Unicorn Youth

The term “intersectionality,” was coined by scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw in a 1989 paper, and it’s the notion that oppressions intersect to create compounded, complex experiences of discrimination. That’s hard to get around but don’t worry we keep breaking down that terminology throughout the show!

So Intersectionality can refer to the way  the effects of different forms of discrimination combine, overlap, or intersect. And how it can impact us and/or the people around us. These intersection could involve race, gender, ability, sexuality, education, age, class, culture. Lots of different things.

We can’t control what life we are born into but we can work on checking our privilege and practicing being more inclusive of people of various intersections in everyday life.

In this podcast we explore how to not just be a feminist or queer activist but an intersectional feminist who maybe starts to focus on feminist issues outside of white feminism. Or a queer activist who also start to focus on trans and GNC or issues for People of Colour.

Thankyou Josie and Claire for coming in and talking with us!

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How are you feeling after the postal vote? Wasn’t that a full on day?! I cried a lot! Did you do anything nice to celebrate? I hope so! Where were you with the postal vote?

Questions for you! What do you think of the word queer? Do you love it? Do you hate it? Does it conjure up yuck memories of when people used the word against you? Or does it make you feel empowered and strong – knowing you’ve reclaimed this word for your own?

Maybe it has strong political ties for you. Or it is a nice umbrella term that fits all the ways you identity in one word.

Queer can mean different things to different people. For some people it is a great word to describe their gender and or sexuality. However, some people in the community can feel like they are just not queer enough.

In this podcast we explore exactly what it means to be queer and what the word means to different people.

We were joined by 2 sparkly young people who use this word to describe their identity. And why they choose to use this label.

The post How Do I Know I’m Queer? appeared first on Unicorn Youth.

How would you describe your gender? Do you feel like your gender identity has remained the same throughout your whole life? Or do you see your gender as more of a spectrum or sliding scale that changes over time.

For some people gender is not stagnant but fluid, often changing throughout time. Some people can feel super femme some days and more masc the next.

As the world starts to realise that the idea that ‘gender is binary’ is pretty outdated. We are starting to see more people (particularly young peeps) identify as gender identities such as gender fluid.

In fact in 2016 the word was added to the Oxford Dictionary.

In this podcast we explored what the term GENDER FLUID means, how it is different from other gender related terms like trans and cis. And how understanding gender fluidity, it might help you understand your own gender or how you can be the best ally to your gender fluid pals!

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Would you call yourself an activist?

Are you out there attending the rallies, signing petitions and fighting for the rights of the queer community? Have you found yourself feeling a little fried as a result of the issues coming up around this postal vote?

I’ve defo been feeling a little bit drained, emotional and at times nearly all queer-ed out. So let’s explore what it means to be an activist for the queer community, what you could do to get involved if you want to be more pro-active in the battle for queer equality. And where we could be channelling our energy as a community once this postal vote shenanigans is finally behind us.

We will be joined by a bunch of young peeps who identity as queer activists. We will be finding what strategies they use to fight for queer equality, whether they think there are other issues we should be tackling aside from marriage equality and how they self care whilst still supporting the community.

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Do you remember the first time you made a queer friend?

Did you work out you were queer and then start freaking out about how you were ever going to meet other queers? It’s obviously nice to have friends from all walk of life but it’s also really great to connect with other LGBTQIA humans, so we can talk about that stuff that sometimes only other people really get. Like how you’re going during the yuck postal vote or how cute Shane from The L Word is.

For some of us making new pals comes super easily. Maybe you were naturally drawn to other queero humans so you instantly had a gay group, lesbo posi, rainbow chosen family or bunch of non-binary babes to hang out with. But for others it can be challenging, especially if you don’t know any other queers in your area, at your school or workplace. So in this episode we are going to try and answer the question for you:

How do you make queer friends?? We are going to hear from 3 different young people about how they’ve made new queer pals and give you our top tips on making queer pals! I’ll also fill you in on the time I contacted someone on Facebook I had followed for years and then asked them to be my friend. Later in the show we are also going to hear about a cute all ages panel discussion about queer inclusivity that the Victorian Gay & Lesbian Rights Lobby are running that you might like to attend!

