Queer Collective Portfolio Semester 1 2021 Overview

Oh wow this semester has gone quickly! The Queer Collective has had monthly meetings to get their inputs in what they want to see regarding future events and plans.

We kicked off the year with our Aromantic Awareness Day stall in o-week, a few aromatic students ran the stall and answered any questions people might have, we also provided free aromantic resources. This stall was also a good time to promote the collective’s existence to new students. On market day of O-week we ran a stall, it was wonderful to see how many students came and said hi. The following week we had a welcome picnic with the Ally Network with free pizza, it was a big hit and helped queer students to understand how the Ally Network works as well as what they can do to help us out.

Earlier in the semester we had our Mardi Gras party in the RedRoom, we had an amazing turn out, with the two amazing drag performers, Enigma Popstar and Asphyxia, lighting up the room. It was awesome to see so many students enjoy themselves.

Then the Queer Collective teamed up with the Ally Network and did a Trans Women Talking panel for International Women’s Day, raising voices that are often ignored in the community, it was amazing to hear what Marisha Robins, Claire Garton, and Pauline Pounds had to say surrounding transphobia intersectionality with misogyny.

Throughout the semester we held multiple movie nights, one out at Gatton, and games nights, this gave students a chance to socialise with free dinner. We also had a Trivia Night with the Computing Society, with fun prizes up for grabs, it was a big hit.

After the mid semester break, we brought folks back with a Paws and Connect event, where we had rescue dogs and drawing benches for students to enjoy. The event also gave students a chance to meet the SAS team, of whom are an amazing team student should access.

Throughout the semester there were changes to the queer room, most notably all flags that students requested are now hanging in the room, there is a food bank, and now has a designated sensory safe space with a curtain divider.

The queer collective had Lesbian Visibility stall with fairy floss, we provided information around what it is to be a lesbian sourced from students within the UQ queer community, and later that day we had a movie night screening a sapphic movie.

Later in the semester we had Agender Pride games night, it was awesome getting to play board games just before we hit the harder study weeks. That same week we had our Pan Visibility stall with free popcorn, which got a few students asking what it means to be pan versus bi, again a fun time getting to raise awareness about the issues pansexual and panromantic people face.

We finished off the semester by teaming up with the Ally Network again, running a transgender stall, for a belated Transgender Visibility Day, which promoted resources trans people can access in Brisbane. And on the Friday of SWOTVAC we had Trans Talks, in which Dr. Graham Neilsen and Rebecca Cooley talked about the medical side of being trans, what medical transition might look like, and what services in Queensland transgender folks can access for medical transition.

But what’s Eli been up to? If anyone noticed the clean storage room in the exec office, that was them! They also produced a lot of social media resources, such as a link website for QC’s social media, how to talk about sensitive topics in QC spaces, HIV awareness, and soon there will be sexual health resources available.