Workshops - Confirmed Workshops
Workshop Descriptions
1800-FUCK-ME: Phone sex work for the ambitious and the intrigued
(workshop)
After quitting a soul destroying market research job in late 2006, fetish slut Alicia has been self-employed, working from home phone sexxxing submissives for good money. If you are sick to death of your current work or just curious about this industry, come along to find out how to get a job, get clients and get breathy.
Contact: Alicia
A Very Careful Strike - Precarias a la Deriva
(reading group)
Precarias a la Deriva (roughly translated as Precarious Women Worker’s Adrift) are originally a Madrid based collective. Wandering through the city, their lives and extending out to the experiences of others they start to ask “what is the nature of work that has been traditional considered ‘female’ today?” How does the creation of relationships, love, sex - care - work for capitalism today, and how can it be thought in rebellious and resistant ways?
Reading: A Very Careful Strike - Four hypotheses - by Precarias a la Deriva (external link, PDF)
Collective's website: http://www.sindominio.net/karakola/precarias.htm
Contact: Dave & Tanya
A workshop and discussion of sexual assault and our communities
(workshop)
Sexual assault/rape effects all of us, fundamentally changes how we live
and love, who and how we are. Sexual assault is not an isolated or rare
thing, but something that fundamentally affects us all.
Some of what we want to talk about:
-Social myths of sexual assault/rape, what they obscure and maintain, how
we participate in them and uphold them, how they affect us. The realities
of our rape culture, who rapes, -The threat of rape- how fear and threat
can control and change our lives. -Common reactions and situations…..
-Consent- how can we redefine consent to empower ourselves? What are we
like, what do we like? what is active and positive consent? finding a
language, consent for survivors and their partners. -The legal and crisis
services.
We want this to be a space where people can feel safe sharing and
listening to each other. We want to open discussion with a view to change
and possibility - change in the ways we think about sexual assault, in the
ways we respond to friends, family and lovers; to create possibilities for
real, strong support, to create new and radical ways of recognising and
responding to the issues of sexual assault that we face within our
relationships and our communities.
We will have a debrief space and their will be people available after the
workshop and generally around if anyone needs to talk. Zines and
resources will be available, and will also be around for those who
can't/don't come (for whatever reason) and much more are also available on
our website at www.worldwithout.org
Contact: World Without collective
Beat it, but you wanna be bad
(workshop/skillshare)
Want to have conversations about beat etiquette, politics, and potentials for non-just gay men beat space making? I feel I've got some knowledge here that might be useful to creating a satisfier to queer and/or women's demands for beats in public (like communal public not spare the children's eyes public) space.
Contact: Mark
Betty Does Brown
(reading group)
Wendy Brown is pretty cool, and this article is about feminism seemingly having lost its ability to dream of a revolutionary future beyond gender, or to dream of eradicating gender. It is this loss that she says we need to mourn. She finishes by talking about possibilities for re-imagining a sexual/gender revolution.
There's a lot in this article that can offer really useful and interesting points of discussion. Some starting questions might be:
- What is our relationship now to the revolutionary dreams of 1970s feminist, queer and socialist movements? What do they offer?
- What possibilities arise from the death of these movements?
- How do we imagine possibilities of politics beyond sex and gender?
Reading: Feminism Unbound: Revolution, Mourning, Politics - Wendy Brown (PDF)
Contact: Tanya & Mark
Booty Dance Class
(dance class)
So we gonna ‘drop it like its hot’ to the newest and dirtiest rnb and pop in order for everybody to do the ‘one two step’ and ‘freak that thang’. So let’s bring ‘sexy back’ and get the festival ‘jumpin jumpin’, with a session of booty dancing. So we are going to get on the floor and learn a range of body rolls, isolations, booty popping and locking, as well as a short choreographed dance. So come shake ya jelly with camp Betty!!!
Booty dancing is an expressive and sexually liberated form of popular dancing. It is about reclaiming what is traditionally performed by scantily clad women in male demonated filmclips of popular culture. But more to the point booty dancing alongisde all forms of dancing is an excellent way of working ya body....ah and it's fun...did I mention that?
