Doug PollardZoe Belle Gender Centre
Zoe Belle
Doug: I said just before, we were going to talk about the Virtual Gender Centre and I had everyone here in the studio giving me quizzical looks; I guess, a few other people would be a little bit puzzled as to what this is all about – so, we have Tom, on the line who’s going to tell us all about. Good morning, Tom.
Tom:Good morning.
Doug:Now, I’ve heard of the Zoe Belle Gender Centre – a project to set up a centre for – well, you explain what it’s for.
Tom: Well, we’re in the process of establishing a centre to support and improve the health and wellbeing of the sex and gender diverse population in Victoria which would include transgender people, intersex people, other gender-variant people.
Doug:(and) There’s(sic) been plans for some time to establish a physical, gender centre – I think, you’ve been sharing office space with Also, haven’t you?
Tom:Yes, that’s right – m’mm, we have a relationship with Also where they provide us some space. Which at present, we’ve used to host a couple of events and we also hold the regular meetings of our working group, there.
Doug:So, what is a virtual gender centre?
Tom:M’mm – well, the Virtual Gender Centre is hosted at our website and it’s not just a static website which gives information about us but actually, it includes a range of really invaluable features, actually for [indistinct] and gender-diverse population there’s [indistinct] in Victoria but Australia. There’s a number of different features, one of the most important which I think you might have heard about, is we have a directory of resources. That includes details of individuals and groups – and practitioners and organisations, that are of interest to the sex and gender-diverse community.
Doug:M’mm, m’mm.
Tom:That includes people from the legal profession, health in the broader sense of that term, clubbing and entertainment. All kinds of groups, support groups, social groups and that only went online about a month-and-a-half ago and we’ve already got 70-plus people who have volunteered to put themselves into the directory. That might sound like a modest kind of a feature if you like, but, this information has never all been collected together, like this - - -
Doug:(and) Of course - - -
Tom:- - - on line. Not quite in this form anyway, not “searchable”.
Doug:(and) Also, what you’re referring to is the sex and gender-diverse community - - -
Tom:M’mm.
Doug:You tend to be even more isolated, particularly, outside the major cities than gays and lesbians are.
Tom:Well, it’s – kind of, tricky to say in some ways because it’s hard to separate out these things. Because who are for example, transgender, might also be gay or lesbian.
Doug:Sure.
Tom:So [indistinct] stray from making those sorts of pronouncements, actually.
Doug:[laughs]
Tom:One of the reasons by the G-L-B-T-I-Q acronym can be a little bit confusing to some because it seems to suggest that “T” is separate from “G” or “L” or “B” for example, but – m’mm - - -
Doug:Well, I - - -
Tom:To answer probably, the intent of your question – m’mm, look - - -
Doug:Well, I think people find it even harder to come out as trans for example, than they do to come out as gay – whether they’re coming out as gay at the same time as well. Or not. From my personal observation.
Tom:M’mm, it’s such an individual process I think it’s difficult to generalise. But there are - - -
Doug:But certainly having something on the Net makes it easier - - -
Tom:Absolutely, absolutely.
Doug:- - - for someone who is not living in a major city, to get hold of the information they need. That’s the point I’m trying to get to.
Tom:Definitely.There are just certain states in Australia, too, for example Tasmania where it’s been hard to find out details for example, of transgender-friendly practitioners and this resource is already going towards addressing that situation. To actually have all this information, nationwide, is really invaluable and definitely so for people from regional, rural remote areas.
Doug:Right. Now, the website is: gendercentre.com - - -
Tom:That’s right.
Doug:- - - which is really easy to remember. I’m just having a look at the site, now – you’ve got all sorts of resources, you’ve got ways of contacting and you’ve got ways of participating. You’re going to have an official launch for this towards the end of the month, aren’t you?
Tom:That’s right – I mean, in addition to the resources we have, we have other features on the site, there’s – sort of, a noticeboard site for classified advertisements and we have a question and answer site which is kind of – like, our version of Yahoo Answers, An information – m’mm, sharing – sort of, knowledge sharing site - - -
Which is – such a site has never at least, to my mind, been created for this kind of purpose and the launch is on Sunday, 29 August at three o’clock at Radio Bar and Café, 79 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy.
Doug:Now, this has all been paid for by a grant has it not?
Tom:Yeah – well, our website resources – specifically, the resources directory and the question and answers site were funded by grants and global gay and lesbian organisations, business and enterprise. So, yes, it’s been really extremely helpful for us.
Doug:Now, for those who don’t know why is it called: Zoe Belle Gender Centre – who was Zoe?
Tom:Zoe Belle was a member of the working group that had initially been established to try and – well, establish a gender centre.
Doug:Right.
Tom:(and) Then Zoe Belle, herself, passed away a couple of year ago. So, it was decided – at that time, the centre didn’t have a name and it was simply referred to, I suppose, as just: the gender centre.
Doug:So, this is by way of commemorating Zoe?
Tom:It is but not even, only, for her work with the effort to establish a gender centre but also, she’s probably known to quite a few people in the GLBTIQ community for her work across many areas. She was a volunteer for Midsumma for many years, she was co-ordinating a programme for Midsumma as well – m’mm, the year she passed away she’d done work with feminist causes, anti-violence causes - lots of different stuff.
Doug:So, she was a major contributor to the community.
Tom:Yeah – and even across the independent arts community as well. She was a Melbourne Fringe volunteer, she was one of those people who was – her activism was very broad ranging.
Doug:That’s good; okay – well, thank you very much for that Tom and thanks for joining us this morning.
Tom:Thank you.
Doug:So, that’s the Zoe Belle Gender Centre – the Virtual Zoe Belle Gender Centre being launched on Sunday, 29 August at 3p.m. Radio Bar and Café, 79 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy.
You can get more information – RSVP, to say you’re coming along, contact@gendercentre.com, that’s: contact@gendercentre.com – or, there’s a ‘phone number: 9660 3990. That’s 9660 3990, that’ll get you to voicemail. That’s the Zoe Belle Gender Centre.
