The Value Of Queer Events (And 5 Lessons For Hosting Them)

By Amy Middleton

If I’m honest, putting on events is not my favourite thing about being editor of a magazine.

I find events stressful, anyway – but even more so when I’m organising them. So many people to talk to. So many decisions to make. So much heavy lifting, driving around, picking things up, dropping stuff off.

And I always forget the fucking float until the last minute. Always.

Since I launched Archer Magazine back in 2013, everyone told me I had to put on launch events, because people love them. We sell tonnes of Archer Magazines at every launch event, sure enough, people do seem to enjoy themselves.

At our recent Melbourne launch, however, I had a little epiphany about the infinite value of events, particularly for queer communities, and other communities that experience oppression and alienation in our strange, sometimes-horrible society.

It was bucketing with rain on the night of our launch. This was unfortunate, because bad weather is a notorious deterrent for event crowds. (This is one of the lessons I’ve learned over the 3 years I’ve been editing Archer Magazine.)

“I’ll be stoked if we get 20 people,” I told my colleague, Lottie, who was practicing her hosting duties in the back-room.

“I know,” she said, “I wish I was in bed right now. I totally would be, if I didn’t have to host.” (It’s really, really nerve-wracking being the host, no matter how many times you’ve done it, but the adrenaline afterwards is seriously worth the effort. This is lesson number 2.)

But people were already there. Several of them, in fact, and it was still half an hour until doors. (“Doors”, for the un-initiated, means “when everything starts”. Lesson 3.)

By the time we opened up, there were 20 people. Then there were 30. The readings started and there were 50. By the end of the first reading, more than 100 people were crammed into the gallery space, with wind-swept hair and soggy jackets, having braved the rude Melbourne weather to hear people read stories about sex and gender.

My mum snapped photos. My wife set up the AV equipment. A team of Archer Magazine volunteers and their mates ran the bar and the merch table, fixed the broken projector, hung posters, welcomed people at the door.

In her welcome, Lottie mentioned the need for safe spaces in the wake of the horrific events that had taken place in Orlando the previous week. She didn’t talk about Orlando for very long, because people aren’t always up for grieving, and also because Archer Mag is a celebration of queer identity – we aim for ‘warm and upbeat’ where possible, and safe and nurturing at all times.

The first reading was by Jenny O’Keefe, a podcaster who writes about navigating her sex life while living with chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia.

“There’s a lot of research about sex and orgasms being great for relaxation and pain management,” she read. “Sex doesn’t provide benefits for all people living with CFS, but for me, it’s about the uncomplicated and purely selfish joy of a quickie with some sort of device.”

The second reading, by Rosanna Beatrice Stevens, presented various attitudes to menstrual sex from queer women.

When Stevens detailed her disappointment at never achieving ‘menstrual synchrony’ with her female partner, despite the myth that women sync up in proximity to one another, a wave of knowing nods and smirks cascaded through the crowd.

Then I noticed, for the first time, how many women – queer women, single women, women with kids – were in the audience. I also became aware of the warmth of the crowd, and their happy and encouraging expressions.

The microphone wasn’t elevated on a stage – everyone stood on the same level. There was no conversation or Q&A, no debate, confrontation or conflict. There was a host filled with love for the publication, and two women telling their stories, in their words, met by more than 100 supportive and empathic audience members, nodding, smiling and standing in solidarity.

I could talk about the many drinks that were donated to us by Young Henrys and Welcome to Thornbury (See what I did there? Lesson 4: mention your sponsors at every opportunity), the $1500 we made on the night thanks to magazine and drink sales, which goes a huge way to supporting the magazine, or the loved-up volunteers that make the whole thing possible.

But the warm and welcoming vibes of that room, the honest words about queer women’s bodies, and the recognition of those words in the faces of the rain-soaked audience, pretty much underscored what makes queer events and spaces so invaluable.

Perhaps this was a roundabout way of saying please come join us for our Sydney event on Sunday, August 7 at Young Henrys Brewery in Newtown (spotted that one? Now you’re getting it). Or perhaps this is just my way of saying, don’t let them get you: stand together. Dance. Support organisations like Archer Mag and Heaps Gay, who believe in your right to party. Make more organisations, and partner up with us and each other. (Lesson 5, partnerships with awesome organisations are key to awesome events.)

Getting close to each other and having fun are great ways to lay our claim on society, space and place… and let’s be honest, it’s the way we queers know best.

Archer Magazine will launch their sixth issue at Young Henrys Brewery, Newtown on Sunday, 7 August from 2pm. You can read more about the event and awesome lineup of speakers here.