Category: Opinion
Inspired by the opening of Auckland’s Heaven Nightclub, Michael Stevens remembers the thrill of going out on the gay scene. What was the first queer club you went to? Mine was the Aquarius on Fort Street in 1979, which became The Staircase. I still have friends from those days. Our clubs and bars have been […]
Nī Dekkers-Reihana weaves their way out of colonial binaries into an authentic ‘unctie’. In 2021, I got a new job. In preparation for the mahi, I had been reading the organisation’s mission statement and the word decolonisation kept coming up. Decolonisation. It’s a hot buzzword everyone’s talking about. I found myself asking, how can we decolonise? […]
Benjamin Kilby-Henson, Co-Director of Auckland Theatre Company’s King Lear, ponders the question, ‘How does my queerness influence my work and artistic output?’ Well, fuck, I suppose the answer would be ‘wholeheartedly,’ as my queerness is so central to who I am, what I want to say, and how I see the world. Art is so […]
Kinky Boots, a vivacious musical concoction of compelling storytelling and intoxicating musical score, made its triumphant debut at Auckland’s Civic Theatre last night, bringing the house down with rapturous applause and a standing ovation. GET YOUR TICKETS NOW! At the heart of the spectacle is a captivating performance by Stewart Adam McKensy as Lola, the […]
“We are everywhere” was one of the first slogans I recall seeing from the Gay Liberation Movement. It serves as a reminder of our existence, which has been constant throughout history. People from all walks of life, including truck drivers, lawyers, retail workers, politicians, the unemployed, the wealthy, the young, the old, and individuals from […]
Comedian Jadwiga Green pays tribute to Hannah Gadsby’s Netflix comedy specials that inspired introverted queer and autistic artists everywhere. I had just started performing stand-up when Hannah Gadsby’s Nanette dropped. The women and trans comedians that I performed with could not help but talk about this backstage. It was as if change was reaching a […]
Some friends and I went out dancing at one of K Road’s queer nightclubs. I was pretty quickly approached by a cute girl who started dancing with me. I couldn’t help but think how young she looked. From her non-ironic low-rise flared jeans and crop top, I could tell she wasn’t a millennial, as the […]
When I was 15, I sat inches from the TV in the family lounge room. The glow from the old CRT monitor lit my face up as I nervously turned the volume down even lower so it was barely audible, even from this distance. With many nervous glances around, I watched myself being represented in […]