dykiegirl

‘My Dad’s Story When I was little my Dad was deeply involved with the union movement following his return from five years on the frontline during World War II. He was a working-class boy from Port Chalmers who had grown up during the depression of the 1930’s and who could remember the violence of the […]

Tertiary Education Union (TEU) IDAHOBIT Day Hui 2022 Lexie was a keynote speaker at the TEU IDAHOBIT (International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia) Hui at AUT where the TEU and TIASA reaffirmed its commitment to respect, protect and fulfil the full and equal enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms of lesbian, gay, bisexual, […]

Lake Alice Hospital was a rural psychiatric facility in Lake Alice, Manawatū-Whanganui, New Zealand. It was opened in August 1950 and had a maximum security unit. Like many New Zealand psychiatric hospitals, Lake Alice was largely self-sufficient, with its own farm, workshop, bakery, laundry, and fire station. It also had swimming pools, glasshouses, and vegetable gardens. The facility […]

Some rough memories dredged up by this. Yes, I am a Lake survivor, too. ‘The following has been written (and copy righted) by Annie Helm, a Lake Alice survivor, a MH advocate and activist and a friend. Creative expression is one way survivors of psychiatric harm share their stories and is an important part of […]

Equity embodies values, policies, and practices that ensure that all people — and, in particular, those who have been historically underrepresented based on race/ethnicity, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, socioeconomic status, geography, citizenship status, or religion—are represented in the development of policy; support; the nurturing of accessible opportunities; and the fair distribution of […]

When I was a kid, New Year’s Eve was a bit of a thing. I didn’t know then but where we lived was the wrong side of the tracks and brutally working class. It was post-war, the dawning of the 1950s, and everyone on our street lived in a state house. Most of the families […]

Hello Darkness Crafted from the diaries and book written by Festival founder Peter Wells Produced by Auckland Writer’s Festival Directed by Shane Bosher Text by Victor Rodger Performed by Roy Ward Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre, 50 Mayoral Drive, Auckland 23 – 28 August 2022 On Friday, I posted a promotional image for ‘Hello Darkness’ featuring actor […]

Maybe you knew this, maybe you didn’t, but you do now. In February 2022 Spark launched ‘Beyond Binary Code’ which aimed to help make the internet more gender inclusive because most of it still only acknowledges two genders – male and female. We all know that this isn’t the case, nor has it ever been. […]

I wrote this for my Dad, and for me, a couple of years ago. I feel I can republish it here, today, because over the past two weeks I have unfriended and blocked the half dozen or so people I had become afraid to share anything of myself with, afraid of their judgement of everything […]