Brisbane Big Gay Day Review by Kylierose

[gaynproud]

After reading the event review of Brisbane’s Big Gay Day in the news section of Samesame I couldn’t let it pass without comment. Kylierose has written an “interesting review”. From her second paragraph she sets the scene when she states that the Wickham Hotel was not allowing SameSame officials entry to review the event. Did she make an official request to the promoter prior to the day of the event to do a review? For gods sake it’s a fundraising event for two very worthwhile charities, Open Doors and GLWA so why expect to get entry because you are going to write a review. It always amazes me how many people go to charity events and expect a free ride. She then slams almost every aspect of the entertainment. Sure David Graham is from Big Brother but he has done a lot more worthwhile things for the GLBTQ community for free (ask PFLAG) than she ever will. She made a comment about moving from the back bar area because of the muscle queens, maybe they were all down there because it was a bar area with toilets and they didn’t like being up the front area amongst all the lesbians of which a lot were very rude, pushy and aggressive.
To put on an event in Brisbane is very hard and gets even harder when you have such derogative comments made by a fellow member of the community. Maybe Kylierose was disappointed that she wasn’t asked to play at the event? As for slamming the DJ’s that is to be expected when you read previous comments by her on the forum about Brisbane DJs. Everybody has an individual taste in music so why slam venues or other DJs if they play music that is not to your taste or standard. These sort of comments lower this web site to the same level that the Pinkboards forums are at which is pretty low with all their bitching and slanging off at everyone and everything. I myself find some of the music played at the main stream gay clubs and pubs average but I find the same when I go to the alternate events like Black Fag and Cut n Paste but I don’t slam the music, the event, the promoters, the patrons or the DJs. It is an individual’s taste, not everyone’s taste is the same it would be pretty boring if it was.
She made comment about her cringe factor for Leo Sayer, well from the reaction of the crowd to him I would say that you were in the minority. Kylierose if you are going to write a critique at least write it without being so derogative. I am sure you would be the first person to jump up and down if the numerous negative comments that have been made about your performances at Mardi Gras, Sleaze ball, Queens Ball or any of your alternative events were put on a web site. After having met you in the past I did have respect for you as a person and as a DJ but I now find that respect severely limited.
Brisbane’s Big Gay Day cannot be everything to everyone but at least there is an event in Brisbane for the whole community that raises awareness of issues of the GLBTQ community as well as raise much needed funds for charity and provide an event where we can all come together. How about Cut & Paste give some of their $10 cover charge to a GLBTQ charity? :)

[hazyinseptember]

so.. how do you post without a profile??

are you a ghost in the machine or something?

[meezon04]

Thing that annoys me is a friend of mine keeps telling me that, although they claim a lot of it goes to Charity, the reality is nowhere near enough does. I'd like to believe it's not true, but somehow part of me thinks it probbly is. I wanna read somewhere exactly how much was raised for the Charities, cos considering the amount of people there, there woulda been like $140,000-$200,000 in entry fees raised alone, right? 7000 people approx times $20 each entry? Let alone the alcohol sales...

[hazyinseptember]

totally meezon04

even worse is the fact that whoever wrote the above comments cant fess up to it.. they deleted their 1 post profile straight after writing this message.. says it all really

not only being total trolling and flame baiting, this person is bitching and whining about someone writing a good constructive report on an event. even worse again is that he ( which is just a presumption on the way its written ) has stooped to personal attacks and even homophobia.. ( pushy, agressive lesbians comment) ..

so gaynproud.. i agree with you on one thing.. i'd delete my profile after writing the post above too...

[Christian Taylor]

Thanks gaynproud for your feedback. I do feel that I should step in here and offer some clarification on some points.

