Pride Line vox pops, file 4

Pride Line vox pops, 4-29 May 2023
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Prideline_2023-05-04_1211.mp3

00:00:24.696

I came out as bisexual when I was 12 and have been in a relationship with a woman and with men. And I'm not sure whether I am bisexual or just a lesbian. And it's been an interesting journey. But it's been fun.

Prideline_2023-05-06_1746.mp3

00:10:00.123

Hello Pride Line, My name is Alexander Dallas (?) and I'm here to share my story. Everything I can, that I have said so far and will say can be used for public purposes. I am happy to be contacted by my phone number at any time. And get on with my Pride story, shall we?

So I am 19 at the time of recording this, and it was like, I've identified as lesbian for so long without really realising it. I've had conversations with my mum in the past. And she knew from when I was five years old that I was going to identify as liking the same sex. And I didn't know until 14 years old. Because obviously, when you're five you don't understand anything got to do with your sexuality. But I always knew that my clothes and the way I present myself was always a part of my identity. And yes, so, um...

I didn't, I, I struggled actually a lot with my sexuality. Although I have been always very comfortable in expressing who I am. In high school and early high school, I struggled a lot with my identity because of the fact that I went to an all girls high school and I actually never wanted to go to this high school. But because it's in my local area, I ended up going to it. And, I never, I always, found the same sex attractive more than the opposite. But I never. I could never, I never was able to explain it to myself. I never had anyone explain it to me, actually, in private school, the story of how I figured out even remotely what gay culture was.

And what kind of led me to the journey of figuring out my sexual orientation very earlier on, in early, in late primary school was because I used to go to a school that was co-ed and you would have classes that were composite and one of the girls in the older years asked me once on the way home from school how, how do you get home? And I said I go by the bus. She said, buses are gay, buses are gay. And I, I was, I was so struck by that word gay. I was literally the whole way home that time that day. I just never. I was like, what does this mean? What does gay mean? And you know, from the context of what, how she was telling me, she was telling me, uh, that, you know ,like they're, they're gay, like a negative connotation of the word gay.

So that wasn't a positive, that that really solidified how culture, um. Still to this day, these LGBTQ terms as a way of using it, derogatory. You know, I would have, I used to get called a Shemale by some friends I used to have and I never, I was like, why does this sound so bad? I don't even know what a shemale was until, you know, you do research and you realise that it's a pornographic term to identify trans people. It's just, you know, like, sad, you hear all these words and it's just awful. And you know that, that's a whole conversation with gay people trying to reclaim those words. Just how African Americans and Africans in general, that ethnicity, they they try to reclaim the the N word. That's that's just what they've been trying to do in America for so many years and I feel like, as, a lesbian in in in gay culture in general, I I've, I've always had a hard, being between a Hard Rock and a whatever the term is, like I've always struggled with people, other gay people calling other gay people fags and cause you know that brings up trauma and and moving forward as a culture is really hard in that sense. But yeah, so that's my little tangent on those terms. But yeah.

So I I I was really confused about buses again. What? What does that mean? What does gay mean? And so when I came home, I actually searched up what the meaning of gay was, and that's when I actually found out, oh, you can be attracted to the same sex. And I said, oh, this is so, this, this open, this, this, this is maybe something that I would be interested in, interested in. Little did I know, that I was already interested in that, in in in that stuff to say, I was already interested in same sexes in I was attracted to other girls in primary. It's just that I, I saw it very, from a romantic point, not exactly full on sexually, because I was just at the beginning stages of puberty. But it really did, it, it didn't, it didn't answer all my questions though, because I didn't know what my sexuality was. Even when I discovered that lesbian and gay were terms that that actually described liking someone from the same sex versus being a heterosexual person. And I never saw myself as a heterosexual heterosexual either. Um, that was really confusing.

And for many years I actually used to come out to people on Facebook that weren't even my real friends, but we just mutual friends that I have on Facebook. I would just message people coming out as bisexual without actually, without, without actually understanding myself. Who am I? I was already trying to tell people who I was, and then it's because I was insecure and felt forced into, I, like, I thought I was the only one really knowing about this stuff. Little did I know that there's a whole population of people that identify with with these terms and everything in between that hasn't been described yet or whatever. Just some someone that is non-binary in the sense of how they identify themselves.

