Queer communities in outback WA 'ready for change' with historic roadshow
"I was 20 years old and I very much felt like I had to hide parts of myself and not experience my queerness," they said.
This year Jesse, who is now based in Broome, returned to the town as part of the first Kimberley SBLGBTIQA+ Roadshow they co-facilitated with their colleague, Halina Kolatowicz, after they were approached by the state government.
The term SBLGBTIQA+ encompasses "brother boys" and "sister girls", which are terms used within some Indigenous communities to describe transgender and gender-diverse people.
"To go back there and find such an amazing group of passionate, open people who were really keen to start something special and create social change — I burst into tears," Jesse said.
Halina recalled feeling isolated when she first arrived in Broome more than a decade ago.
"[I was at] the developmental stages of even finding out my sexuality and my identity as a queer black woman," she said.
As part of the roadshow, which was supported by Kimberley Blak Pride and Rainbow Futures WA, the pair travelled throughout the region consulting with more than 100 people, documenting the lived realities and aspirations of queer people across the Kimberley for the first time.
"There was lots of isolation. People were [craving] connection," Halina said.
"People would face homophobia and violence in rural towns. But there's also been a lot of celebration."
With the Kimberley region being approximately twice the size of Victoria, they found every community was unique in its experiences and challenges.
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In some towns the pair heard stories of people being asked to remove pride flags from their workplaces.
"Places like Broome and Kununurra have established pride festivals and communities have really been able to flourish and connect," Jesse said.
"Other towns like Wyndham, Fitzroy Crossing, Halls Creek particularly, there was really a profound silence when it came to queer issues and identities."
The roadshow identified significant gaps in access and safety for queer people navigating the health and education sectors.
"There's no support for teachers or practitioners, so that needs to change. We need training and development in policies and queer cultural awareness," Halina said.
"One of the recommendations from the report is more support to develop whole-school approaches and provide cultural training for teachers and staff."
The roadshow identified ongoing barriers for people accessing culturally safe and inclusive health care, especially for trans and gender-diverse people, with some doctors being uncomfortable prescribing hormone therapy.
"We don't have people with expertise in queer health, that is a huge barrier," Halina said.
A report will now be presented to the state government as part of the first LGBTIQA+ Inclusion Strategy that was announced last year.
While the roadshow highlighted ongoing challenges, the pair found communities were ready for change.
"There's still so much violence, homophobia, discrimination and fear — really it stems down to a lot of fear of the unknown," Halina said.
Jesse said the Kimberley needed its own "bespoke approach".
"One of the things we noticed was the queer community groups that are really eager to collaborate, to work with others and create change together," they said.
"We have people who are already working with the rodeos and footy clubs in the East Kimberley and we'd love to do that in the West Kimberley."
For Jesse, transitioning in Australia's far north-west has "not been straightforward".
"I'm steadily trying to build more space where I can live my truth," Jesse said.
"The roadshow was a really important part of that for me."
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