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| Newsletter (March 2002) | ||
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OUT LINES Published
by PFLAG South
JOYCE AND CES NICHOLLS: PIONEER PARENTS Joyce Nicholls was welcomed as guest speaker at our February meeting. Joyce and her late husband Ces were pioneers in the field of support for the Dunedin gay and lesbian community. Their son Alex was in England when he phoned his parents to tell them he was gay and it was after his return to Dunedin in 1987 that they opened their home to many young gay men and helped Alex run dances for the gay community in the late 1980’s. Among the unlikely venues for the dances were the Sawyers Bay Scouts’ Hall and the Wool Exchange. Both created logistical problems. There was no kitchen at the Wool exchange so Joyce prepared hot dishes for supper and delivered the food wrapped in towels and blankets. For the Sawyers Bay dance Ces ran a shuttle service for party goers from the city to avoid the possibility of anyone being breathalysed on the way home. Alex became involved in Icebreakers, a support group for young men and Joyce became used to welcoming gay teenagers into her home. Many poured out their concerns to her about their relationships with their parents. Some were thrown out of the family. Alex now works as Coordinator of UNIQ, a support group for GLBT people on the campus of the University of Otago and Joyce continues to support him in whatever ways she is able. Ces died in 1989 and Joyce was particularly appreciative of the support given her then by many of the young men whom she and Ces had helped as teenagers. Even now an unexpected bouquet of flowers will be delivered to her door. Her life she said had been enriched by her involvement in the gay community and in assisting Alex with his work.
FINANCIAL SUPPORT PFLAG South has recently benefited from a generous donation from the Dominican Sisters and from a grant of $1500 from the Community Organisations Grants Scheme. It was wonderful to learn of these contributions which will be so useful in funding our work. Our grateful thanks to both organisations and to Sharon who prepared our application for the COGS grant.
NEW WOMEN’S GROUP PFLAG South has recently been advised of the establishment of a new community-based group for queer women in Dunedin called "WAQD". Their aim is to provide a safe space for queer women of all ages (lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning) to hang out, have fun and meet new people! WAQD have weekly social lunches on campus Wednesdays 12 - 2pm in the women's room and regular social activities as advertised via email, the women's room board, the critic and their web-page http://www.waqd.netfirms.com WAQD can be emailed at <waqd@hermailcenter.com> PFLAG South is pleased to learn of this new group as over recent months, we have had a number of enquiries from lesbians wanting to contact a group just like this one. We are happy to support WAQD.
PREPARING FOR THE DUNEDIN YOUTH EXPO It was 17 December and the activities of PFLAG South were all but a distant memory yet that was the day our Christmas present arrived. It was a forwarded email alerting us to a Youth Expo for Otago 4th formers planned for March 2002. Could PFLAG have a display there? Our work seemed to fit the criteria of the steering committee; · “To increase resiliency and help seeking behaviour pathways in Otago’s Year 10 students by showcasing as many services and other opportunities that are available to this age group”. It looked like an important opportunity for outreach by PFLAG South and already we had prepared many of the resources required for such an event. Suddenly it seemed that Christmas was but a minor event on the calendar and that the real effort was still 3 months off. Computers hummed with emails of draft proposals. Decisions were made at a planning meeting and confirmed at our first PFLAG South meeting for 2002. To encourage students to examine our stall a competition was planned which required entrants to identify notable gay or lesbian identities from a photographic display and then enter a draw for prizes of double passes to the Hoyts cinema. Many of our pamphlets would already be suitable but some new material was required for young people who might learn that they had a gay or lesbian friend. It was a challenge to create resources which would be suitably informative and affirming and yet not be found offensive by the more conservative. Is that really possible?
CATCHING THE BREEZE (Part of an email from Erin’s daughter Elizabeth) Dear Mum and Susan I was reminded of you both today because we were listening to the radio (the Breeze I think) and they have a session where listeners write and you're asked for advice. This morning the letter was from a woman whose son wrote from London to say he was gay. She wrote that her husband was a homophobe (while being a lovely man!) and she didn't know if she should tell him. Of course I called in. My advice was: 1. Check with the son whether he wanted her to tell his father or not 2. If so, discuss it with the father. People can do turnarounds when it's their own child (not some freaky thing on tv) and distance often makes things easier. I also thought this was an issue that needed to be sorted as part of their relationship if the father continued to have a problem. 3. Finally I said that help was at hand. She was not alone. She could go to PFLAG South and get support and information from people who've all been through this. I advised her to go to the website and go from there. I figured you had done other publicity so you wouldn't mind. I was actually about to boast that my mother and godmother were ringleaders but had to let other people give their ideas as well. At the end, the announcer said that was particularly good advice from Elizabeth and people should check out the website!
See
also the report on PFLAGSouth's participation in the recent Youth
Mental Health Expo... COPIES OF PREVIOUS NEWSLETTERS: |
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