Queering The Air

Content warning: Please be aware that this episode contains descriptions and discussions of HIV stigma and discrimination. If this is a trigger for you, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or lifeline.org.au, Switchboard Victoria on 1800 184 527 or switchboard.org.au, or contact your state-based service. Michele Vescio speaks with activist, writer, and amateur archivist Beau Newham about his HIV health promotion work with LGBTQ NGO Yayasan Gaya Dewata, the continual ongoing HIV stigma that exists towards PLHIV, his side projects Queer Indonesia Archive and QLC, and his writing work. Beau’s writing work is available via medium.com/@beaunewham.Find details on Queer Indonesia Archive via qiarchive.org and QLC Jakarta via twitter.com/qlc_jakarta.Information on HIV support can be obtained via Thorne Harbour Health, Victoria’s peak body for LGBTIQA+ health promotion, and The Institute of Many (TIM), a peer-run movement for People Living with HIV.Support Yayasan Gaya Dewata via gayadewata.com.

We hear from Karen d'Konyak on Victoria Police and the state turning public housing into temp prisons in the name of 'public health'. The interview with Karen was done by Mini from DIY show Satellite Skies. Later hear from Positively Positive in Seattle on Black Lives Matter to HIV, not-for-profits, asexuality, friendship, creativity and more.Music:Poison - Dark WaterWoke Blokes - Thelma PlumSong 33 - NonameGrand Ideas - Alice SkyeBetter Things - Kee'AhnTheme music - Heterosexuality (It's no good for Me) - Dosh Luckwell

Content warning: Please be aware that this episode contains descriptions or discussions of state violence, queerphobia, mental health, suicide, and the effects of structural racism. If this is a trigger for you, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or lifeline.org.au, Switchboard Victoria on 1800 184 527 or switchboard.org.au, or contact your state-based service. Michele presents a series of commentaries and audio in relation to the global #BLM movement, Indigenous deaths in custody, and the erasure or silencing of black, brown, indigenous, and/or POC queer voices from the mainstream media landscape, and why the BLM political and social movement is important in terms of centering black queer activism and voices. The commentaries are provided by Niveen Abelatty (HipHopHoe), an Arabic Muslim woman of colour and a politically charged DJ and musician; Diimpa (William Cooper) a mixed Kabi Kabi autistic queer man and an avant composer and soundscape weaver; and Anonymous, a genderqueer person of colour of Sudanese background. The Melbourne Black Lives Matter and Stop Indigenous Deaths in Custody protest audio features an opening speech by Meriki Onus, a Gunai and Gunditjmara woman from Bung Yarnda and a co-founder of Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance. Listen to and download the full rally coverage here. Resources:Pay The RentAboriginal Legal rights movementNorth Australian Aboriginal Justice AgencySisters InsideVictorian Aboriginal Funeral FundANTarBlack RainbowFirst Peoples Disability Network AustraliaNATSILSWarriors of the Aboriginal ResistanceWhy we organised Melbourne’s Black Lives Matter rallyHearing the Queer Roots of Black Lives MatterThe First Mardi GrasWhat Happened at the Stonewall Riots? A Timeline of the 1969 Uprising Tracklisting: 'One' by Diimpa, 'A Deeper Love' by Aretha Franklin.

We hear an excerpt from 3CR's live cross at WAR's Stop Black Deaths in Custody rally / Black lives matter rally in Melbourne, with Meriki Onus' opening speech. We then hear from Sam Elkin from the St Kilda Legal Service's LGBTIQ Legal Service on the launch of the Roberta Perkins Law Project. Next we revisit interviews from 2019 on sociologist, trans and sex worker rights activist Roberta Perkins, with Elena Jeffreys from Respect Inc. Second, we hear Cameron Cox from Sex Workers Outreach Project NSW. Finally, we hear an excerpt from Transformative Justice Podcast with Anne-Lise Ah Fat, Petra Blagojevic, and Alice McDonald, speaking on the limits of not-for-profits. Also featuredJustice for Joyce Clark fundraiserKee'Ahn's track Better ThingsIRL Infoshop mutual aid project

Queering The Air acknowledges the injustices happening in America and the protests in relation to the recent death of George Floyd. We acknowledge that since 1991 that over 420 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have died in police custody as a result of continued colonialism, capitalism, white supremacy, and neoliberalism.Stop Black Deaths in custody. Indigenous Lives Matter. Black Lives Matter. Black Trans Lives Matter. More information on this resistive movement can be found at Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance. Michele Vescio speaks with Ava Amedi - a writer, musician, and artist working across songwriting, artist interview, performance, poetry, and non-fiction writing genres. We discuss Ava’s arts practice and influences, notions on cultural criticism in his writing, his recent Testing Grounds residency, pop music in the context of accessibility and accountability, and discussions on effectual modes of conversation.Read Ava’s works discussed in this interview: ‘Painting and Pop’ and ‘Two Twins’. Tracklisting: ‘Seatbelt’ by Ava Amedi; live performance by Ava Amedi for ACCA’s ‘On Vulnerability and Doubt’; ‘A Deeper Love’ by Aretha Franklin.

We hear shout-outs to crowdraisers: First Nations Covid-19 fund, Undocumented Migrants Covid19 fund, Emergency Support Fund for Sex Workers, and RISE's Emergency Appeal. We then hear from Julia Rose Bak on care work and disability (Previously aired on GNC and women's voices show Women On The Line).Support the June 3CR Station Appeal to keep radical radio alive!Finally, we go back to September 2018 to hear an interview with Jessica Ibacache and Fox Smoulder about their work in the 'In Sickness and Stealth' collective.

