It’s the most colourful time of the year – it’s gay Pride in Sydney or as it’s locally called, ‘Mardi Gras’. A great time to celebrate the LGBTQI+ community and to stand proud with friends, family and straight allies. Unfortunately there are two things that happen around this time of year that really upset me.
Watch below and comment as I’d love to hear what you think!
ANZ, one of Australia’s largest banks has taken the concept of the “pink dollar” to a whole new level with the installation of “GAYTMS” to celebrate Sydney’s world famous Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. ANZ has commissioned artists to individually convert 10 ATMs into “GAYTMs” to celebrate their partnership with the Sydney Mardi Gras festival.
Decorated in colours, patterns and jewels inspired by LGBTI culture, each GAYTM tells a unique story. The artworks include the “Hello Sailor” GAYTM, designed to celebrate the Defence Force allowing its members to march in uniform for the first time last year and “Pride”, representing the rainbow, a symbol of diversity, amongst others all created in partnership with the LGBTI community.
2014 marks the eighth consecutive year that ANZ has partnered with Sydney Mardi Gras and this year the bank will donate ATM operator fees for non-ANZ cardholders from its GAYTMs during the festival to Twenty10, a not for profit organisation that supports young people and their family and friends who are dealing with gender and sexuality issues.
It is truly inspiring to see a major corporation such as ANZ embrace its LGBTI employees and customers. Mark Hand, Chair of ANZ Australia’s Diversity Council said: “This association is all about encouraging an environment where everyone feels comfortable being themselves at work. You don’t get the benefits of a diverse workforce if some people are expending vast amounts of energy pretending to be something they are not and trying to conform.
“We want the best people to work at our organisation and given how many people identify as LGBTI, we want to make sure that everyone feels welcome here at ANZ – regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity,” Mr Hand said.
ANZ’s GAYTMs can be found in various Sydney locations on Oxford Street, Pitt Street, George Street, Castlereagh Street, Surry Hills and Bondi Junction. More information including a map of the GAYTM locations can be found by clicking here. ANZ will share photos and news about the GAYTMs through social media channels using #GAYTM.
I am so tired of worrying about my body. I am tired of thinking how it looks to others, whether it’s toned enough, big enough, smooth enough. Whether my pecs are even, whether my ass is perky or whether or not you can see my six-pack. Come to think of it, I’m also tired of hearing about your body. I’m tired of seeing pictures of your meal preparation, updates about your weight gain or your weight loss, reflections of your rippling back in gym mirrors. I’m tired of your mini-essays about “achieving your goals” and “how far you’ve come in the last five years”. I’m tired of the gay obsession with body image.
This homo-focus on body image is not for me. While others are happy to count their calories and pre-cook their meals a week in advance, I would rather eat out at a nice restaurant, do Pilates, spend time with my mates at the pub or learn a new skill, like French or First Aid.
I’m not sure what it’s like within your gay community but where I live this body obsession seems to have reached a new level of absurdity. This is particularly evident in the lead up to events like Mardi Gras where guys will devote all their spare time and mental energy to a strict health regime in order to look good for one weekend three months in the future. And for what? To get laid? So that they can be ogled at by other men while they dance shirtless? I wonder what happens after Mardi Gras when they’ve had plenty of sex but they’re still alone.
The pursuit of body perfection is a symptom of the gay sickness that is instant gratification. Sex is so readily available to gay men that they obsess over ways to look more attractive than their competition all in a bid to get laid. They go to extremes such as injecting illegal and harmful substances into their bodies in order to look bigger, hoping that when their body is perfect then they’ll finally be seen as attractive in the eyes of others. But working on your outer appearance will not lead to happiness. After all the sex, gay men, just like the rest of humanity want to be loved. The problem though is that you cannot create meaningful relationships while you’re only focused on the superficial.
Sustainable relationships are not built on sexual attraction only. There are much more important things that create longevity in a relationship. What happens if your partner becomes ill? What happens if they get cancer and their body withers away? What happens when you’re older and your body isn’t as toned as it once was? What happens to your relationship then? What happens when you stop taking steroids and you become fat? How long will your partner stick around then? When I’m 85 and I’m old and grey, sitting in a nursing home in adult diapers, I want to be next to my partner and I want to be able to laugh at the situation with him. Humor, love, respect, friendship – these are the things that last when the rest of you fades away. I want a man who is more than his body.
Recently I was at a gay venue with friends and as I looked around I noticed that everyone was starting to look the same. There were hundreds of men but they all looked like carbon cutouts of each other, albeit of varying heights. They were all similarly dressed and had obviously spent a substantial amount of time in the gym. Seeing these men made me realize how unfortunate it is that gay culture holds up one body type as the ideal and as a result everyone else feels obliged to meet that standard. Sure women have been suffering the same fate for centuries but at least there have been vocal opponents to the generalization of the female body image. Where are the vocal opponents to the gay male image? Young gay men trawl the Instagram profiles and Facebook pages of older gay men (many of whom are using steroids) and feel that this is what it means to be gay. When they can’t meet these unrealistic and unhealthy expectations they feel unattractive and isolated within their own community.
I don’t want to be part of a club that places body perfection above all else and nor would I want my future partner to be either. I value personality over biceps, witty banter over bulging quads, education over time spent in the gym and I hope to find someone who values similar things. Until then I’ll be eating carbohydrates, doing Pilates and drinking beers at the pub.
Belvedere Vodka and DNA Magazine hosted a “Make Believe” party on Saturday 2nd March to coincide with the Sydney Mardi Gras parade. Upstairs Beresford was transformed into a “Winter Wonderland” where celebrities, musicians and Sydney’s party people enjoyed bespoke Belvedere cocktails and premium entertainment from the likes of Van She, Collarbones and DJ Kitty Glitter. The event was hosted by international party queen Jodie Harsh and continued long after the parade had finished.
Many brands have cautiously dipped their toe into the “gay dollar” pond but it’s rare to see a brand such as Belvedere associate itself so wholeheartedly with the gay community. I guess this is because brands have traditionally been affraid of isolating mainstream consumers by aligning with polarizing smaller markets.
Disclaimer: Although I am the PR Account Manager for Belvedere Vodka, their decision to host an event to coincide with Mardi Gras was made independently of my input. I had always been an adorer of the Belvedere brand and was very impressed by their previous years’ gay events long before I was even on the payroll.
THE MODERN GAY GUIDE TO LIFE 
