#Wigs Brisbane

[kayisiafricanhairboutique]

 Synthetic Hair Extensions are artificial hair extensions that are made from man-made fibres like nylon, acrylic, Polyethylene-terephthalate, silicone, silk, vinyl etc. These fibres are transformed into thin hair-like structures through different chemical processes to look like real hairs. 

[qnewsau]

Sydney Olympics featured our own drag show 24 years ago

New Post has been published on https://qnews.com.au/sydney-olympics-featured-our-own-drag-show-24-years-ago/

Sydney Olympics featured our own drag show 24 years ago

Footage of Sydney’s own Olympics drag show from our closing ceremony in 2000 has resurfaced after the homophobic backlash to the Paris Games.

For more than four days, Christians and other conservatives have been up in arms that during the Paris opening ceremony, a group of French performers dared to recreate Leonardi da Vinci’s The Last Supper while queer.

Aussies are now also reminiscing on the last time we hosted the Olympics, in Sydney in 2000.

At the closing ceremony in Sydney, dozens of Australian drag performers join the loud and colourful parade around the stadium. The drag float was a tribute to The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

Sydney 2000 closing ceremony had drag queens driving heels in a tribute to Priscilla FYI pic.twitter.com/QYMFvSLrdx

— adam (@adamjmoussa) July 26, 2024

Forty-six of Sydney’s top drag queens were approached and cast in the performance, putting on original gowns and costumes from the 1994 queer classic.

A recreated Priscilla bus was also part of the parade, and during the closing ceremony, performers attached giant lashes to the buses’ windscreen.

Drag queen Vanessa Wagner rode atop a giant pink wig on the Priscilla bus.

Out in front, drag performers pedalled the iconic giant high heel shoe bicycles.

The Priscilla float in the Sydney 2000 closing ceremony was one of a few that celebrated Aussie films.

It followed Crocodile Dundee star Paul Hogan, who was surrounded by Australian animal costumes as he rode atop a giant Akubra hat.

‘The homosexual capital of the world’

The drag queens’ involvement in the Sydney closing ceremony – which also featured Kylie Minogue – was kept very hush-hush.

Olympics bosses announced it around three weeks before the Games began, and at the time, there was backlash.

Callers raged to conservative talkback radio stations that a Priscilla show was “endorsing a gay lifestyle”.

Church leaders and far-right politicians warned it could make Sydney the “homosexual capital of the world.”

“This blatant condoning of a public homosexual display during the closing ceremony will not enhance the Olympic Games nor Australia as host to the Games,” NSW MP Reverend Fred Nile said in 2000.

“Homosexual and lesbian behaviour is not a true representation of Australian culture and lifestyle.

“Drag queens do not truly represent our great Aussie culture at all.”

In reality, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert was a box office hit and became an Australian classic. The film is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.

The movie is returning to cinemas in September. It now has a popular outback drag festival dedicated to it. A highly-anticipated sequel is in development 30 years later.

In just under a decade, Brisbane will bring the Olympics back to Australia in 2032. Bring back the shoe bicycles!

The Gold Coast hosted the Commonwealth Games in 2018. At Surfers Paradise during the Games, Courtney Act hosted an entire concert dedicated to drag queens and queer performers.

Read more:

Drag Race host Nicky Doll’s defiant response to Olympics backlash

Guy Pearce weighs in on Priscilla Queen of the Desert sequel

‘Save the queen’: How the original Priscilla bus was rediscovered

‘They booed’: Stephan Elliott recalls horror first Priscilla screening

For the latest LGBTIQA+ Sister Girl and Brother Boy news, entertainment, community stories in Australia, visit qnews.com.au. Check out our latest magazines or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

[rfbworld]

Shop Durable Curly Synthetic Hair Online in Brisbane City

If you have to get rid of problems of hair and want to enhance your hair look, if yes, then, RFB World is the best choice for you. Our store offers Curly Synthetic Hair Online in Brisbane City. We have a great collection of women's wigs such as afro, ponytails, and synthetic wigs. For more info, contact us at (+61) 411200769.

[cumshawtyy]

Y’all support my girl business. I love seeing black people doing what they love most ✊🏾❤️

[uranus101]

[morbid-mouse]

My beard says daddy, but my wig says 12 yr old. 

