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we were there

by Alysha Herrmann

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  • Amara(she/her | 6 years old) Creative, clever, afraid of the dark and bugs. Loves werewolves and the colour pink. Newest and proudest member of the Renmark Library. Goes to Renmark West Primary. Amara is the kind of kid that adults say things like “oh! She’s so precocious”, “not a wallflower, then!” “That kid is such a ham”. And what they mostly mean is that Amara hasn’t had all the joy and confidence knocked out of her by the system yet. Has an older sister (10year age gap) who is bi.
  • Delly(she/her | 72 years old) Granny to 9, mother to 3. Retired and living in her eldest’s “teen retreat” in Waikerie. Champion scone baker. Keen gardener. Missed all the wars but felt the trauma of them anyway through her alcoholic dad. Retired music teacher. Squeezes in some private piano and violin students (though her hands are getting a bit tired for violin herself). “Grandmas for Gays” – a support group to help make the community safer for queer young people. Scottish/German heritage.
  • Jordan(he/him | 25 years old) Works at Barmera Foodland. Went to Glossop High School. Dreams of being a muso but parents aren’t well off. Gotta work to live and no opportunities here in the Riverland. Australian hip-hop is his favourite. Knows he’s mob (Barkindji) but grew up disconnected from culture/country/family. Just wants everyone to stop treating him different. Not gay himself but ready to show up and support. We all have to lift each other, and mob know that better than anyone.
  • Nic(she/her | 39 years old) Youth worker/SSO @ Glossop High School (middle & senior campus). Mum to a 23yo & a 21yo (who both live out of home). Tattooed & quietly queer. Very single. Lives walking distance from the Berri Plaza. Trying to finish a teaching degree online. Still secretly scared she’ll never be more than a “white trash teen mum”. Organised in-school Making Pride series to create banners and costumes, one of the teachers is driving a busload of kids over to the walk with Nic.
  • Xav(they/them | 17 years old) Afraid of fucking up their future. In Year 12 at Loxton High School. Hard-working, earnest. Hella gay. Loves the Marvel Universe, the Saga comics and drawing original characters. Planning to study physics at uni. Doing all the hard subjects in Year 12. Adopted from Korea as a baby (white parents). So freaking excited about Pride March. Uses a different name at school, and at home. Not everywhere is safe. Can’t wait to get out of here. Keen as TTRPG player.

Tag: 2022

Jordan

we are here

27 Aug 20225 Oct 2022
(Jordan’s notebook) The smell of mangoes River mud Panel vans Horses being led around a tiny field Curated lawns that just get sick and die Mallee trees, twisted, turning towards…
Other

crying in the drive-thru

27 Aug 20224 Oct 2022
You’ve always been enough.  Fucking perfect. Perfect to me. 
Xav

after the march

27 Aug 20224 Oct 2022
Delly

home

26 Aug 20225 Oct 2022
The back of Delly’s van is full of balloons and loose feathers. All the left-overs of a successful event. Her heart is full. Her belly is full. Her life is…
Jordan

inside the words

26 Aug 20224 Oct 2022
We say nothing. Sitting there on the floor together in a tangle of other bodies. Open mic washing over us, the glow of PRIDE hanging in the hall. I twitch…
Nic

ifay

26 Aug 20224 Oct 2022
I fucking adore you Riverland. I really do.
Amara

warrior | princess | poet

26 Aug 20224 Oct 2022
I want to wear this one. That one is ugly. It doesn’t match my sword. Ready! Can I call Grandma now? Grandma, Grandma! Look. I'm a warrior, a princess and…
Jordan…

Pride March 2022

26 Aug 20224 Oct 2022
Xav

the best

18 Aug 20224 Oct 2022
Delly

Grandma’s 4 gays

11 Aug 20225 Sep 2022
Delly’s calendar hangs on the back of the caravan door on a bent nail. Birthdays are highlighted in yellow. Appointments in pink. Handwritten notes are scribbled on most days. Other…

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