How to make those first impressions count — Three months ago, I moved back to my home city in Western Australia. Being a good deal smaller than the country’s more famous neighbours on the east coast, Perth accommodates a queer population similarly reduced in scope and scale. The unexpected benefit of this, however, is the ease with which…

“LGBTQ+ people need to see themselves represented” — Moments of discovery are usually the result of two things. The first is general word-of-mouth: recommendations from a friend, the things you need to see, to go to, to listen to. The second is somewhat less commonplace, being encounters with brilliance that spring from the fantastic random. The accidental discovery…

Body beauty as social utility — By and large, western society is informed by visual media. Just about everyone has a smartphone, or at least access to social media platforms, and will likely be no more than two taps away from seeing a plethora of slim, fit starlets laughing in sun loungers. The prevailing standard of…

How to identify joy, and what triggers it — Right now, I am in Australia, having arrived here at the start of April and thus marking my first return home since 2016. …

How it feels to say goodbye, for good — My ex-boyfriend walked into my life, quite literally, on the 27th of January, 2022. It was my first night working behind the bar of a local pub when he appeared in a flash of sandy blond starlight, his heart-shaped face framed in dark stubble and thin circular glasses. …

Catching Cate on my commute — On perhaps as many occasions as I can count on one hand, have I seen a film in its initial release that lives on in my head and heart as a vital moment of discovery, awe, and inspiration. Tár is one such film. Being a dialogue-laden character study, spearheaded by…

Starting from scratch and pursuing my passion — I have loved classical music for as long as I can remember. There is no specific reason for this, as I neither had musical parents nor any zealous teachers to push piano keys under my fingernails. …

Poem for Australia — Hair combed by daylight, skin rich with sun, Nights spent in t-shirts through hours that run Silent in daybreak, beneath sky benched with green, Into blue afternoons softened with heat, Whispered and stinging to finally reach The still evening light that falls at your feet. Toes twined with sand, Hands wrapped…

A boy’s own (Canadian) adventure — It was my 26th birthday last week and I am soon to be at the point of choosing between the northern and southern hemispheres. …