The national LGBTQI+ storytelling project curated by Maeve Marsden is coming to our local library on June 4. Brian Kelly reports
He’s no first-timer, but Alex Groombridge fully expects to be nervous, and when it’s over, chances are he’ll feel elated.
Speaking frankly about matters relating to sexuality cannot be easy, but the Illawarra music teacher has every reason to be confident when he fronts the microphone as one of six speakers at Queerstories on June 4 at Thirroul library.
“I was pretty heavily involved in a piece of verbatim theatre a few years earlier, which means I’ve shared stories with an audience before,” he said. “It was a really beautiful experience, so I really leapt at the opportunity to do something similar.”
Queerstories is a national LGBTQI+ storytelling project curated by Maeve Marsden and features a book and award-winning podcast alongside the live events.
Maeve said she was aware that the Illawarra LGBTQI+ community was clearly thriving.
“I know quite a few queer people now who’ve made the move from Sydney to the Illawarra looking for a better quality of life,” she said.
“I was lucky to be part of Wollongong Writers Festival in 2019, where there was a great queer presence.
“This is the third Queerstories in the Illawarra and the events always have a wonderful vibe with brilliant local storytellers.”
Without giving too much away, Alex said his story covered an unlikely friendship that had spanned several years. He said it revealed how you could mean so much to many without realising it.
“I feel like there’s certainly people who will relate to parts of my story and probably get a little choked up,” he said.
“I have a few friends speaking, too, and can’t wait to hear what they have to say.”
The 28-year-old feels Australian society has taken several small steps towards more respectful attitudes towards LGBTQI+ community, “but we still have so far to go”.
“I think Mark Latham’s education legislation amendment bill is not something we should be ignoring as it could cause a lot of harm to LGBTQI+ young people,” he said.
Maeve feels that for gay and lesbian cisgender people the end of the same-sex marriage debate meant less discussion of the community’s rights, which has led to a reduction in public vitriol.
“But for trans members of the community, there has been an ongoing public debate about their rights that has been incredibly damaging, and I worry that with marriage ‘achieved’, cis LGB people haven’t maintained the necessary focus on reform and change required to support trans folk,” she said.
In the meantime, there is Queerstories, and the opportunities it brings to advocate, attest and uplift.
“A lot of the storytellers at Queerstories aren’t professional writers or performers so it can be a nerve-wracking experience,” says Maeve. “But it’s ultimately a positive one as the audience is so supportive.”
Queerstories is at Thirroul library, June 4, 6-8pm. Tickets $20 via Eventbrite.com.au. Ages 16+