordinary talent that the queer community brings to the national company, Opera Australia and the iconic Sydney Opera House as Sydney WorldPride takes over the city in 2023. In a rare late night peek beneath the city’s famous sails these performances begin at 11:00pm and feature artists from Opera Australia, including Australian tenors Tomas Dalton and Benjamin Rasheed, mezzo-soprano Angela Hogan, soprano Cathy-Di Zhang and musical theatre’s rising star Annie Aitken, with music direction by Opera Australia’s Chorus Master Paul Fitzsimon. There’s more at the Opera Up Late website

World Pride exhibition in Sydney with The Huxleys and an installation by Paul Yore

The Huxleys drag performers

Gay Sydney and The Huxleys are almost synonymous. Their glitter, their glam and their avant garde approach to drag, art and immersive exhibitionism is seconded by very few around the world. And this year, the Huxleys duo, artist Paul Yore and other contemporaries will put on a show worthy of World Pride in Sydney for the millions of punters from across the globe. MORE: Kylie Minogue will headline World Pride Sydney In 2024, Carriageworks in Eveleigh Sydney, one of Australia’s most significant contemporary multi-arts organisations, today announced a dynamic program spanning visual arts and live performance to be presented as part of Sydney Festival 2023. Presented from 5 January – 5 March 2023, a major new exhibition Bloodlines by Melbourne-based collaborative duo The Huxleys will honour legendary queer artists lost to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Utilising the artists’ skills in costume design, performance and photography, the exhibition will include large-scale photographic works, video art and an opening live art party on 4 January. The exhibition will also feature a durational collaborative installation that invites the community to contribute panels to be sewn together into a quilt, reminiscent of the AIDS Memorial Quilts created during the 80s and 90s. Bloodlines is a heartfelt tribute to LGBTQIA+ artists, including Leigh Bowery, Robert Mapplethorpe, Keith Haring and Sylvester, that continue to inspire the practices of The Huxleys and countless artists working today. Artist Paul Yore will present Paul Yore: WORD MADE FLESH, a major immersive installation, from 5 January – 26 February 2023. WORD MADE FLESH is a new… Read More

Sydney will go rainbow for World Pride 2023

Alyssa Edwards drag Mardi Gras 1

It’s official! Sydney is getting gayer. Organisations across Greater Sydney including the Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust, and the Scenic Skyway in Katoomba will be installing free, public artworks to celebrate the 17-day LGBTQIA+ festival that is World Pride 2023 – complete with Kylie Minogue – to welcome to world to Sydney. What can you expect? Here’s a run-down… The installations include a 50-metre-long abstract floral rainbow wall made up of around 18,000 colourful plants at The Calyx inside the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney – one of the largest living green walls in the Southern Hemisphere. The floral rainbow wall forms part of the Garden’s new Love Your Nature horticultural exhibition, which fittingly celebrates the diverse world of plant-love with a kaleidoscope of colour, plants and passion. The City of Sydney will install its own floral installations, including planter boxes and a floral wall, which will be created using hundreds of plants and foliage in the colours of the rainbow flag. Randwick Council will also update its famous 27-metre-long rainbow walkway at Coogee Beach to add the colours of the Progress Flag, a version of the traditional rainbow flag that includes additional stripes to represent people of colour and the trans community. In the Blue Mountains, Katoomba’s famous Scenic Skyway will be transformed into a giant progress flag, a dramatic vision set against the World Heritage landscapes of the Three Sisters and the Jamison Valley. Meanwhile, the University of Sydney will showcase a night-time rainbow mural throughout the festival at its Footbridge Gallery at the University’s… Read More

It’s official! Kylie Minogue to open Live and Proud Sydney WorldPride Opening Concert

Kylie x Sydney WorldPride 2023

See Kylie Minogue do her thing at WorldPride 2023 in Sydney Australia, The Domain on Friday 24 February 2023! In her only Sydney WorldPride performance, Kylie’s set is being created especially for the evening, celebrating the first time WorldPride has been hosted in the Southern Hemisphere and 45 years of Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. Hosted by Casey Donovan and drag queen Courtney Act the best of Australia’s singers and musicians will get the WorldPride party started at Live and Proud: Sydney WorldPride Opening Concert, presented by American Express. Further Live and Proud acts will be announced later this year. For more info, stay tuned to THE F.