Contact: Joh
El Calentito
(film screening, post-picnic and pre-party chill out)
"Spain 1981 - the Franco slumber is about to heat up when innocent
virgin Sara plunges into the raucous world of El Calentito, an
underground nightclub exploding with punk rock and sexual liberation.
The club showcases the all-female Las Suix led by the beautiful
Carmen, a lesbian who resembles Joan Jett, and the super sassy, often
topless Leo. When a third member of the group leaves, the band members
convince Sara to join them, encouraging her to toss away her
conservative upbringing and embrace a life or rock and roll. But as
Sara prepares to take center stage and the Spanish government is on
the verge of collapse, the naive virgin discovers an opportunity to
start a revolution on stage, while El Calentito's doors swirl in a sea
of sex, anarchy and celebration!"
Contact: Joni
The Flesh of Labour
(chin-scratching/talking/critique/communication)
The purpose of this workshop is to create a space to explore how sexuality is used as a social tool to normalise, discipline and compel us to and for work. From here perhaps we can imagine ways that sexuality can be challenged as part of the general exodus from capitalism and the creation of other ways of living. This work shop will attempt to be both rigorous and accessible. The work of Federici, Foucault, Negri and Virno will be drawn on but hopefully presented in a way that it is understandable to people that have not read these authors before. The core intuition of this workshop is that there can be no emancipation of intimate, loving and pleasurable relations between us without the creation of communism, and that there can be no creation of communism without the subversion of the capitalist order of the body, of which sexuality plays such a crucial part.
Reading: The Flesh of Labour workshop reading - by Dave (PDF)
Contact: Dave & Tanya
Free yoga class or by donation in tin
(some limbering to warm up body, a breathing excercise, yoga postures, relaxation)
To help people connect with there inner space and there bodies... a natural way to help with emotional issues, physical issues, mental issues, and connect with inner self.
Contact: Krysto
Fun with Rubber and Latex
(workshop/skillshare)
This is a hands on workshop. Come and get your hands dirty, learn some skills and go home with new toys. Latex dipping will provide a smooth, flexible, washable surface to any shape you can construct, while recycled bike inner tubes, studs and eyelets can make belts and cuffs, and harnesses for your new latex goodies. Tools and materials are provided, but bring along anything that just looks like it needs some latex...
Contact: Kate
How To Do Fauxism, Or Fauxists 2009
(seminar, with some performance & a film screening)
A subterranean network of radical-radical ‘splatter’ activists, variously involved in cyber-activism/hacking, aesthetic terrorism, transgender and animal activism, and precipitation of the apocalypse, the Fauxists have been asked to appear at Camp Betty to showcase their recent fights and flights against the power machine and activist boredom.
Hear what the Fauxist’s have been up to, in an encyclopaedic foray into their wildly variant projects and investigations into the frontiers and backwaters of identity and the end of our world.
In this session: Animals, Animality and the edges of life. Direct/electronic/aesthetic activism and contestation including: The uses of animal Transgenics and xenotransplantation for human sex reassignment, the Frozen Zoo, animals as data, the coming environmental apocalypse, virus corruption for gene-databases, contestations of gender, race and power in contemporary ‘Nature’ and bio-science, the multinational buy-up of life and the gene and the ramifications for identity and resistance. Fossils as monumentality.
Also: An account of The Fauxist Post-apocalypse time capsule project and Fauxist Apocalypse Consultancy Agency, a performance on by the Fauxist Onomatopoeia division, a showing of Fauxist Subliminal films. There will also be games, prizes, giveaways, petitions and challenges, the crowning of Miss Post-Apocalypse 2011, and a possible hormone overdose.
Please bring an object, something that you think perhaps will be illustrative of life on the eve of apocalypse, for internment in the Fauxist Intentional Time Capsule to commemorate Camp Betty.
Fauxist panellists: Racheal Sweting, Luke B., Mute Fauxist.
Contact: Luke B.
I Wanna Fuck Like This...
(workshop/talk)
I and a lot of awesome, awesome people I know, have a real issue being honest about how they want to fuck, whether it's because they are are afraid that their desires are 'disgusting', or too corny, that they should be obvious, or just that when asked "what do you want" they just feel guilty or awkward about asking for something.
