School's Out work hard at Out in the Square

Wellington thankfully blessed us with glorious weather last Saturday so Out in the Square was able to kick off without a hitch.

We arrived bright and early in Civic Square (around ten or so) to set up the School's Out stall, which was shared with Tranzform, and make sure everything was nice and pretty. Once some of our charming School's Out youth arrived, we lost no time in enlisting their aid. Armed only with flyers, we sent them off into the fray in search of new recruits.

As the day proceeded, with liberous amounts of sunscreen, merriment and dancing (particularly from the youth), we received lots of interest in what it is that we do. Several teachers from a variety of school's approached us about setting up Queer-Straight Alliances (QSAs) in their schools. Many new youth signed up to our email list and we hope to see some more of them very soon.

But perhaps most exciting of all, some of our youth got interviewed by One News and appeared on a segment of the news about Out in the Square which can be viewed on the TVNZ website (www.tvnz.com - Saturday 21st Jan 2012,12 min 45 sec into clip)

All in all the day was a fabulous success and we look forward with anticipation to next year's fair!

[Thanks Ellen for writing this article :-)]

School's Out fun at Vinegar Hill

School’s Out went as a group to Vinegar Hill this year. This was the first time that our current leadership had taken youth on any such venture, so we spent the weeks beforehand meticulously planning with help from a couple of the more ‘camp experienced’ youth. Braving cold showers and the likelihood of torrential rain, sixteen of us ventured up to the Manawatu in vans and cars a few days after Christmas.

Vinegar Hill, for those who don’t know, is a popular destination for the queer community in the Christmas/New Year period, and it has been going since the 1980s at least. Every year people set up their tents, generators, fairy lights, disco balls, bring their tiny dogs and their lilos for an extravagant and flamboyant camping holiday.

On the first night, the Queen of Vinegar Hill (who is elected each year on New Year’s eve) hosted Fashion in the Field, in which contestants constructed costumes from the local flora and fauna and modelled it down the runway. The winner, Shane from Camp Snow, later gave cheap haircuts to some of the School’s Out campers.

We played some team bonding games and went swimming in the river the next day. After dinner we played ‘Secret pals’ where we went round the circle writing at least one nice thing about someone else, and everyone had good warm fuzzies going before getting costumes ready for the Paper and Plastic party. The rain had set in by this stage so we gradually ended up sitting next to the massive fire at Camp Hilton.

Our youth mentioned that their favourite things about the trip were swimming, cute group bonding times, games, hanging at camp with each other, dancing by the bonfire, the river, the people, being away, connecting more with the queer community, and meeting everyone. They wanted to stay longer!

Our youth had a great time in a queer space where they felt like they could be themselves. We also had some great opportunities to bond as a group. A lot of the other campers hoped to see us come back next year. We would love to return to Vinegar Hill, with the hope of making it an annual event for School’s Out. Feedback from the youth: “Thanks for camp! It was great fun (even with the rain)”; “It was just awesome to hangout and bond with everyone from School’s Out- I feel like we are a family now.”

Coming out in 2012?

Lesbian Drop-In

Happy New Year from the lesbian drop-in! Our first group will be held on Thursday Feb 2nd upstairs at the Embassy Theatre. If you are new to Wellington or to the Queer scene we are here to chat and provide support. If you would like to meet earlier or have questions about the group please email me. Jo
jo.morrison.nz@gmail.com

Newcomers

Hi guys who are gay, bi, or think you might be! Our coming out group for men, Newcomers, is going to change this year. In 2011 at the fortnightly Newcomers group meetings we always listened to one person’s life story. Everyone’s personal story is powerful and can really help men who are coming out or who think they may be gay.

The stories were so interesting we thought the audience needn’t just be men coming out – instead, in 2012, any man in the gay community is welcome to come along and share his story or hear others talk about their lives.

The meetings will start up on Tuesday 14th February from 6pm to 7.30pm. There are always free drinks and nibbles. Call or email helpline (473 7878, helpline@gaywellington.org) to find out more.

Thanks for coming to the Gay & Lesbian Fair 2012

It was great to see so many people at the fair today - the weather did us proud.

Gay Wellington's stall had the usual sausage sizzle courtesy of discounts from the butcher at Island Bay. And a big thanks to the Chocolate Cake Company for donating 20 delicious mini chocolate cakes to help us raise money.

If you came to the stall you may have seen our fresh new Gay Wellington flyer which was hot off the press this morning. Tranzform and School's Out had a busy table as well, with impressive new banners.

A big thanks to everyone who volunteered to help, as well as to everyone who came up to say hello!

And congratulations to the School's Out folk who were interviewed for TV1 news tonight. The clip about bullying was excellent :-)