Pride Fair Day
The first Pride Fair Day, attended by PFLAG in 1999, consisted of a banner carried by James (my son), with his dog Jeanne on one side and me on the other. After the march, the flag poles were hammered into the ground at Musgrave Park and collected when it was time to leave. I was stationed nearby in the Qld AIDS Council’s information tent.
But I learnt quickly. I soon got a PFLAG stall, organised resources, and once again, we were set. Pride Fair Day became one of the big days of the year. I always got there early with decorations and several boxes of resources to give to anyone seeking information. We even had many people come along for information for family and teachers. Many others just came to say ‘hello’ and thank us for helping them navigate their coming out and/or supporting their loved ones. We had a crowd around us all day, with plenty of volunteers inside the stall handing out resources and chatting to passers-by.
Great Bake-Off
Being a recipient of the proceeds of Great Bake Off at the Sportsman’s Hotel was a massive deal. It took minimum effort from us, and we received half of the profit from the fundraising day. We encouraged parents to come along, buy raffle tickets and bid on the items for auction, including the baked goodies.
PFLAG is Beginning to Fly
In 2004, we produced a CD of parents’ stories. John Frame of 4ZZZ helped make them. We did a CD because, at the time, parents were wary of putting their faces or names out into the public arena. They were fearful of homophobic backlashes.
Nothing negative ever happened, but parents were always very concerned. The CDs were intended for parents unable to attend meetings. We developed a borrowing library for parents to increase the understanding and support of their loved ones. We challenged homophobic humour on TV, especially Matthew Johns of the Footy Show and Bert Newton on his Morning Show.
I began writing regular letters to every federal MP about the rushed legislation and amendments to the Marriage Act, which would change the wording to make it clear only a man and a woman could marry. Prime Minister John Howard and Attorney General Phillip Ruddock proposed this change as they saw a loophole that could allow same-sex marriage, a loophole Menzies and Gorton saw back in the early 1960s, which both men felt may have been useful later in Australian life. If Howard and Ruddock had left the loophole, the right for same-sex couples to marry would have likely been settled in the courts and there would have been no need for the postal survey on marriage equality.
Letters were regularly sent to Archbishop Battersby and Archbishop Pell about the homophobic attitude in churches, which we felt was no longer acceptable. We knew churches of all denominations ostracised many families with homosexual children – we saw them coming to our meetings and heard their concerns and complaints of mistreatment.
PFLAG started paying QUAC for printing and mailing materials, which they had so generously paid for up until then. Realistically, they could not afford to continue to do that any longer. We were quickly growing and needed more space and resources.
We had well and truly put on our thinking caps about how to become more well-known and how to get the message out that being gay was ok. We reasoned that many families sought help from their family GP at this time, and many of those doctors knew very little about what support was available, or where to seek it. So, we sent books and brochures to various Brisbane medical centres to make them aware of PFLAG.
Parents Do a Country Trip with Me
In 2005, we began to feel we needed to spread our wings and expand into country areas with our information and support. We knew from talking to country people that coming out in the country was extremely dangerous and challenging. Parents were confused and alone and dared not tell anyone about their children. It was considered a city problem; there were “no Gays in the bush”.
Ron and Diane, two PFLAG parents and I drove to Charleville, stopping at Toowoomba and Roma, doing radio interviews along the way. Ron was always concerned that the car might be damaged through the night, but nothing ever happened. However, we did have some relieved parents call us, wanting to talk.