We want to look at how this communication breakdown ties in with issues of consent, and how people stop themselves from asking for what they want and settling for shitty/mundane sex that they shouldn't be having. Also thinking about how we can negotiate being submissive without giving up our power...or how we can bring up that we have an STI/abuse history/menstrual period and be brave about it...or how can we ask to try something that we think we might like but aren't sure and want to be able to stop things immediately if need be?
We don't have the answers, we just want to have an open discussion about what has/hasn't worked for us, and what are some things that people should think about in regards to asking for what you want. Basically, we'll just try and get everyone involved excited to start being confident about communicating how they want to fuck...
Contact: Ane and Kira
Imagining Otherwise: Free Speech and Queer Resistance in Times of (anti)Terror
(1 hour presentation and faciliated discussion)
How do we resist state practices? Possibilities of resistance have come in the form of demonstrations, editorials, rallies, petitions, and voting. In the West this is called ‘free speech’.
Free speech, in times of anti-terror has come under threat in two important ways. Firstly, as the potential target of the ‘Sedition laws’ and, secondly, and perhaps more crucially, as part of an increasing conservatism in critical rhetoric that coopts the language of the State. This cooption can be thought of as a coupling relation with the sovereign.
Protests against anti-terror legislation, torture and sedition have recently coopted the language of the sovereign in the form of critiques about the erosion of civil liberties, and the importance of the rule of law. These forms of critique exercise a refusal to imagine otherwise than the rhetoric of State. To imagine otherwise than the language offered by the sovereign disturbs and distorts the very categories of State quantification and collation. Imagining beyond these categories is the event of queer.
In this workshop I will first discuss the contemporary western legal conditions that are exercised in the name of ‘anti-terror’. I will then discuss both the increasing conservatism that has colonised resistance and critique, and the modes of resistance that appear to both disturb and distort the categories of the state – the most obvious being the event of the Tranny Cops. Finally, I will facilitate a forum that considers the conditions of possibility for imagining otherwise, utilising the events of queer as a free speech worthy of the name.
Contact: Juliet
Knitting & Craft Workshop
(craft-circul-esque)
Taking our cue from the effeminism movement, we will teach men and other too-macho types to learn to knit and cry. except we will kick out the crying pansies and only the people who are left will get to be part of the learning to knit/support for beginning knitters workshop, culminating in a big betty blanket bonanza of crochet connection. Or Nell will help you with your existing project. Bring knitting needles if you have some. However, the rest of the needles and wool are on Betty. Get knittalicious with Nell! (other crafts welcome too, betty welcomes diversity). NB: crying pansies will not really get kicked out. we love crying pansies.
Contact: Nell
Latin American Changes From Below
(discussion/workshop)
Discussion and information about queer, feminist and women's struggles in Latin America.
Contact: Latin American Solidarity Network
Mad Hatters' Tea Party
(tea, cake and discussion)
Bring your most fabulous hat and come celebrate strength in the face of adversity, masticate some tasty vegan treats and join a discussion on Queerness and Madness!
The stigma attached to mental illness means that disclosing you are or have ever been unwell can be a coming out of its own. With this in mind, what can the mental health movement learn from the queer movement? How are the two related?
There are limited mental health services available to people who are not affluent, and medication is cheaper than talking therapy. When accessing what mental health services are available, GLBTIQ people and/or members of radical communities frequently have their identity and/or lifestyle targeted as the source of their distress. This is none too surprising considering the history of the mental health system being used to police deviance from social norms, with homosexuality listed as a mental illness in the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) until as recently as 1987, and Gender Identity Disorder and Transvestic Fetishism continuing to be classified. Having a supportive community is important in helping people defend their identity/politics to themselves and to health care professionals when in a vulnerable situation. Spaces free from stigma allow people to make positive decisions about their health and to fight for their rights. This workshop is about actively working to create/bolster such communities and spaces.
(Food provided but bringing a plate to share much appreciated).
Contact: Nat
Make your own dirty slutty porn/striptease/fettish animation
(practical workshop/skillshare)
We are going to make dirty animations using freeze frames of people using stop motion technique. Radical sex + art + diy + hot pornos + filthy pervs + political analysis and discussion (optional).