I think that, you know, it's very, very hard to come out and and you know, there's even conversation about why, why, why in culture, we, in gay culture we should even consider coming out. You know, because clearly you know, straight people don't, but it's because it's assumed so much in society that just, you know, everyone, or most people or majority are straight and that's clearly not the case. And there's a whole history of Lesbos in ancient Greece of the term being the lesbian word term being derived from Lesbos. I didn't even learn that word, Lesbos. I didn't even knew that existed until the end of high school.

And I actually, you know, I'm going to a high school with all girls and being only, the only really out, out gay person from the start. That that was the crown I held on my head for the longest time. Um, and I obviously, I still do because it means so much to me. Although in high school I used to think that that was all I had to offer to people, was to represent gay cultural. Clearly, I'm I'm a fool, four dimensional plus more of a human. I have interests and I have other things that I like to do on my spare time, Exercise, hang out with family, everything else. Um, but yeah, so.

That's when I figured out the words. And that's when I kind of was starting to tell people, hey, I like girls without actually saying, I full on, just like girls because I was using the bisexual term to try and make it seem passable I think. Or or just to ease off the fact of the word lesbian. Like people like all through high school, are you lesbian? The way they say it ,it's like it's a bad [ends abruptly]

Prideline_2023-05-06_1756.mp3

00:10:00.121

Hello, Pride Line. My name is Alexander Dallas (?). I am 19. I'm here to share with you my Pride story and I'm happy for everything I'm about to say, and have said, to be used for your guy's, for your guys' archives. So I'm sorry. Um, I'm 19 at the moment of me recording this, and I've officially figured out early on in high school, in 2016/2017, I would say, that, that I was a lesbian or I am a lesbian.

Yeah, so at the start of primary school, I didn't know. At the end, yeah. So at the start and at the end, during the whole primary school, I, I knew that I liked girls without actually and without actually realising that, that was even a thing. It was until I was in year six, year five, year six that terminologies like gay, lesbian, describing same same sex attraction, sexually, mentally, emotionally, that that was, that that was even a thing. That that's when I I kind of, my mind opened up at that stage, and I, I was always emotionally attracted to girls.

Even when I was really young. I, I present more on the masculine spectrum as people would say. I wouldn't necessarily categorise myself as butch, or any other terms. I describe my fashion sense as my own, as I've always been unique and never really, and I never follow trends. Um, but, yeah. So by, by me wearing my clothes, the clothes that I wear and wore in the past, my mum actually knew when I was 5. My mum knew that I would like girls. Because of how I, the listen, the music, I listen to when I was young, Michael Jackson, Usher, Justin Bieber, all these like male R&B singers, they were actually talking about some sexual stuff. But you know, when you're too, when you're young, you don't, you don't understand it. So, it's, it it went over my head obviously. But, yeah, so that's how my mum, and that's how I think my mum would would know. She could, she could see it, the way I carry myself and how I'm confident it, it all adds up to my sexuality and more, and who I am and a part of my identity as a person.

But yeah, I, I only figured out the word gay and later on lesbian was by walking home from school in year six with a girl that ran up and and pushed me and she was really, she was very butch presenting. She played rugby with with the boys, was, was big in size and I was just never that. I was always pretty, pretty, pretty much on the slim side. I wouldn't call myself skinny, but I was slim. And she would, she asked me one day, "Oh, how do you get home from school?", and I said "I go, I go home by bus". She said to me, "Buses are gay." So already, a bad introduction to the word gay, because everyone uses it in society, LGBT related words and descriptions like shemale to, to, to slander people, people that identify with, you know, being trans or gay, anything of that sort. Those words wasn't designed for that. And that's a whole other conversation, especially with how African Americans especially and Africans, they they try to reclaim, especially in American culture, the N word. And I feel like, as gay people and LGBT people, we we tried to reclaim the word faggot and fag and everything. And I feel, like it's a tough line to draw, when when using those words. But that's clearly another story for another time.

