“I’ll go there for an hour or two, right at the beginning of the night, before the crowds have arrived and I’ll be home by ten”, I thought to myself as walked to the Lismore Showground.
I have no idea how many times I’ve done that walk. Memorably though, there was an occasion when I was about seven or eight, and I walked three kilometres from the showground to home, all by myself.… Read the rest “Tropical Fruits NYE”
“Is that it? Is that all there is?”, I overhead some visitors say, a bit surprised at how “short” this year’s Tropical Fruits Street Parade was. I was a little inclined to agree, as I remembered the last parade I attended seemed to be a little larger, and there were more people on the streets watching.… Read the rest “Tropical Fruits Street Parade”
I felt like a double-agent as I sat and quietly had a beer at one of the local pubs in Lismore this afternoon. It’s a pub which has been traditionally a very “working man’s pub”, but which seems to have embraced the LBTIQ+ Tropical Fruits celebration this year, with lots of rainbow flags.… Read the rest “Tropical Fruits Or Not?”
If I think about all of the things which have happened in terms of gay life in Lismore during my lifetime, there’s a lot to reflect upon.
As a teenager, I remember the homophobic editorials of Jim Brigginshaw, Editor of “The Northern Star”. I remember doing a school project, aged 16, where I was part of a group that interviewed him, and I was terrified.… Read the rest “Tropical Fruits Parade and Launch”
“Where The F… is 34 Union Street?”, I asked myself out loud as I walked along Union Street, South Lismore, a street I’ve walked on many, many times. Although family members have lived on Union Street since the 1930s, I never once imagined there was a #34.
I’m sure my mum would have been horrified by what I wore to the New Years Eve Party at the Lismore Showground tonight. It wasn’t outrageous in any way, shape and form: it’s just that it wasn’t new.
