2009: In review

Hello hello!!

So December is here - and it's a time of finishing up so I thought I would do a little list of thongs that I remember here at Lestbot World.

Early in the year we discovered our friends over at Snatch and Grab at Phoenix - and now we have something to do every Thursday night!!

I came out to my family!!! The most liberating/scary experience of my life!

That whole Lyndsay/Sam thing happened.... Maybe best not to go there.

My local club Krave(come along!) celebrated 1 successful year in it's new home at Wyong.

I became a 'published author' with my article in LOTL magazine(the one with Peaches on the cover), and I became a contributor to the website www.samsame.com.au - which really has everything that's going on in one location!

We find out that people are being executed for committing 'homosexual acts' in countries such as Iran. *Please remember, that you don't have to be a politician to make a stand. Be aware of what is going on around you - you can make a difference.*

All in all, this is a VERY tiny amount of what happpened this year, and there's plenty more unfolding each day.

Until then though, have a super Merry Christmas, and I will see you in 2010!

Love and best wishes,

Gem / Lesbot World


- From my iPhone

Accept Crime.

Currently in Iran, three men are facing the death penalty for allegedly being homosexual. It's funny how our governments will immediately rush to the aid of hostages, victims of natural disasters and even criminals - but when 3 lives will be lost, simply for being 'different' there is something terribly terribly wrong. These men ought to be congratulated for having the courage to stand up for themselves and who they are, in a country that is so often rife with discrimination and injustice. So please, do some reasearch on this case if you can and remember to never, EVER be afraid to be yourself.

Recently I was listening to the new alexisonfire record "Old Crows / Young Cardinals" and one of the songs, "Accept Crime" really stuck with me. It resonates with the LGBTI communtiy on so many levels so I urge you to have a listen.

On a lighter note - I am now a contributer for the country's top website for LGBTI news - www.samesame.com.au
I'm currently reviewing the new Michael Buble album 'Crazy Love' so expect it on the site soon!!

Lastly - what would a LesbotWorld post be without a mention of my good friends over at Snatch & Grab?? Their monthly Girlthing event is this Saturday the 21st at QBar, Oxford St Sydney.

There will be copies of 'Sainthood' by Tegan & Sara to give away and one of my best buds, Dansy 4 Your Name will be doing a Dj set. All that plus the usual cheap drinks, good looking girls and dancefloor antics.

So I'll see you there!

Until next time....

Gem / Lesbot World

- From my iPhone

A shameless plug

Hey ladies! November is here and it's hectic!! Just a quick note to let you all know about the My Name 4 Your Name single launch at Hot Damn on Oxford St next Thursday Nov 12th. It'll be a party, so come have a beer and say hi!

Ruby Rose is touring as part of the Neon Essentials 2 release and Girlthing/Chicks with Picks is on again so check it all out!

Until next time...

Gem


- From my iPhone

October!

Girls! October has almost ended and it has flown by!
I just got myself a nifty little app for my phone so hopefully updates can be a little more consistent now.

Firstly, thanks to ALL of you who gave me feedback on the 'coming out young' article I wrote, that is featured in this months LOTL magazine (the one with Peaches on the cover.)
It means a lot to me that people took the time to respond to my story - as I have had it a lot easier than some!
So again, thanks! I really hope that I'm able to contribute to LOTL, and indeed the local
Lesbian community again in the future.

Okay! I love being social so I hope I'll see some of you at GIRLTHING on November 21 at QBar on Oxford St Sydney!
My very very good friend (and MN4YN guitarist) Dana is Djing on the night and there'll be a shitload of fun on the night so please to come out and have a dance.

And finally, speaking of dance: our talented friend RUBY ROSE has mixed a bunch of wicked tracks on the new Neon Essentials CD. There will be a TOUR to accompany this release happening very soon, so hit up neon essentials on the web to see when Ruby and friends will be in town!!

That's it for now ladies, until next time!

Gem / Lesbotworld

- From my iPhone

What's happening in Lesbot World?