Yeah, so when I came home from, from, school, from school, I searched up the word gay and that's when I finally realised. Cut to when I'm in year seven year 8, early high school. I went to an all girls high school, where I do not want to be there, but I I tried to make the most of it and I actually was one of, one of the first openly gay girls in my high school. Now there's so many girls in that high school now that I've seen. When I, when I've grown up and they've came into school that they, they silently see me on the playground and they look at me like, we get you, and I get them.

It's not like it's openly spoken about and especially, in, in sex ed [education] I only learnt about straight sex. So for me, I had to educate myself through other sources to even learn about that stuff as well. So I kind of got the short end of the stick. I didn't, just because of my identity, I didn't get the education. Um in that aspect that other, that other straight girls in my year were getting. And also a few girls in my, in my year at the end of high school actually ended up coming out as bisexual. Obviously they were very quiet about it, but you know, rumours spread. And, and good for them. I'm happy for them as well.

Um, yeah. So, in early high school I would look at this girl and I just thought, oh, she's a nice girl, she's pretty and, you know, like everyone liked her. And she, she had an energy in the room where she could just be friends with everyone and was very admirable. That, that was all it was. It was an observation. It wasn't like an emotional feeling. But obviously, other girls observed whatever they thought they were observing and assumed that I had a crush on this girl when clearly I didn't. I, I, I, I actually got told off by the older sister of this girl because she thought I had a crush on her. And actually, around this time, that's when everyone was like, thinking I had a crush on this girl. And I'm like, wait, that means you guys are saying, assuming that I'm gay. And that's when I kind of realise like, oh crap, I am a lesbian/gay person.

Um and I struggled a lot through high school. I, I didn't. Yeah. So I struggled, but not in the sense of my identity. I was very comfortable in my identity. It was that other people were uncomfortable with my identity. And that's when, that's where difficulties happen, happen because I would be, be accused of being a creep around other girls or, or anything of that sort. And I would actually, a girl actually used to try to beat me up. And actually, she ended up leaving the school. But like, a week before, or two weeks before, she she called me up in front of the whole class and called me slut, skank, uh, every word in the dictionary thesaurus book.

You know, I didn't have the best reputation, I I, but I did, I I think I should identify myself in high school as someone that pushed gay culture to make other, to make other closeted, or other females, even if they are straight, comfortable, comfortable with their presentation. And with being different because a lot of people are scared to be different these days, no matter where other people come from. And I think that sucks, and especially with social media. You have different groups and clicks on there with trends and TikTok, it's just too much.

And I think that, with what, with the New South Wales State Library, I think that the exhibition that's going on at the moment is historical and will go down in in history. And that's probably the closest I'm going to get to celebrating Pride Month for a while. Because I haven't, I have [ends abruptly]

Prideline_2023-05-07_1204.mp3

00:02:02.293

I do not wish for this message to be contacted back to me. So basically, I'm literally gay and I like girls, in an all girls school. And I literally, just wanna like, you know, kiss them all. But it's kind of awkward because, like, all the popular girls don't like me and they're literally non gay, right? Like, they know I'm gay. Like they can sense it. The first day everybody was like, oh, she's literally gay.

And it's really funny now, but at the time it was like, oh damn, I'm literally the only gay person here. Until, I literally met my current friend group and they're all gay too. Not for each other though, cause like, no homo, right? And basically like, I don't even know what I am right now. I just know I'm gay and not straight, right? Oh shoot, people are walking past now. They know I'm gay. So I'm not out yet to like literally anybody, apart from Charlie. Charlie also, Say hi. Hello. Charlie's also very gay. Not for me, though. Like, you know.

Basically, I don't even know what I am, right? So I'm just here, like, trying to figure it out, right? But like, how do you figure it out? You know? Like, sure, I've kissed a girl before and I liked it, and I've kissed a boy before and I.... It was OK. You know, it was like, whatever. But basically, literally, there's like four guys in the world who are hot and there's literally like 70 million girls in the world that are hot too, you know? So like.

I'm not lesbian, you know? But like, what am I? You know, please get, actually, don't get back to me about this. Literally. I don't want to live in a hole anymore and I'm going to do something about it. OK, well that's literally it. But like, actually. My name is. My name is Jemima Harrison and I, I'm gay. That's my story. I love you.