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In this episode we will chat about a word that has become increasingly popular over the last few years. A word to describe a person that is attracted all genders!

If you find yourself attracted to people regardless of gender or biological sex, you too might choose to identify as PAN SEXUAL or PAN.

In this episode, we will be exploring the difference between bisexual, poly sexual and pan sexual; whether there is stigma associated with pan sexual identity.

And whether being pansexual has anything to do with making out with pans!

Thanks to Maddie (22), Darcy (16), Charlie (17) and Ella (25) for sharing their thoughts during this episode!

The post What does it mean to be Pansexual? appeared first on Unicorn Youth.

HAPPY International Coming Out Day! International Day of The Girl!

Last week we spoke all about self care strategies. As some of us are definitely feeling the impact of this postal vote shenanigan. Now that we have equipped you with lots of skills to look after yourself, let’s start to unpack this postal vote. Let’s talk about how it is impacting the queer youth of Australia and how we can support you or the young people in your life.

In this podcast we are joined by 3 awesome young people who let us know the impact this thing has had on their life, what they have been doing to fight the good fight and what support they would like from the world during this time.

Thanks to Charlie, Darcy and Chloe for sharing their thoughts!

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How have you been feeling lately? Rocking the school holidays? Did you go to the Minus18 dance party last week – pretty fun! How have you been feeling emotionally? Has all the noise about the postal vote been making you feel a little off?

I know I started to feel pretty down and overwhelmed over the last couple of weeks. All the discussions about queer life, the no campaign on the TV, the posters stuck up around the city telling people it’s ok to vote no. I’ve been worried about what will happen if it’s a no vote but I’ve mainly been really concerned about how these negative marketing campaigns have been impacting the queer young people in our world. So let’s chat to them! Let’s check in on our wonderful young people and see how they are feeling and also discuss how we can look after ourselves during this time!

This episode is all about SELF CARE!

Thanks to Mark, Amelia and Charlie for sharing their thoughts!

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In this episode we discuss a word that has only really become popular in recent times – NEURODIVERSITY.

What does that mean exactly? People might identify as neurodivergent when they have neurological variations that present themselves in forms such as: autism, ADHD or dyslexia.  It’s a fairly new concept that’s gaining traction in the disability rights movement and is coming into the spotlight like never before. Neurodiversity is a natural and valuable form of human diversity. The use of the word is helping to eliminate the idea that there is a normal/healthy brain and then there are people who have abnormal brains. The term neurodiversity shows us that there is no normal, that their are just variations in the way our brains work. And that being someone with ADHD, autism or other neurodivergent characteristics can actually come with some pretty awesome outcomes! I know my ADHD makes me super productive!

In this episode I introduce you to two awesome young people, one in high school and one in uni who identity as neurodivergent. They are going to fill you in on how it impacts their lives, the awesome parts, the not so awesome parts and advice for when you are queer and neurodivergent.

The post What does it mean to be Neurodivergent? appeared first on Unicorn Youth.

Have you ever thought it would be pretty cool to have queer parents? Or to be born into a rainbow family? I know I have.

Over the last few weeks we have seen media campaigns roll out for and against marriage equality, with a lot of the no campaigns targeting rainbow families and talking about why children need to grow up with a mum and a dad. So in this episode, we thought we would slay the ridiculous idea that having queer parents would be anything but awesome, by introducing you to two wonderful young gaybe babies. If you’ve never heard of this term. A Gaybe Baby is anyone who is born with parents of the same gender. So if you have two mums or two dads, you two could call yourself a Gaybe BabyI don’t know about you – but I would definitely be into having some sparkly gay parents. Not that my straight parents weren’t awesome too – hey mum/dad!

Thanks to Gaybe Babies Dani and Darcy for sharing their stories!

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