Latest news with #Kath
Refinery29
14 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Refinery29
What Happens After The Pride Campaigns Disappear? Kath Ebbs Has A Few Thoughts
Pride Month used to be one of the busiest times of year for Kath Ebbs. As a queer content creator and advocate, it meant working with brands, creating campaigns, and showing up for the community. But this year, something shifted. 'I didn't do a single job for Pride,' Kath says. 'And that's not me being like, I care about working or not. I'm more just saying that it is very apparent to me, even from a commercial standpoint, where we're at in the world.' The silence wasn't just professional, it was political. Companies across the globe that once filled June with rainbow logos and 'love is love' slogans didn't even bother this year. 'They're not even doing that anymore,' Kath says. 'We've given up, actually, on that too. And you know what? Maybe we want that.' It's a line delivered without bitterness. There's a heavy fatigue in their voice, one that's been born from watching queer visibility be commodified, then quietly dropped when things get hard. 'There's been a cultural shift that I've seen through the political landscape,' they continue. 'We're at a really interesting, scary point in society right now, and we haven't been in that position for a long time. My generation — our generation — have never experienced that quite as intensely.' It wasn't just a muted Pride Month that made this year different for Kath. It was personal as a very public relationship breakdown became a spectacle. One that exposed them to intense online harassment. 'I went through a very public breakup, and that led to a lot of trolling and a lot of homophobia,' they say. What followed was brutal. 'I felt very invalidated in my experience. And I experienced a lot of violent language online, just by existing.' Online, Kath was being picked apart. Offline, they needed to get away. 'I decided last minute to go to New York,' they say. They went to the NYC Dyke March, a grassroots, protest march against discrimination, harassment, and violence in queer communities. No brand banners. No rainbow capitalism. 'It was incredibly healing just by existing with a bunch of other queer people in a shared space,' they say. ' It was this unspoken language. It made me feel so seen and heard and safe and calm and understood. ' They didn't have to talk about the breakup. Or the backlash. 'You don't need to talk about anything. You don't need to explain yourself,' Kath says. 'You just feel this sense of, I'm understood.' That clarity of being witnessed and not consumed for once is what grounded them and reminded them of their purpose. 'When I'm with queer people, I remember my why,' they say. 'I want other people to experience that and feel seen and heard in my presence because I know that community has done that for me.' That's been the underlying thread through Kath's last few years, not rainbow campaigns or viral content, but finding places to land. And in the most unexpected way, they found that through line dancing. It started in Los Angeles, when a friend invited them to a queer country night called Stud Country. 'I walked in and saw all these queer people partner dancing,' Kath says. 'I fell in love instantly.' At the time, they were grieving the sudden loss of a close friend. 'I was in a really weird place,' they say. 'I didn't have the words to talk about what I was feeling. But the dancing through repetition and unison, it almost mimicked the grief and let me move through something I couldn't articulate.' Twice a week, they showed up. Mondays and Thursdays. Same dancers. Same music. 'It created this weird sense of stability in my life,' they say. 'And I missed it so much, I literally flew back to America just to dance.' Eventually, they came back to Sydney. And something they'd been dreaming of — creating that same space here — was already in motion, a queer line dancing group had started locally. 'I'd had the idea like a year and a half ago,' Kath says. 'But when I came home and saw a group had already started? I was like, oh fuck yeah. Now we can build something together.' And that's what they're doing now. Building beyond just events and dance floors, but spaces where queer people don't need to perform or be consumed in order to belong. What started as a community gathering is now a national tour, with Kath's Cowboy C*untry tour taking queer line dancing to cities across Australia. Creating safe, affirming spaces where queer people can show up, dance, connect and feel held. 'You don't need to be a good dancer,' Kath says. 'You just need to show up.' Kath's clear on why these spaces matter. 'There's a collective grief that queer people carry,' they say. ' That grief doesn't just disappear. You have to hold it. Share it. Move with it. ' And showing up is what Kath continues to do, even and especially when it's hard. 'Some days I show up to events in full glam. Some days I'm in trackies, crying in the car beforehand. Both versions of me deserve to be there.' Pride Month didn't give Kath the visibility it once did. But it did remind them of what matters.'Usually around this time, I'm saying to brands, corporations and allies that they need to show up for us all the time, celebrate us all the time,' they say. 'And those things still stand. But this year? I'm having a different conversation.' That conversation is about queer joy that doesn't rely on permission from others. That doesn't need an audience, but instead exists in a dance hall, or a street protest, or a quiet kitchen with people who get it. 'More dancing,' they say. 'More softness. More spaces that don't ask you to explain yourself.'