Prideline_2023-05-08_1058.mp3

00:01:42.241

Uh, yeah. I, I guess I'm just going to talk about coming out to my dad and how he's a little bit apprehensive, but I hope he understands somewhat.

Uh, I was doing a recital for a band that I was in. And I just, I don't know why I decided to come out that day. But, I was just like, I was super, super, super nervous before the whole practise and I couldn't really focus at all. And then it ended. I was also super nervous, but I just decided to, decided to tell him.

This was after years of, being kind of on and off with the idea of coming out. Like I always had this. Um. I was just thought maybe I shouldn't tell him. But I don't know why I decided, I decided to, so I. I just told him and then.

I wasn't really sure what to think of his reaction. He just, he just. I thought he was gonna kick me out. I was really nervous because. Yeah, I don't really know. I. But. I told him and he seemed OK with it.

But something that was a bit, like, iffy for me is he just, he told me that, like, in this current day and age, not to feel pressured to fit into an identity. So, I feel with that comment he is kind of implying it was, it is a bit of a phase, which I don't like but. Hmm. Yeah, that's my story.

Prideline_2023-05-10_1436.mp3

00:00:17.388

I still don't know who I am. I'm just like fell in love with others. Maybe I'm just a person who is full of love.

Prideline_2023-05-17_1629.mp3

00:01:22.693

Hey, my name is Ying and from China. I have a girlfriend and her name is True and we be together like, almost three years, but we broke up like three months ago. And we are both a student from Australian National University. So that's where we start our relationship. But after we broke up, I come back to Australia by myself and she's still in the in China.

And. You know, it's really different when you have a girlfriend in China. It's like you couldn't tell anyone. It's not couldn't, It's better not. And sometimes you experience, your parents maybe don't understand you at all and you could tell some of our close friends. But yeah, it's pretty hard for the lesbian or LGBTQI in China. I hope that things will get better.

Prideline_2023-05-17_1723.mp3

00:03:29.271

So my name is Mercedes, like the car Mercedes Benz. No one understands my name. I'm from Argentina. I moved to Melbourne three years ago as an international student.

I got out of the closet, if you still say that, I could out last year when I fell in love with Francesca Latana. I always knew I was gay, bisexual, whatever. I always knew it, since I was like 12. But I never was comfortable.

I never felt comfortable in my town, in my country, with my family and my house and yeah. Argentina is not a really welcome place for that. So I never admitted it and I never did anything about it and I just hid it.

I hid it so deep inside that it turned out to be confusing and I didn't see it as love. I saw it as obsession with my best mates or as something very, very wrong with me. Until I came here to Melbourne, to Australia and I felt safe enough, enough and comfortable enough for me to see it and for me to do something about it.

Um, I hid my girlfriend from my family for a few months, scared of what they would say. Not only scared of what they would say, but also scared that if they didn't like it, they would just stop calling. And they would just end any kind of relationship with me because it's really easy to do that if you're so far away from them.

Umm. I told them a few months later, and they were ok with it. They said literally. They just said ok. If you're happy, we're happy. But then they never mention it again. Not. Not. Not much. Not, not like they would do it with my ex boyfriend.

And then my mum came for a visit after three years of not seeing each other. She came and we finally talked about it. And they feel uncomfortable with it. They accept it, but they don't understand it. I guess they feel uncomfortable with it and they don't understand this kind of galleries that they show all this pride.

But they love me, I guess. And that's what they said, that we understand you and we're going to understand it because you're happy with it and we cannot do anything about it. And they told me that they would love me no matter what.

Now my main goal would be for them to be comfortable with it and for them to, you know, love my girlfriend as much as I do. Um, pretty soon I think it will happen. I'm a pretty persistent person, so yeah. I'm doing that at the moment, but yeah, this is my pride story.

I think Melbourne help me a lot, I know this Sydney, but Melbourne made me feel comfortable, and Australia has made me feel comfortable. So yeah, thank you for that.

