What we can learn from 🌈 Communities

Get a sneak peek at our next original docuseries...

A couple of years ago, I was hanging out with some of my straight gal pals when the conversation turned to sexual health. I will never forget the moment when one of my sweet, naive friends said: “I feel like chlamydia isn’t really a thing anymore.”

It was then I realised, straight people don’t know shit about sexual health. 

Kia ora 👋 my name is Liam and I’m one of the multimedia journalists at Re: News. For the past few months, I have abandoned my normal duties of pumping out quality journalism to work on a docuseries called Queer Academy.

Hosted by the comedic genius that is James Mustapic, Queer Academy is a five-part series all about the good parts of being queer. Each episode delves into a lesson LGBTTQIA+ communities have to offer.

I’ve been working on the series since November last year as director/producer. 

It’s been my job to plan shoots, find people who want to go on camera and share their story, and make important decisions, like, which dildo do I want the director of photography to focus on in this shot set in a sex store?

I couldn’t decide so I just said all of them!!

We filmed the bulk of the series in March and we were lucky enough to travel around the country to get what we needed. From Ōtepoti/Dunedin to Māwhera/Greymouth, to the Big Gay Out – we met a huge range of incredible queer people from all over the motu.

The beautiful, talented and funny Queer Academy crew filming at the Big Gay Out 2023.

This week, we finished the series and exported –– industry term for downloading a copy of the edit –– the episodes for the final time (in the media world they say you should never call something your “final” export, but I’m feeling good about this one!!). 

But because the Re: News publishing calendar is so jam-packed with high quality content over the next couple months, Queer Academy won’t be coming out until mid-November. 

So I’m using this newsletter as a chance to build some early hype and tease you with what’s to come heheh 😈

The first episode of Queer Academy answers a question I’ve been wondering for a while, which is: are queer people better at sexual health than straight people? 

🚨Spoiler alert, the answer is yes.

In the episode, we speak to Joe Rich, chief executive of The Burnett Foundation Aotearoa, an organisation that has spent the past 38 years helping queer folk combat the HIV/AIDS crisis and get on top of their sexual health. 

“Queer people are good at sexual health because for a lot of us, we were forced to in the ’80s, it was life or death in the AIDS crisis,” says Joe.

“[The queer community] had to learn very quickly how to mobilise, how to understand what was going on and change our behaviour to save ourselves.”

As a result of this, Joe makes the point that queer people have done something that straight people are yet to do – unshackle the fear of talking about sex publicly. 

This gives queer people a superpower, as they are now able to talk openly and honestly about the tools they need to stay safe in the sack, far more compared to mainstream society. 

This is just one of the topics Queer Academy covers. 

In other episodes we explore how chosen whānau can positively impact a queer person’s life, why queer people are more open to non-monogamous relationships compared to straight people, and how clothing can help queer people learn more about themselves.  

For the past four years, I’ve been covering LGBTTQIA+ issues at Re: News.

I’ve written articles and made videos about the work that still needs to be done for queer folk. 

And although those stories are important and necessary to make Aotearoa a better place for rainbow communities to live, I got tired of focusing on the negatives and had an urge to talk about the good shit. 

Queer Academy is my answer to that urge. It’s 100% positive LGBTTQIA+ representation and celebrates the value of growing up queer in a fun and unexpected way.

Also, did I mention that the series is funny? If you’re curious to know what a STI reveal party looks like, then this is the series for you!

I’m so excited for you to see what I’ve been working on. I know there’s still a few months to go, but trust me, it’ll be worth the wait 😎💅🌈

Queer Academy was made with the support of NZ On Air