We acknowledge that today’s episode is broadcast on the International Day against homophobia, biphobia, interphobia, and transphobia - a day that raises awareness of LGBTIQA+ rights violations and to stimulate interest in queer rights work worldwide. #IDAHOBIT2020 Michele Vescio speaks with Tina Dixson and Renee Dixson who have been together for a decade now, not only as a couple but partners in everything they do. They both have a lived experience as queer refugee women. Currently, they are both PhD Candidates at the Australian National University and are advocates for the rights and inclusion of LGBTIQA+ people from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds.We discuss their continued activism and advocacy for LGBTIQA+ refugee and asylum seekers, Renee’s work on a digital archive of LGBTIQ+ forced migration, last year’s inaugural Queer Displacements conference and the creation of the Canberra statement, their current and upcoming projects supporting queer refugee and asylum seekers, with overarching conversations on queer refugee rights and validation of their experiences.Content warning: Please be aware that today’s show contains discussions and descriptions of forced displacement, isolation, and discrimination towards refugees and asylum seekers. If this type of content is a trigger for you, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or lifeline.org.au, Switchboard Victoria on 1800 184 527 or switchboard.org.au, Queerspace on 03 9663 6733 or queerspace.org.au, or contact your state-based service. Resources:Queer Sisterhood Project, a refugee-led and peer-run support and advocacy group aimed to provide a space of community and belonging to queer refugee women.The Canberra Statement, a policy document that can be signed on to by individuals and organisations affirming a need for a set of reforms to ensure access to safety and justice for LGBTIQ+ asylum seekers, refugees, and other forcibly displaced persons.The Queer Displacements: Sexuality, Migration & Exile conference report, the first conference in Australia to address and discuss the issues of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer (LGBTIQ+) forced displacement in its complexity.The Refugee Council of Australia, information on ensuring people seeking asylum and refugees, are included in COVID-19 strategies so that nobody is left behind.'Being Queer and Refugee’ brochure, contains 30 tips for service providers for inclusive service provision. Donate to the crowdfunding campaign to Help LGBTIQ+ asylum seekers survive COVID-19.Forcibly Displaced People Network, the first organisation in Australia to dedicate its work to the issues of LGBTIQ+ forced displacement.Tracklisting: 'School Revolution' by Voice Of Baceprot, a 3-piece all-girl metal/thrash band from Indonesia.

We hear:Shout outs to vital fundraisers, and news: Undocumented Migrants Covid19 fund, First Nations Covid-19 fund, and Emergency Support Fund for Sex Workers.From Meri Leworthy on mutual aid work with Covid-19 Queer Aid Naarm / Melbourne. (Facebook)Re-broadcast from In Ya Face, with James McKenzie speaking to Peaches from Vixen Collective on issues for sex workers during Covid19 and the Victorian Government's Sex Work Inquiry. Re-broadcasts from Thursday Breakfast, with Max Castle speaking to Jeremy King on the findings on the Hares and Hyenas raid (and a comment on Justice for Tanya Day), and Max speaking to Sam Elkin from the St Kilda Legal Service on the LGBTI+ Legal Needs Survey.

Michele Vescio speaks with Shane Thoms, a visual documenter and photographer, about his experiences of isolation in the 80s, being queer, and questioning his gender and sexual identity and gender expression, and the quasi-correlation to the current measure of self-isolation and social/physical distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.Shane's work focuses on the abandoned space, where he visually captures traces of human emotion and urban evolution. His work has been featured on CNN, The Business Insider, Huffington Post, Daily Mail, La Repubblica, Viral Nova, and The Weather Channel. View Shane's work via Facebook, Instagram, and shanethoms.com. Content warning: This episode contains some sexual and explicit language, and descriptions and discussions about queerphobia, othering, isolation, and discrimination towards queer people. If this type of content is a trigger for you, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or lifeline.org.au, Switchboard Victoria on 1800 184 527 or switchboard.org.au, Queerspace on 03 9663 6733 or queerspace.org.au, or contact your state-based service.Tracklisting: 'A short term effect' by The Cure, 'The Choke' and 'Tin Omen' by Skinny Puppy.Images used with permission.

Michele presents a collection of spoken word audio works by author, activist, and storyteller Otter Lieffe, a trans woman living in Berlin. Her works discuss ageism, precarity, gender, trans lives, and intersecting oppressions affecting trans women. Michele also presents an excerpt of a 2017 interview they conducted with Otter at the time of the release of her first novel Margins and Murmurations.Works in this episode include Margins and Murmurations: chapter 1, Ageism And Survival, My Gender Is Precarity, Not An Artist, and My Fucking Voice.More information at otterlieffe.com and soundcloud.com/otterlieffe.Tracklisting: 'The Park' by Body of Work feat. Otter Lieffe, 'Cut The World'by Antony & The Johnsons, 'A Deeper Love' (Sam Halabi Remix) by Aretha Franklin. Digital image by Julian Curico [Image shows: a digital painting from a photo of Otter. She stands with her right hand on her right hip and wears a teal, long-sleeved top and hoop earrings. On her left shoulder is a Hildebrant's Starling, to her right is Momo, the cat. Momo is grey with stripes and spots. The background is bright green and purple.]Content/ trigger warning: Please be aware that this episode contains descriptions or discussions of transphobia, queerphobia, dysphoria, poverty, precarity, oppression, misogyny, violence against trans women, strong language, and sexual themes, that may be distressing to some listeners. If this episode raises questions or causes distress to you, contact Lifeline (13 11 14), Queerspace (03 9663 6733), or Switchboard Victoria (1800 184 527).