Prideline_2023-05-20_1452.mp3

00:00:25.164

Hello, happy belated pride to everyone. It's now May the 20th 2023. My name is Louise. I live in Sydney. And I am a lesbian. I have been for a long time and still find it hard sometimes to come out to people and always feel like I have to explain that my partner is a woman. Very weird in 2023 and still feel the need to do that. Anyway, we have marriage equality now, so that's good. See you.

Prideline_2023-05-24_1145.mp3

00:00:26.640

Hi, my name is Ben. I attended my first Sydney Mardi Gras in 1995 when I was in year 12 at school and my current exciting story is that I just got married to my partner of six years, David in Columbia. So, very happy that same sex marriage is here and we are going to live happily ever after. That's the plan anyway. Bye.

Prideline_2023-05-24_1437.mp3

00:01:07.789

This is Kyle from the United States with Gustavo from Brazil. I came out when I was just 16 years old in the United States. I actually got caught coming out, so I didn't get to come out on my own, as I went to a party and I got caught being on a date with my first boyfriend. Gustavo came out when he was 24 years old. And he was only 27 when he came out to his family.

But we're very proud. We've been married now for four years and we just started our journey to travel the world. Australia being our first international stop, we're very excited to see how the world embraces us as LGBT, as part of the LGBT community. So we're excited to see all the different places and what gay life they have, and we're very proud to be a happily gay couple.

Prideline_2023-05-24_1616.mp3

00:00:13.212

Hey, I'm T. I'm 15, I'm Cantonese and I'm Australian and I'm a lesbian. And I'm non binary. Thank you. Bye. Bye.

Prideline_2023-05-27_1235.mp3

00:00:10.296

Pride is about being able to be your authentic self in a workplace.

Prideline_2023-05-27_1454.mp3

00:00:59.940

I'd actually forgotten this story. It was my first Pride ever, and I had decided I'm going to go. I'm clearly more than curious. I'm not going to get dress up, but I'm going to go.

I hop on the train and there are just two stops left to the march and I see this guy I know with his girlfriend and he's like, why are all these people wearing these weird, revealing clothes? What is going on in the city?

I tried to evade the topic and it was awkward. And then at the last stop, I decided I couldn't keep this up anymore. And I said, look man, there's Pride March in the city and it starts at 7:30. And then I walked off.

And it was probably a bigger deal than I thought at the time. It was the first time I'd voiced my who I was to someone I didn't know particularly well. And that's my Pride story.

Prideline_2023-05-27_1519.mp3

00:00:52.632

Hello. Hey. It's Cookie and Candy. What do we need to say? Have a beautiful day. Um. Be gay.

We are... what are we? Girls. We are two girls who just want to have fun and age 20 and 22, living in Newtown, NSW. Studying at the National Art School.

Great exhibition, really enjoyed it. Really, really good. OK. OK. That's all.

Prideline_2023-05-29_1148.mp3

00:00:43.272

My first pride was in Glasgow, Scotland and it was a very, very good day, very commercialised. But it was the first time that I realised that there was a whole community of people out there that were all over Scotland, in all shapes and sizes and all ages and all races.

It was very heartfelt and had to go with friends. Didn't have the confidence to go on my own, but it was a wonderful day. And there were some counter protests, and our protest just show them what was going on. There was just so much love and joy that day and it was brilliant.

Prideline_2023-05-14_1634.mp3

00:01:20.532

Hi, my name is Jackie and I'm a bisexual woman born in 1994. I always knew I was bi, but I found pride, overcame shame and embraced my identity in my early 20s.

I grew up in southern Sydney, and when the marriage of plebiscite came around, I fought for marriage equality for my community as activist in my local area. It was hard and I felt alone and vulnerable, but it's one of the things I've done that I'm most proud of.

When I was nine, my uncle died of AIDS in 2003. He was gay. I gained strength during the marriage equality protest from his memory and the memory of his life, and struggle and his determination to live as his authentic self.

After marriage equality, I went on to work for human rights and I continued to have relationships with both men and women.

I have a group of queer friends now and even belonged to a queer accepting church. I work in mental health and feel proud to advocate for queer people in my daily life and work. This is my pride story. Bye.
Pride Line vox pops, 4-29 May 2023