Contact: Nat and Sarah
Making Sex-work Work
(open discussion/skillshare)
To try to both engage with, parry, and dismantle the whorephobia in our society and community, and to provide an open forum for people who are interested in getting involved with sex work to find out what it's really like. Personally, I\'ve only had experience with internet pornography and dancing but I'm hoping to build a setting where others feel comfortable relating their experiences, venting, and talking about what has and hasn't worked for them in the business.
Contact: Cat
National Trans Networking & Info Sharing Meetup - Services, Organisations and Projects
(network/information share)
Lets meet up, all us gender questioning folk, trans kid and allies to
chat and share information about services/support groups/projects we
access and participate in around the country. This is a open discussion,
dictated by who turns up and what they want to talk about, but if you
are interested in learning/ talking/ getting advice about gender clinic
doctors, psychs, councillors, gps, social groups, or creative
trans-related projects come to this workshop!
Contact: Jackson
OMG Flailypants Slash Fiction Workshop
(slash fiction workshop intro and skillshare)
A high octane slash fiction writing workshop intro and skillshare that slides straight into 5th gear and we're well into overdrive after the first 10 minutes. Bring hot slash you want to read, pairings you want to develop and unabashed enthusiasm for exploring romantic trysts/ hardcore homosexual action between your favourite tv/film characters. Crossover/crack, femmeslash and rps (real people slash) friendly. Tea and Scones gleefully provided. If any of this sounds awefully intriguing but you've never written slash before, never fear, we would love to have you along! People will be encouraged to bring slash that they\'ve written, we\'ll show some snippets of action, read some bits out, explain various terms glossaria and conventions, pair off (heh) and write some, then come back and share with the group! And there will be tea and scones.
Contact: jonathan, ika & gaylourdes
Online Video for Queer Ratbags - how to use new web video tools for distribution
(workshop, but not really hands-on as there won't be any computers)
Distribution on the Internet offers filmmakers producing video about social justice and environmental issues a new affordable and scalable distribution model. Many different skills are required for individuals involved in independent production, now filmmakers must also be web savvy in order to use the Internet as part of their distribution strategy. An understanding of video compression and how to use free online video services is becoming essential in this age of digital distribution. This workshop will introduce participants to a variety of distribution projects online including the new EngageMedia.org website, and give practical advice on issues such as copyright/left licensing (such as Creative Commons), as well as encoding and uploading your video to the web.
Contact: Anna
Poofters and dykes under Maltese beds
(discussion)
This workshop will discuss the ban of a talk to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the publication of The Pink Book, the first book on homosexuality in the Maltese language. We will also discuss the invisibility of gay men and lesbians within the Maltese diaspora in Australia and the homophobia of Maltese leaders in Australia. If available to have a powerpoint presentation on the gay scene in Malta during the 1940s and 1950s.
Contact: Joseph
Procession: Manifesting an Organic Solidarity
(workshop & procession)
A 2 hr workshop on participation techniques for PROCESSION. This will be followed by a 1 hr manifestation through Brunswick and Northcote to Joint Hassles Gallery on High Street for PROCESSION Reception. There will be several microstations prior to departure (see program page for more details). PROCESSION wishes to dislocate commonplace demonstration clichés by experiencing them in a different way. This will embed new meaning and create new traditions. The focus of PROCESSION will be a carefully-considered chain of ideas stemming from the workshop, that looking back, will relate to sex and gender.
Contact: Timothy
Pump Love: The Love Pump's Guide To Flirting
(workshop, mostly in seminar form but with some audience participation activities)
Marrickville Jelly Wrestling Federation sensation The Love Pump, aka Mr Pole-Or-Hole, presents an insight into his legendary flirting abilities. Covers vital topics including making a great first impression, the essential attitudes of successful flirtation, and overcoming the fear of flirting.
