Karl Moser’s HIV diagnosis came at a time in his life when he was self-destructing through depression. Not only has he learned how to live with HIV, but he’s also reclaimed the keys to a life worth living. Continue reading »
Pete started his career in IT at 22, at a company he loved, with a culture and colleagues that inspired. He left four years later in an ambulance. The incident was the horrific endgame in an escalating maelstrom of workplace bullying by two of his supervisors, who decided to take the company’s less-than-stellar performance in the marketplace out on their employees. Continue reading »
When anxious or depressed, our minds become soothsayers, predicting the future with perceived certainty but little precision. We also lose the power to reason rationally, instead letting our emotions take over: simply because we think it, we assume it to be true. Continue reading »
My bus stop is an unremarkable stainless steel rectangle with an uncomfortable seat, but sufficient to shelter from this morning’s unexpected downpour. This is a good thing, given that I don’t have an umbrella, unlike Graham Gouldman who wrote the top five 1966 hit for The Hollies, “Bus Stop”. Continue reading »
Stephen Rainbow had been with his partner Greg for over a decade when he lost him to cancer. ““A counsellor once said to me, ‘are you ready to let Greg go?’” he remembers. “I said absolutely not. I don’t know why I need to, and I don’t feel I want to, and I have no intention of letting him go at this stage.” Continue reading »
Freedom2b is not a church, and its aim is not to encourage gay Christians to leave church, or go back to it if they’ve already left. Faith is your own personal journey, and this is a safe space for you to explore being gay and Christian and receive support from others who have been in your shoes. And it does its job pretty damn well. Continue reading »
Perhaps it’s easier to be distracted with lightshows, superlatives, and dulling our senses with drink so we avoid the troubling notion that our lives might be a bell curve. Or perhaps simply getting on with things is preferable to behaving like a third-rate French philosopher when you’ve just purchased a 6-pack of bogan cider and your underwear is visible below your shorts. Continue reading »
14-year-old James Hope first became aware that his bullying was getting out of his control when a pair of scissors and a compass came flying towards his head in the middle of class. The violence was the culmination of several years worth of psychological bullying that systematically tore him apart on every aspect of his personality, looks and mannerisms. Continue reading »
You know what the worst thing about being single on Valentine’s Day is? It’s not the public declarations of love on Facebook by your partnered friends (how could I possibly feel spiteful because of their happiness?), it’s the well-meaning advice. Continue reading »
Ivan Yeo was given the lowdown on sexual racism when he first arrived in New Zealand. A friend told him. “Unless you’re white, young, blonde, then you’ll be the top line of meat,” he laughs. “Being Asian is down in the food chain, and he said I’d most likely end up with an older white male.” Continue reading »
