Opinion Archives - Star Observer

GIVE IT TO ME BI: Keep Showing Up: The Inconvenient, Essential Work Of Community

Give It To Me Bi - Chad Barnier & Steve Spencer — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 06:16:30 +0000

Right now, there’s grief, powerlessness, and an identity crisis playing out across our communities. But the biggest factor in resilience isn’t some abstract concept – it’s our connection to community. ...

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GREY MATTERS: All Sizzle No Shade

Peter Benn — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 06:10:17 +0000

Surfing the internet recently, I discovered Gay Sausage Sizzle in New Zealand – billed as Gisborne‘s “premier gay nightclub, where dance, music, and inclusivity come together.” No actual sausages, though! ...

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An Ode To The Bookshop Darlinghurst

Chloe Sargeant — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 05:28:50 +0000

Long before gay hockey romance dramas were the world’s most popular shows on major streaming services, before queer books were stocked on mainstream shelves, there was The Bookshop Darlinghurst — ...

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Why The Hell Wouldn’t LGBTQ+ People Be Included In The New Hate Speech Laws?

Chloe Sargeant — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 04:20:19 +0000

As the federal government moves to overhaul Australia’s hate speech laws, LGBTQIA+ Australians have once again been excluded from protections designed to curb vilification and violence. It’s a decision that ...

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OPINION: Hate Of All Types Is On The Rise – We Need A Royal Commission To Address It All

Mark Baxter — Thu, 08 Jan 2026 04:32:50 +0000

I learnt a long time ago that people like me were fair game. I have been bashed because I am gay, more than once, in full view of a city ...

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GREY MATTERS: At The End of 2025, Here’s Our Quarter Century Gay Report Card

Peter Benn — Mon, 15 Dec 2025 05:45:22 +0000

Now that we’ve reached the end of the first quarter of this century, how does the gay report card look? In 2000, just three years had passed since Tasmania decriminalised ...

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GIVE IT TO ME BI – Bisexuals, Get Ready: The Mummy 4 Is Coming

Give It To Me Bi - Chad Barnier & Steve Spencer — Thu, 11 Dec 2025 04:20:35 +0000

‘Bisexuals, Get Ready: The Mummy 4 Is Coming’ is the December edition of our monthly bisexuality column, Give It To Me Bi. We don’t mean to alarm you, but you’re going ...

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IDPWD 2025: On Queer Disabled Visibility & Being Proud To Call Myself Disabled

Chloe Sargeant — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 01:50:24 +0000

Every year, International Day of People with Disability lands with a small thud on the LGBTQIA+ calendar — a day we absolutely should be shouting about, but often don’t. We ...

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This Lesbian Speed Dating Event Actually Made Me Feel… Hope? (Sounds Fake, I Know)

Lydia Jupp — Mon, 27 Oct 2025 06:09:44 +0000

The lesbian dating scene in Sydney is fraught with difficulties. I’m not joining a running club, I’m too old for Birdcage, and apparently lesbians aren’t allowed on Oxford Street anymore. ...

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Mural Removal at Oxford St Police Station Sends Wrong Message To Our Community

Les Micó — Tue, 21 Oct 2025 05:50:34 +0000

Just days after it went up, a mural celebrating queer Australians at Sydney’s Oxford St police station was quietly taken down. The artwork, which featured LGBTQ+ icons and symbols from ...

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Not Overdramatic, We Know What We Want: Lesbian Spaces and Pink Pony

Lydia Jupp — Thu, 16 Oct 2025 20:33:33 +0000

Once again, Oxford Street twinks have shamed the wider Sydney queer community by making international headlines in queer media, complaining that the once-gay Golden Mile no longer feels welcoming to ...

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NSW Inquiry Spotlights Importance of Inclusive Bathroom Access For Trans & Gender Diverse People

Rory Gillard, Elster Cook, Ambly Ornis — Thu, 16 Oct 2025 03:49:04 +0000

At a NSW parliamentary inquiry into public toilets this year, Elster, a volunteer with the Trans Justice Project, shared her harrowing experiences of attempting to use public toilets as a ...

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It’s A Bi! Australia Celebrates Its First Openly Bisexual AFL Player

Give It To Me Bi - Chad Barnier & Steve Spencer — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 05:03:06 +0000

“I’m a bisexual man” With those four words, former West Coast Eagles player Mitch Brown didn’t just shake up the AFL – he’s reshaped how Australia sees bisexual men. Bi ...

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GREY MATTERS: Venturing Out

Peter Benn — Mon, 13 Oct 2025 00:35:51 +0000

Venturing Out is the October edition from our fabulous monthly Grey Matters column, by Peter Benn. We older gay men venture out of our homes for: 1) necessities like food ...

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International Lesbian Day: Honourable & Blessed Work

Lydia Jupp — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 07:23:11 +0000

Ten years ago, I hadn’t quite got my head around the concept of lesbianism. Although my entire world was completely revolutionised when I accepted my attraction to women, I still ...

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OPINION: This Bisexual Visibility Day, I Feel Visibility Won’t Save Us

Amber Loomis — Tue, 23 Sep 2025 02:19:45 +0000

Note: This article discusses biphobia, including detailed examples. It also mentions suicidality, domestic, family, and sexual violence, genocide, deaths in custody, and attacks on trans rights. Please read with care. ...

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GIVE IT TO ME BI: Bi+ Visibility in Children’s Books – Is It Possible?

Give It To Me Bi - Chad Barnier & Steve Spencer — Mon, 22 Sep 2025 06:23:48 +0000

We are truly lucky at GITMB to have a vibrant online community of podcast listeners and readers of our column in our beloved Star — it gives us endless insights ...

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OPINION: Hi! I’m Bisexual And I’m Really Goddamn Angry

Chloe Sargeant — Sun, 21 Sep 2025 03:46:46 +0000

Hi! I’m bisexual — and as you’re likely already aware, I’m really goddamn angry. Not “throwing staplers at the wall” angry. Not “screaming at customer service” Karen-esque angry. I’m that ...

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OPINION: Celebration Without Compromise — Why Mardi Gras Should be Publicly Funded & Cop Free

Luna Choo — Tue, 16 Sep 2025 03:34:50 +0000

Mardi Gras is a party, a protest, a riot, a celebration. Besides awareness and action, Mardi Gras is also about laughter, joy, music, dancing, drag, lots of glitter, and tons ...

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OPINION: The Myth About Mardi Gras

Peter Stahel — Tue, 09 Sep 2025 02:41:59 +0000

Over the last decade or so, we’ve increasingly seen a claim that Mardi Gras must return to its so-called “roots”. The assertion comes from the myth that it started as ...

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