Queerstories

Adrian recalls a formative encounter with a boy at school, and reflects on how their memories of fighting intersects with their experiences of gender. Adrian Mouhajer is a non-binary lesbian Lebanese writer, fighter, and all-around class clown that never really grew out of it. They specialise in over-sharing and giving good hugs which surprisingly comes in handy when they fight because they prefer...

Mary tells a story she's well-versed in, one I’ve told herself in one form or another for as long as she can remember, but she reimagines it for where she is now. Mary Duong is a filmmaker and video artist. She created and co-wrote queer drama web series, ‘ TWO WEEKS’ , which premiered at Brisbane Queer Film Festival 2018, and won Best Web Series at the SAE ATOM Awards 2018. Through the Screen Que...

Madeleine recalls the markedly different approaches her family members took to chatting to her about disability. Award-winning comedian Madeleine Stewart has performed with the likes of Adam Hills, Rove McManus and Andrew Denton. A hilarious turn on ABC Tonightly with NDIS Fails showcased her ground-breaking exploration of disability and social norms. Practicing what she preaches, Madeleine won th...

Gary writes a letter to an idol and hopes it may one day reach her... Gary Lonesborough is a Yuin writer, who grew up on the Far South Coast of NSW as part of a large and proud Aboriginal family. Growing up a massive Kylie Minogue and North Queensland Cowboys fan, Gary was always writing as a child, and continued his creative journey when he moved to Sydney to study at film school. Gary has experi...

Raised on American culture, AJ trades in the high-rises of his council estate for the rolling hills of the Bay Area and the cramped, densely populated ends of London for the seemingly never-ending mansions of campus life. Making the NSW Raw Comedy State Finals in 2020, AJ Lamarque has written for a number of TV productions (currently being developed), and has appeared on podcasts such as Wax Quizz...

An excerpt from Peter's work in progress about his mother, a midwife runs through a village trying to find the person birthing. Peter Polites is a novelist from Western Sydney. He has written two queer noirs, Down the Hume and The Pillars, which won the 2020 NSW Premier’s Multicultural Literary Award. He also won the 2020 Woollahra Digital Literature Prize for Fiction. In 2021 he was the ACT Write...

As a child growing up in rural England, Jo discovers the queer God in unexpected places. Josephine Inkpin is the first openly and fully recognised transgender Anglican priest in Australia, now currently working as Minister of Pitt Street Uniting Church in Sydney. Chair of Equal Voices, the national network of LGBTIQ+ Christians and allies, Jo has also been a prominent leader in inter-faith, multic...

Glace's attempt to walk the opening ceremony goes pear-shaped despite, or perhaps because of, encounters with Sasha Velour, Xtina and Nicki Minaj. Glace Chase is an award winning multi-disciplinary “trans-queen” / performer / playwright / comedienne / screenwriter / tour guide / bon vivant. Glace created the world’s first Drag Queen Tour Guide business – Dream Queen Tours – named “Best Alternative...

Yalda shares his journey from Iran to Australia as a refugee. Yalda is an Iranian queer man, Radical Faerie, DJ, musician, poet, activist, and masseur. Now a Lismore local, Yalda grew up surrounded by lush green nature in the north of Iran, near the Caspian Sea. He attended an Islamic High School and his experiences in Iran led him to develop a strong passion for human rights and protesting injust...

Sophie likes playing with tools...she finds a beautiful way to share that passion with others. Sophie Wilksch is the Director of Shedding Community Workshop Inc, a not-for-profit organisation located in Mullumbimby. Sophie has 10 years experience in sustainable architecture, building and carpentry and established the workshop in May 2018. Sophie is trained in non-violent communication and Mental H...

After leaving Chile for Australia as a child, Huey has persistent questions about where he comes from, til a family secret is revealed that changes everything. Huey Acuna aka Ru Bella came to Australia from Chile in 1975 as a refugee with his family of 6. Huey has been performing as a Drag Queen for the past 15 years, and has been performing more broadly since 1988 including stage, TV and events,...

Jex shares a story about healing from trauma through therapy and music while working as a children's performer in regional NSW. Jex Lopez is mostly known amongst queers as a singer songwriting pianist. A vaudevillian cabaret noir artist, her music and style is intrinsically tied to her identity as a queer Latina Meztiça with Portuguese Indian heritage. Jex creates unconventional and elaborate cost...

