‘Queer people in the Indigenous community need allyship’: Courtney Act
Dancing with the Stars frontrunner Courtney Act speaks to Matthew Wade about allyship, representation, and dance.
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When drag icon Courtney Act was asked to compete on this year鈥檚 season of Dancing with the Stars for a charity of her choosing, her decision to support Indigenous suicide prevention organisation Black Rainbow was instinctive.
More than the prospect of winning the competition 鈥� and $50,000 for her charity 鈥� Act says she wanted to use the platform as a way to bring visibility to that intersection of the community.
鈥淚 understand how allyship is important to the upliftment of queer people,鈥� she says.
鈥淲e can have all the Pride flags we want, but unless mainstream cisgender and heterosexual people are willing to get on board, we鈥檙e still sort of separate. Separate and not equal.
鈥淎nd I think queer people in the Indigenous community need to see that allyship as well, from both within and outside of the LGBTIQ+ community.鈥�
Act is speaking to me over the phone during a brief break in her dance rehearsal. She rehearses for six hours every day from Tuesday to Saturday, before a mammoth 14-hour rehearsal on Sundays. On Monday mornings she then begins her drag transformation ready for Dancing with the Stars that night.
Despite the gruelling schedule, Act says it鈥檚 more than worth it.
If she ultimately takes the crown in a few weeks time, she says the $50,000 will be used to fund a unique Curtin University study exploring Indigenous LGBTIQ+ statistics around key issues like homelessness, suicide, and sexual health.
鈥淸LGBTIQ+ people] like to think that because we鈥檝e suffered our own oppression we鈥檙e more empathetic to other minority communities, but often it seems to be the opposite in so many ways,鈥� she says.
鈥淲hite people in the queer community don鈥檛 always seem to understand the experiences of queer people of colour, even though there are so many parallels.
鈥淎n Aboriginal and gay friend of mine says 鈥榯he gays are racist鈥�, and that his experience hasn鈥檛 been a positive one.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 why the people at Black Rainbow are doing amazing work, and I鈥檓 glad I can help shine a light on them.鈥�
Act is no stranger to reality television. Having competed on Australian Idol, RuPaul鈥檚 Drag Race, and Celebrity Big Brother before becoming the host of The Bi Life, Act has helped to diversify the often cisgender and heterosexual programs that dominate the small screen.
More than that, she has regularly used these platforms to speak out about a number of queer issues including trans acceptance, HIV stigma, and biphobia.
She believes seeing diverse stories on television and in film help disparate communities find common ground.
鈥淲e have the internet now, so a lot of people are able to take in media from around the world, but that鈥檚 still not everyone,鈥� she says.
鈥淎nd Australia does really poorly when it comes to diversity in media; we have so many different cultures and colours in our country but when you turn on the TV it doesn鈥檛 look the world we walk around in.
鈥淲hen people see themselves reflected back 鈥� whether they鈥檙e people of colour, or queer people, or people living with a disability 鈥� it helps make the wider community aware that our similarities are greater than our differences.
鈥淓veryday people aren鈥檛 necessarily out looking for me or my story, but I come for them whether they like it or not, into their living rooms and on a television show they鈥檙e familiar with. And while you might not relate to my story personally, you might at the very least understand where I鈥檓 coming from.
鈥淎nd it鈥檚 that storytelling that brings us together.鈥�
Act says her experience being on Dancing with the Stars so far has been incredibly different to the other shows she鈥檚 taken part in, for the better.
Growing up, she would idolise dancers in music videos and in film musicals, and now that she has the opportunity to live out that fantasy herself, she says it鈥檚 鈥渕agical鈥�.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not high drama like the other shows, it鈥檚 really about getting to learn to dance every week,鈥� she says.
鈥淎nd to have all the production elements and costumes come together each week is amazing.鈥�
She adds that it鈥檚 been refreshing to be herself on a mainstream Australian television show, and to have both her queerness and outspokenness accepted wholeheartedly.
鈥淚n the past I鈥檝e always had to pare back messages in the things I do to make it acceptable for audiences,鈥� she said.
鈥淎nd for so long you were just lucky to be there, and the fact you were there was enough.
鈥淏ut we鈥檙e all just people at the end of the day, working towards that lovely futuristic far off world where we don鈥檛 need labels anymore, and I鈥檓 so happy to be part of that fight.鈥�
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