This past Monday here at the Pride Centre, the Victorian Statewide Regional/Rural LGBTIQ+ Youth Forum was held, busing in LGBTIQA+ young people from all around Victoria to come and share their thoughts, allowing them to be visible and welcomed in a safe space. 

This event was organised by Merrin Wake, who had an idea at 3am and decided make it a reality, bring over 100 rural and regional young people to the VPC and help them explore and experience three important themes, connection, community and celebration. 

Merrin joined Rach & Dean on JOY Breakfast to tell them all about it.

 

Every day there are countless Melburnians who dedicate their time and energy for the benefit the city of Melbourne, and The Melbourne Awards shine a light on the extraordinary work they are doing making a difference to the lives of people around them in many different categories. 

Nominations for this years Melbourne Awards close this Friday, and one of the award categories is the LGBTIQ+ Award, highlighting excellence in representing or advocating on behalf of the our communities, celebrating diversity such as through art, events or speaking up, improving the health, wellbeing, connection and visibility of our communities. 

Joining the JOY Breakfast crew is last years winner of the LGBTIQ+ Award, Meghan & Sally from Transfamily.

Nominations close for The Melbourne Awards this Friday, so you still have time to get cracking. You can find out more about the Melbourne Awards by going to the City of Melbourne website, at melbourne.vic.gov.au. 

Monash Performing Arts Centres has commissioned a brand-new production of The Velveteen Rabbit, happening June 28 -30 at The Alexander Theatre. The Velveteen Rabbit dares to tease out complex themes of loss and love in accessible ways to children. Set within a film shoot, with audience participation, music, skilled clowning, and live feed projections, this is a playful, visual, poetic exploration of a timeless classic.  

The show is part of Family Fiesta, the annual jam-packed school holiday festival of literature, art and live performance – all at very low ticket prices or free – presented by Monash University Performing Arts Centres at the Alexander Theatre in Clayton.

Find out more here.

 

Cal from Well Well Well joins Rach & Dean on JOY Breakfast as we talk Harm Reduction in our communities.

What exactly does it mean?

How do you know it’s a problem?

Who is there to help?

Find out more via Thorne Harbour Health here.

Last week, Australian sporting bodies were sent a clear message on how they can ensure all people are able to compete, with new guidelines from the Australian Institute of sport finding no case for a blanket ban on trans athletes being able to compete at an elite level. 

Developed to offer the clarity that peak sporting bodies were asking for, these guidelines still leave room for exemptions to be determined on a case by case, and also have strict testosterone thresholds for transgender athletes.

CEO of Proud2Play, Christine Granger joins Rach & Dean as we discuss these new guidelines and how they can shape change in the sporting field. 

See the guidelines here.

Season 2 Runner up for Drag Race Down Under, Pasifika performer Kween Kong showed her power, her heart and her amazing dance skills in the competition, and while she may not have taken the crown, that hasn’t stopped her continued elevation as one of the premier drag performers around the country. 

From Victoria’s Pride to World Pride, Adelaide Cabaret Festival and then coming and supporting a POC night at Pride of our Footscray, she understands what it means to represent and support community, and yesterday became the first Drag Kween to be nominated for the Graham Kennedy Award for Most Popular New Talent at the Australian Logie Awards. 

If you want to vote for Kwen Kong as best newcomer in the Logies this year, you know what you have to do, head to tvweeklogies.com.au and get voting. 

Everyone deserves to feel safe, welcomed & included at work – and a helping hand to do that makes all the difference.

Rach & Dean welcomed JOY’s own Fiona Newton to the show JOY 94.9‘s Diversity and Inclusion Training.

Find out more about the training here : https://joy.org.au/inclusivity-training/

Its no secret that JOY Breakfast LOVE their food – ,but instead of chatting about cake, it is time for them to dive into the depths of the fibre bible.

With our guts containing a colony of bacteria that work as a team to make us function and with trillions of micro-organisms inside us it’d be good to know just what these little gut soldiers are doing. Joining Rach & Dean is author of THE FIBRE BIBLE, Pete Heine.

 

There was once a time when cartoon animals and dolls in cakes wasn’t the norm, but that all changed when the Womens Weekly Birthday Cake book was released and boring white icing on a fruitcake was a thing of the past (unless you were born pre 1950)… 

First published in 1980 The Womans Weekly Birthday Cake Book has been a regular in many households changing the futures of all Australian children. To talk more about the history of The Australian Women’s Weekly Birthday Cake Book, Rach and Dean from JOY Breakfast were joined by Food Historian Dr Lauren Samuelsson from the University of Wollongong 

Also, there is an exhibition at the Bendigo Art Gallery celebrating the 90 year anniversary of the AWW. It has a large display about the Birthday Cake Book – might be interesting to your listeners if they’re planning a little getaway.

 

RMIT Occasional Choral Society is hosting their Pride Event this Saturday night and joining Rach & Dean on JOY Breakfast to talk more about this event and the RMIT Occasional Choral Society is Vice President – Sarah Winkler.

Click here for the event details.