Leader Live
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Leader Live
Rizzle Kicks star Jordan Stephens to make stage debut at London's Young Vic
The 33-year-old will star as Mr Sloane alongside Auf Wiedersehen, Pet's Christopher Fairbank as Dada, Abigail's Party and EastEnders star Tamzin Outhwaite as Kath, and Daniel Cerqueira as Ed in the queer comedy, which will run from September 15 to November 8. Stephens said: 'I love the Young Vic and feel incredibly grateful to have this opportunity. I'm terrified and excited. 'I couldn't have imagined my stage debut arriving in this way, with such an iconic, wicked play and under the certified guidance of Nadia Fall as well as stage veterans in Tamzin, Daniel and Chris. What an honour.' The play follows the story of Mr Sloane, who is rented a room by the lonely Kath. Her businessman brother Ed does not approve at first, however, he quickly becomes taken by the young man, as their convenient living arrangement descends into a dangerous game of desire and deceit. Director and Young Vic chief executive Nadia Fall said: 'Jordan Stephens is an artistic polymath, from writing and screen to music and his campaigning. I'm incredibly excited to be directing his stage debut. 'He has the ear of a new generation who will be discovering (Joe) Orton for the first time through Jordan's Sloane; the thought of that is simply thrilling. 'Together with the rest of the brilliant cast, I cannot wait to channel the downright audacity of this play.' As one half of Rizzle Kicks with Harley Alexander-Sule, Stephens has had five UK top 10 singles, including one number one in Heart Skips A Beat, which featured Essex-born singer Olly Murs, and two UK top 10 albums. The duo recently performed at this year's Glastonbury Festival, and released their first studio album for more than a decade, Competition Is For Losers, in February.
Rhyl Journal
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Rhyl Journal
Rizzle Kicks star Jordan Stephens to make stage debut at London's Young Vic
The 33-year-old will star as Mr Sloane alongside Auf Wiedersehen, Pet's Christopher Fairbank as Dada, Abigail's Party and EastEnders star Tamzin Outhwaite as Kath, and Daniel Cerqueira as Ed in the queer comedy, which will run from September 15 to November 8. Stephens said: 'I love the Young Vic and feel incredibly grateful to have this opportunity. I'm terrified and excited. 'I couldn't have imagined my stage debut arriving in this way, with such an iconic, wicked play and under the certified guidance of Nadia Fall as well as stage veterans in Tamzin, Daniel and Chris. What an honour.' The play follows the story of Mr Sloane, who is rented a room by the lonely Kath. Her businessman brother Ed does not approve at first, however, he quickly becomes taken by the young man, as their convenient living arrangement descends into a dangerous game of desire and deceit. Director and Young Vic chief executive Nadia Fall said: 'Jordan Stephens is an artistic polymath, from writing and screen to music and his campaigning. I'm incredibly excited to be directing his stage debut. 'He has the ear of a new generation who will be discovering (Joe) Orton for the first time through Jordan's Sloane; the thought of that is simply thrilling. 'Together with the rest of the brilliant cast, I cannot wait to channel the downright audacity of this play.' As one half of Rizzle Kicks with Harley Alexander-Sule, Stephens has had five UK top 10 singles, including one number one in Heart Skips A Beat, which featured Essex-born singer Olly Murs, and two UK top 10 albums. The duo recently performed at this year's Glastonbury Festival, and released their first studio album for more than a decade, Competition Is For Losers, in February.
