Our Relationships: A mini-documentary series

Providing positive representations of the diverse range of relationships that exist within the LGBTIQ community, and showcasing what healthy relationships can look like, are the focus of our new mini-documentary series: Our Relationships.

Our Relationships is an eight-part series that delves into the lives of real NSW-based LGBTIQ-identifying people as they open up about their relationships – what works for them, what challenges they have faced and how have they worked through these challenges

Launched on Monday 11 December via ACON’s social media networks, the series seeks to provide LGBTIQ people with relatable and accessible peers who can act as role models in creating healthier practices, helping to improve relationships and overall wellbeing, fostering resilience, transmitting positive values and beliefs, and generating a positive sense of self-worth for individuals and communities.

Our Relationships features 15 individuals and eight different relationships, following their stories and the impact that challenges have had on their lives, and what they did to overcome their issues. By sharing their unique journeys, ACON hopes that members of the LGBTIQ community will be able to connect and relate to experiences of what healthy relationships can look like.

The series has been produced by ACON’s Domestic and Family Violence (DFV) Project, which works to address both the rates of domestic violence in the LGBTIQ community and to support LGBTI people who have experienced abuse. It comes off the back of a 2016 online survey conducted by ACON, which found a high number of participants had no positive relationship role models, with many also stating that there is a lack of visibility of LGBTI role models more generally.

ACON CEO Nicolas Parkhill said showcasing positive depictions of LGBTIQ people will raise awareness of the diversity of healthy relationships that exists within LGBTI communities, and encourage those needing support to seek help and information.

“Domestic and family violence remains a significant health issue for our communities with one in three lesbian and gay people in NSW having experienced domestic and family violence in their current or in previous relationships,” Mr Parkhill said.

“We are continuing our efforts to address the issue by providing campaigns, services and programs that support LGBTI people experiencing domestic and family violence.

“A part of those efforts is showcasing the diversity of healthy relationships within LGBTIQ communities.

“Our Relationships aims to depict this variety and, in the process, foster discussion around issues that are unique to our communities.

“We hope that the role models in Our Relationships can help people whose relationships may have problematic elements. They can be a critical factor in reducing risk and increasing protective factors for those around them.

As well as being featured on social media, Our Relationships can also be seen here

ACON’s Health Outcome Strategy for DFV 2015-2018

ACON’s DFV strategy which will guide the organisation’s work in relation to DFV over the three years from 2015-2018.

At the conclusion of this Strategic Plan, the data collected from all contributing programs and projects will be reviewed and evaluated in order to determine the extent to which we have achieved the outlined objectives.

View the complete Strategy here

LGBTI Relationships Aren’t Free From Domestic Violence

Writer Emily Brookes

An article looking at some of the complexities of domestic violence in LGBTI relationships.

Peter Bridge hadn’t heard about same-sex domestic violence until he was in it.

It took him a year to escape from a tumultuous relationship while living with his partner in the affluent Sydney suburb of Potts Point. Why did he stay so long? For the same reason most victims of family violence stay.

He believed his partner would change.

And when someone finally realises their partner won’t, it takes time and planning to get out safely. This is where it differs for victims of domestic violence in LGBTI relationships.

Panti Bliss: All the little things

TEDx Talk, January 2015

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. Ireland’s foremost “gender discombobulist”, Panti, shares her experience of the little, everyday things that can have a huge impact on the wellbeing of gay people. Panti expresses her thoughts on navigating a world in which the simple act of holding hands can be a political statement in itself. Panti is Ireland’s foremost “gender discombobulist” and “accidental activist”. She was also presented with an Irish ‘People of the Year’ award in 2014. Panti’s creator Rory O’Neill sparked a national furore when he appeared on national television and named certain individuals and organisations as homophobic. When Panti took to the stage of the National Theatre to defend herself, her ten minute oration became an international sensation.

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIhsv18lrqY&t=290s

ACON’s Healthy Relationships Survey, 2016

In order to better understand and respond to the relationship needs of LBQ women, ACON developed an online survey asking respondents a range of questions about their perceptions of their relationships as well as the relationships of their friends and community. The information continues to be used to guide ACON’s DFV project.

Click on image to enlarge

Mayang Prasetyo’s murder and the problem with domestic violence reporting

Writer: Clementine Ford

This article from the Daily Life, October 2014 is a passionate critique of the media’s response to the death of Mayang Prasetyo and their focus on her trans history.

Ms Prasetyo – who, let us be reminded, was murdered, dismembered and then cooked on a stove – was unnecessarily and offensively described in the very second sentence of the Courier Mail’s article as being ‘a transgendered prostitute’ – as if the nature of her sexual biology or profession have any bearing on the circumstances surrounding her murder, or any relevance to a society of people who ought to be horrified by her death. The Daily Telegraph’s headline removed the murderer from the story entirely, screaming “Killed and cooked trans woman was high-class transsexual sex worker”. The Herald Sun declared similar, but swapped ‘transsexual’ for ‘shemale’, while the front page of the Courier Mail’s hard copy sexualised the murder by declaring “Monster Chef and the She Male”.