Felix Desmarais rewatches The L Word, one of the first mainstream TV shows to put queer voices on the small screen. The year is 2005. In the dark – past midnight – in the lounge, I am lit by the glow of The L Word on TV and I am feeling things. They are very teenage things. … Read more
Earlier this year an otherwise liberal Auckland girls’ high school, where diversity is celebrated, invited Family First’s Bob McCoskrie in to talk about gay marriage. A gay student who was in the audience shares her experience. Update May 23 2017: Bob McCoskrie has responded to this story, disputing some of the events as depicted below. … Read more
On his first Trans Visibility Day as a trans man, Felix Desmarais shares his story of coming out and losing his domain name. Today is Transgender Day of Visibility, and it is my first. It just so happens that it coincides with my first man-flu as well. Milestones. My name is Felix and I am … Read more
Author Chaz Harris on growing up without positive gay role models in a homophobic world – and how he’s created Promised Land, a fairytale so that our children don’t go through the same. I was at the last Out in the Park with my golden tutu-d and pink gumbooted little boy. We had marched in the parade as … Read more
The Spinoff and Spark proudly present Pod On The Couch, a weekly podcast exploring music and the people that make it. This episode: Will Cooper Barling and Nikolai join host Henry Oliver to talk about LGBTQIA+ issues in music. Spinoff Music editor Henry Oliver talks to Will Cooper Barling, who performs as WCB and Nikolai, both of … Read more
All week we’ve revisited the Mervyn Thompson Affair – the strange, powerful 1984 incident when six women abducted an Auckland university lecturer, chained him to a tree in Western Springs, and labelled him a rapist. We conclude the series with a personal essay by Talia Marshall. A while ago Steve Braunias at The Spinoff emailed … Read more