South Wales Guardian
a day ago
- Entertainment
- South Wales Guardian
Rizzle Kicks star Jordan Stephens to make stage debut at London's Young Vic
The 33-year-old will star as Mr Sloane alongside Auf Wiedersehen, Pet's Christopher Fairbank as Dada, Abigail's Party and EastEnders star Tamzin Outhwaite as Kath, and Daniel Cerqueira as Ed in the queer comedy, which will run from September 15 to November 8. Stephens said: 'I love the Young Vic and feel incredibly grateful to have this opportunity. I'm terrified and excited. 'I couldn't have imagined my stage debut arriving in this way, with such an iconic, wicked play and under the certified guidance of Nadia Fall as well as stage veterans in Tamzin, Daniel and Chris. What an honour.' The play follows the story of Mr Sloane, who is rented a room by the lonely Kath. Her businessman brother Ed does not approve at first, however, he quickly becomes taken by the young man, as their convenient living arrangement descends into a dangerous game of desire and deceit. Director and Young Vic chief executive Nadia Fall said: 'Jordan Stephens is an artistic polymath, from writing and screen to music and his campaigning. I'm incredibly excited to be directing his stage debut. 'He has the ear of a new generation who will be discovering (Joe) Orton for the first time through Jordan's Sloane; the thought of that is simply thrilling. 'Together with the rest of the brilliant cast, I cannot wait to channel the downright audacity of this play.' As one half of Rizzle Kicks with Harley Alexander-Sule, Stephens has had five UK top 10 singles, including one number one in Heart Skips A Beat, which featured Essex-born singer Olly Murs, and two UK top 10 albums. The duo recently performed at this year's Glastonbury Festival, and released their first studio album for more than a decade, Competition Is For Losers, in February.
West Australian
09-07-2025
- Sport
- West Australian
Rita Saffioti: Exciting movement with electric buses rolling out in WA
1. An exciting moment for public transport in WA with electric buses rolling out into the suburbs. Electric buses are now leaving the Malaga depot into key routes through Morley and Ballajura — and of course the 960 and 950 routes. Not only are they cleaner and better for the environment, they're also cheaper to run in the long term, which means better value for money for WA taxpayers. 2. There's huge excitement building for AC Milan's second visit to WA, and we're gearing up for an extravaganza with an Italian village to be set up at HBF Park with Italian food vendors, music and a spritz bar all available ahead of the match on July 31. 3. Great to have the Matildas in town. It was an exciting match against Panama on Tuesday night with many fans braving the cold to watch Charlie Grant score the match winner. The Tillies have two more international windows before they're back in Perth for the Asian Cup on March 1. 4. How good were the West Coast Fever this week, creating Super Netball history with a 11th straight win, beating the Giants to secure the minor premiership for 2025. 5. Speaking of legends, thank you to Fremantle great, Michael Walters, who's retired from the AFL after a stellar career that featured 365 goals. He's inspired a generation, not just as a footy player, but as an incredible community leader. 6. We announced Seymour Whyte, Civmec and Aurecon as the preferred alliance team to develop and design the new multi-purpose Perth Entertainment and Sporting Precinct. Key members of the alliance delivered the new locally made Boorloo Bridge, and this precinct will no doubt become another incredible piece of public infrastructure. 7. We're delivering more social and affordable homes for West Australians with the latest round of the Housing Australia Future Fund boosting supply with another 515 homes to be built across the State. Since 2021, we have added more than 3300 social homes, bolstered by a strong relationship with the Federal Government. 8. Kids and teachers are having a well deserved break with school holidays underway. With many people travelling around the State, I'd urge everyone to take extra caution when you're behind the wheel and to stay safe on our roads. 9. Woke up on Wednesday to find I was on the front page of the paper — well it was me photoshopped as Kath from Kath and Kim. As a strange coincidence, I actually dressed up as Kath for a fancy dress event recently, and my friends dressed as Kim and Sharon. Sharon was so convincing, she won best dressed for the night! 10. Yesterday's front page did highlight an important point. As politicians, we are elected to represent all West Australians, and Government is about listening to everyone, not just those that have a platform.
