This week we were joined by Trans Sydney Pride's AJ Brown and his partner Lisa Freshwater who spoke with us about the YES Rally for Marriage Equality happening at Town Hall on September 10. They spoke about what marriage equality would mean for their family, transphobic rhetoric in the no campaign, and how to get involved in Sunday's rally.

It was Beyonce’s birthday this week, and her family and best friends dressed up as her, in aid of Beyonce’s Houston relief efforts. Amongst others, Serena Williams, Kelly Rowland, Jay Z’s mum and Michelle Obama paid tribute to Beyonce by recreating a look from the Formation video, the one where she has that huge hat covering her eyes, she’s looking down, her hair’s in braids. You can donate to the Beyonce's Houston relief campaign here.

We also spoke about Munroe Bergdorf, the first transgender woman to feature in a L’Oréal Paris UK campaign. Bergdorf was fired after a Facebook post in response to Charlottesville, in which she wrote that all "white people benefit from racism, have learned and internalised racist practices and opinions and must be engaged in dismantling their unconscious racism, which at present helps to maintain a system of white supremacy."

Rihanna also launched her new makeup range, Fenty Beauty which has a selection of over 40 different makeup shades that are genuinely inclusive of women of colour. "I wanted things that girls of all skin tones could fall in love with," Rihanna says. "That was really important for me. In every product I was like: ‘There needs to be something for a dark-skinned girl; there needs to be something for a really pale girl; there needs to be something in-between.’"

This week we were joined by US activists Tamika Mallory and Breanne Butler from the Women's March on Washington. Tamika is in town for her talk at Antidote on September 3.

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Plus, a special announcement from Women in the Arts!

This week we were joined by Lucky Price (casting director), Kurt Pimblett (actor) and Anthea Williams (director) from the Australian premiere of the smash hit play 'Hir', which is on until September 10 at the Belvoir St Theatre. Written by New York playwright Taylor Mac, 'Hir' is a kitchen sink drama exploring gender roles and domestic politics. Further details here.

We also spoke about recent events surrounding Pauline Hanson's burka stunt, the 'Unite the Right' protests in Charlottesville and and David Jones' "apology" to a customer over their use of Sudanese-Australian model Adut Akech on a catalogue cover. Check out the Syllabus for White People to Educate Themselves for some great resources about race, such as Anti-Muslim Hate Crimes Will Increase. Here Is How Not To Be A Bystander and How To Protest Islamophobia.

In good news this week, vending machines stocked with free pads and tampons have now arrived for the first time in South Australian high schools and American musician St. Vincent aka Annie Clark will be making her feature-length directorial debut with a female-led adaptation of The Picture of Dorian Gray. 

If you’re in Sydney this weekend, the Equality Weekender is happening at a bunch of venues and events including Cake Wines, The Lansdowne and Volumes Festival today. Organised by Heaps Gay, it’s a great opportunity to show your support for marriage equality and register to vote if you haven’t already. More info here.

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