Well well well!! Turns out my casual job has turned into a 36hour a week stress fest!

It's great money but unfortunately I've missed out on some of my favourite Lesbian events, including Snatch and Grab's new monthly party Girlthing! (sorry ladies, next time!) S&G are also supporting a new Sunday arvo gig called Chicks with Picks, so head to the Snatch & Grab MySpace to suss out the details on that one.

Also, if you are unaware, there's a little movie coming out in the next few months called Jennifer's Body. It involves blood sucking demons, and Megan Fox making out with another girl. Now, previously I have been skeptical of the portrayal of 'celesbians' in the media....but in this case I'm willing to ignore everything I've said. It's written by former stripper Diablo Cody, who also did Juno and United States of Tara - so I'm anticipating I'll enjoy it anyway.

I'll be making a quick trip down to Albury, then over to Adelaide in October with MN4YN, so please check out www.myspcae.com/mynameforyourname for the details and come say hi if you're in the area!

Gem out!

Girlthing goes monthly!

gHi ladies, just a quick update from me here at LesbotWorld! Life has been so hectic of late, organising tours and attending social events, plus working too!

So, my favourite lesbian party, Snatch & Grab, is hosting it's hugely successful Girl Thing events MONTHLY! So, please make sure you head over to www.myspace.com/snatch_and_grab for all the details, and I'll see you there!

Also, my guys My Name 4 Your Name have had their video for the single 'Killing Time' played on Channel U (Channel V) for 4 nights last week! So if you happen to catch it, please let me know what you think! Or, you can check it out at www.myspace.com/mynameforyourname
We are hitting up Melbourne and Adelaide again in October so if you see me by the merch table, come say hi!

Thanks very much girls, PROMISE I'll update sooner next time :)

Gem / LesbotWorld

(PS - keep an eye out for the piece I have in the October issue of LOTL magazine)

Lesbian Film Favourites

Hi e-friends! Sorry about the lack of posts lately, but I have been busy busy busy! Working and playing and organising tours - Lookout Melbourne and Adelaide, I'll be in your lovely cities once again before the year is out! (And, in Queensland in less than 2 weeks!)

But enough of my shenanigans. I've been rekindling my love of film lately, I think it is such a powerful medium through which to express emotion - love, hate, betrayal, elation, happiness, sadness and everything in between and beyond.

There are some fairly famous and really well made lesbian films around, so I thought I'd share with you some that I love, some that I'm yet to even see and some that are here for reasons other than the plot (you may know which ones they are.) If you think of any that I haven't listed, or you know one you think we should see, please email me at lesbotworld@gmail.com and let me know!

Until next time,

Gem / Lesbot World

Lesbian Films:

• Loving Anabelle
• Better than Chocolate
• Wild Things
• Imagine Me & You
• Nina's Heavenly Delights
• I Can't Think Straight (I havent seen this but it looks pretty great!)
• But I'm A Cheerleader
• Itty Bitty Titty Committee
• Lost and Delirious (this is a favourite film of mine - lesbian themed or otherwise)
• Bound
• If These Walls Could Talk 2

Enjoy!

This week in Lesbot World

Hello Ladies! How have your weeks been?

This is just going to be a quick update about some things that I think are pretty cool, so enjoy!

So, if you feel like a weekly perve, and lets face it, who doesnt, tune in to Channel 10 every Thursday at 8.30pm for cop drama RUSH.. Boasting a cast including Jolene Anderson and Nicole Da Silva, its well worth a look...or 5!

The show is a really good Aussie drama too, so you really can't lose!

Also on the subject of Television, our lovely friend Ruby Rose will be in your loungeroom nightly on Channel 10 from 7pm, on 'The 7pm Project' so definitely check it out!

Next, our favourite weekly indie party Snatch & Grab is having a roadtrip...to Canberra!! The tickets are selling really fast so head over to www.myspace.com/snatch_and_grab for all the details!

iPhone users, head to the app store and pick up your FREE P!NK APP! It has pretty much everything you could ever want, so pick it up if you haven't already.

