The Informer

For the last 35 years, men have been told one thing, to wear a condom, but there are now other forms of protection that do not involve latex barriers, and they are healing a community divided by decades of destruction.

In 2018, HIV- people are confidently having sex with HIV+ people without condoms and without fear of contracting HIV, these days, having sex with someone who is HIV positive, on daily treatment and undetectable, is some of the safest sex you can have.

Dean Arcuri speaks to Craig Burnett, who is living with HIV and David Kernahan, the CEO of the WA Aids Council asking, if the scientific evidence is clear, that someone living with HIV who is undetectable does not pose an infection risk to their sexual partners, why are we not getting the message?

This segment of The Informer aired on JOY 94.9 on the 22nd January 2018.

Festival season for our LGBTIQ communities is officially underway,  and while there are plenty of parties and celebration, there’s also a vibrant explosion of queer culture sweeping the nation.

The chairs of the two big festivals in Sydney and Melbourne have a great relationship and met up to discuss building stronger pathways for celebrating our LGBTIQ culture.

Dean Arcuri spoke to the chairs of Midsumma and Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, about what they could achieve coming together, and could this help other festivals around the nation.

With a number of outbreaks of the viral liver disease Hepatitis A, men who have sex with around Victoria are eligible for a free vaccination as of this week.

While Hepatitis A symptoms last for weeks or months and generally cause no long term liver damage, anyone interested in protecting themselves can ask their doctor for a vaccine or go to a sexual health clinic.

Dean Arcuri speaks to Melanie Eagle, the CEO of Hepatitis Victoria about the Hepatitis A outbreak, how you can get vaccinated, and what you need to look out for in case you are infected.

This segment aired on The Informer on JOY 94.9 on 22nd January 2018.

On this episode of The Informer we head to Victoria as free Hepatitis A Vaccinations are being offered to men who has sex with men from today after a number of outbreaks of the viral liver disease.

We touch base with the chair and co-chair of the Midsumma and Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Festivals who are starting to work together to build greater pathways for our communities, and we see if this is something that can travel passed the big two festivals to help support the smaller LGBTIQ festivals around the nation.

And in the wake of Perth trans sex worker CJ Palmer being found guilty over allegedly infecting a client with HIV, we ask the question, if U = U, Undetectable = Untransmiittable, why is this a message that the greater community are not aware of?

This episode of The Informer on JOY 94.9 was hosted by Lara Dickinson.

LGBTI spaces that are meant to welcome all in our community can be uncomfortable for people of colour. But is it the spaces, or how we are treating others.

Though we are a part of one community there is still separation within another, with white visuals and models domination our expression and promotion, sometimes you can forget the simple fact that queer people of colour face further oppression than the members of our white LGBTI communities.

Dean Arcuri spoke to Tyrone, who shares with us his experiences working and experiencing Australian queer spaces and how oppression still continues, even within our marginalised communities.

We then look at a space that celebrates queer people of colour in Australia is The Cocoa Butter Club, celebrating queer performers of colour and giving a voice to ‘The Other’, promoting the fact that performers of colour are creating in a multitude of mediums and hold a mirror to productions asking if they are encouraging performances of colour and the messages that their art carries.

Danni Webber and Ana tell us about what this space means to them, and how celebrating people of colour in this way shines an important light on something that is missing.

A new Australian developed diagnostic test is set to be rolled out across the country for a little known sexually transmitted infection  which about 400,000 Australians are likely to have, Mycoplasma genitalium, or MG for short.

MG can cause infertility and acts like a superbug and is resistant to most available antibiotics. Earlier today Dean Arcuri speaks to Associate Prof Catriona Bradshaw from the Melbourne Sexual Health Clinic about MG and asked why we are only just hearing about it.

Up until now, most GPs have not had access to a test to diagnose the disease and have guessed at which class of antibiotics to use to treat the condition, leading to Mycoplasma genitalium having resistance to most antibiotics. Chris Williams contracted MG, and shares with The Informer about his treatment.

This segment aired on The Informer on JOY 94.9 on 18th January 2018.

Last week, the Australian Open named tennis legend and tireless human rights campaigner Billy Jean King as Tennis Australia’s Woman of the Year at a special event during #BetterTogether2018.

At the event, Australian Open director Craig Tiley announced ‘Open4All’, a wide-ranging equality, diversity and inclusion initiative that will be brought to life during this year’s tournament.

OPEN4All includes a series of special events designed to celebrate the intrinsic fairness and equality of tennis, which welcomes everyone regardless of their race, gender, sexuality or ability.

We speak to him and asked if such a strong message of inclusion from the sport was spurred on by the comments of Margret Court last year, where she voiced her controversial views on the LGBTI communities, and on same sex marriage.

This segment aired on The Informer on JOY 94.9 on 18th January 2018.

In this episode we head to the Australian Open, as we speak to their tournament director Craig Tiley about their announcement of #OPEN4ALL, a wide-ranging equality, diversity and inclusion initiative that is being brought to life during this year’s tournament.

We learn about a new STI that is becoming resistant to antibiotics, mycoplasm genitalium, or MG, and how a simple test can point towards affective treatment.

And we speak to queer people of colour, as they discuss constantly managing ignorance and racism, as well as how they have carved an inclusive space which celebrates queer people of colours narratives, experiences and pride.

This episode of The Informer on JOY 94.9 was hosted by Josh Pearson.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics is no longer a bad word after the postal survey, and last week Carolyne Dean from the ABS spoke at Better Together 2018, sharing the evidence they found in the 2016 census about our communities around the nation. Which was the first census where you could specify your gender as something other than male or female. Giving us a stronger picture of our gender diverse communities sit in our national picture.

The ABS are responsible for managing the consultation in the census in 2121, and while that may seem a while a way, they are starting their engagement process shortly, opening their formal submission from April to June this year.

So if you are iinterested in having a say in what is in the 2121 census, then head to the ABS website and get in touch so that what is collected in the next census is representative of the whole LGBTI community of Australia.

This segment aired on The Informer on JOY 94.9 on 17th January 2018.

On the 22nd of November last year, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced that former immigration minister, Philip Ruddock would head a Review into Religious Freedom in Australia.

The panel of six experts from law reform, human rights and religious back grounds kicked off the review last week.

The review into religious freedom in Australia is due to wrap up on the 31st of March this year, and its results could directly affect our communities.

You can submit to the review via the online permission form which you will find at pmc.gov.au.

This segment aired on The Informer on JOY 94.9 on 17th January 2018.