‘For the last 5 or 6 years I have been working for myself as a hospitality consultant setting places up. I had also been volunteering at the WA AIDS council as well, in support services and education. And then the AIDS Council of Australia approached me to see if I would be interested in a permanent part time position, in fundraising and marketing. So, I did Style Aid and Perth Food and Wine festival. [with other commitments] I was pulled in a million and one directions. I wanted the agency to have someone who could give 150%, so it was with reluctance that I resigned from my position and went back into hospitality full time.
‘This [The Court] sort of came about by accident. It wasn’t like I was looking, as I had been working for myself and I didn’t really want to go back to working for someone. I remember coming here about 10 or 12 years ago, and it was just so happening – the Sunday session was jammed packed. You wouldn’t go out the whole weekend, so that you come to the Sunday sessions at the Court.
‘I saw the vision and passion that particularly Bree had, and I realized this was a fantastic opportunity – and I wanted to give something back to the community, as cliché and cheesy as that sounds.
‘I think that particularly the young ones now think that they are having a yee-haw good time, but I look back to the late 80’s and early 90’s when it was community. I think that is one of the things that since being here – and I don’t mean this in a negative way, it’s just an observation that I have made – is the gay community raves on about ‘community, community, community,’ but there’s so much segregation in this so called community. I don’t know what the past history was, but there was that strange relationship with Connies, and that’s why it has been really important for me to build a good relationship with Connies.
‘We are hoping that once the refurbishment is done that the whole community will come back and that it [the Court] will be their landmark venue again. I think that this is a really exciting time. It’s like sex shops were fifteen years ago… we’ve got nothing to hide any more.’
