Melbourne Sundays: A Year of Community

It’s been 12 months since the first group of Melbourne friends met on a Sunday afternoon to talk about reviving a sense of community for lesbians and gay men.

Since that first meeting in October, we have thrilled by the number of people who have been in touch, been to a group meeting or a social event. We have shared our sense of loss, our feelings of anger, bewilderment and dismay at what is happening for lesbians and gay men under the LGBTIQA regime, and our delight, wonder and relief at finding like-minded people and a place where we can express and explore our thoughts and beliefs.

These discussions have taken place face to face around our city, in a legal context where we cannot publicly promote these gatherings without risking being cancelled as a hate group and having self-righteous activists coming after our livelihood or peace of mind.

At these gatherings, the relief of finding that we are not alone is palpable. There are many of us who are disgusted by the lies, deceptions and misrepresentations of premiers and ministers, journalists, doctors, CEOs of public institutions and their HR and Comms departments, and deeply hurt and saddened by the loss of friends and a community that views even the mildest questioning of claims about innate gender identities or sex being a spectrum as intolerable.

For some, coming to a session has taken great courage, only to be welcomed into lively discussions and debates about gender medicine, pronouns at work, the overreach of the rainbow lobby and fears about a coming backlash, the postmodern madness of universities, the loss of women’s rights and women’s only spaces, and the feeling that our experiences, history and community organisations has been stolen from us.

Who would have thought, but these are fun and interesting and affirming events.

If you are in Victoria, can make it to Melbourne for a face to face gathering on a Sunday afternoon and would like to come along, don’t hesitate to email leenie@lgballiance.org.au