How do same sex and heterosexual divorce rates compare?

maico pereira Z0Wa2A5NVTM unsplash

History was made in the UK on the 13th of March 2014, when legislation was passed which would allow same sex couples to legally marry. This was a great step in the right direction for the LGBTQ+ community and a long time coming. Since the legislation was passed, plenty of data has been collected to spot divorce trends amongst couples. Sadly, figures show not every marriage lasts forever in neither same sex or straight marriages.  A divorce lawyer can deal with same sex divorces all the same, but how do divorce figures compare to heterosexual marriages? Let’s delve into more detail… Recent Divorce Figures When looking at divorce statistics, it’s important to bear in mind the fact that two years of on and off lockdowns, due to the global COVID-19 pandemic will without a doubt, have had an impact on this.  Some couples discovered that, having been forced to spend a huge amount of time together, they simply did not want to continue with the relationship after experiencing such an intense, weird and stressful time together.  Having said that, we are able to examine some of the facts and figures when it comes to divorce. Same Sex Marriages In the first 29 months following the UK legislation, the divorce rate for same sex marriages stood at just 1%. However, numbers would begin to rise fairly rapidly afterwards.  In 2020, 1,154 divorces were registered among same sex couples in the UK, a pretty steep increase of 40.4% from the previous year. The majority of these divorces… Read More

Time to see QUEER stories from the NGV Collection in Melbourne running out

Queer drag queen

The National Gallery of Victoria is exploring Queerness in its full space exhibition Queer: stories from the NGV collection, which ends this month, 21 August. As they say, QUEER shines a light on the NGV Collection to examine and reveal the queer stories works of art can tell. This exhibition of works from the NGV Collection spans historical eras and diverse media including painting, drawing, photography, decorative arts, fashion, video, sculpture, and design and explores queerness as an expression of sexuality and gender, a political movement, a sensibility, and as an attitude that defies fixed definition. And this month through closing weekend of the exhibition, the Gallery will host a schedule of free programs, talks, entertainment, and late-night access to the exhibition in case you missed it or need another visit. And if you fancy a party, well the NGV has that, too. The NGV Queer Climax: Closing Weekend Party is a free event hosted by Queer performer and Drag Queen, Aysha Buffet filled with an impressive line-up of iconic queer performers, bars courtesy of Yering Station (drinks available for purchase), and late-night access to QUEER: Stories from the NGV Collection. The line-up of performers has been curated by Ruby Slippers and is an epic showcase of talent for all to enjoy.  Make a free booking here 

The Carb Queen: Baga Chipz is McCain’s new creative director

Baga Chipz drag queen McCain 2

If ever there was an on-brand move for a drag queen to make; it’s this one. The UK’s beloved drag superstar, Baga Chipz is officially McCain’s new creative director. Bringing her flava to the frozen food brand, this queen is planning to shake things up with her bold and daring direction. Labelling her first campaign as ‘Anything Goes’ to liven up Britain’s mealtimes, she’ll be releasing her classy, and dazzling tips and recipes via her Instagram page on the 2nd June through a series of videos! Follow her on Instagram Baga’s mantra is simple – anything goes with McCain and she’ll be putting that to work as the self-proclaimed “Queen of Chips”. The Rupaul’s DRag Race alum will share her own fabulous take on British classics from the iconic chip butty to the beloved potato smiles and beans all over social media. Watch the bags of McCain everything just fly off the shelves… For more, head to Baga’s Instagram or the McCain website