[goddammitstacey]

“I am utterly alone”

Today’s frocktober was A Heckin Lot, friends. I confused many customers. It was awesome.

Featuring a bangin Kaminski top hat from Brisbane Hatters and a $17 wig I bought last minute from Big W.

Why am I confusing the shit out of my customers? I’m raising money for ovarian cancer. DONATE!

[vultania]

Little story thing

Just because Ebony was forced out of the public eye didn't mean that she couldn't travel once in a while.

She saw a doctor who created a removable fake cast for her "broken wrist" that she could use whenever she wanted to hide her hand.

She had her husband, Jeremiah, learn how to braid her curls so they would lie flat on her head when she wore a blonde wig, custom-made from her sister-in-law, Renee's, hair, as she was soon to begin chemotherapy.

She also bought coloured contact lenses that made her eyes look as murky brown as the Brisbane River. Sometimes she wore only one, so she carried the ocean in one eye and the river in the other.

All this so she wouldn't be recognised on the street.

People would sometimes look back when they passed her. Sometimes they would double back to her and say, "You look familiar. Have we met?"

Ebony would reply, "No, I don't think so," and move on.

*

If there was one thing Ebony hated most, it was flying.

Her father, Alfonso, was killed in a plane crash when she was only three years old. As she and her twin brother, Ethan, grew up, they were surrounded by the words, "Nine-Eleven," "September Eleven," "Terrorist attack," "Twin Towers," "Ground Zero," and "War on Terror."

She did not fly. She did not drive. Instead, she had a Gifted friend who had made her a watch that could take her wherever she wanted to go. It was like a portkey from Harry Potter, but she could use it infinitely. Didn't make it anymore comfortable, though. Sometimes she would have to find a bush and vomit into it.

And that was why she preferred to teleport to train stations, especially the outdoor ones. It made it easier to take a few moments to herself, especially on the weekends.

She did not take the bus, or taxis, or rideshares. She knew how to drive, but she no longer did. The last time she was behind the wheel, she almost died, along with her husband and her daughter.

Her daughter, Tildy, was still missing, even after ten years.

Today was the last Sunday before her birthday and before the car crash. She'd be thirteen on Wednesday.

It would also be forty years since her father's death on Tuesday.

*

Forty years ago, everything changed.

Ten years ago, everything changed.

That's why she came to the Wheel of Brisbane. It was the place where her mother had told her and Ethan they would never see their father again.

That same gondola was where Jeremiah proposed, and where she revealed that she was pregnant.

This Ferris wheel was the site of many important scenes in her life.

It was where she and her loved ones marked anniversaries, birthdays, and shared important news.

It was where she went to just be alone and yet be surrounded by people.

It was where she felt hope bubble up inside her heart. "I'll see her again," she said to herself. "My family will be whole again soon."

"I'll be whole again soon."

[kayisiafricanhairboutique]

[qnewsau]

How Shanny T-Bone overcame hate from within our community

New Post has been published on https://qnews.com.au/how-shanny-t-bone-overcame-hate-from-within-our-community/

How Shanny T-Bone overcame hate from within our community

Each month, we ask local entertainers to spill the tea about themselves, their craft and the local scene. This time it’s Brisbane drag artist Shanny T-Bone. 

Shanny shares her love of Kylie Minogue, finding the balance between femininity and masculinity and overcoming ignorance from within the LGBTQIA+ community.

The first time I did drag was…

In Maryborough in 2005. It was at a once-a-month LGBTQ+ dance party called Diversity, which was founded by a good friend Shawn Dern aka Donna Frock. 

When I first moved to Brisbane, I was introduced to Sporties, The Wickham and The Beat, where I got to see incredible drag artists like Miss Synthetique, Yana Michelle, Crystal Dior, Venus Envy, Trixie Laumonte, Sasha Trajik Mole, Iona Toyboy and Dame Liz Taylor.

I was enamoured by their talent, sparkle and glamour. I consumed as many drag shows as I could.  Soon I became friends with my drag mother Crystal Dior, and her friend Donna.

I would often talk to them about how I would do drag one day, seemingly that day would never come if it were up to me. One day Donna told me I had a month to organise a wig, some heels and a costume because I’d be performing at Diversity.