Firstly, we are very much behind Kylie Rose and her review of this event. We asked for her personal perspective and opinion on Big Gay Day and she gave it. Everyone is going to have a different experience and that's the great thing about reviews - there is no one definitive experience, and that's okay. People are free to comment and differ, debate and discuss - that's what our forums and comments fields are for. Fundamentally we don't think that anything Kylie has said in her review lowers the editorial tone of Same Same - afterall we're about letting everyone have a voice.

As for gaining access to the event, it is not about getting a free ride, it is about being given the nod from a promoter that they would like us there in that capacity, it's about working together for a mutually beneficial outcome. It's about building relationships. Same Same did try a number of times in the weeks leading up to the event to gain official access for all the above reasons and we were declined - we're not casting dispersions. We still went ahead and did what we could to given BGD editorial coverage, given that so many of our readers in Brisbane would want and expect to see this happen. We also got in touch with Matt Steer and asked him to share his experience of the event, which we posted as a national feature - we covered the event in a number of ways from different angles and in good faith.

Everyone is free to have their opinions and we do encourage that, however attempts to undermine Kylie's integrity as a writer by pointing out that her events are not charity driven for example, well we just think that's missing the point. We appreciate that it's tough to put on an event, but reviews are meant to highlight the good with the bad, and if you read the event again we think you'll find that overall it was favourable and that while it was written from her own personal standpoint, it still spoke of how much fun everyone was having, and even finished by saying that she'd be back next year.

There will always be different points of view and thank god - we think that's what makes the world a better, more interesting place.

[kylierose]

After giving some thought to the response to my review, I must say that I'm very happy to have the opportunity to reply in a public forum. Thank goodness we have this website! Debate about issues is healthy and it's natural for people to disagree on different topics. Especially, it seems, over the matter of DJs and bar establishments in Brisbane.

I say this because the poster, gaynproud, has taken issue with some of my comments about the DJs at Big Gay Day. He (and I'm going to assume it's a he) states that I "slammed" the DJs on the day. I thought my comments were pretty fair and gave credit where it was due. Sure, I'm reluctant to stay at an event when it's 10pm and a song comes on that I've heard a 100 times or more. Or if a DJ plays the same song as another act has 30 minutes before. I'm there to be entertained and that just doesn't do it for me, I'm afraid.

It's rough hearing criticism about your work. I know this for sure. There have been a number of times that people have provided negative feedback about my music, web design or paintings. But I have taken it all on board and it has helped me grow professionally and creatively in the process.

As for my contribution to the community, it would be a massive assumption to state that I have made none. Over the twelve or more years I have been in Brisbane, I have worked for Pride on the committee, DJ'd at Fair Day and after-parties for free, lent my gear out, organised events, donated artwork and skills, and contributed my time and my ideas. I have worked for (the former) QuAC as a volunteer receptionist (not a glamorous job), and in the paid role as Executive Assistant to the Board of Management during the time when they restructured the organisation, and I have sold red ribbons on World AIDS Day to help raise funds and awareness. These are only a few of my contributions to the community in Brisbane and I have been doing this work for a lot longer than I have been DJing.

gaynproud, I thank you for the opportunity to make this work public, and I challenge you to let everyone know what contributions you have made? Your attempts to undermine my community credentials are factually incorrect and if you have taken the time to research my comments on this website, you are well advised to research my professional activities before making assumptions.

I also challenge you to reveal to the readers of this forum who you are. When people hide behind pseudonyms and tag names, they are no different to the posters on Pinkboard who make a habit of taking pot shots at performers and public figures. I would certainly hope that if we ever meet face to face again, you would not exhibit the kind of duplicity and cowardice your comments and actions demonstrate on this website.

And, just to clarify with everyone. I had a really good time at Gay Day. It's the first time I've been there in three years and I really enjoyed myself. I went with two of my best male friends and we had a ball! I work full time and I was more than happy to pay my admission fee. Afterall, the money wasn't just going to help a charity - it was also going to the artists, performers, bar staff, security, sound companies and management who make up the cultural events in Brisbane. Thanks to everyone involved and I'll be back next year, if they let me!