Lastly, a shameless plug for my guys MY NAME 4 YOUR NAME. We'll be partying down at Spectrum, Sydney this Saturday, July 18th from 8pm. It's the last show before the band bunker down to record their second EP. Tickets are only $10, and its gonna be a BIG show, so make sure you come on down!

Thats it for now girls, if you're out on Saturday night come and see me at the MN4YN merch table and say hi!

Until next time,

Gem / Lesbot World.

Lesbians and the Media (Pt2)

Hello ladies!

Sorry about the lack of posting of late, my life has been uber hectic! Firstly, has anyone seen Transformers 2 yet? I hear that Megan Fox looks fairly....attractive in it. But, I'll have to find out for myself!

Okay, so in my last post I touched on lesbians in the media. Today, I want to look at the role of the 'celesbian' in the media and in society.
For those who are unaware, a 'celesbian' is basically a faux lesbian, ie. pretending to be a lesbian for attention. Another GREAT term I just heard is "Fauxmosexual"

The most recent and I guess publicised example of this I guess would be the (now ended) relationship between Sam Ronson and Lindsay Lohan. Maybe she's Bisexual, maybe she did it for attention, who knows? But can we really write off someones desire to explore their sexuality as an attention seeking grab for headlines? I think everyone has a right to explore their sexuality and who they are, regardless of whether they previously thought themselves to be straight or any other orientation.

Some 'celesbian' activity, such as the Britney/Madonna/Christina kiss was an obvious attempt to raise eyebrows and get people (mostly men) watching MTV and other awards shows. Displays of faux lesbianism like this set gay rights progress back, displaying homosexuals as slutty, trashy, and uncapable of controlling their behaviour - which, for the most part, is highly untrue.

We won't ever be able to stop the 'celesbian' train rolling on, but it will take a lot more smart, funny lesbians in the media to change peoples view of lesbians. So lesbians, stand up and be counted, because we deserve a shitload more credit than the celesbians are giving us!

That ends my little rant for today girls.
On a more fun note, those of you in Sydney should head to The Vintage at Darlinghurst to see the very lovely miss Ruby Rose spin a new setlist with Ritty and friends. All the info can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=124120019061&ref=mf so head along because it should be a brilliant night! Also, dont forget your weekly indie party at Snatch & Grab at Phoenix, Oxford St http://www.myspace.com/sntach_and_grab


Until next time!

Gem / Lesbot World.

Lesbians and the Media (Pt1)

Hey Ladies! How were your weekends? You can read about mine in my previous post.


Something has been on my mind for a little while now, so figured I would bring it to people's attention here. It is the way the media portrays the lesbian in our society. There are many facets of this statement, so I will attempt to cover what I think are the main points, the first of which being:


How does the media portray lesbians?


Lets take TV shows as an example. US medical drama "Grey's Anatomy" created a media storm when actor Brooke Smith (who plays Dr Erica Hahn) was fired from Grey's after the show recently included a lesbian storyline in it's 5th season. Why was she fired? Apparently "the suits "had issues" with both the explicit direction Callica(the Callie/Erica characters) was taking (think: undiscovered country, south of the border, etc.) and, more importantly, with the Hahn character in general. Basically, they didn't like her and wanted her gone ASAP."

I watched this storyline unfold on the show and was happy to think that a TV series was finally going to treat a lesbian relationship with as much respect as they treated any heterosexual one. I was wrong. The story finished so abruptly, and a possible new love interest for the remaining character was never followed through. It seems that on any TV show, a lesbian storyline (Las Vegas, Bones, Buffy, The OC) is basically used to create some hype and satisfy bored horny guys who like to see hot chicks make out. Why is it that writers of mainstream TV shows can't sustain a strong lesbian character or storyline for more than a few weeks? ( I exclude a show such as The L Word in this case, as I wouldn't classify it as mainstream here in Australia).
In contrast, I never heard a word about any controversy over the gay male couple that moved into Wisteria Lane on Desperate Housewives. Is it because they were 'already' gay? Would it be different if there was an 'already' lesbian couple? What I want to know is, why won't writers go there?