So I got some size 14 heels, a beach blonde wig and a costume made for me, and did my first show. The rest is history as they say… 

Shanny’s drag

I would describe my drag as…

Big, bright, bold, bashful, busty, beautiful, bearded broad. And a bit of a cunt. 

Having a beard as a drag artist…

Saves you a lot of money on razors, and you never get razor burn. For a long time, I thought I needed to fit into an archetype of drag to be considered legitimate and serious. I was conditioned to think I needed to shave to emulate the perceived fantasy of drag. 

When I had time off performing, I relished in growing a beard and living my best bear life. When it came time to throw the heels on, I really resented and hated having to shave. For the longest time, I struggled with finding the balance between feeding my masculinity and femininity. Then something clicked, and I realised I could have the best of both worlds and be just as (if not more) beautiful in drag with a beard. 

Letting go of the expectations of what others engrained in me early in my drag career has been so liberating. 

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My best skill in being a drag performer is…

Makeup. It’s my favourite part of the drag transformation. I love using vibrant and pigmented colours in my looks.

I think it’s what I’m best known for, being a “Mugzilla”; a term created by Henny Spaghetti. It roughly translated as someone who uses a lot of cosmetics. I love experimenting with techniques, products and shapes. 

I love the evolution of a drag artist’s makeup, and how everyone has their own style. I’d dare say it’s the fingerprint of drag, not one drag artist is the same. In the early years of doing drag, changing up my makeup was the cheapest way to do a new look without having to buy a new wig or costume. 

Brisbane scene

The Brisbane queer scene is…

Inspiring. I love being a part of it. To share stages and spaces with some of the most incredible talent inspires me endlessly. It truly is a thriving and electrifying community. The queer scene offers a space where everyone can express themselves freely and authentically. 

Whether it’s the alternative artists you see at alt, the girls who know how to hoot and hound at Purr, or showcasing stories and diversity of different cultures at POC, there is something for everyone.  There’s a sense of community, belonging and connection for everyone to celebrate, and be inspired.

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  A post shared by @shannytbone

Brisbane drag artists are…

Really underrated. For the longest time, Brisbane artists were slept on. But I think we have proved that we have some of the most outstanding talent in the country, if not the world. 

The drag performer who deserves more attention is...

Dolly Kicks. If you haven’t seen a Dolly Kicks show, you’re really missing out. They’re an incredible drag performer and she needs to be seen on more stages in Meanjin. Producers reading this, book Dolly Kicks! 

Overcoming ignorance

The biggest change I’ve seen in drag since starting is…

The perception, acceptance and celebration of drag. When I started, it was still quite subversive and underground. There was a stigma attached to being a drag queen, specifically in some subcultures of the queer community. 

l rarely disclosed I did drag to men I dated. I would ask guys if they ever went to drag shows, and more times than I care to recall, I was often met with replies such as “drag is disgusting”, “I think all drag queens are fucked in the head” etc. I remember going to a bears’ dance party (out of drag) and was recognised by a patron. They said I wasn’t welcome there.  It took a lot of work and self-reflection to not take those ignorant words on board. 

When RuPauls Drag Race really took off, attitudes within the community started to shift. Jump forward 12 years later, I’m hosting events for bears, I have met my two best Judies, and am a celebrated part of the Bear (specifically BrisBears) community. 

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Her adoration of Kylie

Kylie Minogue is…

A supreme goddess deity diva that deserves nothing but our respect and gratitude. Kylie Minogue means the world to me as a drag performer. She is not just a pop icon; she embodies everything I aspire to in my drag. Her ability to reinvent herself while staying true to her artistry has been a guiding light for me. 

Her music, style, and stage presence have influenced every aspect of my drag, from the way I perform to the looks I create.

Kylie’s resilience, charm, and unwavering dedication to her craft inspire me to push boundaries and be the best version of myself. For me, Kylie isn’t just an icon; she’s the heartbeat of my drag journey.

If you haven’t figured it out, I’m a huge Kylie fan. I could talk about her all day. Want to piss me off, talk bad about her. 

The best thing a fan has done for me was…

A lovely punter gifted me some Kylie Minogue collector’s items. It was so sweet, thoughtful and generous. 