Through their encounters with ghosts - sexual, familial, always magical - Peter questions what is real, and finds such encounters are more common than you'd think. Peter Lehner lives in the rainbow region and travels to connect with communities. Their many years of experience includes acting, directing and production of short films, TV, theatre and cabaret. Best known for their work with choirs an...

Soon after moving to Naarm, Travis moves into a sharehouse in Footscray, finding a sense of belonging that inspires him to research his local family history. Travis Larcombe is a local queer writer and proud resident of Tuggeranong. They have been writing funny, sad and inspiring stories since they were old enough to pick up a crayon. Their work has previously been published in SBS Voices, The Cha...

Yenn shares a story about contending with their past. Yenn Purkiss is an autistic and non-binary author, advocate, public speaker and community leader. They also have a diagnosis of schizophrenia. They are the author of nine published books on elements of autism and blog regularly. Yenn is a public speaker of almost 20 years’ experience and has presented at a range of events including for TED...

When Joo-Inn and her brother meet Liz from the crematorium their grief turns to delirium as they try to plan their father's funeral. Joo-Inn Chew is a writer and doctor working in general practice and refugee health. She has had short stories, memoir and poetry published in various anthologies, most recently 'Growing Up Queer in Australia' and 'These Strange Outcrops: Writing and Art from Canberra...

Feeling disconnected from her body, Krissy signs up for a burlesque class. Krissy Kneen is the author of the bestselling memoir Affection; the novels Steeplechase, Triptych, The Adventures of Holly White and the Incredible Sex Machine; and the Thomas Shapcott Award–winning poetry collection Eating My Grandmother. Her novel An Uncertain Grace was shortlisted for the Stella Prize...

Rebecca leans in to the trope of lesbians and cats, adopting not one but seven to appease her animal loving wife. Rebecca Starford is the author Bad Behaviour: A Memoir of Bullying and Boarding School and novel The Imitator. She is the Co-founder and Publishing Director of Kill Your Darlings magazine and a former editor at Text Publishing and Affirm Press. Bad Behaviour is currently in development...

Alistair briefly dates a man who tries multiple times to convert him to his cult. Alistair Baldwin is a writer, comedian, thought leader and sometimes blonde. He has written for The Weekly, Hard Quiz, Get Krack!n and At Home Alone Together. He is a member of experimental comedy duo Nemeses with Vidya Rajan. He has been published in Metro, Archer, The Guardian and ACMI Ideas – and is a contrib...

Kaya goes hiking with his mother in the Himalayas, an extract from his memoir As Beautiful As Any Other: a memoir of my body, published by Pan McMillan in 2021. Kaya Wilson is a writer and tsunami scientist whose work has been published widely. In 2019, Kaya was the recipient of the Writing NSW Varuna Fellowship where he completed his first book As Beautiful as Any Other: A memoir of my body, publ...

Hayden shares his experience being the first transgender person to compete in Irish Dancing competitions in so-called "Australia". Hayden Moon is an out and proud 26 year old Queer, legally blind, transmasculine person. He is a PhD candidate in Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of Sydney, a Pinnacle Foundation Scholar and a competitive Irish dancer. In any spare time he can find, h...

Joe shares a moving story of family, love, dance and Parkinson's Disease. Joe Levitt moved to Australia from America in 1996 at the age of 36. He recently retired from work in clinical trials, but has also been a dance instructor, flight attendant, registered nurse, pharmaceutical rep, and bartender. When not contemplating what to be when he grows up, he can be found biking, swimming, at the dog p...

In the mid-90s, balancing the hedonism of being embedded in the queer community with the formalities of her growing profile as a writer, Fiona takes a memorable trip to Queensland. Fiona Kelly McGregor  has published seven books, most recently the essay collection  Buried not dead.  Her novel  Indelible Ink  won the  Age  Book of the Year. Her other books in...

A brief career as some sort of cult leader lands a young Tamara in trouble after she preaches self-discovery from the top of the school slippery dip. Tamara Natt (she/her) is a queer poet, essayist and playwright living with her wife and the local bird gangs on the semi-rural Australian coastline. Spanning her beat poetry play  ALPHA  (Edinburgh Fringe Festival) to  A...

A queer reboot of the Arthurian table of legend, but this time with lesbians, drag queens and a ghost. Brendan Hancock is a Sydney based comedian who is well-known on the scene. You've heard him on FBi radio, seen him host the rave-reviewed Two Queers Walk Into a Bar at Giant Dwarf Theatre, and as the resident MC of Darlo Underground at Darlinghurst Theatre. Not one to let 2020 get him down, he al...