2011 marks the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day. On March 8, nations across the world will reflect on where women’s rights have come from and what is left to go. For Western Australia, one of the themes this year is ‘Sharing the Caring for the Future’.
Some 188 events are planned in Australia. Events for Perth are listed on the IWD website, www.internationalwomensday.com.au
For the momentous anniversary, OUTinPerth tracked down just a few inspirational women involved in WA’s LGBT community and asked who inspired them.
Who: Margaret Pugh
What: Margaret was one of the founders of Parents and Families for Lesbians and Gay WA and received an Order of Australia Medal for her volunteer work this year. As one of the three creators of PFLAG WA, Margaret and her husband helped create the organisation in 1989 in support of her gay son and has since walked all but two of the annual Pride marches in Perth.
Inspired By: Martin Luther King – ‘just because he stood up and wanted his children to grow up like everyone else and paid for it with his life.’
Who: Nat Ripepi
What: Nat is a singer/songwriter and has been now for 15 years. For Nat, music was something that has always been a passion in her life since she was very little. “I feel I was born to do it. It’s hard to explain the feeling I get from playing/singing/writing music. It’s definitely my therapy.â€
Inspired By: Tori Amos – ‘Musically… she has always been totally herself and never played to type or what the “industry” thought was ‘cool’ and still manages to have a successful career as a solo woman in music without having to take her clothes off!
Who: Julia Hern
What: Julia began a gay-friendly fitness company called OutLook Fitness that runs group fitness, boot camps and special events since October last year. Julia said she got to make a huge difference to the way people see the world and how the world sees them. Teaching people how to make healthy choices for their mind and body starts them in an upward spiral that builds self-esteem and permeates every other aspect of their lifestyle.
Inspired By: People close to her – ‘Surrounding yourself with positive mentors and supportive loved ones can keep you going when things get tough (as they invariably do).’
Who: Christine Tomas
What: Christine has been a photographer for 15 years and is the program manager at the Perth Centre for Photography. For the past four years, Christine has helped to raise the profile of photography in and around Perth. The non-for-profit exhibition space has been a vital outlet for local emerging photographers to preview their work and has attracted exhibitions from nationally and internationally-acclaimed artists.
Inspired By: Marina Abramovic. ‘Marina pushes herself beyond her physical and mental limits and creates performances that challenge and push unimaginable boundaries. And my sister, I believe it takes a great amount of strength and self to be a single mum.’
Who: Nicole Corbett
What: Nicole has been involved with Perth’s arts scene for 20 years now as well as politics and queer media. She has been involved with WA’s only queer radio show, All Things Queer and other queer programs in the past. Politically, Nicole is the vice president of Rainbow Labor, the ALP sub-branch for LGBT issues. Her community involvement extends to Pride WA, the AWESOME Arts Festival and the May Day March.
Inspired By: Ali Sumner – ‘She is an amazingly creative, lateral thinker who works tirelessly but has the business acumen to achieve so many wonderful things over the last 30-40 years here in Perth arts community.’
THE NUMBERS
6,000,000 Twitterers follow Ellen Degeneres.
82 cents is generally how much Australian women earn to every dollar earned by a man.
42 years since women were awarded the right to equal pay.
27 Women currently elected to the WA Parliament out of 95 seats.
80 Years since Edith Cowan became the first woman to be elected to an Australian parliament.
4 ASX200 companies are chaired by women. That’s just 2%.
1984 The year the Sex Discrimination Act was introduced.
1 – in 3 Australian women has experienced physical violence since the age of 15.
73 – per cent of Single Age Pension recipients are women.
15,900,000 – Women living with HIV worldwide as of the end of 2009.
Benn Dorrington