Contact: The Love Pump
queer secrets: show and tell from the Archives
(show & tell, discussion & how to)
The Australian Gay and Lesbian Archives is like a secret box of stories: tales to inspire new types of living and new types of action, stories to remind you things haven’t always been like this and plenty to get you hot and sweaty too. At this workshop we’ll share a few of these stories and show you some Archives treasures. Learn about FTMs of the 1800s, Australia’s oldest lesbian, secret hiding spots for camp men in the 40s and much more. If you’re feeling a bit despondent about the state of queer activism then perhaps tales from the Gay Rights Embassy will inspire you with garden parties, exorcisms and camping! And we’ll also talk a bit about the early National Homosexual Conferences - the ancestors of Camp Betty perhaps?
There’ll be the opportunity to chat about getting involved in the Archives and we can also talk about doing your own archiving if you’re interested.
The workshop will be led by Graham Carbery and Gary Jaynes who’ve been saving queer history for almost 30 years and Esther, who’s a queer history fanatic too.
Contact: Esther
Radical Schmadical: love and sex
(facilitated discussion)
What is a radical relationship? How can we make radical relationships work? Don't come thinking we can give you any answers. Hell, if we knew we wouldn't bother running this workshop. Maybe we'd be so blissed out and loved up we wouldn't have time for anything else. Anyway, bring your questions and ideas and let's see if we can learn something from each other.
Readings:
1. For Lovers and Fighters - by Dean Spade (external link)
2. Grief As A Resource For Politics (review of Judith Butler, Precarious Life. The Powers of Mourning and Violence) - by Susanne Buckley-Zistel (external link)
Contact: Kathy & Tallace
Responsible Sexuality (for men)
(workshop)
A workshop exploring different ideas that influence
men's social and sexual conduct. The narratives which
we explore will be solely determined by the group who
choose to attend, however i am personally influenced
and inspired by the Philly Dudes Collective, What Do
We Do When zine, Doris zine, Philly is Pissed, and the
amazing bell hooks and her book; The Will To Change:
Men, Masculinity and Love. This will not be a
"Refusing To Be A Man" type castigation as I believe
disempowerment and shame are a very large factor in
men's continual refusal to address their own violence
and Patriarchy more broadly. I am fucking tired of the
onus being on wom*n to call men out on their shit.
This workshop is about disseminating the idea that we
are responsible for our actions no matter the cause.
As well as being an exploration of some of the more
destructive tableaux within the male psyche in the
hopes of deconstructing them and putting some more
positive tenet's in their place. I am (all too) aware
of the weight and complexity of these issues and some
of the content in this workshop may be triggering to
some, however i feel that if we do not address these
destructive narratives now, then things will only get
worse for ourselves and those around us.
Workshop is only for boi's (not just for men)
Contact: Matt
Sex, identity and capitalism: politics & prospects
(talk, chat, analyse, plan?)
Between 1999 and 2002 queer anti-capitalist groups formed in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney. A radical queer group was also operating in Perth at this time. These four groups intervened to varying degrees into Australian anti-capitalism, arguing that sex and gender should be central to the debate, and gaining a high degree of public prominence, particularly in Melbourne. Yet by 2002 all three groups were dead.
This workshop will explore the historical legacy of these groups, their impact on Australian anti-capitalism and the prospects for a critical queer take on capitalist relations now.
Both workshop organisers were participants in these groups and have researched queer anti-capitalism in a variety of settings.
Contact: Mark & Liz
Sex Wars: The Musical or... Which Side Story
(work in progress performance/rehearsal/audition/history lesson)
In the 1980s and 90s, lesbian communities grappled with a whole heap of arguments around sex and power. What is feminist sex? Does pornography cause rape? And what about consensual violence, where did that fit in? As sex-positive lesbians faced off against radical feminists and anti-pornography activists things got vicious and new lines were drawn: which side are you on?
The Lesbian Sex Mafia! Dastardly alliances with Christians! Daggy leather vests! Now what better material could you have for a musical?
Drawing on writings from those involved in the sex wars in the US, England and Australia we want to bring to life those heady days and investigate the legacies of the time - in song!
At this workshop we'll introduce key debates of the time and the major players. We'll give you an exclusive sneak preview of the musical and then you'll have an opportunity to contribute ideas and be part of the development process.
No musical or historical experience required. BYO leather vest.
