As our educational alphabet continues, we discover Gaga, Gaydar, Gaybies, Grindr and the suddenly sparkling phenomenon of Glitter Bombing…
Glitter Bombing
Glitter bombing is an act of protest in which activists throw glitter on certain people at public events. Glitter bombers are often motivated by their targets’ opposition to same-sex marriage and equal rights.
While there is not a specified date when this rainbow craze began, some pinpoint it to the highly publicised glitter bombing of Newt Gingrich and his wife Callista during a book signing in May last year. Nick Espinosa dumped a box full of glitter on them, shouting “Stop the Hate” and “Feel the rainbow, Newt”
Since then the craze really took off with some of America’s fiercest same-sex marriage opponents getting a faceful of glitter including Michele Backmann, Tim Pawlenty, Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney and numerous others. But glitter bombing has not just been restricted to same-sex marriage opponents. In November 2011 well known gay rights activist Dan Savage was glitter bombed as a reaction to transphobia on Dan’s part, and Germaine Greer was targeted by protestors in New Zealand for the same reason.
The craze has also reached Australia. At a rally for same-sex marriage, a group of Christian fundamentalists showed up preaching hate, and in retaliation a teenager glitter bombed one of the preachers.
While some might consider glitter bombing a light hearted form of activism, it must be noted it can come with legal ramifications as glitter bombing may fall under the classification of ‘assault and battery’.
Genesis
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth”
And so began the book of Genesis, the story of how the earth was created within just seven days. If only life was that simple!
For many men who have been recently diagnosed with HIV, coming to terms with their diagnosis can take a while to process. The feelings and emotions that come along with a positive diagnosis can be a little overwhelming. The fear of the unknown, the fear of rejection, questions around treatment and isolation from others are all very real thoughts entertained by someone who is living through a positive diagnosis.
Genesis is a two and a half day workshop that brings together men who are living through a recent diagnosis together with peers, to meet, chat, listen and share experiences and hear about information that will give help them through the beginning of their diagnosis. The strength of the Genesis workshop is that it is run by peers. Genesis participants have the opportunity and are encouraged to ask questions of men who have been in the exact same situation, and lived the exact same experience.
Gaybies
‘Gaybies’ is a fun slang term for the offspring of a same-sex couple. Especially in larger cities but across Australia, increasing numbers of committed gay couples are deciding it’s possible to raise children together.
‘Rainbow family’ groups welcoming same-sex couples with children are popping up in several cities around the country, organising picnic days, support groups and more. In Melbourne contact the Rainbow Families Council, there’s Pink Parents in South Australia, and catch up with Rainbow Families Queensland here.
Grindr
We all know about the app sensation that has allowed gay men to meet other gay men in the vicinity, whether it be for a chat, coffee, quickie or more. First launched for the iPhone, it’s now available for a variety of mobiles and has taken the world by storm for the easy access to available gay men in your area that it provides.
Travelling interstate or overseas for work is often quite dreary, especially when you are staying in cities where you don’t know anyone. So by simply turning on the app you can take your pick from locals without even leaving your room… and if things go really well those locals might even be coming to your room!
Sitting in a boring work meeting? Well by turning on Grindr it looks like you are attending to important emails, but in reality you could be organising your next shag. Killing two birds with one stone.
Grindr has changed the way that we meet other gay men as we no longer need to go to bars, saunas or beats to get a bit of fun. As the clip below shows, Great British wit Stephen Fry was an early advocate.
Genderqueer
Sometimes called ‘Genderqueer’, ‘gender diverse’ or ‘gender variant’, this can be a catch-all term for someone who doesn’t fit in the gender binary of ‘male’ or ‘female’.
This might include someone who is in transition between genders, or doesn’t identify as either gender, for example an intersex person.
For some Genderqueer people, the usual gendered pronouns like ‘his’ or ‘hers’ do not apply, so more recent additions to the language like ‘sie’ or ‘hir’ or ‘they’ and ‘they’re’ may be best to use. As always with someone who acknowledges they are Genderqueer, it is polite and respectful to use the terms and pronouns to invite you to use to describe themselves.
Gaydar
It’s a website too, but having a good ‘gaydar’ means an uncanny ability to spot whether someone is gay or not.
Their posture, voice, way they dress or a variety of other characteristics can give you clues, but as often as not, people with good gaydar can just tell.The phrase really took hold after featuring on a popular episode of Will and Grace and has been light-heartedly used ever since. We have all had moments where you feel you can spot another gay man in the crowd and know you are not the only gay in the village.
But beware – the line between homosexual and ‘metrosexual’ may be blurry, and when encountering them, your gaydar may not function as well as it should… and confusion may lead to accusations of stereotyping.
Graham Norton tests celebrity gaydar on the clip below.
Common abbreviations beginning with ‘G’
G2G – Girl-To-Girl
GC – Good Cook
GF – Girlfriend
GGF – Go Get Fucked
GHB – Short for Gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid and often called ‘G’, a depressant drug taken as a small amount of liquid. Recent stats indicate its use is steady at around 13% of gay male Sydneysiders.
GL – Good Looking
GS – Golden Showers (Piss play), or could be Group Sex… so it’s best to check :-P
GSOH – Good Sense of Humour
GAM, GWF – Gay Asian Male, Gay White Female (etc)
GRS – Gender Reassignment Surgery
And not forgetting…
Lady Gaga
We unashamedly love Lady Gaga whether she’s dressed as a man or a woman or nothing at all. The theatrics, the publicity stunts and the entire stage production that is her touring show, makes us feel like we should be going out there and achieving something too.
Gaga is a crazy mix of Dr. Frank-N-Furter and Liza Minelli and more, and not only has a rocking voice, and a rocking bod, but doesn’t do a half bad job in drag either. We saw her alter-ego Joe Calderone in Vogue, and then opening the VMA awards and didn’t mind him or his hilarious testosterone-fuelled rant.
Drag comedy aside, Gaga talks a lot about embracing who you are and about equal love and equal rights, and you know she feels it, you know she really means it and is willing to fight for it for all of us, and my God, that’s sexy.
This page was co-written by Ceri Kidby-Salom, Chad St. James, Matt Akersten, Matt D’Silva and the team at ACON.
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