Drag experience

The best experience I’ve had in drag is…

There’s quite a few! Firstly, winning Miss Sportsman’s in 2022. To be a part of a legacy that has a rich history Brisbane’s drag scene was such a great accomplishment and an incredible honour. I was flippant about for so long.

It wasn’t until I was performing on that night how much it would mean to me to have that title and join icons such as Abril LaTrene, Chinta Woo Allcock, Mandy Moobs, and Vollie LaVont. Sporties has always been my home and I have met the most incredible people who are lifelong friends. To have that recognition from my peers and the community is incredible. 

Secondly, performing on Mardi Gras night at Universal for World Pride in Sydney. I don’t think I’ll ever get an opportunity like that again in my life.

That experience was hands down the most exhilarating and one of the proudest moments of my drag career. To be invited to perform alongside some of the most incredible entertainers in Sydney was such an honour. It was electric, you could feel the love and pride, and everyone was so supportive and generous with their energy, a truly magical experience. 

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  A post shared by @shannytbone

One message I have for our community is…

Kindness costs nothing, give it out freely. Remember to be humble, the same people that were there for you on your way up will be the same people you see on your way down. And if a drag performer doesn’t want a photo, don’t be a twat about it, keep it cute and move along. If you see a drag performer in Crocs, mind ya business. 

You can follow Shanny T-Bone @shannytbone on Instagram.

Other Queensland drag stars:

Sarah Problem-Hoe spills the tea on the Brisbane scene

Henny Spaghetti’s response to being slapped by a fan

Archie Arsenic calls for more accessible queer spaces

Get to know First Nations queen Chocolate Boxx

Spill the tea with Brisbane drag star Maxi-Bon

How AFAB drag artist Ladybird thrives despite shocking abuse

For the latest LGBTIQA+ Sister Girl and Brother Boy news, entertainment, community stories in Australia, visit qnews.com.au. Check out our latest magazines or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. 

[rfbworld]

Shop Durable Curly Synthetic Hair Online in Brisbane City

If you have to get rid of problems of hair and want to enhance your hair look, if yes, then, RFB World is the best choice for you. Our store offers Curly Synthetic Hair Online in Brisbane City. We have a great collection of women's wigs such as afro, ponytails, and synthetic wigs. For more info, contact us at (+61) 4112 00769.

[notyoursterotypicalnerd]

Nurse Rozetta 3.0 done. Well..the costume just needs to be bloody/dirtied up but other than that. 🥳 First pic was from Brisbane zombie walk back in 2015 when I had no clue wtf I was doing and I took inspiration from @alicecooper 's character nurse rozetta but due to my lack of skills and also confidence, I didn't know how to get the exact nurse rozetta look. Than came 2.0 in 2018. My confidence and skills had greatly improved but it still wasn't what Calico Cooper (@calicocooper ) or Sheryl Cooper ( @tutufoodot ) wore on-stage. Though I still took inspiration from those two woman with their hair and makeup. And finally today. A while ago I ordered a nurse costume and a wig. Boom..did a trial and error for 3.0. I like it. But I definitely need to look at how Calico & Sheryl Cooper do their makeup and practice their ways. Cause i definitely need a new-ish makeup look instead of using the same makeup look that i know how to do easily. Plus those two ladies change up their makeup almost every time they don nurse rozetta for stage. Quite happy how it looks and how far I've come with this costume. 1st pic - unknown 2nd pic @spyjournal 3rd pic - @la_cosplay_ #femalecosplayer #brisbanecosplayer #australiancosplayer #nurserozetta #nurserozettacosplay #horrorcosplay #zombienurse #alicecooper #dayofthedeadnurse #cosplayphotography #cosplayimprovement https://www.instagram.com/p/CGETEoCjV_5/?igshid=p8g182tuval6

[lorerys]

Tag game (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

I was tagged by @charoban, thank you so much, I love doing these!!

Your muse’s name: Caevin

A favorite picture/faceclaim of your muse:

Two headcanons you have for your muse:

◆ Caevin is not smart, but he sees the good in everyone and at times he says very deep things without realising it. He’s naive and has a big heart, and his friends do their best to let him stay like that even in dark times. He takes everything as an adventure. He doesn’t understand many things yet, but he always wants to help his friends on his own way. When he can say nothing that could console them, he offers to give them a hug if they need it. (They do.)

