By Jonty Ralphsmith
To celebrate IDAHOBIT Day on Tuesday 17 May, Star News has profiled six members of the LGBTQIA+ community across Casey and Dandenong.
IDAHOBIT Day – International Day against homophobia, biphobia, intersexism and transphobia – has been held since 1990 on the same date annually.
The day attempts to educate people, foster inclusion and combat discrimination.
Star News spoke to Jobi Petty, a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, in April who discussed the lack of visibility as a key issue among the queer community in the outer southeast.
To raise awareness across Casey and Dandenong, Star News found out more about the journeys of several LGBTQIA+ members.
In a later edition celebrating Pride Month in June, Star News will also detail the key issues that the queer community believe exist in the southeast region.
Below is one of the community members profiled, Larra Juab.
Larra Juab: they/them
Casey resident Larra Juab does not fit what they perceive to be the generic queer character profile.
Mx. Juab understands the importance of the night scene for the queer community but does themself feel connected to the club scene and thinks Australia has moved beyond the point where the queer community have to “hide in the shadows”.
Their deviance from the perceived stereotype has led to people questioning whether they are truly queer and, most painfully and regrettably, they highlighted that even members of the LGBTQIA+ community have speculated about their true identity.
“It makes me question my sexuality: I start wondering ‘am I really queer?’
“I think it is human nature to continually question ourselves which is sad.”
“Even within our community because of underlying things in our head, it is hard for me to fit in sometimes.”
It is art that gives them salvation.
Through painting, drawing and poetry, they express their point-of-view on topics such as identity, belonging and community.
These subjects are particularly important for the queer community who often have a complex journey of self-discovery and are reluctant to divulge that to the broader public.
Mx Juab seeks to be a voice for the wider community.
Coming from a Filipino background, they know the difficulty of not being accepted or understood and therefore uses their experience in seeking to act as a mouthpiece for the wider queer community.
“It is s*** to feel like you don’t belong anywhere and it’s shit when you walk in a space and you’re not wanted here and you’re so insignificant that if you die tomorrow, nobody cares,” they said.
“I find art is such a great platform to use to start heavy discussions because I don’t think a lot of people have the courage to speak about what they go through.”
In 2021, Mx Juab put together the below poem detailing the pride they have found in their identity.
“Brown, brown, brown. I am brown. I wake up each day and I recognise my brownness. Yes indeed I am brown. I am brown and I am also Asian. I am brown and I am loud. I am brown and I am proud. I am brown and I am queer and I am here and I will not disappear no matter what I hear about my brownness. They say brown is not good. But how when it is just like the brown where we have built off our homes to keep us safe and sound. They say brown is not pretty but when I look at my lover’s deep brown eyes I feel hypnotised. They say brown is not pretty but why do they pay thousands just to have our skin so let me say this again. Yes indeed I am brown. I am brown and I am also Asian. I am brown and I am loud. I am brown and I am proud. I am brown and I am queer and I am here and I will not disappear no matter what I hear. I will not allow you to shape me. I will not allow you to take me. Iwill not allow you to restrain me. I will not allow you to sexualise me, tokenise me, erase me. I do not need your validation because I am brown and I am proud of being and no matter what you do to me, to us, just know this we are brown and we will always be around.”
