VALE BILLY MAY
World-renowned entertainment producer William H. ‘Billy’ May died on New Year’s Eve at St Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne. Mr. May’s death follows a recent illness, according to the Southern Star. He and partner Malcolm Cooke produced more than 40 theatrical productions, including the musical Always, the love story of King Edward VIII and Mrs. Simpson. His last award-winning creation, Walking With Dinosaurs – The Live Experience, is currently touring North America and Europe. In his younger years he worked with Sonny and Cher and the Osmond Brothers. His funeral was held on January 12.
PRATT NAMED IN TOP 25
WA Labor Senator Louise Pratt has been voted one of the 25 Most Influential Gay and Lesbian Australians of 2009 on GLBT website SameSame. Named among high profile identities such as Olympic diver Matthew Mitcham and MTV’s Ruby Rose, Pratt said it was an honour to be recognised. Pratt was the youngest woman ever elected to the Legislative Council, the second openly lesbian woman to be elected to Parliament and the first to have a transgender partner. Pratt told SameSame that she spoke out on a great many political issues not just those that affected her personally. ‘On the other hand, I do recognise that it is important to be publicly visible, as I recall how important it has been to me to have out role models,’ she said.
COOK DEATH BEFORE COURTS
A Brisbane court has heard evidence that two men beat, stomped on and strangled to death an openly gay chef because he ‘had too many diseases’. Raymond John Bound, 61, and Lochlan Lee Brett Belford, 20, pleaded not guilty to murdering Wayne Williams after his first shift at the Rising Sun Hotel, last year. Qnews reported that a guest at the west Brisbane hotel told the court Belford said: ‘I murdered the cook because he had too many diseases and because he was a poofter and he tried cracking on to me.’ Williams was not HIV positive. The jury is expected to reach a decision later this month.
AID FOR MSM IN ASIA PACIFIC
A $3 million AusAID grant to tackle the spread of HIV in men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM) in the Asia Pacific region needs to increase, according to a leading HIV organisation. ‘It’s not a huge amount of money by any stretch but on the other hand it’s a start,’ Australian Federation of AIDS Organisation’s executive director Don Baxter told Qnews. The money will go to Indonesia, Burma and Papua New Guinea over the next three years for MSM-specific HIV prevention programs. ‘Australia needs to be allocating something like $30 to $60 million over the next five years on gay men and MSM in the region,’ Baxter said.
GLBTI HEALTH CONFERENCE
Submissions have opened for Australia’s largest GLBTI health conference, Health in Difference 2010. Organisations, health practitioners and researchers are encouraged to present papers or interactive workshops during the three-day event, to be held in Sydney from April 29 to May 1. The conference will focus on five core themes: social inclusion, indigenous health, sex and gender diversity and the differences within diversity, the changing nature of community and politics and creating change. All submissions must be made via the website www.lgbthealth.org.au/health-in-difference-2010 by January 29.
Amy Henderson
