I’ve only ever been to Mardi Gras once. Accidentally, In Spain. I didn’t know it was going to be Mardi Gras and I found myself in the middle of one. It’s always been something that I’ve sat on the outside of.
I guess because I came out when I was older, I was in my forties and I already had a family. I was already sure of myself when I stepped into that space, so I’ve never taken any prisoners.
I’ve never actually had that experience that many people have had where they have felt they had to hide, or they found themselves really subjected to discrimination. Not that I wasn’t discriminated, but because I was much older and so much surer of myself, it didn’t impact me in the same way that I’ve seen it impact other people.
Because my experience was so different, I haven’t felt that I need to have that community support. I’ve never actively sought out or belonged to the LGBTIQ community. It’s not a community that I find myself familiar with in a lot of ways.
I have a strong bent of social justice. I try to put myself in that place of imagining “what would my life look like” if I went through some of the things that people have gone through...
It really makes me grateful that I was in New Zealand where they are quite progressive with Gay Rights.
When the discrimination came, and it did, very strongly. I kind of watched it and didn’t feel impacted by it.