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 CHAD PARKHILL speaks to ANTHONY SMITH, the organiser behind BENT, a new all-ages queer event.
Anthony Smith is not only multi-talented and hard-working – he performs in the groups Master & Stryker and Dizzygotheca, and organises music events – he also does all of this for a good cause: namely, to help the queer community. In the past this has lead him to create Holes & Poles, a yearly event that showcases the diversity of queer music (some are surprised to discover it’s not all house remixes of Kylie tracks). Now he’s taking on a more difficult project: that of creating an all-ages queer event as part of Brisbane’s annual Pride celebrations.
I say ‘difficult’ because there’s more than logistics involved this time: the fact that this will be an all-ages queer show brings forth the spectre of cultural anxieties about the relationship between youth and queer people (who are, after all, defined by their non-normative sexual practices). It’s difficult territory, so the most pressing question is, why has Smith chosen to do this?
“I’ve been looking to run a youth event for a while now,” Smith explains. “Not a specifically queer event, but a youth event showcasing bands in Brisbane. But late last year Open Doors [a Brisbane organisation that supports lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer youth] released the stats from their Galaxy poll – crazy stats on GLBTIQ youth and suicide rates and self harm. Out of the 164 young people that they surveyed, 37 percent had attempted suicide in the last 12 months; 82 percent had considered it; and 52 percent had self-harmed.”
“These are pretty crazy stats – and they’re from Queensland,” Smith continues. “Queensland is the only state in Australia that doesn’t have equal age-of-consent laws, and people are just ignoring things like that. So this is really to bring a few issues to the front: that queer youth do exist, that they are in a difficult situation in Queensland, and to provide a fun, safe environment where they can say, ‘I’m me, this is what I do’.”
Given this rather noble intent, and the risky cultural politics that this intent must necessarily engage with, Smith has spared no effort to ensure that the event is a truly safe one. “We will have two areas: an underage area and a waiting area for parents, somewhere where they can chill out. But we’ll try to keep it underage, as much as possible,” Smith says. “There’s no bar. We’ll have QAHC [Queensland Association for Healthy Communities, a HIV-awareness body] handing out flyers, so they’ll have a presence there, and it is an Open Doors fundraiser.”
The term ‘queer’ covers a lot of ground, so the final question I ask of Smith is about what kind of acts will play at Bent. “There’s lots of different types of bands, with both male and female acts,” Smith says. “We’ve got Kristy Apps, a lesbian female performer; Dizzygotheca do electronica; Twist Oliver Twist do rock – but the diversity is hopefully going to be in the crowd, too.” (Brisbane noise-punks Monster Zoku Onsomb! and DJs Wolvie Trash and Elektropanda have been added to the line-up since my interview with Smith.)
BENT happens at the QaHC offices, 30 Helen Street, Newstead, from 11am on Saturday Jun 27. Check out www.myspace.com/bentbrisbane for more information.
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