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 I love Tasmania. I love gay men and women. But one thing that I just haven’t been able to get used to after quite a while living here is the inability of our community to get the word out to anybody who is not part of an already established gay social circle that something big is happening.
It wasn’t until after the recent Queens Ball (poster pictured) that I knew that it even existed. I had never heard of a Queens Ball in Hobart. And neither had any one of my gay friends. Even the long-time Tasmanians amongst the “Focus Group” of guys I share a weekly Sunday Brunch had never heard of it.
And whilst I appreciate that there is no gay press here and that the venues and support groups can’t afford regular media advertising, you would think with all the creativity and ingenuity within our little segment of society, that somehow, somewhere I would have come across an ad for this event which, I am told, is the party that “everyone gay who is anyone gay” goes to.
Not that I am anyone important. It’s just that you would think there would be a poster somewhere at least.
Or is it just that my entire life seems to take place outside of the reach of Queertopia? I am told that one of the places to be seen as a gay man in this town is The Machine Cafe at Salamanca. I have often wandered past it and thought it looked too “wanky” for my tastes. Another venue is Flamingos, which I have been to once and lasted 15 minutes in before running for the hills. Yet another is Metz at Sandy Bay which I have done a brief Saturday breakfast at, but felt out of place for not owning Gucci sunglasses or a tiny little 32-inch waist.
I can’t blame the lack of gay advertising entirely. I have never actually made an effort to find out what’s on and when. And I do know enough people now that I should be able to ask around... but this is a major Tasmanian GLBTIXYZ event. Should you have to look around this hard to find out that it is on?
I recently read a post from one of my colleagues in Sydney who lamented that his town’s venues were looking rather drab, considering that in the early 90’s gay venues set the standard for innovation, comfort and style. I get the feeling that our community has started to become so fragmented and washed-down that there actually is no gay community at all any more. Are we so blasé within our little circles to what is happening that we assume that someone else is doing the outreach and the publicity? Have we relied so heavily on word-of-mouth that we have forgotten that word-of-mouth generally only gets as far as the people immediately around us? It is assumed that if there is a function or a party happening, that everyone who needs to know will know.
It’s the same with public awareness campaigns on HIV, STIs and the Ice epidemic that has strewn human wreckage across Sydney’s gay party scene. Where are the Tasmanian awareness campaigns? Where is the ad in the mainstream media warning against Crystal Meth use which, I am told, is on the rise in Tasmania as well?
I suppose if you know the right people and drink coffee in the right places or go to the toilet at the right Theatre Royal events you may know. But as far as I know, most gay men in Hobart started out as awkward teenagers in Glenorchy, Gagebrook and Mornington. Not latte-sipping socialites in Sandy Bay, South Hobart and Battery Point. Most gay boys in Launceston, likewise didn’t grow up in the centre of town, but came from Rocherlea, Ravenswood and Prospect Vale. Very few of us came pre-packaged with 2Xist underwear, Gaultier cologne and a circle of gay friends who already “know everyone”.
So perhaps we can start something here. Since a search in Google for “Gay Tasmania” often leads people to this website, how about we get together and start to send in events that are on, awareness campaigns that are needed to be supported, meetings that are scheduled and social groups that are being formed.
If nothing else comes of it, at least I will stop whinging about having nothing to do on the weekend.
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