◆ He loves exploring new places, but he gets lost easily so his friends have to always keep an eye on him. He wants to see everything inside and outside of Tyria. Everytime they go somewhere new, even if it’s the decaying Orr or the cold Shiverpeaks, he just can’t wait to head out and try everything. He climbs up anywhere for a good view at the landscape, and he’s so quick that it’s hard to catch up with him. He wishes if he could see the Dominion of Winds one day.

Three things that your muse likes doing in their free time:

◆  eating sweets. Actually, Caevin refuses to eat anything but sweets. He doesn’t eat meat because he’s a ranger who sees every animals as friends, and he doesn’t eat friends. Then once he heard the Mad King say "If a sylvari eats a salad, is it cannibalism?”, and the thought made Caevin feel very uncomfortable. So despite his friends tell him it was just one of the Mad King’s bad jokes, and beg him to eat more healthy, he refuses to eat anything related to plants.

◆ the Super Adventure Box. Every year, the Underdorks* can’t wait for April to enter Moto’s world and continue their impossible important quest of saving Princess Miya from Lord Vanquish. Caevin loves all of this adventure with the guild, even Tribulation mode. He still hasn’t realised Princess Miya is just Moto in a wig and dress. They don’t tell him.

◆  chilling in Southsun Cove. He loves just looking at the waves while drinking juice next to his group at the beach, and he’s amazed by the colours of the island. He befriended a reef rider, Pancake. He wants to befriend a karka too, but they tell him it’s not a good idea.

Seven people your muse loves/like:

*Underdorks [UD]: a small guild formed by Knodd, Marceus and  Caevin. They share a few things in common, like being odd and misfits on some way. They don’t want to achieve anything. Slowly, it’s gaining members.

1. Puddles [UD]. Puddles is his pig best friend he had since he was a piglet, and follows Caevin everywhere. Puddles doesn’t do anything useful, just digging up bottles, junk and at times truffles, but Caevin doesn’t have any expectations of him or any of his pet friends, he just loves him anyway.

2. Knodd, the warrior [UD]. Knodd is a Vigil Recruit, who dropped out of the college of Dynamics and started to chase his dreams about becoming a hero. He and Caevin met after the Pact was formed, and instantly became friends. Boredom is not an option when they are together.

3. Marceus Wolfsbane [UD]. Caevin likes how fun and kind Marceus is, and he loves going on random missions with him. They can’t be left alone for long though, because they both have terrible coordination skills. One time, they were headed to Brisban and ended up in a volcano.

4. Scrapper Ruth [UD]. It’s hard for them to take things very seriously and none of them are particularly strong, so they are often put in the same team. They usually find something exciting anywhere, and Ruth is a very fun company. She is always chatting, what’s great because Caevin prefers listening to talking. Caevin loves her stories about her old times in the fahrar with Marceus and Kaiya, and the excitement about the new shinies she has collected.

5. Lorerys Claymore. They became friends in the Pact, and though she was busy as a Commander, at times when she went home she invited him to see the moa farm and Berry. No matter what she did before she left the Pact, Caevin sees she is good inside. When she was getting out of a bad time, he asked her to join the Underdorks on SAB, and for Caevin she couldn’t say no. Lore loves SAB now too, and Caevin was happy to see that she is having so much fun with them.

6. Svenna Olafkin. She is from a famous cook family in Hoelbrak, and takes Caevin as a big challenge. She is determined to bake him food with ingredients that he would eat, but she makes sure it’s still full of the nutrients he needs. He loves her food, and is grateful for her kindness. Her bear, Hugo, is unusually friendly with Caev.

7.  Faeyvil. Faey is a mender in the Grove, and a fellow ranger with a deer pet. She is very cheerful and chatty, and always helps everyone out. She heals Caevin’s pets too if they ever need it, and takes care of them when occasionally he must leave them at home. They could talk for hours about animals.

A phobia your muse has: Monophobia (fear of being alone)

Caevin likes being quiet, but he doesn’t like silence and he’s scared of being alone. He loves being surrounded by his friends and pets, and just hearing their voice. They know that he always has to be in company, so someone always takes him with them. Tagging: @szallejh @astralarias @resonatingfern @duskroots @aribethknight​ ((I’m always nervous about who to tag so I hope it’s fine that I tagged you, pls ignore if you don’t want to do it! If someone is reading this who likes to get tagged in these, please write me so I know to always think about tagging you!))