Reading: Charges of exclusion & McCarthyism at Barnard conference
Contact: Esther & Tanya
Sexing The World: The politics of sex beyond the bedroom
(seminar & workshop)
The radical French philosophers, Deleuze and Guattari, propose a radical project of schizoanalysis, which has the potential to dismantle dominant ways of understanding sexuality. We see value in Deleuzo-Guattarian inspired thought to the extent that it prompts an awareness of the degree to which sexuality and sexual politics are part of everyday life. In this workshop, we will explore the concept of sexuality including, but also extending beyond, personal sexual pleasure – in what ways can we understand social systems and practices as being sexed? What implications does this have for thinking sex as a form of political activism? And what does the idea of schizoanalysis contribute to such projects?
This workshop will also include a facilitated reading-group discussion that draws on two set readings to think about sex in terms that extend beyond human sexual acts. Discussion of the readings will be invited in response to these quotations, which have been abstracted from reading number one:
‘The truth is that sexuality is everywhere: the way a bureaucrat fondles his records, a judge administers justice, a businessman causes money to circulate; the way the bourgeoisie fucks the proletariat; and so on’. (Deleuze and Guattari, 1983: 293)
‘Schizoanalysis is the variable analysis of n sexes in a subject, beyond anthropomorphic representation that society imposes on this subject, and with which it represents its own sexuality. The schizoanalytic slogan of the desiring-revolution will be first of all: to each its own sexes’ (Deleuze and Guattari 1983: 296)
Readings:
1. Deleuze, G. & Guattari, F. (1977) ‘Introduction to Schizoanalysis’ Anti-Oedipus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press. pp. 273-382 (PDF)
2. Cohen J. J. & Ramlow T. R. ‘Pink Vectors of Deleuze: Queer Theory and Inhumanism’ Rhizomes 11/12(2006) (external link)
3. Hardt, Micheal. 'Anti-Oedipus: Part 4' (external link)
Contact: Anna & Peta
Sistergirls: Stories from Indigenous Australian Transgenders
(DVD screening)
A ‘story telling' video-documentary of four Indigenous Australian sistergirls this documentary projects positive images of Indigenous Australian sistergirls - giving people an insight into why we live our lives the way we do. It also raises a number of issues that have, and continue to impact on our lives. Transgenderism within contemporary Indigenous Australian societies is often invisible, which may mean issues for sistergirls are often overlooked. The use of the term ‘sistergirl' is a self adopted term, recognising that the western definitions of transgender or gay do not reflect the culture and lived reality of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander transgender people. Discussion about transgender/ sistergirl identity is ongoing, as there are no clearly defined boundaries. The relationships within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities have their own unique make-up and are often entwined with other cultural and spiritual structures. The western identity construct of transgenderism does not easily fit within these structures. In the documentary the sistergirls talk about sistergirl identity and explain how this term is used in Indigenous communities. (Text by Kooncha Brown)
Contact: Joni
A Strapping Idea: make your own vegan dildo harness
(hands on, sewing harness)
Throw off the shackles of commodification and strap yourself into this. A workshop for crafty types who want to sew their own dildo harness. Materials from seatbelt webbing and recycled tire rubber will be provided, though you should feel free to bring along any special material you would like to incorporate. Places are strictly limited to 15, though i might be persuaded to do a repeat workshop if people are keen enough. Register at the InfoCamp at Irene.
Contact: Tallace
Supporting Survivors of sexual assault/rape
(workshop)
We want to talk about how we can support survivors of sexual assault/rape
in a world where we are socialized to sympathize with the perpetrator
before the survivor, where sexual assault/rape is constantly ignored and
survivors silenced, blamed and vilified. We need to look at the way we
automatically respond to sexual assault, the way we put survivors on
trial. Our responses to a survivor’s disclosure can affect the
survivor’s path and how they deal with their own trauma and heal for
years to come. Survivor based support prioritises the feelings and reality
of the survivor above all else, and at all times. We want to talk about
our own ideas and experiences of what are good ways to support someone,
personally and in a community, what is hard and what is needed. Some things
We want to cover: -Common reactions of survivors- understanding what
sexual assault can mean, and how it may manifest itself, -Listening &
safety- ways to believe and validate someone, ‘how not to react’, myths
about sexual assault that are destructive to survivors. -Supporting
survivors- what can we do, what can’t we do? -Supporting supporters and
ourselves- common feelings for ‘secondary victim/survivors’, how hard it
can be to support someone, helping yourself and your own history,
complications for supporters, confidentiality and space. -Trust,
relationships, intimacy and sex for survivors and their(our) partners-
communication and negotiation within relationships, sex and body issues
and triggering, rebuilding trust… -Space for survivors.