Just once I would like to see the writers of a show get some balls and put in a storyline that involves lesbians that isn't a stunt.

It is definitely time that the media started to portray lesbians in TV in a more accurate, and less sexist & homophobic way.

Thanks ladies, until next time!

Gem / Lesbot World




(In my next post I will be discussing the idea of the 'celebian')

Is there anybody out there?

Afternoon ladies!

So, Sunday afternoon rolls in and I'm nursing my usual post-Krave headache.(thanks for the beers Emma!)

I hadn't been to Krave in a little while, as I'd been on tour and with the band for a few weekends so it was good to head back.
Krave is always a fun time, lots of dancing and being messy and gay. 3 of my favourite things in the world.
There was one distinct thing I noticed about this Krave - the complete lack of people!

Central Coast - where were you all?! Was it the weather? Was there something else on that the rest of us didn't know about?

Seeing as how Krave is basically the only Gay and Lesbian club on the coast, I often wonder why so many coasties make the long trip to Sydney to go out. I can understand if there is an event on in Sydney, such as Moist or GirlThing, but surely on a regular weekend there could be nothing more convenient than a great gay club right on our doorsteps?

So I'm wondering - what's the draw of Sydney? Is it the venues? The people? The atmosphere?Obviously there is more choice of places to go in Sydney, and they do say that variety is the spice of life, but I sometimes feel like coasties perhaps take Krave for granted.
In saying all this, do you think there is room on the Coast for another gay club? Is each Krave too close together?
Perhaps the coast needs a special gay event every few months, to revive things, and perhaps even draw people from Sydney up to the Central Coast.

This may seem like a rant of sorts, but I guess the point I'm trying to make is this: please SUPPORT your local gay club, and help keep the scene going.

For more info on Krave, head to www.krave.com.au

Gem / Lesbot World

Got cash?

If you have a spare $200+, why not throw it down on 2.5 days of Lesbian goodness at The L Word convention next year?

Why not? Maybe because it's REALLY expensive?! Unless I'm going to be drinking wine with Rachel Shelley, I can't see why I would throw away that kind of money?
From The L Word Down Under website:
"The L Word Down Under convention will provide attendees with an opportunity to ask cast members a question about themselves or the show, be photographed with your favourite L Word character, the chance to get actor's autographs as well as meet other attendees from across Australia and abroad. "

Sure, The L Word was a groundbreaking show, and obviously a favourite of many people (including me!), but I for one feel like this is an attempt by someone (the US network, the organiser?) to cash in on loyal fans of the show after it has finished, to try and stop the cash flow drying up now the show is over.

Forgive my cynicism, because I thought the show was great, and really brought some serious LGBTI rights to the attention of mainstream audiences (although the show was canned after 1 season on Channel 7 in Australia, and fans had to wait for DVD's.)

I would welcome the opportunity to attend the convention, just not on my wallet! I just hope the actors and organisers use this convention as a chance to make some real headway into the agenda for LQBTI issues in Australia, as we seem to constantly be overshadowed by what is going on in the USA.

For those of you who are interested, youcan head over to www.thelworddownunder.com for all the info.

On a side note, for those of you interested in Aussie queer cinema, please check out the new indie film 'Lightswitch'. It stars the very gorgeous Kylie Watson and is a great story tols really beautifully. Please check it out if you can - www.lightswitchthemovie.com

Thats all for today ladies, be in touch soon!

Gem / Lesbot World

Where can we go?

Morning girls.

In my previous post, I mentioned writing a piece on coming out. Luckily for me, the reaction of my family to my sexual orientation was probably the best I could have hoped for. I am still in a loving household, and have the support of my family and peers.