[thecourtneychronicles]

“Courtney Act says she’s enjoying an endless “hot girl summer”. Which, for those not initiated into American rap memes, basically means she’s having a damn good time.

“I’m kind of lubed up and ready for Mardi Gras, so to speak,” she says. As Australia’s most famous drag queen, active since the turn of the century, Courtney helped lead the mainstreaming of queer culture in this country along with figures such as Carlotta and Bob Downe.

But being a leader or pioneer doesn’t guarantee being comfortable in your own skin. Courtney says that until recently her understanding of sexuality and gender was actually quite limited. When she was performing, she was a woman, but when she stripped off her make-up, she went back to being Shane Jenek, a man.

“Although I did drag, my masculinity and femininity were compartmentalised in the binary,” Courtney says.

But over the past few years, as public discussion of gender, sexuality and identity has grown, she has discovered things are more complex than your genitals, clothes and hair.

“I think sometimes people think identity has something to do with the wrapping, but really it’s the gift underneath,” she says. “It’s about how you feel. For me, I definitely feel like I occupy masculine and feminine qualities.”

Courtney explores this journey in her pop-cabaret show, Fluid, showing this week at the Eternity Playhouse in Darlinghurst as part of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras festival. It’s a change of pace for her after focusing on television in recent years; first by winning Britain’s Celebrity Big Brother in 2018, then as the runner-up (with Joshua Keefe) on last year’s Australian Dancing with the Stars.

It’s also a far cry from her humble beginnings in the DIY world of drag, which has never been regarded as high art but remains a staple of gay bars and culture worldwide.

“There’s a lot less hot glue and sticky tape in this show, which makes it feel a lot more professional,” Courtney says of Fluid. “I don’t know if that will hold until opening night.”

Set to original music, Fluid was written by Shane and American comedian Brad Loekle. For the most part it’s a one-woman show, with some help from a ballroom dancer in the second half. (“It’d be weird doing a ballroom dance by yourself,” she says.)

The show acknowledges that, more than ever, people are being flooded with “ever-changing and flowing ideas of who we are, what we are and what we might become”.

This is something we should embrace, says Courtney. “We change our clothes every day – we change  our hairstyles, we change our jobs. Everything is constantly in motion and constantly fluid. But we have this idea that our identities are fixed. When we look at our lives they’re actually a lot more fluid than we think.”

Courtney, or Shane, doesn’t identify as trans but has said that seeing more transgender people represented in the media was liberating and allowed her to explore her own doubts about gender. She’s previously been described as “gender fluid, pansexual and polyamorous”, although she no longer embraces those labels as she once did.

“They all work,” says Courtney, who prefers to identify as “just generally queer” these days. “It’s funny … so many of our groups identify so strongly with labels and they’re so important to us. I kind of feel less attached to those labels.”

She also understands why some people might feel confused, or even confronted, by the politics of queer identification. The acronym LGBTQIA+, which stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual and others, has expanded over the years to the point that some critics deride it as “alphabet soup”. Even those who are part of the community can be intolerant.

“I get that LGBTIQA+ is a little cumbersome from a marketing standpoint,” says Courtney. “But if you find yourself with the time to complain and be confused by a few extra letters, then you’re one of the lucky ones. If there are people that get to understand themselves more because of a letter in an acronym, I’m all for it.”

“I definitely feel like I occupy masculine and feminine qualities.”

Courtney casts a sceptical eye over everything, including the rise of cancel culture, a predominantly left-wing phenomenon which argues that anyone who says or does something deemed to be racist, sexist, homophobic or in any way offensive should be called out, shamed and, preferably, silenced.

Lamenting the state of political discourse while appearing on the ABC’s Matter of Fact program last year, she said: “The volume’s too loud now and everybody’s yelling.” While history showed that people sometimes need to raise their voices, “when you actually sit down opposite someone and have a conversation with them, you get so much further”.

How, then, does Courtney view the debate over religious freedom that has raged ever since Australians voted to legalise same-sex marriage in 2017? She says it’s clear that sometimes people, especially older white males, perceive other people gaining rights as a threat to their own. She says religion can be a lost cause because it is, by definition, about faith rather than rational argument. Still, queer people have to make the effort to engage.