Contact: World Without collective
Trans Healthcare in Melbourne: Creative Solutions and Strategies
(A public thinkfest)
Hands up who thinks trans healthcare in Melbourne isn't good enough? Surely the bad old days of gender variant people being labelled as having a disease are over... or are they? Why do our doctors ask us not to tell too many of our trans friends that they're prescribing us hormones? Why are we forced to attend a 70's-era gender dysphoria clinic, or outlay thousands of dollars for private psychiatric, surgical and endocrinological care? Why is it wrong that poor people come out the worst in this scenario?
This think and talkfest starts from a premise that we need better healthcare for trans people, more community involvement in healthcare provision from transpeople rather than doctors and 'experts', and that this healthcare should be publicly funded. Here is a safe space for people to talk about their experiences finding treatment, what changes need to happen, and how best to work to change the system.
Everyone is welcome: transsexual, transgender, ftm, mtf, cross-dressers, genderqueer, non-trans or something else entirely.
Bring food and drink to share.
Contact: Az
WTF was that then!? Looking back at Gay Liberation
(conversation, with perhaps some rant, debate and dialogue thrown in)
Everything you think you know about Gay Lib is wrong (unles you are well-informed, of course). Michael Hurley (who was there) and Graham Willett (who caught the tail end but is a historian who has read all about it) in conversation with each other -- and with anyone else who turns up -- on such weighty matters as what Gay Lib did, what it wanted, what it achieved and how, and what it all might mean for today.
Contact: Graham and Michael
Womyns self defence class
(practical workshop)
This is a practical workshop, which will include hands on self defence as well as using our bodies and voices to say NO. Ground fighting will also be explored. We want to equip womyn with the skills, both physically, verbally and assertively to defend themselves in a variety of situations, including during sexual interactions. This can be especially useful for sex workers, and those who want to be able to explore sex safely.
Contact: Nissa & Tara
The Zapatistas and the Otra Compa ña; Communication with Mexico
(video link-up with Claudia, an activist involved in 'la otra' in Mexico)
'And it is not just the workers of the countryside and of the city who appear in this globalization of rebellion, but others also appear who are much persecuted and despised for the same reason, for not letting themselves be dominated, like women, young people, the indigenous, homosexuals, lesbians, transsexual persons, migrants and many other groups who exist all over the world but who we do not see until they shout ya basta of being despised, and they raise up, and then we see them, we hear them, and we learn from them.' (The 6th Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle)
Since New Years Day 1994, when the Zapatistas burst forth from the jungles in Mexico's south they have provided an important beacon of hope to the radical left internationally. With their cries of 'everything for everyone, nothing for ourselves', and 'one no, many yeses', the Zapatistas have long linked their campaigns for Indigenous autonomy and dignity to a multitude of struggles around the world. Particularly, with their explanation that they were a guerilla army who rejected the idea of taking state power, they represent an important 'new' politics and new possibilities for liberation. Recently, the Zapatistas have emerged from a period of silence to launch the 'otra compaña' or 'other campaign', again a rejection of a state-centred politics in favour of one that seeks possibilities of developing a new civil society with various other groups in Mexico and around the world. At Camp Betty, we share the Zapatistas desire for a politics of international solidarity and autonomy and have invited a speaker to talk to us, from Mexico, about 'la otra compaña', and particularly its possibilties for queer and feminist struggle in Mexico, Australia, and the rest of the world.
Claudia is an activist involved particularly in queer and feminist struggles as part of 'la otra'. She will be speaking via video link-up from Mexico.
Contact: Tanya on behalf of Claudia