But for some people it's not quite that easy. For those who didn't have it as easy as me, where is there to turn? Where do you go when your family rejects you and your friends forget who you are?
Do you think there is enough support in the community, from governments or even by the LGBTI community for these kids? What are we doing now? And more importantly, what could we be doing differently? Does the government need to provde more funding for safe houses/counselling lines for teens who have just come out? What about education in schools? When I was at school, sex education for the homosexual students was far inferior or virtually non existant.

I know of two sites offering support to people:

PLFAG (www.pflag.org.au)
Twenty10 (www.twenty10.org.au)

Do you know of any others? Email me at lesbotworld@gmail.com if you do, I'm thinkinf of compiling a list. =]

Gem / Lesbot World

Gem is getting Published!

In a way. I recently wrote a piece on coming out, and sent it off to the lovely folks at LOTL magzine.
The article will be published in their annual youth issue that will be in stores in October, a great issue featuring many things that are so so relevant to young girls in the lesbian community!
Go to http://www.lotl.com/ to check out past articles, or, if you live in Sydney, head to their cafe and grab a coffee and a mag!

I am also currently talking to some other local publications about writing some more articles in the coming months, so stay tuned!

On a side note, here are some things I'm thinking about this week: Changes to the 2010 Mardi Gras, The L Word convention in Sydney next year, Megan Fox in Transformers 2, Krave in Wyong this weekend!

Whats doing this Week?

Well ladies,

We have hit mid June. Whats been going on for the last 6 months? On the Central Coast, Krave recently celebrated its 1 year anniversary at it's new home, The Grand Hotel in Wyong.
Krave is getting huge amounts of people every time it is on (1st & 3rd Saturday of every month) and it's a really fun night out on the Coast.

Snatch & Grab, held at Phoenix on Oxford St every Thursday is giving girls a chance to bust out the dance moves to indie tracks every week. Definitely worth checking out - free entry between 9 & 10pm!

And lastly for news of the week just gone, the very talented Ruby Rose has been announced for a new show on Channel 10, called 'The 7pm Project'. The show, part of Rove McManus' "Roving Enteprises" family will also feature the likes of Charlie Pickering, Carrie Bickmore and Dave Hughes. It will be on our screens before you know it.

CD REVIEW: Uh Huh Her - Common Reaction

UH HUH HER - Common Reaction. 3.5 / 5

Were it not for Leisha Hailey’s portrayal of Alice on Showtime’s ‘The L Word’, Uh Huh Her would be swimming amongst a plethora of girl pop acts already on the market.
Fortunately, the musical talent of Hailey and her band mate Camilla ‘Cam’ Grey pushes them above the masses, and all the extra fans are just a bonus.
Their debut long player, “Common Reaction is 11 tracks of Synth Pop goodness. The opening track “Not A Love Song” is sure to be a favourite at queer girl clubs the world over.
The diversity of the album is really what sets it apart from other albums in its genre. The title track, along with other notable songs ‘So Long’ and ‘Dream with Me’ are effortlessly contrasted with the eerie sexiness of ‘Explode’ and ‘Dreamer’.

To some, this album could be viewed as a guilty pop pleasure of sorts. But it is impossible to deny the musicianship and passion of this record, which means that it is definitely worth more than a few spins in your CD player.

Welcome!

Hello there!

Welcome to the first ever post of Lesbot World! If you're not quite sure what this whole thing is, then here's a heads up.

My name is Gem McDarmont. I'm a 20 year old lesbian who lives just outside of Sydney, on the Central Coast of NSW, Australia. I'm a booking agent/manager for my company, Fusion Music. I'm a dork, a (bad) dancer, a beer drinker, a food lover, a video game player and lover of all things creative. Ive suffered depression since 2006 and finally feel ready to turn the corner and get on with my life.

This blog is going to be something of a social commentary. On things lesbian, (and not) that I think are of interest to me, and people like me!
Everything from news stories, music & film reviews, images and art, and everything else that I like. Kind of like Captain Planet, but not really.

So thanks for joining me at Lesbot World, and I hope you enjoy the site!

Gem / Lesbot World