Southern Hibernation hit Melbourne this past weekend, bringing bears and those that love, like or just admire them to come together and celebrate all that’s fab, sometimes flab, and often furry in a week of events. Rach & Dean  have a packed studio on JOY Breakfast, as they were joined by the reigning bear titleholders from their respective states and countries, who are competing in the Mr Australasia Bear competition on Friday night:

Dom, Mr Bear Perth

Ben, Mr Bear NZ 

Luke, Mr Harbour City Bear 

Graeme, Mr Bear QLD 

And Jonny, Mr VicBears 

On Friday night we will find out which of these Bears has the Charisma, Originality, Courage and Knowledge to take the title of Mr Australasia Bear, but Rach & Dean have other plan, putting them through some challenges of their own as we find out which Bear will be on top in the JOY Breakfast Big Beary Challenge! 

The surfing duck of Rainbow Bay turned heads a couple of years ago as they’d hit the waves of one of Australia’s most famous surf breaks and have continued their rise to fame with an Instagram account followed by over 11 thousand people.  

Well last week, the Rainbow Bay Duck received another accolade during Gold Coasts Pride, when they won the Dog Show, and their owner Kate joined Rach & Dean on JOY Breakfast to tell them all about it. 

Be sure to follow on Instagram and join in on their adventures. 

Families in our communities don’t always look like everyone else’s, and that’s something that can, frustratingly, throw some medical practitioners for a loop. On JOY Breakfast, Rach & Dean welcome back Naturopathic, Queer Reproductive Health and Fertility expert Sage King, as we look at how we can break down the walls of “traditional fields” in medical spaces. 

The Victorian Pride Centre has a host of events happening during Pride Month, including film screenings for all the community. They started the month with youth screening of ‘Love, Simon’ with more films coming this month. So Rach & Dean decided to pass the popcorn and have a chat with arts journo and award–winning film critic Stephen Russell and get the skinny on the films on offer. 

Check out the Pride Centres Pride Month Program here.

A one-night entertainment extravaganza of jaw dropping performances, Pole Icon 2023 will see 20 of the best pole dancers from all over Australia battling it out on stage to show they’ve got what it takes to be Australia’s next Pole Icon. Drag queen royalty Spankie Jackzon, Kween Kong and Hannah Conda will be guest judging and performing, with other entertainers to include Aussie rap sensation Sophiya and The Voice’s Caleb Jago-Ward. And Judging this gravity defying competition amongst others is 2022 winner Adam Lin, who joined Rach & Dean on JOY Breakfast. 

Find out more about Pole Icon here.

Southern Lights Ice Hockey, Australia’s first LGBT+ Ice Hockey Club were honoured with the Polytan Peter Norman Inclusion Award at the Victorian Sports Awards, highlighting their dedication to fostering diversity, inclusivity and equal opportunities within the realm and rink of Ice Hockey.  

Brendon Parsons from Southern Lights Ice Hockey joined Rach & Dean on JOY Breakfast as they talked inclusion, hitting the rink and more.

To find out more about Southern Lights, head to southernlights.com. 

Cal from Well Well Well joined Rach to talk about Cervixes.

Cancer Council Victoria and Thorne Harbour Health joined forces to increase awareness around cervical screening and participation rates within the LGBTIQ community.

One in five LGBTIQ people in Victoria said they have never had a Pap test.

This campaign called out to all people with a cervix, aged 25-74, to encourage them to participate in cervical screening, irrespective of sexuality or gender. The campaign ran for two weeks starting in National Cervical Cancer Awareness Week in November 2018.

For Pride month, the long-running Gay Life Drawing Melbourne sessions return to the Victorian Pride Centre, creating an inclusive space for adults to partake in self-expression, enjoy a drink and draw live models, in a friendly safe environment.

The host of the night Ian James Scott joined Rach & Dean on JOY Breakfast to tell them all about it.

Happening Wednesday June 15th, head click here to get more details, and why not check out their Pride Month program while your there. 

Award winning journalist Marc Fennell joins Rach and Dean as they discuss his new documentary, The Kingdom.

It investigates how Australia produced one of the world’s most successful and scandal plagued megachurches Hillsong…and asks if this kingdom is crumbling then who will take its place?

For Rachel, and many in our communities, the themes of this documentary hold a different weight, but this sin’t about religion being right or wrong, as Marc meets current and fellow former believers who expose the human cost of the Pentecostal juggernaut, and delves into how allegations of bullying, sexual assault and financial mismanagement have eroded Hillsong’s once mighty empire.   

The Kingdom premiers on SBS on 7:30pm on Sunday 11th June and is available on SBS Demand from Thursday 8th June.

 

Women of Soul is Australia’s premier collective of female-identifying artists, with more than 35 creatives, 100% of the women of soul from performers to producers, recording artists and composers are women. The Women of Soul started working on an album in 2020 and the album titled Feel Good was released last week. 

Joining Rach & Dean on JOY Breakfast  is Women of Souls artistic director DJ Chelsea Wilson as well as Germaine McCarthy who share a track ‘Celebrate’ on the album to tell us all about it, welcome to the show. 

Grab your copy ‘Feel Good’, the Women of Soul’s Collective’s album and find out about their live performances at womenofsoulcollective.com.au.