In 2019 the Museum was questioned about its holdings of material related to LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual, plus) people, places, and stories. After a thorough collection survey, the answer was…almost nothing. Further research revealed there is little representation of LGBTQIA+ stories in regional museum collections across Australia.

The Museum recognised a failure to fulfil this mission and wants to challenge the perpetuation of heteronormative centred ways of knowing and being within its collections. The idea for Small Town Queer was born, to explore and collect queer history and stories from the Tweed, along with the challenge for Tweed Regional Museum to undergo a ‘queering’ of its policies, museological practices and collections. Small Town Queer offers the opportunity to work collaboratively on the ways in which Tweed Regional Museum can establish a practice of collecting, preserving and making accessible the history, stories and material culture of local LGBTIQA+ people.

Small Town Queer Online Exhibition

Small Town Queer Playlist

 

Interview Recorded: Murwillumbah, November 2020.Image: Murwillumbah Museum (Tweed Regional Museum Collection).\Music: Coffee & Conversation 2020 Podcast.co Example Network.

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Leonie Dickinson works in vocational education and training, dividing her time between the Tweed and the Northern Territory, where she specialises in working with Aboriginal people from remote communities. Before moving to the Tweed Coast from Melbourne in 2004, Leonie studied at the Australian Film Television and Radio School in the late 1980s. Leonie became a Film Director and Digital Content Producer and was the first female in the audio department at Chanel Seven in Melbourne. In 2017, Leonie created an inclusive, online community of lesbian and dyke campers, which currently boasts almost 2500 members!

Small Town Queer Online Exhibition

Small Town Queer Playlist

Interview Recorded: Murwillumbah, January 2021.Image: Leonie (Courtesy of Leonie Dickinson).Music: Coffee & Conversation 2020 Podcast.co Example Network.

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Ian Teacosy Gray is a historian and curator, activist, Radical Faerie and a ‘78er’, having marched in the first Mardi Gras in Sydney. Teacosy moved the Northern Rivers in the mid-1970s, which he considers his tribal and spiritual home. Ian has helped to found many Northern Rivers community and social groups, including the Radical Oz Faeries, Tropical Fruits and more recently the Older Lesbian & Gay Association which is a queer elder’s support group. Teacosy is also a community historian, having co-created the Tropical Fruits Queer History Project and the Northern Rivers Queer History Project with his long-time friend, Peter Mitchell. And In 2017, Teacosy curated the exhibition ‘Lismore Has a Diverse Past’, shown at Southern Cross University.

Small Town Queer Online Exhibition

Small Town Queer Playlist

 

Interview Recorded: Murwillumbah, November 2020.Image: Teacosy(Courtesy of Ian Gray).Music: Coffee & Conversation 2020 Podcast.co Example Network.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jordan Clayden-Lewis: is an author and content editor who grew up in Murwillumbah. Since a young age, Jordan has had an adventurous imagination, a love of exploration, and a passion for storytelling. Jordan published his successful debut novel, Blackhorse Park, in 2019. Jordan has also been published by Currency Press and has written articles for SBS and the Foundation for Young Australians. Jordan has written about growing up gay in regional Australia, and his experience with homophobia.

Small Town Queer Online Exhibition

Small Town Queer Playlist

 

Interview Recorded: Murwillumbah, October 2020.Image: Jordan (Courtesy of Jordan Clayden-Lewis).Music: Coffee & Conversation 2020 Podcast.co Example Network.

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Peter Waters is a Lawyer specialising in telecommunications and competition law, and Pete Daly is an Occupational Therapist. The couple resides on a farm near the Tweed Coast. In 2017, they spearheaded and helped fund one of the most successful regionally-based Yes Campaigns in Australia. The electorate of Richmond, which includes Tweed Shire, expressed an above-average yes vote of 67.9%. As a result, the [Australian] Marriage Act 1961 was updated on 9 December 2017 to allow marriage equality!

Small Town Queer Online Exhibition

Small Town Queer Playlist

Interview Recorded: Murwillumbah, November 2020.Image: Peter (courtesy of Peter Waters & Peter Daly).Music: Coffee & Conversation 2020 Podcast.co Example Network.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tobin Saunders is a freelance performer, writer, choreographer, dancer, actor, DJ, events co-ordinator and producer. He is the creator of Australia’s most well-known, colourful, and entertaining identities, Vanessa Wagner. Tobin has been involved in theatre works, production and performance at Mardi Gras, in fashion parades, film and dance variety in theatres, and numerous TV appearances. For 35 years, Tobin has been an activist, HIV advocate and educator. And an out HIV role model since his HIV diagnosis in 1991. Tobin moved to the Northern Rivers in 2002 and currently is the Community Health Promotion Officer for ACON Northern Rivers.

Small Town Queer Online Exhibition

Small Town Queer Playlist

 

Interview Recorded: Murwillumbah, November 2020.Image: Tobin (Courtesy of Tobin Saunders).Music: Coffee & Conversation 2020 Podcast.co Example Network.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Daniel Browning is a journalist, radio broadcaster, documentary maker, sound artist and writer. He is a descendant of the Bundjalung, far northern New South Wales, and Kullilli, south-western Queensland, peoples. He grew up at Fingal and has produced several documentaries on his ancestors and environmental issues there. He also presents Awaye!, a radio program which surveys contemporary Indigenous cultural practice across the arts spectrum, on ABC Radio National, since 2005. Daniel also stars in SBS’s Faboriginal. Daniel is interested in queering culture and the intersection of queer and Indigenous studies. 

Small Town Queer Online Exhibition

Small Town Queer Playlist

Interview Recorded: Murwillumbah, October 2020.Image: Daniel (Photographer Joshua Morris, courtesy of Urban Theatre Projects).Music: Coffee & Conversation 2020 Podcast.co Example Network.

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Carmen Stewart and Jessica Walker met 26 years ago in Brisbane when they were both working for the Catholic Church. Jessica is a Child and Family Worker and Carmen is as a consultant supporting homelessness and community services. The couple moved to the Tweed Shire in 2000 where they currently reside with their two children. 

Small Town Queer Online Exhibition

Small Town Queer Playlist

Interview Recorded: Murwillumbah, November 2020.Image: Jess & Carmen (Tweed Regional Museum Collection).Music: Coffee & Conversation 2020 Podcast.co Example Network.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.