“The way to do that is to get people to picture themselves in other people’s experiences. That’s the only way you can foster that empathy.

“Rather than yelling aggressively back at the people trying to oppress us, I think the most important thing to do is to share our stories.”

Another thing you can do, of course, is march. This weekend, Mardi Gras culminates in the annual parade up Oxford Street, which will feature more than 200 floats and 10,000 marchers. For the first time, Courtney will co-host the coverage on SBS with comedians Joel Creasey and Zoe Coombs Marr, and Studio 10 presenter Narelda Jacobs.

She had something of a practice run hosting the coverage on Foxtel some years ago. “I saw a clip of it the other day,” she says. “And I’m definitely hoping to redeem myself.”

As a character, Courtney has been on the gay scene for about 20 years. The person behind the facade, Shane, turned 38 last week. He grew up in Brisbane and remembers watching the parade on television as a teenager in the 1990s, huddled up close to the TV so he could quickly switch it off if his parents came downstairs.

Shane came to Sydney when he was 18 and attended his first Mardi Gras. “I just remember it was such a melting pot of people,” he says. “It was the first time I really understood what a community was: that there were all these different parts, and we all faced different challenges and struggles.”

But even then, Shane says he failed to really comprehend about what Mardi Gras was all about. Just like many heterosexual critics over the years, as a young man he gawked at the giant dancing penises, fetish-wear and nudity and wondered: why?

“I remember thinking: why can’t they just be normal?” Shane says. “Have your parade, but why does it have to be about sex and penises? Because I had shame about all of those things. I realise now that the parade’s brash display of sexuality liberates the shame … it’s a really radical way to shake people and say there’s nothing wrong with sexuality – not just homosexuality but sexuality in general.”

The queer community has given Shane a lot: acceptance, identity, a career and fame. It has taken him to Los Angeles, where he was based for some years until 2018, and now to his new home in London.

Love, on the other hand, remains elusive. He is “on the rebound” at the moment, though eternally optimistic. “It’s Mardi Gras time, it’s summer in Sydney, I think this is the perfect time to be single. Maybe I’ll find love under a disco ball at the after-party.”

Incredibly, at 38, Shane is about to attend his first ever wedding, straight or gay – his friend Tim is marrying his partner Ben. It is set to be a baptism of fire. “They have asked my ex-boyfriend and me to give the best man’s speech together, which could be slightly sadistic,” he says.

Shane is still adjusting to the relatively new world of same-sex marriage. It’s not for everyone – many queers still think of it as a conservative and unnecessary institution – but it’s growing on him. “Weirdly, seeing all these people get married, I feel like my cold heart has melted a bit,” he says. “I think there’s something really beautiful about marriage.”

It’s a reminder of why events like the Mardi Gras are still so important – a celebration of diversity at the same time as the old divisions between straight and gay are knocked down. As well as marriage, this can manifest in small shifts, like the politics of Bondi Beach.

“I was at North Bondi on Saturday [and] it was surprisingly unlike North Bondi,” Shane says. “It was all families and those banana umbrella things. I was like, ‘Oh, I remember when this used to be [gay nightclub] ARQ, but with more light.’"

“I guess that’s the progress we fought for – the families are happy occupying the gay beaches now.”

Fashion director Penny McCarthy. Photographer Steven Chee. Hair Benjamin Moir at Wigs By Vanity.

SBS’s Mardi Gras broadcast airs live from 7.30pm on February 29. Fluid will return for a tour of Australia and NZ in spring.

This article appears in Sunday Life magazine within the Sun-Herald and the Sunday Age on sale February 23.”

Courtney’s interview for The Sydney Morning Herald - February 21, 2020

[cosplay-breeza]

Had an amazing time at Brisbane Supanova 2019!

I manged to completely finish my Lucy cosplay!! And then got roped into doing a kazuma cosplay with all my guy friends! They only gave me 5 days!!

So with the rush of 5 days I was only able to make the cloak and style an old wig! I also had bought a new shirt and added the rope to add the extra details, I also reused my old shoes from my Daenerys cosplay, and just wore a pair of black pants! Add a belt and BAM kazuma cosplay done just in time 😂

[jaynehairextensioncocom-blog]

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